PC Optimization: The Hardware Solution

Think back to the times when you first bought your computer: aside from sporting a smooth-as-silk exterior, it is also remarkable for its snappy speed, opening any file and program you throw at it in a jiffy. However, like most good things, this did not last for quite as long as you wished. Over time, the computer starts to exhibit the annoying frozen screens, lag, and tremendously long processing times when executing various tasks.

Although this is not entirely avoidable, there are a few things that you can do in order to reverse the process.

A simple Internet search will reveal a lot of tips that you can use to speed your system up using the utilities in your operating system. However, there are a few things you can do with your hardware too in order to give your PC that breath of new life.

Get a better video card. Most of us utilize the computer only for basic browsing and similar processes. However, there are also those who are into dabbling with multimedia, such as movies, photo editing, and games. If you fall into these categories or any of the related branches, then a better video card would be a wise investment.

As you might have noticed, the best performing computer systems are bristling with high-capacity video cards, allowing the other parts of the computer memory to be free for other uses. If your computer is equipped with SLI or CrossFireX support, then instead of replacing the current video card, you may add a new one and bridge the two.

If you think, however, that this is only for die-hard gamers, that is not the case. In fact, a more powerful GPU can also be leveraged to assist in computational processes.

Get a faster hard drive. As you know, the hard drive is the major repository of almost everything in your computer, and much of the speed needed in pulling up files and programs come from this. A slower hard drive means a slower response time, no matter how fast your processor is.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are the newest developments in the field of hard drive technology. These drives do not use any mechanical components, unlike their more prevalent counterparts, and act like larger-scale flash drives. Because they do not have to scan the data manually, SSDs are deemed to produce faster boot times and data retrieval times.

However, SSDs are also victim to a smaller capacity than the mechanical drives, so if you need all the extra space within your computer (instead of an external drive), it is better to look at faster RPMs, larger cache sizes, and better seek speeds and transfer rates in order to optimize the speed and performance of your PC.

Use a RAID configuration. "Redundant Array of Independent Disks", commonly called RAID, is a type of technology that combines different multiple drive components, mainly as a means to improve performance.

There are different architectures of the RAID, usually followed by a certain number (i.e., RAID 1, RAID 0, RAID 6, RAID 10). Each number denotes a different mix between the primary goals of this technology: capacity, availability, performance, and reliability. Those levels higher than RAID 0 also helps performance by providing protection against read errors, as well as the failure of the whole disk.

Of course, this is getting into the technical side of things, and thorough research must be done in order to know which RAID configuration is best suited for you. If done appropriately, this little trick can do wonders in improving your computer speed.

Regularly update your hardware and drivers. Since the computer is an intricate system, any hardware issues will manifest in software anomalies. Primary among these would be issues regarding outdated drivers that are integral to the hardware's smooth function.

In fact, some of the more notorious computer errors such as the EXE, SYS, and DLL problems can be stopped by simply regularly updating your drivers. Aside from causing annoying popups in their early stages, these issues can quickly escalate to a dead computer unit if left unaddressed. There are lots of good utilities available for download that you can use to monitor the integrity of your drivers.

Computers are very versatile systems, and if take care of properly, can mostly fix the minor issues on their own. But like anything else, proper care and periodic maintenance would be the best solution to optimizing your PC's performance. The tricks shown in this article, when followed, should induce a huge boost in your system's speed and performance!