The dos and don'ts of upgrading your PC

One of the greatest strengths of the desktop computer is the fact that it's possible to replace it, component by component, over a period of time so that, at some point, it's a completely different machine from the one originally bought.

This process is called upgrading and, for some people, it's never ending. There are some fanatical upgraders that stick just about every new processor, graphics card and hard disk in their PC as soon as it becomes available, in a futile attempt to have the fastest/quietest/most powerful computer possible.

For most people, however, upgrading is something that's saved for when there's enough time, money and, most importantly, need for it.

Unfortunately, judging when to upgrade a computer can be just as tricky as fitting the upgrade itself. So since we've covered the 'hows' of upgrading many times before in Computeractive, this time we're going to look at the 'whys'.

Hard times
Let's start with the hardware and why you might want to upgrade. Ask yourself whether there are any tasks you'd like to be able to perform on your computer but can't, simply because your PC isn't up to the job. If you can identify tasks like these, then an upgrade would be a good idea.

If, for example, you want to get serious about digital photography then a bigger hard disk will store more pictures, and some extra memory will speed up the editing process. For keen gamers who can't get decent performance from the hottest new games, a more up-to-date graphics card could be the answer.

Don't, however, be fooled into thinking that you have to upgrade just because a lot of interesting new hardware has recently come out and your PC is beginning to look a bit down-at-heel.

Even if the latest PCs all seem to have vast amounts of memory, ultra-cool TFT monitors and recordable DVD drives, it doesn't mean you have to run out and buy the same features for your PC.

If you do, you'll only have to repeat the process next year when a new crop of PCs with different features hits the shops.

There is a very good rule of thumb for upgrading any PC component in an attempt to boost performance: if you can't double the existing size, speed or capacity, don't bother.

On paper, a new 2GHz processor would seem to offer a 33 per cent boost in performance over an existing 1.5GHz chip, but in practice you'd only see this level of improvement if you upgraded the hard disk, memory and graphics card to the same level. It would probably be cheaper to buy a new PC.

Having decided to upgrade a component, the next thing to do is research the market. The fastest and newest version of a component is hardly ever the best buy because it will be loaded with a price premium and might well cost twice as much as the item it has just pushed into second place.

We all share a natural tendency to shy away from something we perceive as inferior because it's older and cheaper, but these things are relative.

In six months' time, the top-of-the-line item will itself have been ousted by something new, and if you buy it now at a premium how will you feel then?

Take a look at the table of AMD Athlon XP processor prices below, taken from the website of a major UK supplier in November 2003. You can see that there's an enormous price hike from £193 to £351 to get the current fastest processor.

Athlon XP 1700+ - £37
Athlon XP 1800+ - £42
Athlon XP 2000+ - £47
Athlon XP 2200+ - £51
Athlon XP 2400+ - £60
Athlon XP 2600+ - £73
Athlon XP 2700+ - £99
Athlon XP 2800+ - £185
Athlon XP 3000+ - £193
Athlon XP 3200+ - £351

Look again and you'll see another big gap between the 2700+ and 2800+ versions. A premium is clearly being applied to all processors over 2700+ and you'd be mad to buy the 2800+ processor for almost twice the price of the 2700+, which is clearly the best buy in terms of bangs per buck.

Smooth operators
For most of us, upgrading our operating system means buying the latest version of Windows, which at the moment is Windows XP.

This is a terrific upgrade because every piece of PC hardware and software is designed with Windows XP in mind and, if you've got XP installed on a computer that's less than two years old, you really are very close to 'plug in and play' perfection.

What is nice about Windows XP is that it virtually installs itself, either on top of an older version of Windows or as a fresh install on a blank hard disk. This hasn't always been the case with Windows upgrades; the move from Windows 95 to Windows 98 caused a lot of problems for many users.

They had to replace incompatible components, track down scarce drivers and buy lots of (at that time) very expensive memory. It was only when Windows 98 Second Edition came out that the benefits of upgrading began to outweigh the disadvantages.

The switch from 95 to 98 may have been problematic, but at least you ended up with a better system, whereas the move from Windows 98 to Windows Me was, at best, a sideways step rather than an upgrade.

Windows Me was a cynical marketing ploy by Microsoft to extract more revenue from unwitting punters who thought they were buying a brand-new kind of operating system. What they got was Windows 98 in a party dress and, like all party dresses, it turned out to be completely impractical for everyday use.

Don't even think of upgrading to Windows Me now, even if you're offered a second-hand copy for nothing. Either make the move straight from Windows 98 to Windows XP or stick with Windows 98 if you don't think your hardware is ready for XP.

There are alternatives to Windows of course, though precious few. The one that everybody has heard of is Linux. Unfortunately, Linux is a bit like that other Scandinavian import, Lego.

Both are a collection of building blocks that, in skilled hands, can be turned into something impressive. But for most people, it usually ends up as a crumbling ruin. Linux is for those who like playing with operating systems, while Windows is for people who like playing with their computers.

Soft options
The biggest con ever perpetrated on innocent computer users is the software upgrade. Let's not confuse upgrades with updates. An update is a free download, usually to fix a bug or make a minor improvement, but an upgrade means paying a second time for a supposedly different product.

At the high end of the business and multimedia software markets, products are revamped, sometimes annually, and offered in discounted upgrade versions to existing users.

At the popular end of the market (Quicken, AutoRoute, Norton Antivirus, and so on) you're expected to cough up the full price, with perhaps a small cash-back inducement if you send off a voucher.

Most annual software revamps are nothing more than marketing tricks. You should avoid them at all costs unless you've heard that the latest version of an application provides a feature you've always wanted, or that a program has been rewritten to make use of new features in Windows, as many were after the introduction of XP.

In fact, Microsoft is one of the main perpetrators of the upgrade scam. The original Microsoft Office has been revamped five times, the latest being Office 2003, but as far as we're concerned, Office 97 does the job just as well.

What's more, it runs like a dream on an old notebook with only 16MB of memory. Microsoft Works is an excellent integrated package (and there aren't many to choose from these days) but it comes out annually with a new year stamped on the box, despite not having changed much since Word was added to it in 2001.

Antivirus software is another product that gets rebadged and resold every year and, while we agree that it is crucial to keep virus signatures up to date, this doesn't mean you have to buy the entire program again.

Symantec will sell you a 12-month subscription to the Norton Antivirus download service for only £16, but charges £45 for the complete 2004 application. With the money you save, you could subscribe to a fortnightly computer magazine for a whole year!

Driving force
One area where it pays to keep bang up to date with changes and innovations is in the matter of drivers. The job of a driver is to handle the exchange of information between Windows and an individual hardware item such as a graphics card. The better the driver, the better Windows and the hardware will understand each other and the better they will work together.

When manufacturers release a new product, they issue a driver with it. But with feedback from users, and in the light of experience, a good manufacturer will regularly update or rewrite its drivers to make them more effective.

New drivers are invariably offered as free downloads from company websites and there are several specialist sites that offer thousands of drivers all in one place, such as www.windrivers.com and www.driverzone.com.

Another way of finding new drivers is to make regular use of Windows Update, which checks for new drivers at the same time as checking for updated Windows components.

The bottom line
We're not killjoys at Computeractive and we're rather partial to new gadgets and toys. We also believe that computing should be fun and we don't advocate operating your PC while sitting on a hard chair wearing a hair shirt.

Our advice is to keep your money for the hardware and software you really want, rather than wasting it on unnecessary upgrades.