More Upgrading Computer Components

Before buying your new parts have you done any research? Have you found the highest quality for the lowest price? The reason for DIY is to save money.

Consider this: If you buy a cheap part it will not last as long as a high quality part, yes you are paying less for the part but replacing it in a short time will cost you in the long run, cheap parts have a tendency to destroy other parts when they fail.

The 5 Steps to high quality and cheap DIY Computer Repairs Get It Today...

Modems: Dial up modems are at their maximum speed, if you have an older modem that gets say 28.8 or less connect speed you may want to buy a new one and get the 58.8 connect speed, makes a lot of difference when you connect. Check out the page on how to increase your Connect Speed before spending your money. Cable and DSL modems are the property of your ISP provider and they will upgrade those at their discretion.

Power Supply: If you are adding components to your computer consider the power supply. Most computers come with an adequate power supply that will support a few additional components. Lets say you have the typical computer, one hard drive, one CD-ROM, regular video, no extra fans, you haven't upgraded the processor, same sound card, etc. Stock computer.

Now you want the latest and greatest video and a new sound card, more memory, and a new second hard drive. You power supply may not be able to carry the new load you are putting on it. You need to look at the power supply in your computer, it should have a label on it telling you the wattage it supplies. Normal computers (not specialized) have a 200 or 300 watt power supply. Adding one or two components will not cause any problems, any more that that I would suggest upgrade to a power supply that has a higher wattage output.

CPU: Or processor upgrades. Memory will give you a large performance increase, so will a new processor. The cost of a processor upgrade and how far you can take the upgrade depends on your motherboard. A few manufactures have a upgrade path built into their motherboards, others don't, my computer main board (ASUS) supports Core 2 Quad, I have upgraded it four times, it currently is running at 3.17 GHz. (slightly overclocked, see Overclocking). To tell if your motherboard can take a newer processor will take a some research, you need to check the manufacture's web page for specifications. You need to know what processor you currently have, then check the specifications for a listing of supported processors.

Motherboard: Or mother boards, upgrading these will depend on your case and how much you have to spend. If you have a proprietary computer there may not be a motherboard that will fit the case. You also have to consider if you want to upgrade the computer for function or speed. If you can use your old components it will be cheaper. Which components will work on the new motherboard?

The processor? The memory? Is it smaller? Will the cables for the hard drive(s) and CD-ROM reach? The location of these connectors may not be in the same place as the old main board, may be as far as six inches further away. ( My fist ASUS main board had the connectors along the right hand side close to the drive bay, the new one all the connectors were on the left, all my drive cables were four inches to short, even the cables supplied by ASUS were to short.)

When upgrading computer components observe ESD!

See each item's page for more information on upgrading computer components, once you have your part(s) then to do the actual upgrade see the Repair section for instructions.