• Aggravationstation@feddit.uk
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    6 days ago

    People want shiny new things. I’ve had relatives say stuff like “I bought this computer 2 years ago and it’s getting slower, it’s awful how you have to buy a new one so quickly.” I suggest things to improve it, most of which are free or very cheap and I’d happily do for them. But they just go out and buy a brand new one because that’s secretly what they wanted to do in the first place, they just don’t want to admit they’re that materialistic.

        • Aggravationstation@feddit.uk
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          6 days ago

          Appreciate the meme but yea that is one way to probably improve performance. Or upgrade the RAM, clean the fans, reapply thermal compound, clear out temporary files, disable unused services or reinstall Windows if they really need it just to run Chrome and Zoom which is all they do.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        Free:

        • clean fans and heatsink - others mentioned, and the reason is better cooling so it doesn’t throttle
        • kill unnecessary services - that’s why reinstalling works
        • install Linux - not reasonable for everyone, but Linux uses far fewer resources
        • delete old files - as disks get full, it takes longer to find somewhere for files to go; try to leave 10-20% free
        • try a small overclock - many older CPUs can give a little more without upgrading cooling; only do it if temps look good

        Relatively cheap (<$200 each):

        • upgrade drive to NVMe - huge difference if running an HDD, still noticeable of running a SATA SSD
        • add more RAM (only if you’re constantly running out)
        • upgrade CPU - esp if AMD since they release lots of CPUs for the same socket

        It really depends on what’s making it slow though.

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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        6 days ago

        Clean the fans.

        Reinstall the os clean. That’s usually why a new computer feels snappy: it’s just fresh.