Should I Upgrade My PC, or Replace It?

In the 1990s, and the early-2000s, improvements in PC technology led to machines going out-of-date incredibly quickly. Nowadays, this has levelled out somewhat, and unless you want to run the latest cutting-edge games, your older PC may serve you for several years. But that’s not to say it can’t be improved during its lifetime!

Generally speaking, a computer that’s only a few years old- but starting to look a little jaded- is the ideal candidate for an upgrade that can significantly improve its performance for a fraction of the cost of a whole new system.

(On the other hand, if your computer is significantly older than this, you may wish to decide whether you should upgrade or buy a brand-new model instead).

RAM Upgrades

For example, adding RAM (main memory) is often one of the most straightforward and affordable ways to upgrade your system. Many cheaper systems cut corners on the amount of RAM. If yours is a bit on the low side, you might be surprised how much upgrading this alone can improve the performance of your PC. Since RAM price tends to fall significantly over the long-term, such an upgrade may be far cheaper than it would have been even a few years ago.

Hard Drive and Solid State Drive Upgrades

If you’re running out of hard drive space, that’s often easy to upgrade as well- particularly with desktop machines! As with RAM, prices are generally falling, and you might be surprised how cheap it is to replace or add a new hard drive. Better still, adding a solid state drive (SSD) could massively improve the boot-up speed and program loading time of your computer. Just a few years ago, SSDs were expensive and low capacity- nowdays the price has nose-dived. Models that can comfortably hold Windows itself- or even replace your main hard drive!- are incredibly good value for money and a great way to improve an existing PC.

A PC that’s just a few years old- but looking a little jaded- can be significantly improved for a fraction of the cost of a new system.

Other Options

Other low-cost upgrade options include adding a faster network card (either upgrading from 10/100 to Gigabit Ethernet, or a newer, faster wireless connection) or USB 3 upgrade cards. Or why not replace your DVD drive with the latest Blu-Ray technology?

Processor upgrades are also available in some cases, but are generally restricted to those in the same family- and of a similar age, or slightly newer- to the processor they’re replacing.

Beyond a certain point, your entire PC may be so out of date that it doesn’t support many of the latest- and best-value- modern components. Adding to this problem, upgrades to one part of your system may simply show up deficiencies in other areas. You may end up spending more on “compromise” upgrades that your computer supports, and still end up with an obsolete and unsatisfactory system.

For example, you might want to upgrade the RAM. Unfortunately, if your computer is so old that it only supports DDR2-type RAM (rather than the current DDR4)- well, you might be able to get it, but the maximum capacity will be lower, performance will be poorer- and it’ll still cost you more, since it’s no longer manufactured and harder to obtain.

If your computer is really, really out-of-date, it usually makes more economic sense to simply buy an entire new system.

Worse, once you’ve put it in, you realise that your system is still held back by the ancient processor. You’d like to upgrade that with one of the latest, great-value multi-core CPUs from AMD or Intel, right? Unfortunately, your motherboard won’t support those, so you’ll have to replace that as well. Then you realise that the obsolete DDR2 RAM you just bought won’t work with a modern processor and motherboard… so you’ll need some DDR3 RAM for that and the DDR2 gets put in a drawer. What a waste!

At this point you’ve replaced the heart of the system with what is- in effect- a new computer, but you still possibly have an old graphics card, an older hard drive that’s probably close to worn-out, etc.

That’s why, if your computer is really out-of-date, it usually makes more economic sense to simply buy an entire new system– one that’s been constructed around the latest technology with no compromises needed. Of course, you’ll still have your old computer, which can often be put to another use.

Our available newbuild and refurbished computers include:-

• Custom-built desktop PCs
• Refurbished Windows laptop and desktop computers
• Refurbished Apple Macintosh (Mac) laptop and desktop computers, including iMacs and MacBooks.