Desktop Computer Upgrade

What to look for before performing a desktop computer upgrade can determine if it’s even cost effective to upgrade your aging desktop computer. One of the main factors for determining if a desktop PC is even worth upgrading is the desktop computers age. Most desktop computers that are about four years old are still cost effective to upgrade, and can extend the life of the computer by another three years or so. Another factor you can use to choose if you are going to upgrade a desktop computer would be the use of the computer. What are you going to use the desktop PC for? Is just to casually surf the internet and check email or, did you plan on heavy graphics editing and playing today’s latest video games? If you planned on just casually surfing the internet, then spending a couple hundred dollars on some system memory and possibly a larger hard drive would be a good option, instead of spending hundreds more on a new desktop computer. If you planned using the desktop computer graphics and gaming the upgrades can still done just not as cost effective as for casual use. Please consult our upgrade desktop computer guide, to know what to look for before you order any parts or drop your computer off to a tech.

What to look for before you upgrade a desktop computer is extremely important if you plan on using the older desktop to play games. The first to look for is the system ram, you need to determine if the desktop computer has at least 1 gigabyte, how many open expansion slots there are, what type of ram the system supports, and finally how much you would like to upgrade to. Now considering it’s an older desktop computer and running a 32-bit operating system, you can’t install any more than 4 gigabytes or system ram. How ever that’s more than enough to support any on the newer games on the market. Next you need to determine what type of processor and the clock speed of the processor, is it single or a dual core. Both are fine for games, you just need a CPU in the older desktop computer that is clocked at 2.6 GHz or higher. Considering you want to the older desktop pc to play games, you will need a decent video card. Again any desktop computer can be upgraded, it comes down to cost. If your looking for a cost effective video card than look for a PCI-e x16 on the mother board of the desktop computer your looking to upgrade. If the desktop computer you’re looking to upgrade only has AGP or PCI slots, than most likely the desktop computer will not be cost effective to upgrade for gaming or graphics. If you were able to upgrade to a graphics card using the PCI-e x16 slot, than consider purchasing at least a 400 watt PSU, or you can follow the recommendations of the graphics card manufacturer. Most of the shelf brand name desktop computers are shipped with unreliable and extremely low power PSUs.

Call us today if you have any questions on upgrading your aging desktop computer.