When to buy when to upgrade

[Bill Noble]

Does anyone know of a simple formula that one could use to decide when to upgrade and when to buy? Some new computers are so rediculously cheap these days that it seems daft to pay money on an upgrade. But then again I hate adding to the land fill!

[Paleo Pete]

Buy or upgrade when you can get a computer 3 times the CPU speed of the one you already have. Any less and you won't notice a difference in performance.

Buy - only from a local shop with a good reputation. The commercial off-the-shelf machines advertised in your local Best Buy or whatever are GARBAGE. Dell/HP/eMachines can sell it for $500 because it's made from the cheapest crud they can possibly find, you have no choice about extra software (or OS, and I won't touch Windows) and tech support - which was already not great - has gone downhill in the past 2-3 years and warranties have gotten a lot skimpier.

I've had to try and call tech support a few times, I rarely get anyone who can actually speak English, or that I can understand at all, and they usually just say format/reinstall. Gateway refused to talk to me at all, I wanted a price on a motherboard for a damaged laptop, I wasn't the original owner of the computer so they refused to talk to me at all...The customer bought a new Dell laptop and swore she'd NEVER even look at Gateway again. I hope someone from Gateway is reading this...

Usually the advertised $500 computer is only to get you on the phone, it's not a "representative" that answers, it's a high pressure salesperson. By the time two people I know of got through, Dell's $500 computer ended up almost $1700 in one case and over $1200 in the other. You need to upgrade from that plain old mouse, our optical scroll mouse is only $30...and we have this $60 Internet keyboard with 83 buttons that you'll like MUCH better than that plain jane keyboard that comes with this unit...

Have one built by a reputable local computer shop, or build it yourself. It's really not that hard and you have all the help you need right here...It might cost a bit more for a locally built one, but you get quality parts, local tech support, and YOU choose what goes into the box.

Oh, and don't add to the landfill, clean it up, maybe reinstall the OS, and give it to the grandkids...sell it in a garage sale...donate it to a local group like 4H or YMCA, whoever can get it to kids that need it...grandma might do just fine sending email on that old P-III 750...if it runs, it can be used.

[saphalline]

I've got a formula for ya! OEM machine = very few upgrades (maybe some more RAM), otherwise you're just gonna end up buying a new one. That's what they were made for!

Custom built = upgrade. And then upgrade. And then upgrade. And then upgrade. Etc. My own custom built machine has used the same case for the last 3+ years, yet I've upgraded the parts inside at least 4 times! I'm on my 3rd hard drive, 2nd CD burner, 3rd vid card, 2nd set of speakers, 4th CPU, 2nd mobo, etc. But I've been using the same case, mouse, keyboard, and monitor for 3 years, without any problems.

[Steve]

Buy or upgrade when you can get a computer 3 times the CPU speed of the one you already have. Any less and you won't notice a difference in performance.

I really have to disagree here. If you have a 1.6ghz P4 and you upgrade to a 2.4ghz P4 you will definately see a difference, even if you stay with the 400mhz front side bus. Now come on Pete. Are you saying you can't see a difference between a system running a 1.6ghz P4 and one running a 3.2ghz P4? And that's only double the speed.

CPU speed is only one of the reasons to upgrade. FSB speed is another. Going from a 400mhz FSB to 800mhz is a nice upgrade. Going from a 1x/2x agp slot to an 8x is another nice upgrade. Just upgrading RAM will make a noticable difference.

I think the main criteria for upgrading verses buying is, does your computer do what you want it to? Keep upgrading until the machine just can't do what you want it to. Then get a new one.

And Pete is right. Don't junk that old computer. There are many folks who would be glad to have it.

[saphalline]

Buy or upgrade when you can get a computer 3 times the CPU speed of the one you already have. Any less and you won't notice a difference in performance.

I didn't read that the same way. Many end-users erroneously refer to the whole computer case as the "CPU", so when I read that, I saw "3 times the system speed". Which is quite different!

Increase processor clock speed by 50%, double the RAM, upgrade to a newer (or just dedicated) vid card = 3 times the system speed! That's a good formula for a typical older OEM machine!

