| Technology moves so fast these days. By the | | | | parts in your pc then nothing will work |
| time you've bought a pc it's guaranteed that | | | | properly and in some case, they won't even |
| most of the parts will be out of date within | | | | work at all. You can pick up a cheap power |
| a few months. This can also depend on where | | | | supply for about $20 but normally with |
| you buy your pc from as well. A lot of | | | | technology these days, you get what you pay |
| companies sell pc packages that can seem like | | | | for. If you intend to have a top notch |
| good value for money at the time. They bundle | | | | graphics card and powerful CPU in your pc |
| a printer, scanner and other add-ons with | | | | then you need a good quality power supply |
| your pc, but then you find out that you're | | | | that is stable and capable of powering all |
| spending tons of cash on ink, your pc is too | | | | your pc's parts effectively. |
| generic and not good enough for what you want | | | | |
| to use it for, gaming! | | | | The CPU (central processing unit) is the |
| | | | heart of your pc. If you have a slow CPU but |
| If you drop by your local "best buy" or "pc | | | | the best graphics card and motherboard then |
| world" to look for a new pc to play the | | | | your CPU will hold back the other components |
| latest games then you're going to run in to | | | | in your pc. |
| problems. A lot of gamers these days make or | | | | |
| at least customize their own pc's from | | | | Your computer's memory is just as important |
| scratch. Why? Because they know what's needed | | | | as the CPU. This will be used to store and |
| to run these games. | | | | transfer the data on your pc fast and if you |
| | | | have bad, slow or not enough memory then it's |
| 90% of pc's today that are sold through those | | | | going to slow the rest of your pc down. |
| types of stores in packages are aimed at the | | | | |
| average "I want a pc so I can surf the net, | | | | The graphics card is extremely important in |
| play music and watch dvd's" consumer. These | | | | today's games. If you can't render the |
| pc's are acceptable for those needs but if | | | | graphics fast enough then you'll experience |
| you want to play the latest games then you | | | | lag and slow down in your games no matter how |
| haven't got a chance of getting them to run | | | | good the rest of your pc is. Most "bundled" |
| to their necessary requirements. | | | | graphics cards are built on to the |
| | | | motherboards in packaged pc's and share the |
| Too many time's I've seen people go out and | | | | actual system memory. This is BAD for gaming! |
| buy a brand new pc, try to go online and play | | | | |
| a new game such as "Battlefield 2" or "Quake | | | | The sound card isn't as important as the rest |
| 4" and find out that the game runs bad even | | | | of the components but it can help your pc |
| on the lowest settings. They then end up | | | | perform better. If you have a stand alone |
| spending twice as much on a pc by having to | | | | sound card, it takes some of the workload off |
| buy a new one from scratch or upgrade a lot | | | | of your cpu and motherboard and a lot of |
| of the parts because they've made the mistake | | | | today's best sound cards even have their own |
| of buying an "e-Machine" in the first place. | | | | special sound system that is used by a lot of |
| | | | new games. |
| So you have an old pc you want to upgrade so | | | | |
| you can play the latest games. The main | | | | Obviously if you want to be able to play the |
| components you will need to look at for | | | | best games on the market and if you play |
| upgrading are : | | | | competitively online then you want to be able |
| | | | to play to the best of your abilities and not |
| Motherboard | | | | have to worry about your pc not being able to |
| | | | handle the needs of today's games. |
| Power supply (PSU) | | | | |
| | | | It can be expensive but there are easy ways |
| Processor (CPU) | | | | for you to upgrade on a budget. Maybe if |
| | | | you're thinking of upgrading now then you |
| Memory (RAM) | | | | should go ahead but even starting to look for |
| | | | the best parts to upgrade your pc can be a |
| Graphics card | | | | daunting task. |
| | | | |
| Sound card | | | | Personally when I'm upgrading I never go for |
| | | | the very top of the range. You don't have to |
| I put them in this order for the below | | | | buy the best (as you know it's going to be |
| reasons although some people may disagree | | | | going down in price dramatically in the next |
| with me. | | | | few months) but you can still get some great |
| | | | pc hardware for good prices that will run |
| The motherboard is the main component in your | | | | those games without any slowdown and still |
| pc as it ties all the other components | | | | make them look and feel great to play. |
| together. You can buy the best CPU and | | | | |
| graphics card and sound card, but if your | | | | One bad link in the chain will hinder your |
| motherboard stinks then they aren't going to | | | | computer's performance. When you want to |
| be able to work to the best of their | | | | upgrade or even buy a new pc you must ensure |
| abilities. | | | | that each part is as good as the others to |
| | | | get the best performance and stability for |
| The power supply is extremely important. If | | | | any type of computer tasks. |
| you can't get enough power to the rest of the | | | | |