How to Really Speed Up Computer...

When people buy a computer regardless of it being a desktop or laptop or netbook, what they always had in mind was performance. For example, they want an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, discrete ATI Radeon graphic card and at least 2 GB of RAM as retailers nowadays are promoting mainly Windows Vista. Some people thought that with the above specifications, their computer would fly in speed and performances. However, what they are going to get is a terrible experience. The computer is slow as a snail as though it was running on an Intel Celeron processor!

Intel Core 2 Duo.....

ATI Radeon Graphic Card....

2GB of RAM.....and in the end you keep on saying:

I bought my first ever computer in the form of a Compaq Presario V3000 series laptop just about two years ago during the Christmas season of 2006. Despite its beautiful appearance, the specifications are nothing of the best at that time to say the least: an Intel Core Duo processor running on 1.6 GHz, an Intel Media 950 Graphic Accelerator, 512MB of RAM and an XP operating system. I was a total computering newb at that time and i didn't realize that my specifications are quite poor but after two years into purchasing the computer, i migrated to Vista Business and my laptop is still running smoothly; just as nice as when i was running XP!


I wondered why my computer can run on a Vista platform smoothly, despite the fact that my laptop's specifications are not really the suitable one at running Vista. I thus do a little checking: Vista was not the fastest operating systems out there but by selecting Vista Business with a little tweaking, i managed to make things just as smooth as possible without abandoning the Aeroglass interface. I added my RAM up to 1.5 GB and it is sufficient in running a Vista Business operating system. But other than these two factors, nothing about my pc seems to say it was good at running Vista....the Core Duo processor is quite the minimum requirement for the optimum running of Vista and my Intel graphic cards are worst off, as it is the worst part of my laptop's performances. So why on earth that my laptop is running Vista just as nice as some of the better laptops out there???

So the last consideration was hard drive. And I was right to suspect it.


Do not misinterpret my meanings. Processors and graphic cards are important, but by far they are not the most important considerations. The slowest part of the PC is by far, the hard drive disk (HDD). A computer is as fast as the slowest component inside, and therefore my opinion in purchasing a computer is to invest in a better hard drive disk rather than paying attention on just stuffs like processors and graphic cards. Contemporary processors such as Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon FX series run at 30 times the speed of hard drive disk, while graphic cards often have multi-processor core. but HDD....well, this fellow is always the slowest part. This explained the reason why my laptop can still run Vista very smoothly if not as fast as lightning, and explained the reason why some people with overall specifications better than mine are problematic at running Vista in the long run. One of the major reason is because i owned a better hard drive disk than them who owned a better processor and graphic card!

Misleading PC vendors often advice buyers to invest in better processors and try to convince us that a faster CPU processor with third data level caching are going to make miracles in your computer's speed. Well, that ain't the whole real picture, isn't it? That is all good with a fast processor but with a slow hard drive disk, it wouldn't make much difference. Most part of your CPU would be "taking a vacation" anyway if it does not get higher data rate from the hard disk to process; it was like having a McLaren F1 on a congested highway, where it could not go any faster even than a loaded garbage truck!

So the next time if you want to significantly speed up your computering experience through hardware modifications, my advice is to have your money invested in a better hard drive disk. For example, go get a solid-state drive (SSD) installed on your computer instead of a Quad Core or a Core 2 Extreme processor. Do however, take note that installing any new components on a pre-existing computer sold at the retail shop also requires user to be aware of meeting the basic hardware requirements. This is also a major reason why PC users usually would never consider investing in hard drive disk because it simply does not make life easier compared to upgrading RAMs or processors.


Provided you have the cash to do the job, before you start thinking of investing in this, think about investing in this:



Have a nice and productive day!!!