Computer Upgrade – When Is the Right Time

You didn’t win the Powerball Lottery so you aren’t made of money, yet. So it goes without saying you’d like to hang on to your personal computer as long as humanly possible before it’s time for a computer upgrade. So how do you know when it’s the right time to upgrade components on your irreplaceable computer? We’ll take a look at some telltale signs that indicate it’s time for an upgrade.

Computer Upgrade for 5 Different Components

Feeling frustrated with your computer? It may be time for a computer upgrade on the components!

Memory

Increasing your memory is a fairly easy task once you know you’re in need of it. Here are some signs it’s time to increase that RAM:

• Your computer seems sluggish when you are trying to perform even simple everyday tasks, i.e. a program takes forever to open or is not responsive.
• You experience display anomalies like a page partially loading.
• You receive system notification indicating you are “out of memory” or “low on memory.”
• Your PC is not operating properly. You don’t receive feedback when you click on icons and overall the system is not responsive.

Hard Drive Space

When you hard drive fills to capacity you are definitely going to notice that it is time for a computer upgrade. While most of us are keeping a lot of data out on the cloud you still need that local drive to run an operating system, apps and store other miscellaneous data.  Here are some signs it’s time to up the disk space or get an entire new drive:

• Computer boots slowly
• It takes longer to load file
• Files will take longer to save
• Programs may crash
• Software updates will fail due to lack of space
• You will receive error message you are “low on space”

Video Card

Graphics are important for a boatload of tasks. When those graphics start going wonky it’s imperative they be updated. Check out the signs your video card needs to be replaced:

• You notice stuttering when playing games, watching movies or streaming video
• The color quality is diminished or you notice visual artifacts
• You notice texture issues
• You experience constant blue screens of death
• Your fan speed is going into overdrive
• Switching out monitors produces the same faulty results

Fan

Uh oh, it looks like your computer is overheating. You don’t want a little heat cooking your precious electrical circuits. An abundance of heat can reduce your CPU’s efficiency as well as wear out other components. Stop this problem by checking out the signs it’s time to move forward with a computer upgrade on your computer’s cool friend:

• The temp of your CPU is through the roof
• You can fry an egg on your PC
• At peak temps your system just shuts down

Wi-Fi card

Your wireless card is the portal between your computer and your wireless network. When that connection is severed you can be up the creek without a paddle and have to switch to Ethernet or worse, use your mobile device. You want that card in constant working condition so pay attention to the signs that may indicate you need an upgrade.

• You’re connection speed isn’t even close to what you’re paying for
• Your network connection is unstable or fails outright
• Moving large files around between computers is unbearable
• Your card doesn’t respond to a ping
• Your card doesn’t show up when looking at devices
• Updating drivers doesn’t help the situation

Paying attention to your computer’s hardware components and proceeding with a computer upgrade on those pieces when they are approaching an untimely demise will save you money on a brand new computer. In addition to keeping those dollars in your pocket, having your computer in peak working condition will save you more time so you can go buy more of those lotto tickets.  Winning!

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