Tips to Speed Up Your Computer

We all run into the problem where after 6 months your new computer becomes and antique. Hopefully some of these tips will be useful in possibly helping you squeeze a lot more time out of that electronic device that you spent so much on.

RAM

The first thing to check is to see if you have the maximum amount of RAM installed on your computer. In newer computers installing RAM in all available slots is especially important because newer computers can multitask on multiple pieces of RAM. By increasing the amount of RAM in your system you also decrease the amount of time your computer spends transferring data between the hard drive and memory. This is the slowest task on your computer and decreasing the amount of time spent doing it will give noticeable results in computer speed.

Cooling

Your computer processor and motherboard is sensitive to heat. If your computer is getting hot to such a degree, your processor will actually slow itself down so as to use less energy. Also, the colder your computer runs the better the electronics work. Getting things like case fans, memory coolers, and hard drive coolers may not only marginally increase your computer speed but will also allow the parts in your computer to last longer and prevent heat damage. If you feel more comfortable about working with your computer moving to a liquid cooling system might be the way to go if you are willing to spend the money. Dust will also tend to cause heat build up in your computer so make sure to clean your case often enough.

Defragment the Hard Drive

This is something that should be done relatively often. As you use files, install programs, and delete things information gets moved around on your hard drive. This fragments files into pieces that are stored in different areas of the hard drive. By defragmenting you are putting the pieces back together into continuous files. This shortens the lookup time for your computer to find a file and read it from your hard drive. Which from the RAM section of this guide you know is the slowest part of the computer.

These are just some tips you can use for speeding up your computer. This is in no way an exhaustive list but it should get you started on the right path. Other things you can try that are minor upgrades to your computer are buying a slightly newer processor when it goes on sale, assuming it is compatible with your motherboard. Switch to an SATA hard drive, if your motherboard supports it, to speed up data transfers between the motherboard and hard drive.