Laptop upgrades are for better performance. Today we will briefly introduce the steps for upgrading laptop hardware to improve laptop performance from the inside out and enjoy an extraordinary feeling.
Upgrade steps
1. Install USB 3.0 adapter card
When transferring larger files The slow USB 2.0 interface is annoying. It prevents us from transferring data using USB 3.0 devices that are now everywhere. To solve this problem, install a USB 3.0 adapter card in the Express Card slot on your laptop. is the only way. USB 3.0 Express Cards usually provide two USB 3.0 interfaces. Depending on the product channel and brand, the price is mostly between 50 and 150 yuan. When purchasing an Express Card USB 3.0 adapter card, be sure to choose the 34mm card first, because the 34mm Express Card can be used in both 34mm and 54mm Express Card slots. Otherwise, you need to first figure out the size of the Express Card slot on your laptop. Installation of an Express Card is as simple as inserting the card into the slot and installing the driver provided by the manufacturer.
2. Increase memory
If the memory of your laptop is less than 4GB, then upgrading to 8GB is necessary. Use CPU-Z to detect the amount and model of memory currently installed on your laptop ("Memory" tab) and whether there are free slots ("SPD" tab). Next, depending on the condition of the original memory, consider whether to purchase higher-capacity memory to replace the original memory or install a memory module in the free slot that is the same as the original memory. Find the screw with the memory module logo on the back of the laptop, unscrew the screw and open the bezel to see the memory slot. Press the metal tabs at both ends of the memory module to open the fixture and take out the memory. Then perform the reverse steps to install new memory.
3. Install a SATA solid-state drive
For all laptops that use mechanical hard drives, installing a solid-state drive can effectively improve performance and the startup speed of the operating system and applications.It will be much faster. There are two options for installing an SSD, one of which is to replace the mechanical hard drive with an SSD. The hard drive is usually installed near the bottom of the laptop, so you can open the hard drive cover on the bottom or side of the laptop and easily pull out the hard drive for replacement. Then, just install the SSD in reverse order. Next, we can install the original hard disk into the mobile hard disk box to copy the required data from it. However, in order to obtain the best performance, CHIP does not recommend copying the original operating system. Instead, you should reinstall the operating system on the solid-state drive. In this way, the new version of Windows installer will be able to automatically use the SSD-specific operating system after recognizing the solid-state drive. Optimized settings allow the SSD to maximize performance and extend the service life of the SSD.
4. Install mSATA solid-state drive
To upgrade the solid-state drive for old laptops, in addition to using a solid-state drive to replace the mechanical hard drive In addition, if the mini PCI-E slot on the laptop is sufficient, you can also consider installing an mSATA solid-state drive on the mini PCI-E slot on the laptop. The installation of the mSATA solid-state drive is very simple. You only need to remove the slot cover at the bottom of the laptop and insert the mSATA solid-state drive into the slot. However, it should be noted that the mSATA SSD must be fixed on the mini PCI-E slot with a small screw. However, some laptops do not have suitable screws reserved, and some mSATA SSD products are not equipped with screws. Therefore, when purchasing Before doing this, we must first find out whether there are reserved screws on the slot. If not, we need to consider installing screws when purchasing an mSATA solid-state drive.
After installing the mSATA solid-state drive, set the priority in the BIOS to use the solid-state drive to boot, reinstall the operating system and applications on the solid-state drive, and then store photos and various video and audio files on the mechanical hard drive. in order to fully utilize the performance of the solid state drive and the capacity of the mechanical hard drive. The performance of mSATA SSDs is close to that of SATA SSDs, and in our tests, the Samsung 840 Evo mSATA SSD performed very well.
5. Install a high-definition accelerator
If the laptop cannot play high-definition videos smoothly or is playingIf you rely too much on the processor, which seriously increases the load on the cooling system and affects the life of the battery, then installing a high-definition accelerator will be an effective method. Broadcom's Crystal HD chip is currently the mainstream solution, and now its latest version is BCM-70015, which is also effective for Flash high-definition video decoding. Through online trading places such as Taobao, we only need to spend about 100 yuan to purchase a mini PCI-E HD accelerator equipped with a BCM-70015 chip. Insert it into the mini PCI-E slot just like installing an mSATA solid-state drive, and install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the driver according to the operating system version. Normally, Windows Media Player will automatically use the chip to decode HD videos next, but if the player fails to do so, then we can manually select Broadcom's video codec in the Windows Media Player settings "Options" dialog box. If we want to speed up the decoding of Flash high-definition videos, we need to reinstall Adobe Flash after installing the Broadcom driver.
6. Replace the wireless network adapter card
If the wireless network speed is the bottleneck of the laptop, then we can consider replacing the wireless network adapter card. Generally speaking, wireless network adapter cards in laptops are installed through slots, and most of them can be replaced directly by simply removing the bezel on the back of the laptop. Therefore, just remove the old card, install the new card, and update the device driver. However, during the replacement process, special attention needs to be paid to the antennas of the wireless network adapter card. Newer standard wireless network adapter cards usually require at least two antennas, while the wireless network adapter card on an old laptop may only have one. Antenna, which will require us to proceed to the next step of the upgrade.
7. Install a wireless network antenna
If the laptop only has one wireless network card antenna, it is likely that it will not be able to work stably and use the 5GHz band after replacing the new wireless network adapter card. , which will seriously affect the speed and stability of the wireless network. Therefore, in this case, users with certain hands-on ability can consider installing a wireless antenna.
First, select an appropriate antenna according to the wireless network adapter card you choose, then disassemble the display screen and lead the antenna to the back of the display screen, so that when the laptop is opened and used, the antenna can In a higher location, get a better signal. Each laptop has a different method of disassembling the display. Taking the Lenovo X201 as an example, we must unscrew 3 screws on the lower edge of the display and loosen the panel and display frame to open the display. The connection of the antenna can be adjusted according to the direction of the display wiring. Lead the antenna to the laptop and insert it into the other antenna connector of the wireless network card adapter card. This series of operations requires us to haveA certain degree of hands-on ability. CHIP recommends searching online and learning how to disassemble and assemble the screen of your laptop before actual operation to ensure that the operation can be completed smoothly
The above are the details of the notebook hardware upgrade steps. There are many hard disk upgrade options. If the computer has an mSATA or NGFF solid-state drive slot, then you can directly choose the solid-state drive with this interface to install. The capacity is recommended. Starting from 128GB, a 2.5-inch hard drive is at your disposal. If your computer is small and light and does not provide mSATA or NGFF, you might as well install a 2.5-inch 7mm thick SSD directly to get a refreshing use experience. The problem of hard drive capacity can be solved through an external USB3.0 mobile hard drive is the solution; if you don’t want to connect it externally, you can consider SSHD hybrid hard drive, which has the same effect as solid-state hard drive in reading common data, and has a large capacity, basically 750GB to 1TB. I hope the above content is helpful to everyone.