Level 1: Hardware & External Factors
At the core of every computerized device is the physical hardware available. No matter how much you tweak your system, mod your apps, and change your settings, at the end of the day, it all comes back to what your working with, and that’s the hardware. Regarding computer technology, you will always be restrained by your hardware capabilities; this is the primary reason why people set out to purchase the next generation smartphones/computers, because you, the end-user knows (either consciously or subconsciously) that the latest and greatest device will out perform your current (outdated hardware) device due to the improved/new hardware included.
The other component of this level is “External Factors”; regarding your smartphone, this is more specifically referring to the available internet infrastructure. No matter how good your base-band radio receivers (hardware) are, if you are in a cave, you are not going to be able to browse the web. Understanding that you are limited by coverage and available internet infrastructure is very important because it has the most noticeable and significant effect (which is why it’s included in the first level). This is the primary reason why people are inclined to switch from 3G service to 4G service because they know that it will have the most dramatic effect towards improving their browsing speeds.
So what are the ways can we improve overall performance on the hardware/external factors level???
1. Buy an extended battery(..I need a link to a thread which discusses the best ones…)
Seems obvious…right? Well it should be 
 , because we as consumers instinctively know that better hardware = better performance
2. Get better service
I say this kinda jokingly, because yes I know… it’s not that simple, and we are only offered 3G service on this device, but for the sake of this explanation I wanted to include it to make it clear what factors are involved in this layer. All of us have already succeeded in this section anyway… I mean… we aren’t on AT&T right? lol.
3. Overclock your device
Your device come’s shipped with a CPU (processor) that’s only been tested (and pre-configured/set) to perform at the factory standard for this device (1 GHz for DroidX). All moto’s quality control people care about before approving your device to sell in the smartphone market is weather or not the CPU will perform at 1GHz; that is the factory standard and the given/advertised specs for this device. However, due to variance in hardware manufacturing, there is high possibility that your CPU can in fact perform at higher speeds while remaining stable. That is what overclocking is all about, getting the maximum performance out of your available hardware. The app on the market QuickClock makes this very simple, because it automatically determines your maximum settings for you. Other apps on the market like Droid Overclock also do a very good job at this but is geared more towards advanced users, and may require you to spend more time manually testing. The QuickClock app will actually allow you to export your profiles to be used in Droid Overclock, so you can also go that route if you chose.
4. Undervolt your device
Your device comes shipped with pre-configured settings governing exactly how much power is drawn from lithium-ion battery when actively using your device. Moto’s quality control people only care about ensuring that each device they ship out will remain stable, so this value tends to be way higher than it needs to be. That is where undervolting comes in, you can reduce this value, thus improving battery life, while still remaining stable. The app QuickClock can actually do this (automatically) for you as well, making it an all around very useful app and well worth the 2-3 bucks. The ROM Rubix actually comes prepackaged with a lite version of QuickClock which you could use to give it a test run if you like. Undervolting is a very beneficial procedure so pushing your device beyond QuickClock’s settings may very well be worth it. Check out this Undervolting Guide for a more in-depth overview of whats involved as well as procedures for manually doing it.