How Do I Choose the Best CPU Upgrade?

Computer upgrade generally refers to improving the speed and function of the computer through hardware or software. Computer upgrades can generally be divided into two areas: hardware upgrades and software upgrades.

Computer upgrade

Computer upgrade, generally refers to the improvement of computer performance speed and

Generally speaking, any change of hardware components can be called an upgrade, but let s talk about it below.

1, the game screen is too card, you need to upgrade (the most common is to upgrade the graphics card and CPU)

2, general home and office, there are no special requirements, but helpless configuration is too old, the speed is too slow to affect the mood (generally the memory is too small)

3, graphics operations (such as the use of Photoshop, CAD), slow speed (need to upgrade memory graphics CPU)

4. Special users (such as high-definition, BT, etc., need to upgrade the CPU and graphics card, high-definition video decoding very CPU-intensive)

Among hardware upgrade accessories, memory should be ranked first. Before hardware DIY was a patent of a few enthusiasts, not as popular as it is now, so many home computers are preferred by branded machines. Brand machines are not coordinated in overall configuration. Too small memory capacity is the most common problem. In addition, the price of memory is not cheap before, and this problem exists in computers. What you need to pay attention to when upgrading the memory is the model of the memory. Many older computers may use the DDR generation, not the popular DDR second generation. Another thing to note is how much capacity is supported by the motherboard, otherwise the purchased capacity will be wasted.

In addition to memory, the hard disk is also a big replacement. The previous computer may have a larger capacity of 80G. Such a small capacity is the size of several high-definition movies, and important files have already occupied almost the hard disk for so many years, so you need to change to a larger capacity to continue to serve you. When replacing hard disks, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the type of interface. The previous motherboards may support IDE interfaces (parallel ports), while most hard disks on the market are SATA (serial port). Although there are interface converters,

Do not spend more than 1,000 yuan

Before upgrading, you must establish a correct concept to determine whether the computer in your hand is necessary for upgrading. If performance is no longer sufficient for most needs, then it is necessary to consider upgrading. In addition, you should also consider whether the performance of the computer can be exerted after the upgrade and whether it can avoid falling into the vicious circle of the upgrade. Many friends who have a PC will feel this way: the money spent on upgrading for several years is enough to buy another new PC.

In terms of budget, it is best to control it at about 1,000 yuan. Too much investment loses the significance of upgrading. The price of a new PC is between 3,000 and 4,000 yuan. If the upgrade budget is 2500 yuan, then the best solution is to invest a little more to purchase a new PC. This will not only get a good computer, but also a small one. LAN, "old" PCs can continue to play the waste heat.

It should also be mentioned that Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems have made many new machines rush to join the upgrade, and the issue of warranty is worthy of attention. One of the biggest reasons to buy branded machines at the time was because branded machines had good after-sales service. However, a prerequisite for the brand warranty is that users cannot open the case to add or change hardware. If the user opens the box without authorization, the warranty terms may be invalidated, or the original warranty service provided by the manufacturer will become paid service. Therefore, before deciding to upgrade, if brand computer users find that their computer is still under warranty, they have to choose between improving performance and retaining services. If you must upgrade, it is best to get the merchant's approval or upgrade to the location designated by the merchant.

Find bottleneck replacement parts

After the upgrade is determined, the specific implementation plan should be based on the principle of breaking through the system bottleneck and simplifying the problem first. For most old PCs, the CPU speed is usually fast enough, but the peripheral equipment does not match the high speed of the CPU. Therefore, when considering upgrades, it is important to consider peripheral components, such as the model, capacity, and nominal speed of the memory, the type of graphics card interface, processing power, data transmission mode and speed of the hard disk, etc., which may all become computer bottleneck.

If the motherboard can support a stronger CPU, it will save more money. Generally speaking, if you replace the motherboard, there are not many things that can be used in this computer.

