The Best Ways to Give an Older PC New Life
The Best Ways to Give an Older PC New Life
Purchasing a new computer is a big investment. Many small businesses and home PC owners end up struggling with older systems because they want to get as many years out of them as possible.
There are some promising upgrades you can do that will cost much less than the price of a new computer, while making your PC feel like new again. Not only does this save you money, but it also helps the environment. Reducing our e-waste by reusing what we can has a much more positive impact than recycling.
Here are some options you can try to improve the performance of an older computer:
UPGRADE TO A SOLID-STATE DRIVE (SSD)
Prices for solid-state drives have come down quite a bit in the past few years, now making them an affordable upgrade that can breathe life back into an older PC that might be slowing down. Unlike hard disk drives (HDDs), SSDs don't have any moving parts and use flash memory that allows for quicker response times. They also drastically reduce your time to boot and make searching for files, opening applications, and other activities a breeze.
Some of the advantages of upgrading your computer’s hard drive to SSD include:
- SSD read/write speeds up to 2500 MB/second compared to HDD at up to 200 MB/second
- SSD access time of 0.1ms as compared to HDD at 5.5-8.0ms
- SSDs use between 2-5 watts of energy compared to HDD at 6-15 watts
INCREASE THE RAM (MEMORY)
Another low-cost upgrade that nets a significant increase in performance is a memory upgrade. If your PC was a cheaper model it likely only had 4GB or 8GB of RAM when you bought it, you'd likely have trouble opening too many tabs in your browser or having multiple programs open at once. By upgrading your RAM to 12, 16, or 32GB can make it seem like you have an entirely new computer.
UPGRADE THE GRAPHICS CARD
If you play computer games or work in any type of video, imaging, or 3D software, an outdated graphics card can ruin your experience. Instead of replacing your entire computer, just upgrading the graphics card to a more robust model can improve your PC’s performance and give you several more useful years from it.
CLEAN OUT YOUR PC COOLING SYSTEM
Heat is an enemy of your computer’s internal parts. As your cooling system gets clogged up with dust or pet hair, excess heat will start building up inside your device. As this happens your computer may start acting strange, with programs crashing or your system rebooting on its own. If you suspect excess heat may be an issue, have your computer’s fan and cooling system checked out to see if it needs cleaning or you can also try cleaning it out yourself.
CONNECT AN EXTERNAL MONITOR TO A LAPTOP
If you’re working on a laptop and having a hard time multi-tasking due to limited screen real estate, consider getting an external monitor rather than replacing your entire PC. Monitors are just a fraction of the cost of computers, and having a screen twice the size of the one on your laptop can make all the difference in the world and improve productivity due to the additional screen space.
GET AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
Computers can slow down and be more difficult to use when the drive fills up with data. Over the years, files build up, and many users never take the time to go through and delete those that are unnecessary. Buying an external hard drive can allow you to offload files that may be slowing you down, while still keeping them easily accessible. Another benefit of an external hard drive is that it’s portable and can easily be carried between home and work and used in both places.
GET A PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TUNE-UP
Those free PC cleaner tools you find online aren’t going to give you the type of tune-up that a professional IT provider can give. For our MSP clients we go through things like the Windows Registry, duplicate system files, internal errors, and more to clean up your system and remove all the “junk” that has built up over the years. If our users experience any performance issues we can run diagnostic tests for things like failing parts, and provide expert guidance on your most impactful upgrade options.
WE CAN HELP IMPROVE YOUR COMPUTER’S PERFORMANCE!
Don’t struggle with an older PC! At EV-Consultech we can help you with cost-effective upgrade options that will extend the life of your products while only recommending a full replacement when truly necessary.
If you have a small to medium business (SMB) in the Los Angeles area, feel free to reach out using the form below to learn more about how we optimize our clients’ day-to-day business operations and productivity through affordable, flexible and customized IT solutions.
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