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

2. 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)

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. RAM types

7. 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

8. SATA ports
PCIe slots

9. 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?

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

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

15. 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

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

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

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

19. 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