Slow. Computers. Suck. Lots of issues can cause your device to mimic molasses, things like malevolent malware, a paltry internet connection or actual molasses that you spilled on the keyboard (What were you even doing?). However, one of the most likely issues is that your computer is old, with hardware that simply can’t keep up with the dealings of the present day. Now, if your computer is not only old but also covered in molasses, I would probably suggest pulling the trigger on a new computer. However, if you’ve kept your fingers licked clean and you aren’t still using the PC Grandma bequeathed you back in ’07 then there’s a good chance you can breathe some new life into your current desktop.
My Slow Computer
I recently acquired a 2015 Dell Inspiron 3847 for cheap, a beastly (and by beastly I mean mediocre) work-horse packing just enough RAM to open an e-mail (4GB DDR3). The processor and motherboard are nothing to write-home about either. It does have an intel i5 processer (fourth gen so pretty dated, ninth gen exists now) which was the mid-grade option between the i3 and i7, so it’s not all bad. It was so cheap when I bought it that I was honestly shocked when it booted (albeit slowly) Windows 10 without a hitch. The 1 TB 7200rpm hard-drive-disk (HDD) was pretty much empty as the previous owner had deleted all their data, a wise move to keep in mind when selling your own computer.
Obviously this Inspiron isn’t really up to spec at this point. It has enough juice to putter around with Word or create a new folder on your desktop, but it certainly won’t be knocking the socks off of Overwatch or Fortnite as a gaming PC (especially without a dedicated Graphics Processing Unit AKA Graphics Card), or even providing good performance for surfing the web. Luckily enough, there are some relatively cheap ways to improve this computer’s performance with some fairly painless hardware upgrades. By painless I mean that you can likely do these things yourself if you have the inclination and access to Youtube and Google. Today I’ll describe the two hardware upgrades that will give you the most bang for your buck.
The First Upgrade: A New Solid-State Drive
The biggest upgrade that I’m planning on doing in this scenario is to swap out the 1 TB HDD for a Solid-State Drive (SSD). This single upgrade can result in your load times being cut by anywhere from 50-80% depending on the SSD technology you choose. I’ve found a 512GB Sandisk SSD on Amazon for only $80 at the time of posting, which is a large enough hard-drive that unless you store a lot of games and movies on your computer you should be fine. After five years as a student with my current laptop I have approximately 430 GB of files, so personally I feel 512GB is likely to be the best balance of space and cost. Larger SSD’s can begin to cost a lot, but if you really need more than 1 TB of space it’s likely your desktop can support multiple hard-drives. Maybe rather than replacing your current drive you could simply add an SSD on top of what you currently have, though that would likely require moving the operating system and other commonly accessed files to the new, faster drive in order to see the benefits.
Replacing A Hard-Drive: Overview
Replacing a hard-drive is actually super simple as unlikely as that seems. You can easily look up a video detailing the process, and probably even find a walk-through for your exact model, but I’ll run through the steps briefly. This is not intended to be all-inclusive, so definitely try to find a guide with visuals to help you out if it’s your first time.
Gather Your Equipment
First step is to buy your new hard-drive and a cloning cable, making sure you have all the tools required for opening up your computer case (probably just a screw-driver and maybe some torx bits – you might also want an anti-static wristband). If you’re buying a 2.5” drive and your computer case has 3.5” bays you’re likely going to need to purchase a 3.5” to 2.5” bay adapter.
Clone Your Data
Once you have everything together you’ll attach your new hard-drive to the computer with your cloning cable and make use of either Window’s Recovery features or a cloning software like Acronis to duplicate the data from your old drive to the new SSD. Remember, this makes an EXACT COPY so ensure there’s no malware on your old drive beforehand. The data transfer could take a few hours depending on how old your system is and how much data you have, but once it’s done you’re free to shut down your computer and pull the plug from the wall.
Hard-Drive Installation
Using your tools, open up the side of your computer case and then follow the directions to equip your anti-static wristband if you’ve purchased one. If not, just keep a hand on the metal chassis of the computer case when you’re touching anything on the inside. A very important step is to now press the power button a few times to dispel any residual power in the computers capacitors before touching or removing anything that is part of the internal circuits. Make sure to do this every time you unplug the computer before you attempt to work on it. After identifying the location of your current hard-drive, while making sure you’re grounded by either your wristband or touching the metal of the chassis, pull the connections and remove the screws holding it in place. After you slide it out, replace it with your new hard-drive (using the bay adapter if required), screw it into place and reconnect the wires while grounded.
The Second Upgrade: More RAM
I’d say job well done, except that there’s one other thing I plan to upgrade while I’m in there, and that’s the RAM. RAM affects how many simultaneous things your computer can take on, allowing it to handle more information in the same period of time. My Inspiron has a limiting 4GB, pretty much the lowest amount you can get if you go out and buy a new computer today. It’s enough to function, but by increasing the amount of RAM we can allow this PC some room to breathe.
There are two RAM slots in my Inspiron, with each able to handle up to 8GB. I can get two sticks of good quality 8GB RAM running at a standard 1.6GHz for about $100. This allows me to optimize by replacing the lonesome 4GB stick that currently resides inside the Inspiron and also fill the empty slot for a total of 16GB. Honestly I might not even bother with replacing the 4GB stick except that buying a singular stick of RAM tends to be 75% of the cost of buying a pair.
Installation
The great part about RAM is that it’s exceptionally easy to upgrade, even more so than the hard-drive. You simply find the slots, pull back the retainers, pop anything you don’t want out, and then push in the new RAM stick by stick, ensuring that the notch on the stick lines up and you’re grounded the whole time to avoid any static electricity damage. Just look up a video to make sure you know what the RAM slots look like.
Welcome to the Future
Once you’ve got your new RAM installed, replace the case cover and fire it up. The change in speed should be immediately apparent. Welcome to your new old computer, now served with 94% less molasses.