Upgrade your PC to first class - Part 2

Sound and vision
Hard disks and sockets are useful devices but, let's face it, they're not the most exciting things you can plug into your PC. If you're a games fan then graphics cards are much easier to get worked up about.

A good graphics card can dazzle you with amazing 3D visual feasts that are starting to approach the quality you see in Hollywood blockbusters.

The main thing to remember about modern graphics cards is that they're primarily designed for 3D graphics which, for the home user, means games. If you're only interested in 2D graphics applications, such as video or photo-editing, then a new graphics card is not an essential piece of kit.

For the games fan, though, the latest, greatest graphics cards are a must-have item. We could devote an entire article to graphics cards alone, not least because they've all got incredibly confusing names.

It's hard to tell ATI's Radeon X800 Pro from the nVidia FX 5200 Ultra, especially when ATI and nVidia (the two companies that currently dominate the graphics card market) also sell their graphics cards to lots of other companies who then slap their own brand names onto them, making it difficult to keep up with the large variety of cards that are available.

But, as a quick rule of thumb, there are two details that are worth noting. The raw speed of a graphics card can be measured by the number of pixels that it can flash onto the screen every second (the word 'pixels' is short for 'picture elements'; in other words, the coloured dots that make up the image you see on-screen).

This is sometimes referred to as the fill rate of the card and if you look at the tech specs on the nVidia and ATI websites, you'll find that the Radeon X800 has a fill rate of 5.7 billion pixels per second, while the FX 5200 Ultra is closer to 1 billion pixels per second.

This tells us that the Radeon is a top-of-the-range card aimed at the hardcore gamer, while the FX 5200 Ultra is a more affordable, mass-market model.

A quick look at a few prices on some online retailer websites confirms this, with X800-based cards costing an average of £300 or more, while FX 5200 cards come in at well under £100.

The other detail to watch out for is the amount of video memory (sometimes known as VRam) built into the graphics card. This is a special type of high-speed memory chip that helps the graphics card to process complex visual effects.

Many modern games require a graphics card that has at least 32MB of video memory. High-end cards such as the Radeon X800 may have up to 256MB, but a good compromise for most home users is to opt for a card that has 64MB-128MB.

This amount of video memory should be able to cope with most of the games that are likely to be released in the next year or so.

There's one other detail that you need to watch out for. Most graphics cards produced in the last two or three years plug into an AGP expansion slot on your motherboard.

The latest generation of graphics cards are designed for a newer type of expansion slot known as PCI Express. These new graphics cards will be incredibly fast, but very few PCs have got this new type of slot at the moment; any PC old enough to need an upgrade is almost certain not to have one.

The good news is that the majority of new graphics cards are available with a choice of interface. Just make sure the one you buy is compatible with your existing PC.

Gamers are also one of the main audiences for new soundcards. However, most PCs released in the past four or five years have perfectly good soundcards that provide excellent quality stereo output.

There's really no need to buy a new soundcard unless you're planning to perform and record your own music, or you're looking for features such as surround sound for games or films.

Slow coach
It is important to realise that none of these upgrade options can compensate for a slow processor, the chip at the heart of the computer. If this is way past its sell-by date then there's no point wasting money on new graphics cards or hard disks.

If you're lucky, upgrading your processor can be a piece of cake. If you're unlucky it can begin to seem like brain surgery. The main thing that you need to realise is that the CPU can't be considered in isolation.

By itself, a CPU is just a lump of silicon. To use it properly you have to install it onto a motherboard, the big green circuit board that houses all the components inside your computer.

There are two main types of processor used in PCs these days. Intel's Pentium processors are the most well known, but face competition from the Athlon processors developed by its rival, AMD.

As a result, there are different types of motherboards that are designed for either AMD or Intel processors.

Installing a processor onto a motherboard is actually quite easy. All processors have a number of small metallic pins on them that are arranged in a specific pattern.

This ensures that it's physically impossible to insert the processor the wrong way round, or to insert an Intel processor onto an AMD motherboard.

