For years the answer to a slow PC was upgrading the system memory (RAM) to alleviate pressure on the system and speed things up, so it’s not surprising that it’s a very common request for us in the shop. That said, we often find that upgrading the customer’s Hard Drive to an SSD is a much more impactful upgrade for around the same money. Here’s what you should know when you decide how to speed up that old system:
8-16GB of RAM has been standard for the last few years
Increasing the amount of RAM in a computer is an effective way to improve its performance, but you only feel the difference when running multiple applications at the same time or when working with large files. RAM, or Random Access Memory, is responsible for holding data that is currently in use by the computer’s processor. By upgrading the RAM the computer will have more memory available to use, reducing the need to access the hard drive and improving the computer’s speed and responsiveness. For example, if you often work with large image or video files, upgrading the RAM will allow the computer to handle the data more efficiently, reducing the time it takes to process and render the files.
For an overall performance upgrade, replace your Hard Drive with a Solid State Drive
For most of our customers, upgrading to an SSD (Solid State Drive) has provided a much larger boost to their computer’s performance than RAM would have. An SSD is a type of storage device that uses flash memory to store data instead of a spinning disk, resulting in much faster read and write speeds (on average about 10X Faster than a traditional Hard Drive!). This leads to significantly reduced boot and application load times, and files will be transferred much more quickly. The best way to describe the performance difference is that it’s like putting a better engine in your car- everything is faster and much more responsive.
16GB of RAM is enough for most people doing normal tasks
In conclusion, increasing the amount of RAM and upgrading to an SSD are both effective ways to improve a computer’s performance, but each is more useful in specific circumstances. If you’re looking for an overall improvement in performance, upgrading to an SSD is the way to go. However, if you’re looking to improve specific tasks or multitasking performance adding more RAM may be a better choice.