Upgrades: Risk Versus Reward
Tweaking software can only take you so far toward better system performance. When should you upgrade your hardware?Michael Desmond
It probably sounded so simple at the time: Buy an affordable PC with the idea of upgrading it a couple years later.
Well, "a couple years later" has officially arrived. Since you installed Windows XP, your aging system has slowed to a crawl, overwhelmed by the memory-hogging OS. There are MP3 files busting out of that sluggish 20GB hard drive. And the latest version of Doom has turned up its nose at your pathetic graphics card. What's a busy PC owner to do?
Why, upgrade, of course. Drop in another 512MB of system RAM or swap in a fast new CPU, and you can see visible gains in performance. Just be careful: Adding new life to your PC isn't always as easy as it sounds. Hunting down compatible parts can be a serious chore. What's more, a stray static shock, accidentally plugged-in power supply, or dropped hard drive can result in fried components and dead peripherals. Before doing any system upgrade, back up your data. (See "External Backups," which accompanies this article, for more information about backing up to external hard drives.)
Even if you avoid the snafus, upgrades can be a fantastic waste of money when users throw cash at components that add precious little to performance. I should know. I've blown more money on bad upgrades than I'll ever admit to my wife and family. From a little-used DVD-RAM drive purchased back in 2001, to a 256MB stick of RAM that I had to discard after installing 512MB of memory, I've wasted more than my share of money on upgrades.
How do you avoid these pitfalls? Easy. Go with the upgrades that can help you most. Are you an avid gamer? The latest 3D graphics card, fast CPU, and even a supercharged hard disk are good ideas. But if you simply want to add pep to Microsoft Office, consider adding system memory before replacing any other component.
Here's a quick look at hardware upgrades that can improve your PC's performance.
Upgrade: Your Memory Risk: Medium Reward: High Cost: 512MB, $60-$100
You can never be too rich, too smart, or have too much RAM--especially if you run Windows XP. Before you consider any other upgrade, make sure your system is packing at least 512MB of system RAM--and even more if you do things like play games or work with digital images and video. Unlike many upgrades, additional system RAM affects virtually every aspect of PC performance. Windows will load faster, applications will pop up quicker, and everything from gaming to media playback will run more smoothly.
The good news is, RAM is cheap. You can pick up a full gigabyte of fast DDR SDRAM for less than $200, and 512MB modules can be had for less than $100. The bad news? RAM is confusing. There are many types of system memory, from RAMBUS modules used in early Pentium 4 systems, to the DDR and DDR2 SDRAM favored in AMD systems and contemporary Pentium-based PCs. Check your documentation carefully to make sure the RAM you buy is a proper match for what's in your system. In fact, if you are adding RAM to what's already in your PC, it's a good idea to use memory from the same vendor so you can reduce the chance of a conflict.
Upgrade: Your Graphics Card Risk: Low Reward: Medium Cost: 128MB mid-range card, $200; 256MB high-end card, $500
If you're an avid gamer, there has never been a better time to upgrade your video card. Over the past six months, graphics giants ATI and NVidia have rolled out powerful new graphics processing units, which are the engines for PC graphics cards. Cards with 128MB of memory and based on the NVidia GeForce FX 5900XT GPU and ATI Radeon X700 are both solid choices (although AGP versions of Radeon X700 cards have yet to hit the streets). If you want top-end performance--and are willing to pay top dollar for it--consider 256MB cards built on the ATI Radeon X800 XT or Nvidia GeForce 6800Ultra GPUs. Expect to pay nearly $500 for these powerhouses.
What exactly will the big bucks get you? In addition to bragging rights, the latest GPUs pack the most sophisticated lighting, shading, and other special-effects technologies. Advanced games like Doom 3 can deliver stunning visual realism and smooth action to create a cinematic 3D gaming experience. For the best possible performance, you'll want to consider cards based on the new PCI Express bus standard. However, any system more than a year old will require a motherboard replacement to accept PCI Express cards. (See "Buying New," which accompanies this article, for more information on why not to upgrade.)
Upgrade: Your Hard Disk Risk: Medium Reward: Medium Cost: Up to $500
No, your hard drive isn't shrinking, you're just awash in data. If you're thinking of getting a bigger drive to hold all those MP3s, JPEGs, and other media files, why not grab a little extra performance while you're at it? Look for speedy hard disks that spin at 7200 rotations per minute and feature a large 8MB disk cache. Both features will speed application loads and make quicker work of file reads and writes. The new Hitachi Deskstar 7K500 packs an incredible 500GB of data and should cost about $500.
