Good idea? Why would you want to upgrade? Upgrading Good idea? Why would you want to upgrade?

Upgrading Costs v Benefits Benefits Costs Increased speed / capacity New features Lower power consumption Costs Equipment (Best or Better) Installation (DIY or Shop – labour charges)

Upgrade options CPU RAM Motherboard Graphics What else? Sound Network Other I/O ports e.g. USB, Firewire

CPU Upgrade limited by motherboard Where would you look to check? Socket type Clock speed BIOS support Where would you look to check? Motherboard manual Manufacturer’s website

RAM Most common upgrade Choice limited by motherboard/BIOS RAM type supported RAM speeds supported Total amount of RAM supported Affected by current configuration No of RAM slots on motherboard No of RAM slots occupied

RAM types

Motherboard (mobo) Upgrade to: Support faster/different CPU Support more/different RAM Offer new features e.g. Gigabit Ethernet USB 2.0 instead of USB 1.1 More ports PCIe slots SATA ports

SATA ports PCIe slots

Possible mobo issues May be forced to upgrade other components e.g. CPU RAM Power supply Case Check expansion slots Check I/O ports e.g. Parallel port?

Motherboard form factors Size & shape of motherboard Position of components / interfaces Many types e.g. ATX / Mini-ATX LPX / Mini-LPX BTX Mini-ITX Most common mobos are ATX

Graphics Upgrade for Higher performance e.g. New feature support e.g. Faster – streaming media Replace onboard with separate New feature support e.g. DirectX10 Different interface e.g. DVI instead of VGA TV Out

Graphics Check Motherboard expansion slots Space inside case Position of other cards Power requirements Heat Drivers available for your operating system

Sound card Upgrade for Higher performance e.g. New features e.g. Better quality sound Replace onboard with separate New features e.g. Surround sound instead of stereo 7.1 instead of 5.1 Different interface e.g. Surround sound direct to speakers instead of single digital link to decoder

Sound card What are YOU going to check Motherboard expansion slots Drivers available for your operating system

Network Upgrade for Higher performance e.g. Different interface e.g. Gigabit Ethernet instead of 100BaseT Replace onboard with separate Different interface e.g. Wireless Fibre

Other I/O Add new ports e.g. Upgrade ports e.g. USB Firewire USB 2.0 instead of USB 1.1

Other factors Warranty Overall cost of upgrade v. Specification of upgraded PC

Warranty Upgrades may void warranty New systems come with warranty Components have own warranty BUT Interaction?

Overall cost of upgrade Total cost of Equipment Labour Downtime May be higher than new BUT More control over specification Cash-flow benefit Spread cost over time