In summary, memory is the most important accessory to consider in upgrading, because the performance improvement brought by upgrading memory is very obvious, and it has the characteristics of less investment and easy operation. For daily applications, it is recommended that XP users upgrade to 2GB of memory, and Windows 7 users upgrade to 4GB of memory. In terms of graphics cards, it is difficult to upgrade integrated graphics. You can purchase independent graphics cards, which can also improve graphics card performance. However, most of the reasons for the unsatisfactory speed are caused by the system memory being too small, so it is sufficient to upgrade the memory, but it is still not recommended to upgrade old computers such as 2008 and previous computers, because these hardwares are already very backward. Hardware to improve performance, I am afraid it will cost a lot of money.

For brand PCs equipped with independent graphics cards, they are generally high-end models of the past, and the graphics cards of these products mostly use the PCI-E 16X interface. For motherboards with a PCI interface, you can go directly to the market to buy a graphics card to upgrade. The mainstream computer configuration is a PCI-E interface. In terms of hard disks, if the motherboard has a SATA interface, you can consider replacing the PATA (IDE interface, also called parallel port) hard disk with a SATA hard disk. The price difference between the two is not much, but the transmission speed of SATA is nearly 30 times faster than PATA, which is very effective for improving the system reading speed.

Find out your own accessories

After determining the specific parts to be replaced, the next thing that seems to be simple but more complicated is to determine the component model and understand the market of the relevant product. The principle of purchase is to choose big brands as much as possible to avoid being deceived by miscellaneous brands.

Most users of the assembly machine accessories brand can understand, but it is difficult to understand the specific model of the brand machine accessories. Generally speaking, there are two methods to verify the configuration, one is through the " Device Manager "and" Display Properties "to verify. The advantage is that the operation is simple, and the disadvantage is that the information is not detailed. Another method is to use third-party software. Although the operation is troublesome, the obtained information is very detailed, especially the potential of the motherboard can also be obtained together.

In terms of purchase, I still try to choose big brand products, but it is a bit difficult, because in the upgrade market, miscellaneous brands are the real big players, especially in the motherboard. In fact, there are products that can be used in miscellaneous brands, but you need to pay more attention during the transaction process, and agree with the merchant to deal with various situations, whether to return or exchange. Of course, the bill must be requested.

Shoot when performance improves

After fully grasping the accessories market, everyone should evaluate the performance of the whole machine before purchasing, and finally determine the feasibility of the solution.

First of all, due to the enhanced performance after the upgrade, the power consumption will undoubtedly also increase. You need to consider the power of the old power supply. If you just add memory and replace a hard disk, the power supply can still afford it. Secondly, you should also consider compatibility issues. Under normal circumstances, it is recommended to buy the same brand and same specifications of memory, because some brands of machines are more fussy about memory, using other brands of products is likely to fail to boot or often crash; for many computers that have expired warranty To keep up with the trend of the times may require a comprehensive upgrade, that is, a comprehensive upgrade of the CPU, memory, graphics card and hard disk on the basis of replacing the motherboard. However, for the last comprehensive upgrade, I personally think that it is of little value, so let's change to a new one.

The most basic principle of upgrading is to spend less and do more, and a comprehensive upgrade obviously violates this principle.

Finally, we must remind that the upgrade must improve the performance of the original machine to a large extent, otherwise, it is better to change to a brand new computer for another two years.

Computer upgrade HD

It is recommended to upgrade the CPU and graphics card. High-definition is one of the hotspots on the market. Similar to the upgrade of gaming models, this type of model preferably has a memory capacity of more than 2GB, a dual-core 2GHz CPU, and a GeForce GTX 650 and above core graphics card. At the same time, you can give priority to those graphics products on the market that support the Directx 11 specification and have good support for high definition. For models with PCI-E 16x graphics slot, GeForce GTX 650, Radeon HD 7770 and other graphics cards are good choices.

Computer upgrade computer starts slowly

It is recommended to upgrade the memory and hard disk. Computer startup requires frequent loading of C drive resources, so the hard disk read and write speed will greatly affect the boot speed, memory access speed also restricts the computer startup speed, DDR2 generation 800 frequency memory computer must be better than DDR3 generation 1333 Frequency of computer startup is slow. The 5400 to 2M cache hard drive computer is definitely slower than the 7200 to 8M cache hard drive computer.

