Not all computers were designed to be upgraded as easily as others. Some “brand name” computers have proprietary motherboards and cases which are harder to expand than others. If your monitor, mouse, keyboard, and printer all plug in along the bottom row of your computer, you may be limited on how much expanding you can do, or forced to replace the case and motherboard before performing certain types of upgrades. Recommended upgrades include adding more memory (RAM), another hard drive, a faster modem, a sound card and CD-Rom Drive, or the ultimate upgrade... replacing the CPU or Motherboard with a faster version. 

 Sandy Allen of Allgen Computer Warehouse, said the most popular upgrades at his place were faster modems to allow access to the Internet, and adding CD-Roms with sound cards for multimedia programs. Sandy says that your first step is to determine what you have now for a computer. Is it a 386, 486, 586 or a Pentium? How much RAM memory do you have now, and are there any empty memory slots on the motherboard? What size hard drive do you have, and is there room for another? Do you already have a sound card and CD Rom? How about a modem? If yes, then what speed is it? 

 Your second step is to decide what you want to upgrade and for what cost. Many consultants will tell you that if your upgrade will cost more than $600-700, you might wish to consider building or buying a new computer instead. I have performed some upgrades where the only thing left from the original computer, was the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and floppy drives. 

 The bottom line should be, “can you obtain the computer of your dreams, for less money than buying one off the shelf?” If the answer is “yes”, then proceed with the upgrade. Don’t be afraid to ask for second opinions and shop around for the best deal, but be sure to consider more than just the bottom line dollars. Ask about a warranty on the parts and labor, ask what brand of parts are being used. If someone quotes you a Sound Blaster Sound Card from Creative Labs, the cost will be higher than a “sound blaster compatible”, but the “compatible” may be more complicated to install in some systems than the original. 

 Your third step is to decide if you feel comfortable in opening the case of your computer and performing minor surgery, so to speak. Most parts are simply plug & replace, but you may need to be worried or careful about IRQ conflicts if adding new hardware. Windows 95 can make life easier if the new hardware is auto recognized by the software, but not all hardware will cooperate with you. 

If you do not feel comfortable, you can still get your computer upgraded, but at a slightly higher costs in some cases. Some Computer Consultants will come to your location and perform the requested upgrades, while other fixed location computer dealers will require you to disconnect everything and haul your case into their store for repair. Be sure to ask about expected length of repair times, as some may be back logged days or even weeks. 
 
 

Memory Upgades

Types of memory varies. Older systems, 386 and 486 computers often used 30 pin memory, usually in banks of 4 sticks each. If you have all the slots filled with memory, you will need to remove one “bank” of them and replace with another “bank” of higher capacity memory sticks. Newer 486 and Pentium systems use 72 pin memory sticks, in banks of two normally. When adding memory, you need to be sure that you add the same type of memory already in the system, such as parity or non-parity, and the speed should be the same (60,70,80ns). If you don’t know the difference, you are better off taking your computer in to a computer dealer, or having an independent Computer Consultant come to your location. 
 
 

Hard Drive Upgrades

If your drive was “compressed”, “stacked” or “double spaced”, you will have additional problems to consider before replacing, and in any case, most consultants will recommend a full system backup as a precaution before changing out your hard drive. Gene Williams of Academic Systems, pointed out that adding new hard drives to the newer Pentium boards are easier than before, due to the built in dual IDE controllers, however if your old IDE drive did not use the factory settings when formatted originally, you may have to manually enter the settings in the CMOS instead of letting the system auto detect your drives. He pointed out that the newer 6gb, 7gb and 8gb ultra-DMA IDE hard drives are as fast as the SCSI drives, but at a much lower cost. When asked about preference in computer cases, Gene said that most customers prefer the mini-tower chassis instead of the desktop chassis if you have to change out the case due to proprietary upgrade requirements. 
 
 

CPU / Motherboard Upgrades 

Modem Upgrades

 The latest modem to hit the streets, is the 56k modem. However, there is no standard for this modem, in fact, US Robotics and Rockwell are nose to nose in the battle for a new standard. The USR X2 modem will not communicate at 56k with the Rockwell chip based 56Kflex modems. In fact, there are three versions of the 56Kflex modems in production that won’t connect at full speed to each other either. You are the winner in this modem battle, however, as the new modems have driven down pricing on the 

33.6kb modems.

Lee W. Besing is the owner of Computer Solution Experts, a computer consultant firm providing onsite computer repairs, upgrades, and Internet consultation including web design. For more information, visit their web site http://www.computersolutionexpert.com, e-mail at info@computersolutionexpert.com or call (210)656-7657.