What do I need to know about a Computer before considering upgrade?

Computers have become part of our daily life. But most people still do not know enough about them to feel comfortable troubleshooting or opening their computer case. This article is a simple attempt to provide people with basic information and know-how to be able to work on their computers.

First of all, let me assure you that you do not need a degree in computer science to be able to work on your computer. When you look at a typical computer there are some distinct components you'll find with pretty much any kind of make or model.

a.) A Monitor, It's like your TV box, old computer have CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) technology monitors while new ones are coming out with LCD(Liquid Crystal Diode) technology. You don't need to worry about what is CRT or LCD at this point or in general.
b.) A metal case that holds rest of the components. Obviously you'll have to connect these two to make it work and that's where all those wires come in to picture.

There are other accessories that you may have with your computer, for example speakers and printer and may be a web cam or microphone.

Inside that metal case we just talked about, we have other components of a Computer, it includes CPU(known as Central processing Unit), Memory, Video card, Power supply, CD- ROM/RW, floppy drive and hard drive. If you desire to have an internet connection, you either have Modem(for dial up connection) or a network card(for high speed internet).

All these components are called "hardware" components. There is another piece to the puzzle to make your computer work. It is called "software". Software is nothing but a source code that allows you to interact with your computer's hardware and get work done.

Now this is just some basic tech talk to make you comfortable with your computer and how it works.

Do you want to upgrade your Computer?

First question that would come to your mind is "why do we need to upgrade it?" Well, to start with, let's think in term of a car. If you have a car that has a top speed of let's say 50mph. You bought this car long time ago and back then a 50mph was how fast most car could go. So you were comfortable then, but know when you find people flying by you at 60 or 70mph, you would definitely see a need to go faster than 50mph. Going fast will get you there faster and will save you time.

So what are your options? Well, one option is to just get rid of this car and buy a newer faster car. Easier said than done because you'd need to fork out a decent amount of money to do that. Another option would be to get a better engine and a matching transmission and upgrade your current car. This would obviously be cheaper but it would require either you do it yourself or someone do this upgrade for you and you pay him or her. This is exactly what applies in computer world as well. Most people, bought a decent computer(read performance), but over time it has become a slow computer compared to what is out there on the market. That's why there is need to either make it fast or buy a new one.

This article deals with the first option(make it faster and better).

A computer upgrade is a fairly simple process, if you know what you're doing. It will also cost you lot less to do it. At the same time, do not forget to do cost/benefit analysis for upgrade vs. buy a new one. Computer technology is changing faster than ever before and with new advancements in technology, Computer prices are coming down faster and sometimes buying a new one is the best option. So keep that option on the table before you start evaluating your needs for a faster and better computer.

To understand an upgrade process, you'll need to know what components you could upgrade. Even though you could potentially upgrade every single component on your computer, there are some components that provide a better value for your money.

These components are: -

1. MEMORY
2. CPU and sometime MOTHERBOARD as well

This articles covers these items in details.

1. MEMORY :- Upgrading your computer memory is probably the best value for your money. It's also the simplest way to improve the performance of your PC. Memory is measured in MB or GB(Megabytes or Gigabytes). If you bought a computer that came with 128MB, upgrading memory to 256MB or even higher could have a major performance boost. It will also depend on your operating system. For example, Windows VISTA recommends at least 1GB of memory. So if intend to upgrade your Operating system to Microsoft Vista, it makes more sense to upgrade your memory first. Some programs use more memory than others, so if you intend to run them, you should consider memory upgrade.
With memory upgrade, first thing to remember is the type of memory your computer has, You can not mix and match different types of memory sticks so make sure what you currently have before you go shopping for more memory. Older computers usually have SDRAM(Synchronous Direct Random Memory) while new ones have DDR SDRAM(double data rate SDRAM). Before you buy memory, make sure you have the same type or compatible memory(number of pins and voltage etc.). In case you end up with a similar memory but with different bus speed, you will have to set jumper switch on your motherboard to match the speed and sometimes it is not that easy. So stick to the memory with same speed and type. DDR2 SDRAM has an option to allow you to mix different module sizes(for example 256MB and 512 MB) together on a same motherboard and still get the same good performance, so keep that in mind as well. But don't mix DDR, DDR2 or old RIMM(SDRAM) memory models as they are not compatible. Also remember that some type of memory such as dual channel RDRAM, is required to be installed in pairs. Dual channel technology uses two modules at the same time to get work done faster. That's why with dual channel memory you'll have to upgrade your modules in pairs. Also before you buy make sure you know how many open slots you have on you motherboard to install your memory.

