 | Is it time to upgrade your computer?
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Is your computer taking forever to complete day-to-day tasks? Maybe it’s time for an upgrade.
How do I know if I need to upgrade my computer or — even more drastically — buy a new one?This is an easy question to answer: If you can’t use your existing computer to meet your current needs, then you definitely should consider a change.But, before you rush into anything, you need to check whether your computer’s sluggishness is due to a temporary, curable ailment rather than a terminal illness. This can be achieved by carrying out the following steps:
1) Make sure your computer is free of Adware / Spyware.
2) Run through these performance enhancing guides:
Should I upgrade or buy a new machine?
If you have optimized your computer (as above) but are still unsatisfied with its performance, the next move is to consider the age of the machine.
- If your computer is older than four years, simply get a new machine. It does not pay to upgrade.
- If your computer is between two and four years old, you are on the borderline and should probably get a professional evaluation to determine whether a system upgrade or a new machine is the better option.
- If your computer is less than two years old, you can probably upgrade effectively.
If I upgrade now, what parts should be replaced?When you upgrade your computer, the two main parts that will be replaced are the motherboard and the CPU. Depending on the age of your machine, you may be able to get away with just buying a new CPU, but it’s likely that the motherboard will also need to be replaced.Another component that is frequently replaced during an upgrade is the hard drive (or drives). Consumer hard drive speed has been steadily increasing for a number of years and, with a fast motherboard and CPU, the hard drive speed (usually measured in millisecond seek time or RPM) can easily become the bottleneck for normal system operation / performance.
If you bought a computer from a major manufacturer and haven’t upgraded the graphics card yet, you should make this a priority as well.
If you bought a computer from a major manufacturer and haven’t upgraded the graphics card yet, you should make this a priority as well.What can I expect to pay? What should I get?
This is a complex question that will vary from person to person based on their particular requirements and of course their budget. However, we will try to generalize as accurately as possible.
If you buy a new computer, you can expect to pay between $800 and $900 for a decent, good value unit. This includes a new flat panel 17”–19” monitor and a single processor (one or two cores) with an effective speed of 3000Mhz–4000Mhz. At this price, you may receive an AGP or PCI Express video card but it won’t be capable of stellar performance. This configuration will last you approximately two years before becoming noticeably outdated, but you will have the ability to upgrade to a higher end graphics card to comfortably run the next generation software, games, and possible operating system from Microsoft.