PC Hints and Tips » PC Upgrade

Upgrade your graphics card

Will — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:20:41 +0000

If you enjoy playing 3D games or edit a lot of video, then a good graphics card will make a huge difference. For the very best cutting-edge visuals, you’ll need a DirectX10 compatible model and a copy of Vista (DX10 isn’t available on XP). You’ll also need a decent budget, as the latest ATI (www.amd.com) and Nvidia (www.nvidia.co.uk) cards certainly aren’t cheap. If your PC only has integrated graphics, it’s definately worth buying a reasonably priced standalone card-you’ll certainly notice an improvement.

Expand your memory

Will — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:16:44 +0000

You can get a significant speed boost by adding more RAM to your system. If you only have 1GB installed, increasing this to 2GB or 3GB will make a noticeable difference. 32-bit versions of Windows (XP and Vista) can recognize up to 4GB of RAM, but only make use of about 3.5GB of it. 64-bit versions of WIndows don’t have this restriction and can handle a whopping 128GB.

ReadyBoost

Will — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:18:45 +0000

Vista can transform any spare USB flash drive or SD card into an additional memory cache. To use the ReadyBoost feature, simply plug the drive into a spare USB port (or insert your card into the slot) and when AutoPlay kicks in, select Speed Up My System. You can specify how much of the available memory it should use. Any noticeable improvement in speed will largely depend on how much memory you have installed in the first place. Lower-spec laptops will probably benefit the most.

ReadyBoost isn’t available for XP but there is a decent alternative in the shape of eBoostr (www.eboostr.com). This commercial product costs between £12 and £20 or there’s a free trial version you can use for up to four hours at a time.