Part of staying successful in a very competitive business environment is making sure you are up to date in terms of technology. To maintain this competitiveness, one thing that most businesses will undertake at some point is performing upgrades to the hardware of office computers. Here are seven tips you should consider when you perform upgrades to one or more of your officeís computers.
1. Review the Specifications and Limitations of the Computers You Wish to Upgrade
This may seem obvious, but it is one step that many people overlook. Before you even try to perform a hardware upgrade, you need to find out exactly what kinds of hardware upgrades are workable for the computers in your office. You may not be able to perform every kind of upgrade. For example, if a computer’s motherboard can only handle 6 gigabytes of RAM, you will certainly not be able to expand it to 8 gigabytes.
2. Consider Updating Your Computer’s Memory
One of the easiest and cheapest upgrades you can perform on a computer is upgrading that computer’s memory. Adding more RAM can provide you with many benefits. With more memory, your computer will be faster and be able to handle more advanced programs. Additional memory can also prevent a computer from crashing due to too much memory being taken up by too many programs running simultaneously.
3. Consider Upgrading Your Computer’s Disc Drives
Another possibility you may want to consider is upgrading your computer’s disc drives. You may, for example, want to be to write discs on your machines. Using compact disc storage is a very efficient means of storing and transferring information. You can add CD-RW drives to allow your employees to record data to CDs. However, a DVD-RW drive will allow them to record much more information. To really be on cutting edge, you may want to opt for a rewritable Blu-ray drive instead. Such a drive can allow you to read and create discs with up to 50 gigabytes of information.
4. Invest in New Monitors
One of the most important pieces of hardware that often goes overlooked by businesses is their computer monitors. The quality of monitors is actually very important. One reason is that computer screen resolutions have come a long way in recent years. Today, the standard resolution for a monitor is around 1920 by 1080 pixels. You certainly don’t want your employees to be stuck with monitors that only offer far lesser resolution. New flat screen monitors are also energy efficient and take up very little space.
5. Consider Upgrading Your Computer’s Processors
While upgrading a computer’s memory can increase speed, you will not be able to match the increase in system performance that you would receive with a better processor. This increase in performance can be as high as 40 percent. Shop around a bit until you can find the processor that is best suited to your needs. For the best performance, however, choose a processor that implements multiple core technology.
6. Consider Installing New Graphics Cards
Usually, upgrading to a superior graphics card is thought of as a way to allow a computer to better process videogame graphics. It is true that a high quality graphics card is needed to play the newest videogames at the highest quality. However, graphics cards have other uses as well. A superior graphics card will help your computer more easily process and display graphics for streaming video, images, DVDs, and nearly anything else that uses a visual medium on your computer.
7. Be Careful During Installation
If you are not used to performing hardware installations yourself, you will probably want to leave this task to an expert. However, performing your own installations can save a lot of money. If you do perform your own upgrades, you will want to be very careful. For example, to install new RAM and certain other pieces of hardware, you will more than likely have to exert a decent bit of force to make sure that the new hardware snaps securely into place. However, be careful to not apply too much force. You risk damaging the new components as well as other pieces of hardware in your computer like your motherboard.
Guest article written by: John has been working for a small company in Manchester for years, and has just started work on a site called www.OfficeKitten.co.uk, where he manages and sorts all the office furniture.
RAM and Processor upgrade is key for performance.
sometimes it is better to replace the new one instead of upgrading.
Many thanks for the information you provided on hardware upgrade. I have an Acer laptop I’d like to upgrade and it is better to follow the points you made here.
Upgrading a processor is something I have given some thoughts because I have read articles that keep on mentioning that it may or may not work.
Overall your post is informative and keep it up.
When PC starts to really be a drag, the first option that comes to my mind is tweaking. If tweaking is unsuccessful in accelerating PC speed, then upgrading becomes an ultimate option for me (which definitely is kinda costly).
I completely agree with you. Specially number 2 ! Due to my experiences memory plays a very important role in our PC. And it has important effect on Computer’s performance.
But my question is, where can i find complete technical information about parts of a pc. For example i want to know more about a special CPU (Intel). Unfortunately most of sites just say the model without full specifications.
Also, checking out hardware’s compatibility with each other often makes sense. Even though you have the latest memory and graphic cards they won’t help much if they are not compatible with each other and the board itself.
Nice post John, I just recently upgraded all of my computer systems, first of all keeping your computer up to date is a wise investment. I agree with #1 & 2 would upgrade the memory first, then the hard drives. When you are upgrading your monitors there is another benefit besides screen resolution or energy efficiency, is that the newer monitors put out less low level radiation. Thanks
The importance of having a decent graphics card has skyrocketed in the past few years. Spend the extra $100 and get a GPU with a little power behind it, especially now with Firefox 4 (optionally) putting more speed on the GPU load.
Hi, nice and interesting topic, you share each tips for updating our office’s computer hardware very clearly.
I like your point # 4 the most and your give a good idea of new flat screen monitors that are energy efficient and take up very little space.
You can also upgrade your computer’s hardware if you also start replacing some electronic components and keep your computer clean and neat to avoid component leakage anyways thanks for the tips.