You’re not alone.

Many people are sold on upgrading their Central Processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM) or memory size, but find themselves wondering what’s it all for once they’ve made the purchase.

Let’s walk through each of these items to help you make a more informed decision on making an upgrade to your PC or laptop computer.

Your CPU is essentially the brain of the computer. The more powerful your computer’s brain (CPU), the faster your computer can process tasks. For example, if you get a little frustrated waiting for your web browser to load, upgrading your processing speed could help your applications launch more quickly.

RAM is your “in-use” memory that determines how much data you can work with at any one time. If your RAM is low, you may be able to run a limited number of programs simultaneously. The higher amount of RAM your computer can use, the more applications and data you can access at the same time and the more quickly your CPU can work.

As you can see, your CPU and RAM work nearly hand-in-hand to increase the speed and functionality of your computer. By increasing your CPU and RAM, you will be able to work with more data at one time and switch between application with less lagging.

Physical Memory is the amount of hard drive space you have to store data. Many newer computers come with an average of 100-300 Gigabytes of on-board physical memory. While that may sound like a lot, you might find that your physical memory can fill up fast.

With more and more personal computers coming equipped as multimedia machines, more people are storing photos and home-made movies on their PCs. Without adequate storage space, you could find that you’ve run out of space and you may need to delete old memories for new ones.

Luckily, the cost of physical memory is getting cheaper every day, without sacrificing any of the storage quality.

I offer a number of computer hardware and software upgrade options and I also custom-build computers for those of you who want a machine personalized for your needs.

Contact me at 734-619-0401 or “contact[at]polarcomputing.com” to learn more.

We can help! Polar Computing features expert computer technicians to help you with Windows, Mac and hardware issues.