Laptops have managed to occupy a critical place in our day-to-day lives. These portable computing devices come packed with certain key features and considerable specs to allow us to be done with our workload. No matter if you just want to type some documents, perform calculations on spreadsheets, or play games, there is almost nothing a laptop can’t do.
If you own a quite old machine, you will need to either upgrade it or buy a new one if you want to run modern heavy-duty applications and experience top-of-the-line graphics. However, deciding between upgrading your laptop or simply buying a new one is always a nerve-wracking decision.
Of course, your conventional wisdom will push you to buy a new laptop. Whatsoever, a better way forward is to upgrade certain components such as processor, graphics card, and RAM of your existing laptop to draw better performance from it. While it gives you some months to choose the best new laptop for yourself, this decision also saves you a considerable amount of money that you would have to otherwise spend on buying a new laptop.
It is critical to mention here that there are some potential risks involved in the upgradation of a laptop. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Upgrading your rig can nullify your warranty
- You can’t upgrade all the components
- Upgradation process is not for impatient people
- Not all upgrades are beneficial, and some upgrades can harm your laptop
Can I upgrade my laptop processor?
The thumb rule regarding upgradation of laptop processor is if your laptop supports it, you can go for it, otherwise you can’t. And the bad news is that most laptops processors can’t be upgraded.
Although there exist some laptops who allow interchanging of processors, but they worth thousands of Pounds.
Most modern laptop processors come soldered into the motherboard and it is a great hassle for a typical user to remove them. Even if a laptop permits changing of the processor, you will first need to make share that it fits perfectly into the existing socket. In addition, you also need to make sure that the new processor can communicate with the motherboard of the laptop.
Long story short, there exists quite a little probability that you can upgrade your laptop processor.
Why has my laptop become so slow?
If your laptop is running too slow, there could be several reasons behind it. First, check the empty space available in your hard drive. In most cases, a full or near-to-full hard drive may get in the way of efficient running of computer applications.
In other cases, the culprit could be the RAM. In a laptop, RAM assists in fast loading of the applications. It also boosts system’s bootups. So, if your laptop is running low, you can consider enhancing its RAM capacity in order to make your laptop a bit faster.
How can I upgrade my laptop RAM?
Most laptops from leading brands bring users the option to increase their RAM or memory with the addition of a stick to a compartment in the rig. Anyways, don’t forget to purchase the memory stick from a credible dealer. It will be best if you purchase the memory stick directly from the laptop manufacturer.
However, there are some good third-part manufacturers also in the market which offer compatible memory sticks for a vast range of laptop models. For upgradation, you need to carefully open the case of the laptop and then put the memory stick into the dedicated compartment.
It is strongly recommended to double check whether your laptop supports the addition of new memory or not.
How can I upgrade my laptop hard drive?
When it comes to updating the hard drive, most laptop manufacturers offer either of the two options to choose from. Some laptop manufacturers allow replacing the hard drive. On the other hand, almost all laptop models support external hard drives. Whatsoever, the best and safest option is the latter one.
As the name indicates, ‘external hard drive’ can be connected to a laptop ‘externally’ via a USB- Type-A cable. Two types of hard drives are available in the market to buy, SSD, and HDD. SSDs are faster than HDDs, but at the same time SSDs are more costly as well. So, if you can afford it, go for an external SSD for your laptop, otherwise an external HDD will also be a good option.
The Bottom Line
There is no doubt that upgrading your laptop for a better computing performance involves certain critical process steps. However, all the tips mentioned in the article are quite easy to implement. And you can perform these steps on your own. If executed correctly, an upgradation of your laptop does wonders for your laptop in terms of performance.
