When can I decide whether to buy or upgrade?
Some believe that their computer is really slow, when it's only about a year old or so. If that's the case, maybe a simple cleanup and a few small upgrades would fix the problem. In most cases, the computer is ancient, coughing its way to the internet. Four-year-old or older computers might need to only be upgraded. However, the standard six-year-old might need to be put away for school papers and such.
Worms, Viruses and Spyware; oh my!
With the new technology enhancing everyday, new software is always being developed which is both good and bad news for computer users everywhere. Don't stop to think that you're invincible because one click could mean the end of all clicks.
Advertisements are everywhere. Comptuer attacks come in all forms: worms (invasion of personal information), viruses (slows and eventually breaks down system), and malware (both spyware and adware which usually come in pop-ups.) Always be protected. The free solution is to grab a copy of Zone Alarm (firewall) and AVG free virus protection. That still doesn't make you untouchable. A disk cleanup is always necessary. Defragment your PC every other week or so, to stay on top of things.
Here's some common cleanup tools:
- Spybot: Search & Destroy
- Lavasoft Ad-aware
- Spyware Blaster
- XCleaner
From here it depends on what the problem is. Check the specifications of your current machine to decide exactly what you think you might need. Most people either upgrade RAM (memory), video cards or even entire motherboards. If it gets that extreme, maybe you'd be better off building a custom system.
Although RAM may be cheap to buy nowadays especially since most of the parts needed to build a custom rig happen to be integrated with the motherboard, video cards tend to be very pricey. Either way, you're going to end up spending at least $150 to $200 on a new video card. For extreme gamers, jump to a GeForce 7800 GTX for about $600 retail.
Out With the Old, In With the New
Stock parts from systems such as the Sony Vaio or the standard Dell PC Desktop are great for starters, but not worth the money especially if you're a heavy gamer or graphics designer. Take it from experience, Photoshop CS2 needs a lot of memory to run.
Why Building is Cheaper Than Buying
Ready built desktops can cost you up to $2,500 for that dream system you've always wanted. For most cases, unless it's an Alienware PC, it probably isn't going to suit your favored needs. Building a custom rig will get you the look and the feel, exactly how you'd want it to be. Although searching for seperate parts may be a hassle, it will be worth it in the end. Compare an Alienware Area 51 to a custom built PC.
Alienware Area 51:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz
Motherboard: Intel D850MVSE
Memory: 512MB PC800 RDRAM
Hard Drive: WD1200JB (8MB cache)
Optical Recordable: Pioneer DVD-RW/R
Optical Primary: 16x DVD-ROM
Floppy: 3.5"
Graphics: GeForce4 Ti 4600 OEM
Speakers: Klipsch Promedia 5.1
Case: Antec/Chieftec custom
Power Supply: Enermax 430W
Keyboard: Alienware Custom
Mouse: Customized Microsoft
Total Price: $3,470
Custom Build
CPU: Pentium 4 3.2 GHz
Motherboard: Intel 915G
Memory: 1GB PC3200 SDRAM
Hard Drive: Western Digital 320GB (8MB Cache)
Optical Primary/Recordable: CD-RW/R 32x/DVD-R
Floppy: 3.5"
Graphics: ATI Radeon X700Pro
Speakers: Miyoko 2.1
Case: POWMAX ATX Mid-tower
Power Supply: Enermax 460W
Keyboard: Logitech
Mouse: Logitech MX310
Total Price: $1,000
Both systems are almost equal, while the custom build is a little faster with more RAM and a better CPU. (By the way, the custom build is my own personal computer. :D)
In the end, you can save yourself plenty of money by building a custom computer over buying a new one or updating. Small updates won't take you far for very long, but a new custom build will bring you to new horizons.
-- by Roman A. (Revolution909.org)