[nimnorf2]

Bill,
Welcome to the forum. Lots of opinions here. Lots of very capable and wise folks too. I agree with you that it is hard to keep upgrading when new seems so inexpensive. It's just the way it is right now. Today you can get 3 times the computing capability for half the cost of a computer only 3 years ago. I'm finding that more often than not it makes more sense to give the old computer away to somebody who can use it and build new. Building your own will get you a better computer and you will have learned a ton of valuable things. The cheap stuff at most of the discount stores is indeed "cheap stuff." Sometimes just an increase in RAM is indicated or maybe a larger harddrive, but I'm finding that...well now I'm about to get redundant. Post back...what do you want to do in this instance? What's not working with what you have?
peace,

[Bill Noble]

Many thanks to everyone for their advice. It has been most useful.

I used to think that buying from a local shop with a good reputation was the way to go until the shop went bust, disappeared off the end of the earth, and I was left with a machine I couldn't get repaired (for a reasonable price).

I think on reflection I am tempted by the 'build your own' route as in the end I will have a machine I can upgrade myself, and I will learn a lot that will help me maintain it.

Thanks again to everyone for their adivice.

[pop pop]

tempted by the 'build your own' route as in the end I will have a machine I can upgrade myself, and I will learn a lot that will help me maintain it

That sentence is the bottom line. BYO is the way to go if you have the patience, a little technical savy (note the words "a little"), and you are an "attention to detail" capable person.

I don't think I'll ever go back to buying pre-built for myself. There are just too many rewards.

[G-G]

Custom built = upgrade. And then upgrade. And then upgrade. And then upgrade. Etc. My own custom built machine has used the same case for the last 3+ years, yet I've upgraded the parts inside at least 4 times! I'm on my 3rd hard drive, 2nd CD burner, 3rd vid card, 2nd set of speakers, 4th CPU, 2nd mobo, etc. But I've been using the same case, mouse, keyboard, and monitor for 3 years, without any problems.

why can custom built machines be upgraded without limitation yet off the shelf PCs can only be upgraded to a small extent?

so you need to buy another one in a couple of years?

[pop pop]

Cost, restricted parts pipeline, and planned obsolesence. They build that way because the retail price can be cheap, cheap, cheap. Some OEM's limit you in ways that force you to go to only them when you need a replacement part or upgrade. Some figure they'll make it that way so in three years or so, you'll toss it out and buy a newer, possibly more expensive replacement, hopefully from them.

By building your own, you set your own limitations, not someone else.

[saphalline]

To add to what pop pop said, the hardware in OEM systems often makes upgrading just plain impossible. Some examples:

- BIOS is limited in fuctionality, making it extremely difficult to add more drives or tweak settings.

- BIOS is locked out, making it impossible to change the CPU at all.

- RAM slots are limited, so that the max RAM is half (or less! ) of what the chipset is capable of.

- Case is cramped, making it impossible to add expansion cards or drives in certain areas inside.

- PSU is underpowered, often beind designed for only the parts the system ships with, so that upgrading to more powerful parts (like a vid card) is problematic or impossible.

- Cooling & airflow is nearly non-existent, which makes it particularly difficult to add a more powerful vid card, or even more RAM and another drive or two. Not to mention that the original parts are running hotter than they should be.

These are just some of the more common hardware limitations I've seen in OEM systems. There are others, as well as a ton of software issues! I won't even get into that one right now!

[Bill Noble]

Many thanks for advice.

I am pretty much persuaded now to go the custom build route.

Now for the research

[G-G]

yeah thanks.

Can someone recommend a good book that takes you through the process?

[madad2005]

Nope, but there are some stickys here and a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people. I built my system from scratch for the first time a few months ago and did so with help from these guys. In most cases, the actual manuals of the equipment you buy will give you good guidance (the mobo manual especially).

Check cash flow = Know what you want = buy the parts = build the machine

As long as you are careful to avoid static discharges (avoided by touching the case before any electrical component ie grounding yourself), you should get on fine.

[saphalline]

There are indeed books to help you through the process, complete with pictures of both AMD and Intel systems. Any decently-sized bookstore should have them. There are also many online articles that can help you through the process, also with pictures. But keep in mind that books and online articles are prone to being out-of-date. You can check out the books and online articles for the process, but come back here for the specific hardware advice!