5 PC Upgrades That You Can Afford
Sure, your desktop PC is great, but you’re itching for an upgrade. The trouble is, you don’t have a huge budget to swap out all the hardware to the most cutting-edge stuff. How can you make your dollar stretch further and get the improved performance that you want? You’re about to find out.
More Memory
And more, and more. As much as you can fit into your current hardware. Go ahead and max it out—you can do that without maxing out your budget, since memory is fairly cheap. Load up on memory and you’ll see an instant boost in performance. When you select the memory, be sure to pick the fastest kind that your system can take. You may even be able to do a little over-clocking.
A High-Powered Video Card
Whether you’re a gamer or a media enthusiast, you’ll notice the difference immediately when you upgrade your video card. For a few hundred bucks, score a graphics card with drastically improved resolution capability, frame rates, and overall quality. Just make sure that your current CPU can keep up with the new guy in the system.
A New Computer Case
Okay, so this may not directly improve the speed and power of your machine, but it can definitely make your rig more user-friendly. Whatever bugs you about your current case, fix it with a new one. Go with a new case that can handle USB 3.0 or higher, or one that you can open up more easily for hardware swaps. Maybe you just want something that looks cooler, with more clear panels through which you can see the whirling, glowing fans and all the fantastic components. Whether you need more bays, slots, and connectors or better looks, getting a new case can quiet the upgrade urge— for now.
A Bigger Hard Drive
More space for your stuff? Yes please. Treat yourself to a massive hard drive upgrade— we’re talking a terabyte or two of space, room enough for all your games, your favorite programs, your media, your photos, and your documents— plus the kitchen sink.
A Faster Hard Drive
If you like to keep a sleek, streamlined machine, and you don’t need or want a virtual cavern of storage space, skip the 2TB hard drive and go with a solid state drive instead. These speedy drives keep dropping in price, so you should be able to snag a sizeable one for a couple hundred dollars. If you want fast speeds plus extra space, consider having two drives in your system— a solid state drive as your primary drive, hosting your operating system, and a standard secondary hard drive for extra storage.
The next time you start craving a system overhaul that’s not in your budget, indulge yourself with a smaller upgrade that gives you a serious performance boost. When you spend your cash wisely, you can make a difference in your cyber life without breaking the bank.