For memory compatibility issues, the mainstream on the market is only DDR3 generation 1333 frequency memory, for those using DDR2 800 or lower DDR2 667 memory, it is no longer common, only in the secondary market. In order to have good memory compatibility, it is recommended to compare the existing memory on the computer and then purchase the same frequency of the same brand, otherwise memory incompatibility will occur.

Computer upgrades are slow

It is recommended to upgrade the graphics card. You may consider upgrading the CPU appropriately. Most computers have at least 2GB of memory, a dual-core CPU with a frequency above 2.0GHz, a hard disk with a speed of 7,200 rpm, and other mainstream configurations. However, card games and frames may be too low when playing large games. The main reason may be the graphics card. The configuration is too low, and the cheap and energy-saving mute graphics card cannot meet the requirements of large games. The number of these graphics stream processors is very small. The video memory bit width may be only 64bit, and the video memory may only be 256MB. Struggling. At this time, we only need to replace a better graphics card to handle most games.

Too low CPU frequency may also cause game cards. You can look at the minimum requirements for the computer configuration of the game, and then consider which hardware to upgrade.

Computer upgrade system

XP system has now entered the aging stage, and it will be sooner or later to be replaced by Windows 7. The hardware configuration required by XP is very low, but the software games running on XP systems today are different from those of a few years ago, and the configuration is more demanding. For most users, the computer is used to watch movies and play general online games. At this time, upgrading the computer requires comprehensive consideration. Let s take a look at the recommended configuration for gaming video and audio on XP system: dual-core 2Ghz CPU or more, 2GB of DDR3 1333 memory, 7200 RPM 320G SATA2 hard drive, at least 20GB C drive, GeForce GTX 650 core independent graphics card (also can choose other core graphics cards, mainly Look at the graphics card performance), at least 300W power supply. The minimum configuration of the XP system (only to ensure that the system can run and can handle general tasks): single-core CPU above 1Ghz, memory above DDR1 400, 20GB 5400 rpm IDE hard disk, integrated graphics, ordinary power supply, such hardware configuration can Run XP system.

Windows 7 system has become the mainstream system for today's computer users. For many old computers that used XP system before, they also want to feel win7 system. At this time, some configuration of the computer needs to be upgraded. Windows 7 recommended configuration: dual-core CPU 2Ghz or more, 4GB memory of DDR3 1333, 7200 to 320G SATA2 hard disk, at least 30GB C drive, GeForce GTX 650 core independent graphics card (same as above), at least 350W power supply. Conditional can be upgraded according to the above reference configuration. Of course, if we just want to run win7 system, let's take a look at the minimum configuration of win7 system:

Device name	basic requirements	Remark
CPU	1GHz and above
RAM	1GB and above	The minimum memory recognized by the installation is 512M. If it is less than 512M, it will indicate that the memory is insufficient.
hard disk	20GB free space	After installation, this size, it is best to ensure that the partition has a size of 20GB
Graphics card	Integrated graphics card with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver 64MB or more	128MB is the minimum configuration for enabling Aero. If it is not enabled, 64MB can be used.
other devices	DVD-R / RW drive or other storage media such as a USB flash drive	For installation. If needed, you can use a USB flash drive to install Windows 7, which requires a USB flash drive to boot.
	Internet connection / phone	Internet / telephone activation authorization is required, otherwise only a 30-day trial evaluation can be performed.

On October 26, 2012, the Windows 8 system was officially released. If the old computer wants to experience the WIN8 system, you can refer to the minimum configuration of WIN8 ^[1] : CPU : 1 GHz (supports PAE, NX, and SSE2); memory : 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit); hard disk : 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit); Graphics card : Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver; Resolution : To access the Windows Store and download and run programs, you need a valid Internet connection And a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768. To drag and drop programs, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768. Other: To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multi-touch.