Desktops forum: What should I do: upgrade my computer or buy a new one?

If it supports 45nm or less dual-core, ddr2 800 or better ram, and 250gb HDD or better you don't need to..

computers are tools of automation...if the used programs run efficient you're good..maybe go to a new windows OS for security like patch guard an free AV...

6 years old is way passed the point of upgrading, technology has advanced so far in the last 6 years, it's not worth upgrading a system that old, plus it's probably just as cheap to buy a new system.

Right now you can buy a new Desktop PC and LCD Monitor worthy of doing pretty much anything you need for around $400, or $500 if you're a real PC gaming fanatic.

You can buy a brand new laptop capable of doing almost anything for around $500 and a gaming laptop for around $700.

You'd end up spending $150 to $300 upgrading the old one and it wouldn't even be near the league of a new one.

A couple of weeks ago I had the same thing happen - only my computer is 11 years old. I knew the C: drive was going, so I'd already moved all data to another drive. When it finally gave out, I had one already loaded with XP Pro that I could put in it. I had to reload a few drivers, but that was about all. The original DVD-RW would not write to the newer media, so I also had a newer one that I put in. The computer may be old, but it still chuggs along doing what I need it to do. That's more than I can say about my 3-year old machine that had the motherboard/processor go out.

I've just helped a friend in nearly the identical situation -- except he
managed to destroy his CPU from heat (the heat sink was covered with a
thick layer of dust under the fan -- no air was getting to or escaping
the CPU and heat sink). The six-year old components weren't worth
carrying over to a rebuild -- all that could be retained was the hard
drive (and that was just the data partition -- I used a solid state
drive for the new C drive where Windows 7 and applications go).

There wasn't anything else worth saving. The video card was an AGP --
new motherboards use PCI cards. The DVD and CD drives used the IDE
interface -- most new motherboards do not even had an IDE channel; they
all use Serial ATA3 (SATA3) and they don't accommodate a floppy drive
(seriously, when was the last time you even used a floppy disk?).

So go with a full rebuild and do it yourself if you have the skill. Or
use a local computer store to do it for you because all the major
manufacturers, frankly, can't do it as well.

Insist on the following:
A modern motherboard that accommodates the latest processors. In
the case of AMD, we're talking about AM3+ CPUs like the FX-4100 (you
really don't need a more expensive one especially since this overclocks
and already has the fastest speed).
If you go with Windows 7, the 64-bit version will allow you to use more
than 4GB of RAM, but there is a slight chance that some of your older
applications will not work in 64-bit Windows.
Two hard drives:
A 128 GB solid state drive (SATA3, 6 GB/second) -- see Tom's Hardware's monthly SSD Hierarchy Chart. In "Tier 3" you'll find

I bought my computer 10 years ago knowing I could upgrade. I added RAM going from 1/2 GB to 4GB. It runs much better. And depending how much I use it that now I'm retired, may be able to keep another year or two.

Why do you want a pc ? !.
For what do you want a pc ? !.
What do you know about a pc ? !.
Where your pc to be six years from now ? !.

Let's see what you have to do about upgrading:

New Windows? Remember you will have to buy new Windows if you change out a lot of your harware as it will invalidate your activation and force you to call M$ to see if you have to purchase Windows XP all over again or pay to buy one of the Windows 7 versions (Upgrade advisor would be of help here).

Remember that you need to shop for everything BEFORE you start buying stuff because your motherboard can limit what you are putting on it (RAM), because of it's age, Power supply: Is it really going to be able to power all these new things? Cooloing! Don't discount cooling issues. You can't replace some old IDE drive with some new 15,000 RPM drive and not have cooling issues and I'm talking about fans AND baffles. I've already seen drives get trashed due to heat because of this very issue. Do you have enough PCI slots for what you want to do? Do you have a slot for a GPU (video card)? Do you know what the card requires in terms of slots?

Will the software disks you have run very well on Windows 7 or are they just for Windows XP and Windows 2000? Will you need upgrades. Reminder that you can't do an "in-place" upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. How will you handle that? I'd just backup critical data and do a clean wipe if you were going to keep the HDD.


What about buying new:


OK, a new computer that runs a lot faster than your old one:

Probably won't cost as much as you think except that you may need updates to your software items. Then again, it will probably all work together as opposed to buying disjointed parts.

