I WANT A FAST PC – THIS IS SOMETHING YOU MAY SAY, BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY MEAN?

That may sound confusing, but it isn’t. Many people want a fast computer – who doesn’t. However, some blame their PC for being slow when it’s not their PC, but their internet connection. Technicians often have to explain to some people that their PC isn’t slow, but their internet is, or vice versa, which is very difficult to explain to many people, so at here at Excessive Computing, we explain it using an illustration: The Highways and your vehicle.
Say what? Well, think of your PC as a car on the highway, and think of your internet connection as the highways, interstates, and city roads. Now, assume you want to drive fast, what two things do you need? 1) A vehicle that can go fast. 2) An un-crowded interstate.Without a powerful car, you can go fast, but it takes you a while to get there, and on up-hills you will slow down. This is like a computer that is lacking in Processing power and/or RAM. When loading your browser, or plug-ins like flash for internet games or videos, the PC may be slow, but once loaded can work just fine. Then you may try to watch a high definition streaming video, which will tax your PC, and even if your internet connection is fast, the video will jump because the PC cannot deal with decoding the video, sort of like how an under-powered car slows down when going up hills.

Conversely, when you have a powerful car on a city street, you can’t go fast because the streets are crowded and small and usually poor quality. The same facts exist with your PC connecting to the internet with Dial-up or ISDN: you’re on city streets. If you have DSL or Cable Modem, you are on the Highways or Interstates, depending upon the level of service you subscribe to.

Basically…

So what do you need to take from this? Basically that you need a “decent” PC and a “decent” internet connection. These days, a “decent” PC is difficult to define because it depends on what version of Windows you are running. If running Windows XP, a decent PC has a Dual Core Processor and 1GB of RAM. If you have Windows Vista or 7, you need at least a Intel Core2 or AMD Dual Core and 2GB RAM. A “decent” internet connection is DSL Lite or Roadrunner Lite (a DSL or cable modem connection) or a WiFi connection to one of those, or a connection to a Cellular 3G/4G network Like Verizon.

It’s Still Slow?

What if I have that and my PC or internet is still slow? Well, most likely you have some problems such as viruses, ad-ware, unnecessary programs running, or configuration errors of some sort, and I highly recommend you give us a call; our bill will certainly cost lots less than a new PC.