Should I upgrade?

[pivoxa]

I am thinking of upgrading my PC. What parts should I buy? I currently have an old one from 2000. So probably need to upgrade every component? Probably best to buy a whole new box (with all new components) or maybe build my own box? Currently I have 731MHz, 128MB and 20Gigs.


If you want an upgrade on hard drive space but would like to keep your old files, how would you do it? I like to have an upgrade but keep all the current settings, programs, files etc.

[Sstellethyss]

Honestly, it depends on what you want to do with your PC. If all you do is surf the web and use it as a word processor and MP3 player then the computer you have is fine for that. I also have a very similar computer from 1999, 667MHz, upgraded to 128MB RAM and 15GB hard drive. I want to play some very graphics demanding games, and I'm very picky about my parts, so I'll be starting from scratch and cutting cost by building it myself.. and it's still going to cost approximately $2000.

But you've come to the right forum. Rob has some great suggestions for parts on his homepage. If you're not wanting to play fast paced online games then you can get away with spending less than half of that.. Let us know what you want to get out of your machine and it will give us a better idea of how to help you.

As far as keeping your old files you can read up on how to take your hard drive with you:
http://www.mysuperpc.com/faq_old_new_hard_drive.shtml

...or you can either burn a CD with your files on it, or get a flash drive to put them on. Settings can always be tweaked once you get your new PC running.

[pivoxa]

I'm just looking to use the basics as you said. My main purpose is to make it so that the programs don't have to pause so much when loading. It seems like the one I have at the moment is fine as you say? I don't play games on it.

[Sstellethyss]

I know what you mean about the lag. When I'm booting up my computer in the morning I could go make myself some breakfast before it decides to display my desktop, and god forbid I try to open two applications at once.

Upgrading your current machine is probably possible, but may be a bit of a headache to find the parts you need, and after all of that it may add very little to your performance. Like Rob was telling another forum junkie, the good news about this is if you decide to do so and you can find them, they will be very cheap. The first thing you will need to do is find out the make and model of your motherboard, and go from there.

If you're interested in putting something together yourself, but don't want to be confined to your current motherboard's limitations, I'm sure you could come up with something for just a couple hundred dollars that would suit your needs just fine and more than double your current machines performance. You might even have a lot of fun doing it.

If building your own machine is more than what you're looking for, then my suggestion is to look into places like Wal-Mart and see if they have anything available. There's probably some computer shops local to your area that might be able to give you an even better deal.

There's also the option of going to reputable online dealers like http://www.newegg.com and searching through their pre-built desktops. They have some decent machines starting at $349.99 which would blow your current setup away.

And lastly, check with your friends. See if any of them is a geek like the rest of us and have an old setup they would be willing to sell you for a low price. This may be a cheap way to do what you're looking for, but beware.. you may just end up inheriting someone else's problems.

Let us know what you decide! :cool: