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by vf2002

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hi. i'm thinking about either getting a new system or just upgrading the one i have. it really needs upgrading badly but i don't know how to go about doing it yet i want to learn. i need more video memory, ram, a larger harddrive and maybe a newer cd rom drive. how do i do this? when i opened up my system, hoping to figure out what the things in there were, all it did was confuse me. i saw one long one with "PC 100" on it. what card is that one. where is the memory card and harrdrive card. also if i get a larger harddrive can i leave my current one in my system. how do i find the ram card to replace it. please help. ty.

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by dmiles

It would be best that you purchase a computer upgrade manual that will give you step by step instructions and illustrations on where the hardware is located,get familiar with computers before attempting to upgrade especially if this is your only system

A good book is Sam's Teach Yourself PC Upgrades in 10 minutes

What you described as PC 100 is a dimm memory module

You will buy a vidoe card with the memory on the card such as 32m

You did not provide any information about your systemto determine what info can be given to suggest any upgrades.

Considering you are starting out you may want to purchase your new system and use the old system to tinker with and upgrade as a second system

by thechas

There are several articles and downloads on the Tech Republic web site that can help you learn more.
You can also look at sites like www.tomshardware.com for more information.
Both AMD and Intel have some downloads to help you assemble a system properly.

I would then spend a lot of time at your local computer store. The staff there will be very helpful if you purchase most of your hardware from them.

One of my local stores sells a "barebones" starter system. You add on what you need, and install the software.

One important thing when building your own system, is to use proper ESD precautions when handling the boards and CPU. It is very easy to damage the parts just by picking them up if you are not careful.

by timthetoolman

Hi,

If your system is an older one, then you're going to want to get a much more modern, fast, CPU. That means you'll need a new motherboard to support it. You'll probably want to go for the new fast DDR memory (which stands for Double Data Rate)...

What I'm leading up to is that you'll be replacing most of the components in your system.

Looking at this slightly differently, you could decide what you can keep from your old system. Here's my guess.

Monitor.
Keyboard (unless they're not USB or PS/2 connectors)
Mouse (same applies as above)

You'll probably want to keep your existing harddrive and add it to the new machine and if you decide to do that, then you may as well do the same with your CDROM.

You may be able to keep your soundcard. I used my old AWE64 Soundblaster for several upgrades...

So... My suggestion would be to buy a new system (maybe without a sound card if you're going to re-use your current one) and definitely without a monitor!

Then add your old components to it to make it even better!

Cheers,
Tim.

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