Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Improvements that can be made to a computer system, costs and benefits (D2)
In order to improve your computers performance adding additional components or replacing existing ones can greatly boost the computers output speeds. This can be done by using hardware or Software an example of each would be to introduce a new graphics card this is hardware or installing improved, newer versions or drivers for your hardware this is known as Software.
CPU
It is difficult to change or upgrade your CPU as there are limited types and only a particular type fits into certain systems. Because of this disadvantage it is best to spend more money on buying a system that has a fast speed CPU to start with.
There are plenty of reasons for doing this one of these is with a greater speed of CPU your computer can handle more calculation per second and handle a great amount of information. Due to the increased speed with high performance computers you can also render images to a higher standard as your computer will figure out the pixel placing quicker.
CPUs can cost a lot of money it is possibly a better idea to just buy a new system whole as the increased CPU will also bring its own Upgraded hardware and software that the new system has to offer, for the new CPU you’re looking at around £140-160 for a decent spec. the system would be around 400-500 but in the long run you’re going to gain a lot better experience.
Graphics card
Installing a graphics card into one of your available PCI slots will improve your computers graphics output greatly, this piece of hardware relieves the RAM of it the job needed to render Graphics, and adds more detail and higher quality images.
Due to the relief of the RAM you will also experience better performance because it won’t be taken up doing other jobs. The costs of a new Graphics card 1gig+ dedicated RAM is recommended, is around £30-50, however it is definitely worth the upgrade.
RAM
The RAM of your computer can determine the overall speed and performance of the computer and comes in hand with the CPU really, without a decent RAM A fast CPU would be useless and visa versa. Benefits of upgrading your RAM are widely noticeable, your system will start up quicker, the programs will be able to run faster, and will also allow for hefty software packages to install without crashing.
There are a few different types of RAM which you must remember when you’re buying a new Stick for instance if your computer uses DDR3 and you’re currently running at 2gig RAM you can double this buy buying one new stick, no need to throw away the old one, this will cost you no more than £15-25, this will allow your computer to run at double the speed it is currently.
Hard drive
Another improvement to make could be to upgrade the hard drive. The hard drives main purpose is to store the systems operating system and any files you save on your computer. This will allow you to store more Media files etc. more programs and software.
-          Music
-          Videos
-          Images
-          Videogames
When you’re old hard drive reaches its limit, you can upgrade to a new hard drive, and these are cheap considering what they offer. A 2TB hard drive allows you to store tonnes more media files and/or important work documents for only £55-150.
In conclusion
It is certainly worth upgrading your system in specific areas, the costs can be high but you will definitely notice a difference In the performance of your system. You can often Double the speed your computer runs at with under £100.
Upgrading the Hard drive, Graphics card and RAM are advised but the CPU is best left and upgraded with each purchase of a new computer.

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