Upgrades: Right on the Money

The right upgrades breathe new life into aging PCs; the wrong ones waste your time and cash. Here's the real scoop on today's top options, and how to get the job done.

Smart PC users know that they often can save a buck by souping up their old computers instead of buying new ones. Carefully chosen upgrades can extend your PC's life and help you avoid the pain of migrating your data, software, and settings to a new machine. But which projects are worth the money? First we asked PCWorld.com readers what hardware they wanted to upgrade; then we turned to the PC World Test Center to performance-test the latest CPU, memory, and USB 2.0 upgrades and to work through networking and hard-drive installations--warts and all.

As you consider the possibilities for your PC, remember the golden upgrade rule: If your total hardware upgrade price approaches the $500 mark, you're probably better off buying a new machine and dealing with the migration headache instead of overspending on upgrades. Even the cheapest new PC will probably be better than your upgraded model--and it will have a warranty.