Eventually even the best computer you can buy becomes obsolete. Its amazing how quickly new breakthroughs in personal computer technology happen, and how the leading edge is always moving. And with these new technologies, it seems you can do more, faster and cheaper than ever before. So, the question is should you upgrade your current computer or would you be better off replacing it?
If youre in the market for a new computer, you can spend anywhere from $7,000 for a hot gaming PC, down to $300 on a stripped down basic computer, the choice is yours. Although the optimal price for a computer usually is around $1,000-$1,500. Thats a good computer, but not so good that youre paying top dollar for cutting edge technology.
But, with a modest budget of around $30-250, you can get the most common computer upgrades, memory, video cards, monitors, or processors.
What you should keep in mind, is that it’s almost always better to try to stick a tad behind the best equipment you can buy. If you’re looking for a new graphics card, the top of the line models usually cost around $500-800, while ones that are just a few months older can be had for $200 or less. You’ll get almost as much power and save a lot by doing your research.
Computer processors seem to follow these same guidelines, by buying an older processor you can usually buy a great processor for about a third of the price of the best one on the market. Usually in the $200-300 range finds the best deals on processors. What youll find is that you get almost as much power as the top of the line at a fraction of the price.
In almost all upgrades, I recommend buying more computer memory. For just a $100-200 you can usually significantly increase the memory in your computer and this typically is the most cost-effective upgrade you can make.
You can usually upgrade most computers at least once cost effectively. By adding just a little better hardware, you can extend the life of your computer a few years and improve your computer experience. Moving to a brand new computer can be quite a large change, with whole new sets of software to get used to which is why most people resist moving to a new computer.
In most cases however, even one good upgrade can keep a computer useful for 2-3 more years, even if you cant upgrade again. And that means the computer you buy today could last you a good 5-10 years with good upgrade choices.
If however, you tend more towards the power user side of the equation, youre probably going to want a completely new system every three years or so. That seems to be right around when computer power doubles. For example a $1,000 computer three years ago, compared to a $1,000 computer today which has double the power.
If you decide to move towards a new computer, it’s become much easier with USB drives that can make easy backups of your important files. You can buy a 100GB USB drive for around $100, which is very handy to keep all of your important data.
I recommend going to www.pricewatch.com. You can get a feel for what type of upgrades you can afford, and then compare it to the costs of a brand new computer. Almost every computer upgrade you can imagine can be found there at a reasonable price.
Overall, the decision whether to upgrade or replace comes down to cost effectiveness if you can put in a small upgrade for under a few hundred bucks and it makes your computer last just a few short years longer, that is probably the right decision. But, over time it just doesnt make as much sense when even the mid to low priced systems are more effective than your current computer could ever be with all the upgrades. Good Luck with your decision.
