Thursday, March 28, 2024

How to revive your PC with the minimum possible expense

Must Read

The passage of time usually does a disservice to all the technological devices we use, although it is indisputable that computers are one of those that “suffer” the most and “age” the worst.

However, it is almost always possible to revive an old PC that has stopped satisfying our needs, and although it is hard for us to believe it, on many occasions we can achieve it without spending money or making a minimal investment.

With this guide we want to give you some simple but very useful keys, which will help you to be clear about the steps you can take to improve the operation of an old computer and thus be able to take advantage of it for longer, and always seeking to spend as little as possible.

As always we encourage you to leave any questions in the comments.

Perform a thorough cleaning

dust

Dust and dirt are natural enemies of computer components, and with use and the passage of time both tend to accumulate inside, something that in the short term is not a problem, but in the long run it can end up reducing performance of the team to unbearable levels.

Opening the PC and performing a series of basic tasks can help to recover its initial performance to a large extent, so we recommend:

  • Make a complete blow of dust and look for possible accumulations of dirt, in case you have to clean them by scratching a little. For example, we can use a soft toothbrush.
  • Disassemble processor and graphics card to be able to thoroughly clean its fans and change the thermal paste , since it degrades over time and loses properties.
  • Make sure that everything is well connected and that the fans work correctly, avoiding cables or elements that affect the air flow.

This will put an end to possible overheating problems, which as we know can have disastrous effects on the performance of the computer and even end up damaging certain components, especially the processor and graphics card.

Software, malware and drivers

On many occasions, a simple formatting and reinstallation of the operating system can work miracles , so together with the previous point, it is the first thing we must do to restore “freshness” to an old computer.

We recommend doing a clean install, not reinstalling on top of it, as it could end up being ineffective or even cause problems. You also have to keep the software updated, drivers included, since in many cases they provide free performance improvements.

Finally we have the issue of malware. Protecting the computer and doing periodic scans can help, and a lot, in fact, it would not be the first time that a virus greatly hinders the performance of a computer.

Doing all this together can give us very good results, however basic it may be, and the best thing is that it will not cost us a single euro.

Hardware upgrades

ss

If none of the previous steps has left us satisfied, we have no choice but to renew the components of the equipment to achieve that extra performance that allows us to continue enjoying an optimal user experience.

To make it as useful as possible for you, we will make a subdivision into three large categories, distinguishing the use that you are going to give to the equipment and its particularities, but always with the aim of incurring the least possible expense.

Revive a PC to play:

Our priority objective should be the graphics card , the element that has the greatest impact when it comes to moving games. If we have, for example, a computer from six years ago that mounts a Core i3 processor and 4 GB of RAM, we can play a good number of titles with high as simple as mounting a GPU.

In these cases, it is best to go to the second-hand market or look for restored products, where we can find, for example, very good solutions such as the GTX 660 and the Radeon HD 7870 for about 70 euros . We can also look for less powerful but more affordable options, such as the GTX 560 and the HD 5850, which are around 40 euros on average.

Continuing with the example of the previous team, we could round off by adding 4 GB more of RAM, which could cost us between 20 and 30 euros maximum. If we update both and we have a bit of luck with the prices, we will have disbursed about 90 euros , and in exchange we will have a PC to continue in the gap for a few more years.

Revive a PC for office automation, multimedia and browsing

In these cases, the processor and graphics card go into the background, since generally, even in very old computers, their performance is still more than sufficient.

To recover the proper functioning of a multimedia and/or office PC with a minimum investment, we must focus on installing an SSD and RAM memory, following that order of priority.

With an SSD we will experience a huge leap, so much so that it will be almost as if we had bought a new computer. It may seem exaggerated, but it is enough to press the power button on the PC to start noticing the change.

The operating system and the programs and applications fly, and those situations of constant slowdowns due to the “scratching” of the hard drive become a thing of the past. We have very affordable 120 GB SSD models for less than 40 dollars , more than enough for this type of equipment.

Latest News

7 The most requested services of an escort

The most demanded services of an escort, although the saying has tried to tell us many times, the reality...

More Articles Like This