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UPGRADE Unlock Your PC’S Potential – Today! ADVISORADVISOR Right Upgrade, Right Now

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UPGRADE Unlock Your PC’S Potential – Today! ADVISORADVISOR Right Upgrade, Right Now UPGRADE Unlock your PC’s potential – today! ADVISORADVISOR Right upgrade, right now Whether you want to boost an elderly PC’s memory or soup up a newer system for gaming, it needn’t be costly or difficult. Ben Camm-Jones shows you how to improve your setup iven the pace at which technology To discover the make and model, open Cheap as chips? Gchanges, you could be forgiven for up the casing of your computer and have Speaking of the processor, the cost of thinking that owning a PC is all about a look inside – nine times out of 10 the upgrading this particular component is keeping up with the Joneses. But forget motherboard will be marked with the not far off the price of a whole system, what the neighbours think – the components manufacturer’s name and a code. However, so it’s probably not worth it. Look up your you need depend on what you use your PC if it isn’t, the best thing to do is to try out motherboard model on its manufacturer’s for, and that often won’t require the latest, a handy freeware application called CPU-Z website for a list of compatible processors. greatest kit. Want a visual upgrade, but (www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php). Once loaded, If you don’t have at least a Pentium 4 don’t need to have quick-fi re gaming? Buy it can tell you what type of motherboard processor running at more than 2GHz, or an a graphics card with less memory. Got loads is in your system, as well as information Athlon XP chip, upgrading is pretty pointless. of digital media fi les? Put a large hard drive about the PC’s memory and processor. It’ll probably work out to be an expensive on your shopping list, but buy an internal model, and you’ll save heaps. And if creating home DVD movies is your thing, an optical drive is a must – although you don’t have to choose the latest LightScribe model. Over the next few pages we’ll expand on these and other options, taking a look at the unique needs of different users and pointing you in the direction of hardware that can improve the performance of any PC, without burning a hole in your pocket. The compatibility test Before you buy any components, make sure they are going to be able to communicate with other pieces of hardware in your existing setup. The motherboard – the nerve centre of your PC, to which all components are attached – is the most critical part of this. The most important thing is to fi nd If you’re choosing a graphics card for your PC, ensure it’s compatible with your motherboard out what model your motherboard is. www.pcadvisor.co.uk/upgradeadvisor UPGRADE Unlock your PC’s potential! ADVISORADVISOUpgradeR Advisor Installing memory, PCI device cards and graphics cards ADVISOR Once you’ve switched off and 1 unplugged your PC, don your antistatic wriststrap and you’re ready to go. Arm yourself with a screwdriver if you’re inserting a graphics card or PCI device card Installing a graphics card isn’t diffi cult, but follow our tips so you don’t harm any components – this tool is only necessary for opening up the casing if you’re exercise, for probably not much overall Kingston’s site (www.kingston.com) lets merely replacing memory modules performance increase, especially when you you specify the system you have and tells consider that older RAM modules are often you what’ll fi t in it. Corsair (compatible. Place the PC on its side; on more expensive than the current types. corsairmemory.com) does a similar search, 2 a table is best. If you’re putting If it comes to that, it’s probably time to or you can request a compatibility report, it on the fl oor, keep away from bite the bullet and buy your next system. which is emailed to you. carpeted rooms or you’ll run the risk It goes without saying that XP Pro or of static damage. Open the casing Home should be the OS (operating system) Numbers game and remove the side panel of choice – it’s the most stable and user- RAM isn’t just about megabytes. Sure, you’ll friendly version Microsoft has made so far. need a decent number of them – 512MB is a Now get your bearings in there. Another word of warning before you minimum, with 1GB preferable – but memory 3 Memory modules will be located begin to upgrade: many vendors will tear bandwidth is important too. For example, close to the processor, near the up your warranty if they fi nd out you’ve PC3200 or DDR400 modules are faster than middle of the motherboard. PCI slots been changing components. Sometimes just their PC2700 or DDR333 equivalents. are at the back of the PC, running opening the case will render your cover void. There’s no sense in going for the faster parallel to each other. There will be You don’t need to be a particularly type of memory if the motherboard can’t at least three of these. Above them, competent PC user to carry out the handle it, but you want it to be as rapid depending on your motherboard, upgrades described here, but bear in mind as possible. The net result of adding more will be either an AGP slot or a PCI you’ll be invalidating the warranty whether memory to your system will be smoother Express slot you do it yourself or take it to a local dealer. applications and increased multitasking capabilities. It’s not going to make your You’ll fi nd that there’s only one Safety first processor run faster, but it will allow you to 4 way to fi t any of these devices. Remember to take sensible precautions get the best out of it. To learn how to install If you’re putting something into to ensure no harm comes to you or the RAM modules, see Installing memory, PCI one of the PCI, AGP or PCI Express components while upgrading. Wear an device cards and graphics cards, right. slots, you’ll need to make sure antistatic wriststrap, or ground yourself on that the small back panel has been an earthed metal object such as a radiator. Give me space removed from the PC casing so Never open up the casing and touch the Adding a second hard drive to your the card will fi t and the connectors insides when the PC is still plugged in, even computer will give storage capacity a real can be accessed. With memory if the power is switched off. boost. You can never have too much space, modules, consult your motherboard but it is particularly useful if you want to manual, if you have it, to see what Thanks for the memory save a lot of large digital fi les – say, if you’re confi guration they should be in and If you’ve followed the IT industry in recent planning to use your computer as a PVR simply push them into the slots. years, you’ll be aware that the price of (personal video recorder). If you’ve got The modules should fi t easily and memory modules varies wildly. And you’ll a spare 3.5in drive bay, consider fi tting the clips at either end should fi rmly know there are loads of types and speeds a multiformat card reader so your photos secure themselves of memory available. It’s important that can be copied straight to your PC. you choose the right modules for your PC. Any system less than three years old Once the card or module is Fortunately, the major vendors make it will use either the Uata or Sata (ultra or 5 fi rmly seated, close the case, easy to fi nd out which type of memory is serial advanced technology attachment) set up the PC again and power up. compatible with your system, so you don’t interface to connect the hard drive to the If any drivers need to be installed, need to bother fi nding out whether you motherboard. The former isn’t quite as do so now. XP will prompt you for the need SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 or Rambus. quick; while most users wouldn’t notice necessary discs that were supplied Crucial Technology (www.crucial.com) leads this when double-clicking on the average with the component you through the process of fi nding out which document, opening a larger fi le is a different modules to use. There’s a system scanner on matter entirely. Unfortunately, if your its website, which will automatically detect computer uses Uata, you’re not going your setup and decide what you need. to be able to change to Sata. www.pcadvisor.co.uk/upgradeadvisor Upgrade Advisor Several PC manufacturers are now selling nVidia-based machines with two graphics processing units on one card, meaning that the compatible machines will effectively be running quad-SLI. With such high-power demands for the latest single or dual graphic confi gurations, it’s not surprising to fi nd that a minimum of a 450W is now required for a single card, while dual confi gurations can give a 550W PSU (power supply unit) something to think about. The PSU can greatly affect the stability of a machine, as lockups and lower-than-expected performance can often be attributed to a power supply unable to Drives that use LightScribe technology burn data and labels to discs produce enough juice.
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