Until about a year ago, almost all PCs used the IDE connection to link drives to the motherboard. New systems employ Serial ATA, which offers a more efficient and user-friendly connection. You may be tempted to buy a PCI add-in card to add SATA capability to your system, but I'd advise against it for now. Drive vendors continue to ship fast, ATA-133 based drives, and the SATA version of these products really won't add much in terms of performance or functionality.
But if your mind is set on the latest and greatest, an SATA card (you can find good ones in the $35-$50 range) and a Western Digital Raptor 74GB SATA drive might make a good pair. The Raptor runs at a blistering 10,000 rpm and boasts an 8MB cache. Expect to pay about $210 for this rather small--but very fast--hard drive.
Upgrade: Your CPU Risk: High Reward: Medium Cost: 3.4-GHz Pentium 4, $325
A CPU upgrade can be a terrific boost for the most demanding among us--wild-eyed gamers, digital artists, and programmers who demand everything a processor can dish out. A new CPU can also be a great way to resurrect systems that are three or four years old. For the rest of us, a CPU update can be complicated, risky, and--quite simply--not worth the effort.
How can that be? For one thing, CPU performance is tightly bound by its connection to the motherboard, called the front side bus. Today's Pentium 4 CPUs run data to your system over a fast 800-MHz FSB, which prevents the processor from waiting around as data goes to and from memory. But if your older system employs a 533-MHz FSB, the benefit of replacing a 2.4-GHz CPU with a 3.4-GHz model may not be as great as you would think.
As with system RAM, upgrading the CPU takes careful research. You need to make sure the CPU you want to use matches the connectors (or pin out) of the motherboard. You'll also need to research low-level compatibility with the system BIOS to make sure the motherboard will be able to recognize and run the processor.
If you have a really old system, like the ancient Dell Dimension XPS D300 that I have rotting in a corner, you can turn to specialty upgrade kits. PowerLeap sells several such kits, including the PL-iP3/T, which replaces the 300-MHz Pentium II CPU in my Dell with a Celeron CPU running as fast as 1.4 GHz. The 1.3-GHz model with 100-MHz FSB costs about $120.
Upgrade: Your Display Risk: Low Reward: High Cost: 19-inch LCD, $600
That hulking 17-inch CRT monitor hogging space on your desktop is more than an unsightly nuisance, it's a huge energy hog that throws off tons of unwanted heat. Switch to a flat panel display, and you'll not only clear space and lower your electric bill, you could make yourself a lot more productive. The ViewSonic VP912b (about $600) is an expansive 19-inch display that displays 1280 by 1024 pixels to let you fit more work on the desktop. In many cases, reduced scrolling and switching among windows will speed your work more than any CPU upgrade.
Best of all, newer LCD displays are finally fit for gaming, thanks to fast pixel-refresh times that preserve smooth action even when the competition heats up. Look for displays rated with 12-millisecond pixel refresh rates--anything higher could produce jittering or smearing with live action. For best image quality, you'll want to connect your monitor and graphics card using a Digital Video Interface cable. Make sure you know what kinds of connections your graphics card supports before committing to a display.
Upgrade: Your Wireless Network Risk: Low Reward: High Cost: Access point, $80-$100; PC card, $40-$50
This is an article about upgrading your PC, so why the advice on Wi-Fi wireless networks? Simple: Boosting the speed and range of old networking equipment can pay big dividends if you have two or more PCs sharing data over the network. The first popular Wi-Fi cards and access points--based on a standard known as 802.11b--are rated to transmit data at 11 megabits per second (although Wi-Fi products never achieve their rated speeds). While 802.11b is fast enough to deal with a cable modem connection, it becomes a real bottleneck when shuffling large files between systems. What's more, older products employ a less-than-effective security mechanism. If you are concerned about prying eyes, consider moving to products meeting the 802.11g wireless network standard.
How fast are the newer Wi-Fi cards and access points? Informal testing with Netgear's latest equipment showed that a 70MB file whisked over the airwaves in less than 30 seconds. Using older 802.11b technology, that same file took nearly two minutes to reach the other side. You'll be hard pressed to find any CPU or graphics card update that offers that kind of speed boost.
Michael Desmond is a freelance writer living in Burlington, Vermont.