Quite often we junk our old system and buy a new one wasting our investment in a
computer that has served us well over the past few years. It doesn't always have to be
like this. In many cases you can save your existing investment by upgrading your computer.
These are some of the upgrade options available to you:
Memory. Adding more memory
can substantially improve the performance of your system in most cases. If the computer
has less memory than the software requires, it keeps shuttling information between the
memory and disk wasting precious CPU time. Adding memory can often yield significant
performance improvements.
CPU. Your CPU upgrade path
depends upon the type of computer you have. If you have a:
486 system. If your motherboard is one of the later 3.3 volt variety (ask you vendor if
you are not sure), then most likely it can take the AMD 486 DX4-100 or 5x86-133 CPU's
resulting in significant performance improvement. If you have a 5 volt motherboard, check
if the CPU is soldered on the motherboard. If yes, you have no choice but to replace the
motherboard. If no, then it is quite likely that your motherboard will accept a CPU OVERDRIVE. Ask your computer
vendor which overdrive is compatible with your motherboard, the Intel DX4-100 overdrive,
Intel Pentium 83MHz overdrive or the Turbo Chip 133. It is always advisable that you
contact your computer vendor before ordering an overdrive. Whichever overdrive you choose,
you will get a significant power boost over your existing CPU unless you already have a
486 DX4-100 or higher.
Motherboard. If your
current motherboard will not accommodate a faster cpu or you have a 286, 386 or 486
motherboard and you want to move to a Pentium or Pentium Pro system, replace your
motherboard. Replacing a motherboard can be accomplished in many ways:
Buy a motherboard and CPU
of your choice. Don't forget to order a fan with the CPU. This option is for those who
know what they are doing and know the strengths and weaknesses of the various motherboards
and which one will go well with the CPU you are buying. If you are not technical enough to
make that judgement call, then go with upgrade kits or cpu + motherboard
combo kits or bare bone
systems. where we have made that decision for you.
Buy an Upgrade Kit .
Upgrade kits are ideal if you don't want to bother with researching the motherboard that
goes well with your CPU speed. Price wise also, it usually is better to buy a kit than buy
the items separately. However; you must have enough technical knowledge and time to
replace motherboards. It is not as simple as you may think and takes a good two to three
hours.
Bare Bone Systems. The
difference between an Upgrade Kit and a Barebone System is that the motherboard is
pre-installed in the computer case. CPU and Memory is not included in the price of the
barebone system and you have to buy them separately. If you buy a barebone system and
additional items like cpu, memory, video cards etc., we install them for you in the
barebone system at no extra charge. All you have to do is remove the salvageable parts
from your old system and install them in the new system (We can help you on the phone or
via e-mail if you get stuck). It is far more easier than removing and installing a new
motherboard. The price of barebone systems is slightly higher than if you were buying a
motherboard and case separately as installation charges are added up. However; the extra
money is well spent if you are not a very technical person or don't have the time to
spare.
CPU +
Motherboard combination kits: The advantage of buying a cpu + motherboard
combination kit is that the cpu is pre-installed on the motherboard. The CPU fan is also
installed with the silicon heat conducting compound properly applied. The jumpers are set
for you and the kit is tested before shipping. All you have to do is install the
motherboard in your existing case and then install memory and your drives etc.
If you
want to have the motherboard installed in a computer case as well, you might want to opt
for our Barebone Systems.
Or, you may select a case from our Computer
Cases section and we will install the cpu + motherboard kit in the case for you with
no additional installation charges.
Video Memory. If your only
grudge with your current system is the quality and the number of colors you can see, you
can add more memory to your
video card or buy a new video
card. No need to buy a whole new system.
Modem. If you have anything
less than a 28.8kbps modem, surfing the internet can be an exercise in patience and very
frustrating. Select a modem
that fits your budget and you will see life around your computer a little more bearable.
Disk. Most modern software
applications require a lot of disk space. If you have an older disk, you may be squeezed
for space and that may also slow down your system as it tries to fit in the data as best
as it can. Besides, your old hard drive may be very slow. Newer disk drives will not only
give you more storage space, their faster speeds will also help improve overall system
performance.
Printer. Are your print
jobs taking too long to finish and tie up your system? It could be that your system is too
outdated but quite often it is because your printer has very little memory of it's own.
Adding a little printer memory
can expedite the printing process. You can also look into buying a faster printer.
However; be careful. Buying a printer that is just a shade faster than your current one is
not going to help much. Go for a printer that has a
significantly faster output than what you have now.
Monitor. If you have an
old VGA monitor, using the more colorful software applications can be a little boring. To
see better colors or if you need a bigger screen, buy a new monitor. No need to change
your complete system.
CD-ROM Drive. If you like to
play games on your computer but your CD-ROM Drive is very slow, you can upgrade to a
faster drive and that will help improve performance of games. Upgrading to a faster CD-ROM
Drive will also help improve performance of databases that are on CD-ROMs.
DVD Drives: Want to
watch movies on your computer or play games with better pictures? If so, buy a DVD drive.
It serves the function of a CD-ROM drive as well as play movies. Basically it replaces
your CD-ROM Drive. When buying a DVD drive, buy an MPEG decoder card also. It
will help run the movies much more smoothly.
Laptops: If you are upgrading a
laptop, in most cases you can only upgrade the memory, hard drive and modem. The rest you have to live
with. If you can't live with it, then consider replacing it with either a new laptop or a used laptop.
If the above information does not answer your question or your situation is different,
send us an e-mail and we will try our best to help
you.