2. CPU :- If you have already done the memory upgrade and still feel the "need for speed", a CPU or processor upgrade is the next option. CPU upgrade is not as simple as Memory but if you're methodical and have an eye for details, it's no big deal.
First thing you need to do is to find out the type of your motherboard. Different motherboards accept different type of CPU chips, so you need to know that before hand. There are certain things you need to know before you shop for a new CPU.
Bus speed - It's is not the speed of public transport in your neighborhood. Think of this bus as an information highway inside your computer. A higher bus speed means it can support more information traveling concurrently and thus better performance.
There are different types of information channels (BUS) inside a computer.
a.) PCI bus - PCU bus is the connection from your expansion cards, drivers to your CPU and other subsystems such as hard drive.
b.) AGP Bus - This relates more closely to your video card. So this bus connects your video card to your memory and CPU.
c.) Front Side Bus(FSB) - This is probably the most important one. It connects your CPU to your memory. CPU needs memory connection to perform functions and get the work done. Faster the FSB speed, faster is the rate at which data will travel between CPU and memory. This also depends on your motherboard so that's why I have motherboard listed as another option when you upgrade your CPU.

Bus speed is currently measured in MHZ but it might be in GHZ in future. FSB speed is also known as system clock speed. From system clock you can determine you PCI and AGP bus speeds by simple calculations. This is achieved by dividers and some of them(like PCI) are not accessible to users so you can not alter them. For example, if your system clock is 400MHZ, you may have a PCI divider setting of 1/5 = 80MHZ for PCI bus speed and 1/4 for AGP bus(100MHZ).

CPU processors have this data printed on them.
For example an Intel celeron processor with following information -
900MHZ/128/100/1.75V socket 370 - It means that it is a 900MHZ CPU with 128KB cache, 100MHZ FSB and 1.75V of core voltage. Socket 370 indicates the type of socket it will fit, last piece of information is relevant to motherboard. If you want to use this CPU for upgrade, make sure your motherboard can accepts socket 370 CPUs. Also, remember processor speed is not same as FSB,

CPU speed = Processor multiplier X System clock

Also note that if you upgrade your CPU, you'll have to upgrade your heat sink and cooling fan since they are very specific to a type of CPU and cooling capacity of a fan should be enough to avoid your CPU getting toasted. Please note that if you upgrade your CPU, sometimes you might have to update your BIOS(Basic Input/Output systems) to successfully run it. BIOS is the computer program that runs when you start your machine. It checks component installed on your motherboard. However, BIOS update is tricky because if it fails, you will not be able to use your motherboard again.
Sometimes if you're doing a lot more upgrade work than a simple home office type machine, you might want to consider a motherboard upgrade as well. Older motherboards will not accept new CPUs and memory modules so sometimes it makes sense to start over and build from ground up. An easy alternative might be to buy an adapter that can accept new CPU as well as your old motherboard. Also remember that cost of a comparable new computer should be an important consideration when you start thinking of starting with a new motherboard. It might be cheaper to just buy a new one instead of all that hard work. Motherboards are cheaper, but replacing motherboard requires more skills than just replacing a memory module. But if you like tech stuff, there is lot of fun in learning and upgrading your old computer.