Hardware

This “core” is not to be confused with the 2003 thriller in which Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank try and restart the Earth’s core.  That was far less exciting than this topic, of course.  This core refers to your computer’s core parts, or your CPU, motherboard, and memory.

Though, one could argue that every part in a computer is an integral piece in making it work, the core is usually separated from the rest simply because upgrading it yields the largest increase in performance without necessarily needing to upgrade any other individual part.

Things not to look out for
The PCI Express video card has had the same slot attachment for the past 5 years (even after 2.0 release which is backwards and forwards compatible) with no immediate changes to the specification in sight.  The power supply usually relies on what video card(s) and hard drive(s) you decide to use.  And the video card, hard drive, and optical drive are fairly interchangeable in any computer today.

Match it up
The secret to the core upgrade is matching all 3 components to each other correctly, and matching the motherboard to the components that you aren’t upgrading right now.  You’ll want to take into account that you will probably need a new OS installation (whether it be re-installing Windows 7 or Ubuntu Linux, for example), so backup NOW and often.  It’s rare that you will be able to keep your current OS when switching between a number of different chipsets and drivers; conflicts can occur among certain combinations.

Things to look out for
You will want to make sure that the pin type matches between the motherboard and CPU.  For instance, an LGA 1366 pin Core i7 CPU must be put onto a LGA 1366 pin motherboard. In terms of price point, be aware that small amounts of frequency increase (e.g. between 2.4GHz and 2.63GHz) are not worth the extra $$.  A larger number of cores and amount of L2 cache, however, is worth it.  Many know the benefits of quad and even hexa-core processors already, but L2 cache is the second-in-line memory bank your system hits and is about 20x less latency than regular DDR RAM (Gustavo Duarte).

As for memory, type must match (DDR2, DDR3, etc.), channel requirements should match (dual channel or triple channel), and it optionally needs to be able to handle the default speed requirements of the motherboard (e.g. 1066MHz) for optimal performance and stability. Make sure to reference your new motherboard for the qualified vendor list (QVL) of supported memory vendors and models.

There’s a number of considerations for the motherboard, as this is the master controller for the computer.  Chipsets, on-board video (or not), GPU slot(s) with Crossfire and/or SLI, SATA and IDE ports, and external port needs are all items that need to be examined before upgrading.  Make sure to have enough USB ports and/or headers, if you want them to hook up to the front of your case.  Also, within the last six months, USB 3.0 has come to the commercial scene.  Many new motherboards now come with a couple of these ports.  As for video, If you already have a video card, make sure to search out a motherboard with no on-board video and at least one PCI Express x16 slot.  Audio is a consideration, as well.  If you can live with on-board audio, most have it, but if not, then make sure you either have a PCI or PCI Express x1 slot for an audio card.  Finally, make sure you find a board with enough SATA ports and IDE channels to serve your hard drives and optical drives.

When performed correctly, the core upgrade can be the best performance boost for your computer, and does not require a lot of money to accomplish.  A modest core upgrade today could be as cheap as $400 without needing any additional hardware.  Consider that the next time you say, “hey, my computer is just too slow.”