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CompTIA

220-801 · Question #1159

A customer has a Windows 7 laptop that is a few years old. The customer reports that the laptop performance is slow. A technician checks the laptop and finds it has the maximum 8GB of RAM, an i5…

The correct answer is B. Replace the 5400 RPM hard drive with a SSD. Since the laptop already has the maximum supported RAM and a capable i5 processor, the bottleneck is almost certainly the 5400 RPM mechanical hard drive - the slowest component in the system. SSDs have no moving parts, offer dramatically faster read/write speeds (often 5–10x…

Hardware

Question

A customer has a Windows 7 laptop that is a few years old. The customer reports that the laptop performance is slow. A technician checks the laptop and finds it has the maximum 8GB of RAM, an i5 processor, and a 5400 RPM magnetic hard drive. Which of the following is the BEST way the technician can improve the performance of the laptop?

Options

  • AUpgrade the memory in the laptop to 16GB.
  • BReplace the 5400 RPM hard drive with a SSD.
  • CReplace the i5 processor with an i7 processor.
  • DUpgrade the operating system to Windows 8.1.

How the community answered

(55 responses)
  • A
    7% (4)
  • B
    73% (40)
  • C
    16% (9)
  • D
    4% (2)

Explanation

Since the laptop already has the maximum supported RAM and a capable i5 processor, the bottleneck is almost certainly the 5400 RPM mechanical hard drive - the slowest component in the system. SSDs have no moving parts, offer dramatically faster read/write speeds (often 5–10x faster), and significantly reduce OS boot times and application load times. Upgrading to 16GB RAM is not possible as the laptop is already at its maximum. Replacing the processor is complex and typically not supported on laptops. Upgrading to Windows 8.1 would not address the hardware bottleneck.

Topics

#SSD upgrade#laptop performance#storage upgrade#HDD replacement

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