There are really only two reasons to consider upgrading at all. The first is because you just want to, and the second is if your current configuration is lacking or failing in some way, and that usually concerns speed. It is, though, possible that that 5 and a quarter inch floppy drive, or the lack of a single USB port might have got you thinking.<span>

<span>Upgrading components depends primarily on the capability and upgradeability of the motherboard. If the motherboard can only accommodate old tech - CPU, RAM, card slots, then that's the first thing to go. Maxing out elderly RAM, or upgrading to, say, a faster P4 CPU is taking you nowhere. I finally upgraded my motherboard because my old one had an AGP graphics card slot, and I wanted better - PCIe, and more and faster memory. I was playing Half-life 2 and the cut scenes were truly painfully slow. When Alyx was on the table being repaired by the Vortigerns after being beaten up good style by a Hunter, I had time to make a cup of tea and watch half a recorded Mythbusters episode. That wasn't fun, and so I made my choice. Having decided upon that, I was then forced to upgrade the CPU and the motherboard memory - the bits in my old machine were, of course, incompatible. However, that was it for immediate outlay. I could still use all the existing peripherals - disk drives - floppy and hard, monitor, DVD drive, mouse, keyboard, wireless LAN card, and the Operating System (XP). If you have a soundcard, the onboard stuff on your new motherboard will likely be better, so you can diss that.
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<span>I changed other items, but gradually, and mainly hard drives - I could now accommodate SATA drives, but still use my previous IDE for XP. I increased the RAM, but, again, slowly, as and when I could afford it. I've now got 4 Gig onboard, and that'll do me for quite a while. I only got Windows 7 64 bit so I could make full use of that RAM, and I now dual boot XP and 7. I also upgraded the case to increase the wattage capability of the power supply as I added extra hard drives and fans - just in case - no pun intended.There was nothing that my old machine couldn't do, but I really wanted that speed boost, and wasn't going to be happy until I got it. In every other area, it was a perfectly good machine, and I've not really noticed extra benefits for other software - wordprocessor, etc. But the graphics speed now is very nice, thank you.
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<span>As for cost of upgrading, you really have to do the research. Graphics card, motherboard, CPU, price of suitable RAM? Sound was not a consideration for me, I'm quite happy with the onboard stuff - your needs may differ. Others might disagree, but I would suggest buying a motherboard\CPU\fan bundle. They are often cheaper than when bought individually, but you also won't have to worry about compatibility - that's been done for you. You probably won't get the bestest, fastest, modernest setup this way, but it will all work together. I spent many, many hours just researching graphics cards, and made my choice as a compromise between cost and speed. My current graphics card is PCIe with1Gig DDR5 RAM. Again, that's going to do me for a while yet.
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<span>Putting it all together isn't difficult, and there is a ton of advice online. If you're worried about that, just try taking your current machine apart, probably needs a dust by now, anyway, and put it back together again. If you can do that, you can do the upgrade. (One thing I did boob on was the motherboard OR the graphics card - you figure. I've got 2 PCIe slots - one full size and one short one. The graphics card has a large fan on the very side that hangs over the short PCIe slot making it unuseable (doh!). But I never expected manufacturers not to have some sort of layout standard that would avoid that kind of stupidity - so that's really their fault. Mind you, I'm quite capable of cutting the contact area off a card, pushing the cut off bit into the slot, and wiring it back up to it's card - even if I have to place the actual card ouside the case - so all is not lost.)

<div><span>Budget is key, linked with what your main goal for upgrading is. Research the cheapest cost of upgrading to your happiness, and then see if anything available ready-built is better. I doubt it. I've always found it cheaper to upgrade\build my own. A new machine will also leave you with a bunch of perfectly serviceable bits that you'll probably never use, but you'll hang on to them for a few years - and then bin them. Upgrading means you'll only throw away the truly useless bits.
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<span>As has been pointed out, upgrading is really not an option with many branded PCs. I've only experienced Dell machines, and then through other people, and upgrading them has so far been out of the question. I assume some others are the same. As I've always built my own, that's never been a concern.
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<span>If upgrading is a possibility, do it. It's just the best fun you can have fully-clothed. That's a part of it that might not have been considered. Building or upgrading your own machine is extremely satisfying. Making it work is magic. Even if an upgrade did cost a bit more than an upgrade - highly unlikely, it'd still be worth it just for the sheer pleasure of doing it yourself. Makes you feel good, and that's got to be worth a few quid.
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Your six-year-old computer might not be upgradable in a terribly meaningful way as it is getting a bit older. An SSD would help a lot. Putting in 2 GiB of RAM would help a fair bit too. But you can't just replace the CPU without replacing everything else too - so the effort probably isn't worth it. Buy a new PC.

Or, have you thought about Linux? Distributions of Linux such as Ubuntu are easy-to-use and (depending on your RAM) can run on your computer with the latest software and the latest features that you won't find in Windows XP.

As Windows 8 is just around the corner and looks like it's going to alienate a lot of people, it might be worth having a look at what Linux can offer you. You will probably learn something, especially since Linux is VERY dissimilar to Windows. But Linux is very friendly these days and will extend the usable life of your computer by still allowing you to run newer programs, and you might even see a bit of a speed boost too.

Ubuntu - www.ubuntu.com
DistroWatch (tells you what is popular in Linux, gives you options of what flavours of Linux you can try): www.distrowatch.com