It
has been a couple of years since you emptied your wallet on the latest
high performing laptop available in the market; however, your most
prized possession already seems to be in need of some serious
overhauling. If you're looking to get a performance upgrade on your
laptop, the tips in this article may be useful for you.
The good
thing about the 21st century is that there are a number of gadgets
available to suit almost our every need. But the bad thing (at least for
some of us) is that within a few months of buying the latest gadget,
you realize there's a new improved version of it in the market making
you feel like you should have waited some more. Mobile phones and
laptops are perhaps on top of the list of gadgets that are improvized
within a few months or weeks of their latest releases!
Do you
love your laptop too much to trade in for a newer version but wish you
could spruce it up a bit? Let us check out some of the best performance
upgrades for a laptop you could do to boost its performance and make it
almost as state-of-the-art as the latest version to hit the market!
It
is important to note that your manufacturer's warranty will be deemed
void with many of the following upgrades. It is best to ensure that you
have used up your warranty period before carrying out these upgrades,
unless you're confident that your laptop can handle a few nips and
tucks.
Laptop Parts that May be Upgraded
Battery
If you're
frustrated with the battery life on your laptop and find the replacement
from the manufacturer pricey, search online for a compatible one
instead. And while you're at it, purchase one with a higher capacity
that is sure to last longer. This is sure to be one easy upgrade;
however, your manufacturer is less likely to be too pleased with your
choice. You'll have a choice of number of cells while buying a battery
such that a 9-cell battery will have more capacity than a 6-cell
battery. Go for the maximum cells your laptop model can support to match
your gaming and video requirements.
Hard Drive
You will need
to purchase a hard drive and run some programs to replicate the existing
hard drive. It is almost as simple as it sounds. Typically, you would
be able to purchase hard drives online with the installation kit.
Depending on whether you need to double or triple the existing storage,
purchase one from a reliable vendor. The kit typically comes with
instructions or you could refer to the vendor site for the installation
steps. All you'll need is a USB cable to plug the drive, run the
installation that will clone your existing drive contents on the new
drive and finally boot up your laptop with the new drive. You can either
add on an external hard drive or swap your existing drive with the new
one and use your old hard drive as a backup external drive! That should
take care of your storage needs for a couple of more years. Anything
from 160 GB up to 1 TB should be good enough, while a spin of 5400 RPM
works for most laptops. You may upgrade to a drive with 7200 RPM, but
remember that more the RPM, more the heat (though more the RPM, faster
is the data transfer speed), so weigh your options.
RAM
Memory
capacity is another relatively hassle-free upgrade that you can do.
Purchase RAM modules that suit your requirement the most, whether you
want to add on to the existing capacity or replace the memory entirely.
You should be able to easily find new modules that match your old ones,
in case you're looking to tag on to the existing memory capacity of your
laptop. Depending on your laptop model, the memory slots would be
located either on the underside or below the keypad. Unscrew the chip
(usually labeled as M for memory) to replace with the new chip. Assemble
again and boot up your laptop. The new RAM or additional RAM should be
detected automatically. Using DDR3 you will be able to scale to higher
clock speeds and go for a 1600MHz speed for better performance, if you
have a compatible laptop model.
Processor
A laptop requiring a
processor upgrade puts into question your real intentions for doing so
as opposed to buying a new laptop; however, if you're ready to rise up
to the challenge, this also may be possible. Remember that you're
treading into complex and super-geeky turf! If the processor chip on
your laptop is one of those soldered parts, you may well be disappointed
unless you're comfortable with desoldering and then soldering the new
chip back on. On the other hand, if the chip is accessible and
removable, another compatible processor that's more powerful may be
easily possible. You must be warned that this is not going to be easy
though. Typically, your manufacturer will be delighted to upgrade your
processor with a compatible replacement; however, they will certainly
charge for the parts and labor. You must weigh the pros of upgrading the
processor chip vis-a-vis purchasing a new laptop. However, if you're
the brave geek who doesn't care about the manufacturer's warranty, by
all means get the micro screwdrivers and replace the processor chip. No
doubt there's a risk, but if it pays off, you'll be glad that you can do
without the latest mean laptop in town. Motherboard compatibility is a
major "if" even if you find the ideal chip that sits in the socket
somehow!
Graphics/Video Card
Moving on to a bit more
complexity with regard to upgrading, and this one's sure to render the
manufacturer warranty invalid. Now that you have upgraded storage
capacity and memory, the next important thing that will surely please
the gaming freak in you is a graphics card that matches up to them. The
reason for this upgrade is that the card itself is likely to have its
own memory and enough processing for the mind-blowing graphics such that
your laptop performance (or lack of it) does not matter. For added
satisfaction, check out the prices of laptops designed purely for better
gaming experience and you are sure to find the graphics card upgrade
even more tempting! However, here's the bummer, check if you can replace
the graphics card at all! An integrated graphics chip may be tough to
replace, unless you are one of the lucky few to own a laptop (mostly
alienware or custom-made) that allows you to replace the graphics card.
Fret not, for there's a ray of hope with graphics cards that can be
docked externally (usually detected by the operating system as an
external video device). Depending on how old or new your laptop is and
if it has the required slots, plugging an external graphics card may be
relatively easy.
Things to Remember Before you Upgrade
✔ Refer to your laptop manual for instructions on disassembling and assembling.
✔ Switch off your laptop and let it be unplugged and powered off for at least an hour before disassembling.
✔ Wear an antistatic wrist strap and ground yourself at all times to guard against electrostatic discharge.
✔ Ensure to take a backup of your data on an external drive before you open up your laptop.
✔ Be gentle while handling the fragile electronics within as they're prone to breakage.
✔
Keep a digital camera/mobile camera at hand and take snapshots of the
assembly frequently for referring while assembling the parts back.
✔
Hold the screws in labeled paper cups and hold the electronic parts such
as processor chips in antistatic bags, so that you don't misplace them.
✔ Even a small electrostatic discharge can damage the electronics in the laptop chassis.
✔
Ensure that upgrades do not add to the heating issues of your laptop,
even if it does add an accessory that will prevent or reduce heat like
cooling pad.
Some Cheap Performance Boosters
If you have
figured that you really don't need to do all the complex upgrades but
still wish your laptop performance can be shot up a few notches, the
following tips may be helpful.
Use a performance monitor
utility to keep tabs on your CPU, disk and memory loads. This is where
you will get the earliest signs of a need for an upgrade.
Does
your laptop boot in time enough for you to soak into a warm bath and
come back? Check your startup list and remove unnecessary application
from automatically loading at startup.
If you have wondered about
the use of the Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter utilities, take the
hint from their names! The Disk Cleanup deletes temporary files and
suggests deletion of unused program files and the Defragmenter
consolidates file (much like organizing your wardrobe) for faster
access.
Similarly, a registry cleaning utility will also help improve laptop performance.
Regularly scan your laptop for spyware, viruses and malicious applications. Keep the antivirus software updated.
If
your laptop performance does not improve even after you have tried most
of the options listed here, then well, it may be time for grabbing the
wallet and ordering a new laptop. If you're a gaming enthusiast, you may
be better off buying a desktop or laptop that has been manufactured for
the extreme gaming experience rather than upgrading a less powerful
laptop. Ensure that you check with the manufacturer about upgrade
possibilities with your new purchase.
By Preeti Sunil
