It is easy to make your computer faster without having to sell your house or car. It generally is much cheaper than you might have imagined!
The Windows and Mac operating systems need a lot of processing power and memory to operate smoothly. One of the reasons being that it is designed to look nice, thus featuring lots of goodies like icon smoothing, fade-in and fade-out, slide menus and smooth scrolling, to name but a few. All these niceties can slow your computer down. But there are solutions to make your computer go faster…
ADD RAM!
The quickest and cheapest way to make your computer or laptop go faster is to add RAM (Random Access Memory).
For some older Pentium and AMD computers you’ll need SD RAM (Synchronous Data RAM) which are not easily available but we can source you some.
For your new computer (less than 2 years old) you’ll need DDR RAM (Double Data Rate RAM), most likely in DDR4 or newer variety.
Fortunately, RAM modules are incredibly cheap for what they can do to increase the speed of your computer.
Please see the RAM category.
INSTALL A FASTER CPU!
Refer to your computer motherboard manual to see the maximum size CPU it will take. (In some cases you will have to flash the bios to take a faster CPU.)
1. If you have an Intel Celeron CPU in your PC, change it to an Intel Pentium or higher (generation 10 or up) CPU.
2. If you have an AMD PC, talk to us about the latest fast AMD processors. They’re simply awesome!
See the CPU category.
Quick note: if you’re going max on the CPU, you’ll have to think about cooling. See the Cooling category.
FASTER HARD DRIVE
Typically, the read/write seek time on a HDD is anything from 2.9 ms to 12 ms; on a SSD (Solid State Drive) it is 0.1 ms (milliseconds).
And… NVMe M.2 SSDs are even faster, with quicker seek times and speeds of more than 3000 MB/s!
Better still, SSDs and NVMe M.2 SSDs are affordable. With such an upgrade, you’ll get bang for your bucks.
SSD benefits:
1. SSD is 5 to 10 times faster than HDD.
2. SSD boot a computer or laptop up in 10 seconds, HDD boot-up time is 30 – 40 seconds.
3. SSD opens up files more than 30% faster than HDD, and a NVMe drive is faster still.
4. SSD uses less power.
5. SSD generates much less heat.
6. SSD has no moving parts, thus no noise.
7. SSD has no moving parts, thus no vibration.
8. SSD mean time failure rate is 2 million hours, HDD is 1.5 million hours.
That should say it all but if you want more info, see our SSD article.
Browse the SSD category.
Graphics cards
A computer or laptop with a dedicated graphics card – as apposed to a built-in or on-chip graphics processor – is faster. Period.
If you’re using a laptop instead of a PC, consider upgrading to a laptop with a dedicated graphics card.
If you’re using a PC, get a graphics card or, if you already have one, upgrade to a faster one. There are many to choose from.
Top-end graphics cards are not cheap, so consider your budget and work from there. But do your homework carefully. There are many expert articles and videos to help; simply google “best graphics card for (whatever your need).”
Of course, if you’re a serious gamer, graphics artist or videographer, you already know the beef.
See what’s available right now in the Graphics Cards category.
FSB SPEED!
Your computer can only go as fast as its slowest component. It doesn’t help if a ton-load of RAM (Random Access Memory) and raw CPU processing gets bottle-necked at the front side bus of your motherboard. While extra RAM and a faster CPU certainly will make your PC run much faster, when it comes to high-end graphic design and video editing programmes you would probably also need a motherboard with the meanest, leanest Front Side Bus.
See the Motherboard category for the latest offerings.
OPERATING SYSTEM
If you run a Mac, keep the OS updated. Do the same with Linux. If you’re running your system on a Windows operating system, also keep it updated, regularly defragging your drive.
Consider upgrading from a 32-bit to a 64-bit system because it can handle more RAM – see Maximum RAM on Windows 7 and Windows 8 – and obviously handle more processes per second.
If you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 or 11, now is the time. This is another fairly cheap way to make your computer faster. Windows 11 boots faster than the previous Windows operating systems – in fact, in general it is faster altogether. It also has huge security improvements and uses less power.
See the Operating Systems category.
TWEAK!
OK, so you’ve got a massive amount of RAM, a mind-freaking CPU, the biggest-bestest graphics card in the entire universe and a motherboard with a Front Side Bus the size of the English Channel. But if you’re more addicted to speed than to tiktok, we understand; we’re also speed junkies. So you’ll need to tweak… tweak… tweak! We can help… with some smooth, dangerous, mind-blowing overclocking tricks.
Note, effective tweaking can be very time-consuming. If you need help, you’re welcome to come and talk with us at Essential IT Solutions, 89 George Street, Strand. [Sorry, we can’t give you tweaking tips over the phone because it simply takes up too much time. Rather come have a coffee and we’ll affordably turn your monster into a Titan.]
Give us a call: 082 853 4790 or cell/whatsapp on 081 395 8776 . We’d like to help you make your computer faster.
