Speed up your computer by adding more RAM

If you’re thinking about spending money to upgrade your PC you’re probably wondering what to upgrade in order to get the most out of your own money.

In most cases, adding more RAM will do more to speed up your computer than any other upgrade you can make. This is Because Microsoft Windows and many of the most popular applications that run on it are resource hogs.

If you run two or three apps at the same time they must work around one another as Windows constantly “swaps” part of their code and data between RAM and the hard drive, often bringing the computer down to a slower pace.

Adding more RAM could result in less “swapping”, and therefore faster system performance.

Luckily, adding RAM is usually one of the fastest and easiest DIY upgrades one can make. That being said, here are a few things to consider before buying more RAM for your PC:

1. Make sure you buy the correct kind of memory sticks. New computers typically use DDR4 RAM modules these days, but if yours is quite new it could well use DDR3 RAM.

If your system is old enough to use either DDR2 or even plain DDR RAM it probably wouldn’t make sense to pay for an upgrade. The money you would spend for a RAM upgrade would likely be better spent if you applied it towards the purchase of a new computer.

A quick way to find out which type of RAM your PC uses is to find the model number of the computer along with the word “RAM” into Google and visit a few sites until you find the information.

You can also usually find the RAM type listed on the side of the box the computer came in, You will also need to know the maximum amount of memory your computer supports.

For example, on my laptop that happens to be 16GB. Your computer might support more or less. Just be aware that you can only add RAM until the total amount installed equals the maximum amount that the system can handle.

Another fast and easy way to find out which type of RAM your computer requires is to visit www.crucial.com and run their “System Scanner” tool. This tool is 100% safe and it works extremely well. In addition to the type of RAM you need to buy, the scanner will also tell you how many empty slots are available. Sometimes there will be two or more, other times there will be none.

If your PC has no empty slots available you’ll have to remove a couple of the existing RAM modules and replace them with the new ones so be sure to take that into consideration when deciding how much RAM to purchase.

2. it’s best to always install new memory modules in matching pairs. it is possible to add a single new RAM module in most computers, adding two or four at a time could make the system run faster and experience fewer random “hiccups”.

3. Always purchase RAM with the same exact specs as the modules that are already installed. Mixing RAM modules with different memory specs often causes problems with system stability.

If the memory you wish to install is faster than the PC’s existing system memory, consider removing all of the old memory sticks and replacing them with new ones, especially if the motherboard can support the faster speeds.

4. Even some older computers can benefit greatly from RAM upgrades, especially if you’re planning to leave windows and switch to Linux

5. If you don’t feel comfortable working with the components inside your PC, you can hire a trusted computer pro or computer repair store to install your new memory for you.

And depending on your skill level (and confidence level) you can use YouTube tutorials and disassemble and assemble your PC yourself.

Note: Your laptop or desktop computer might well be different than the ones seen in the videos, but once you have the cover open the procedure for adding/replacing RAM will be more or less the same.

However, as I mentioned above, some laptop models don’t have removable covers over the RAM slots at all. That means the entire case will need to be at least partially disassembled in order to access the RAM slots.

If your laptop happens to fall into this category you might want to consider paying a computer repair professional to install the new RAM sticks for you.