This arrangement of pins is sometimes referred to as a slot or socket, so the latest Pentium 4 processors use what's known as the Socket LGA775. However, earlier Pentium 4 processors used a different type of socket known as PGA478.

The first generation of PGA478 Pentium 4 processors run at a variety of speeds, ranging from 1.3GHz to 2.8GHz, so if you've got a 1.3GHz machine that is a couple of years old you might well find that you can perform a really quick upgrade simply by replacing the original processor with newer 2.8GHz processor.

The new processor uses the same type of slot, so it should just take a few seconds to remove the old processor and insert the new one.

Unfortunately, things are rarely that easy and this is where it all gets a bit too complicated for comfort. For instance, there were actually two generations of PGA478 Pentium 4 processors, and the second-generation processors (which run at 2.8GHz and above) aren't compatible with first generation motherboards, even though they may have the same type of socket.

And, of course, you're completely stuck if you've got a Pentium III machine, or even something older.

It will be physically impossible to install a newer processor onto the motherboard of these old machines so the only option - other than buying a brand-new PC - is to buy both a new motherboard and a new processor in one go.

Doing it yourself
Many PC magazines run articles telling you that installing a new motherboard and processor is a piece of cake and you can do it with a hangover first thing on Sunday morning while simultaneously washing the dog. Well, they're lying.

Installing a new motherboard is a big job. You've got to dismantle the entire PC for starters, removing the old motherboard and disconnecting the hard disk, power supply and all the other components that are connected to the motherboard.

Then you find out that the new motherboard needs a different type of power supply, and a different type of memory chip, and the new processor gives off a lot more heat than the old one so you have to install a new cooling system as well.

In other words you're effectively building yourself an entirely new PC from scratch, and if anything goes wrong you can't take the machine back to the shop because it's not their fault. It can be a useful learning exercise, but unless you're very confident performing surgery on your computer, it's safer to buy a new one.

Up and away
We may draw the line at rebuilding a PC with a new motherboard but all the other upgrades we've looked at are well worth considering. A new graphics card or a chunk of extra memory can really give your PC a shot in the arm without you having to spend a fortune.

And most of these upgrades are also simple enough that they can be carried out without giving yourself a nervous breakdown.

There may come a day when you have to bite the bullet and buy a brand new PC, but that really is your last resort. You may well be able to extend the life of your PC by a year or two or even more, which will give you time to save up for when you really do need a new machine.

Mod world
They may be full of high-tech gadgetry but most PCs are really quite boring to look at. If you want to brighten up that dull beige box you can always enter the world of PC modification, or 'modding' as it's known in the biz.

There are some really extreme mods, such as the keen enthusiast who built a PC inside a toilet, but you can also pick up some more modest mods in high-street computer stores.

A popular choice is to buy panels that sport flashing lights, or which have a window that lets you peer into the inside of your computer. Side panels emblazoned with paintings of dragons and grinning skulls also seem to be popular with many teenage PC owners.

But just remember that mucking about with your PC like this will almost certainly void its warranty, so modding isn't recommended unless you feel comfortable tinkering with your PC.

Optical delusions
Buying a DVD burner can be a complicated business. There are no fewer than four different types of blank DVD disc currently on sale, and different types of DVD drive will work with different types of disc.

The most common types are the DVD- range: DVD-R (which can only be used once), and DVD-RW (which are reusable). To work with these discs you need a DVD-RW drive.

More recently, a rival format known as DVD+ has also started to become popular. These are either DVD+R (use once) and DVD+RW (reusable) and to save data to these discs you need to buy a DVD+RW drive.

The DVD+ discs are newer and are supposed to be more compatible with devices such as domestic DVD players. In practice, though, this really isn't an issue, so you don't need to worry too much about which type of drive you buy.

To play it safe, though, you can buy combination drives that work with all four types of disc, such as Iomega's Dual DVD Drive, which costs around £150.

The good news is that most current DVD drives will also allow you to record straight onto blank CDs as well - so at least that's one thing you don't need to worry about (but remember to ask before buying).