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The Upgrade Path to a Perfect Student PC

Stan Miastkowski

When to Toss Your Old PC

Of course, the upgrade route isn't the ideal path for everyone. And some older PCs aren't great candidates for upgrades because they can't handle some of the latest components. One rule of thumb: A PC that's less than two to three years old can usually be easily upgraded to contemporary standards.

As far as the processor is concerned, the often-ignored little secret of PCs is that the raw speed of the processor doesn't say a great deal about overall system performance, even though manufacturers often use it as the be-all and end-all in advertising. A brand new system with a 3-plus-GHz processor can be bogged down with limited memory or a slow hard drive. If the PC you're considering upgrading has a 750-MHz to 1-GHz processor or faster, it has plenty of power--you don't need to upgrade the CPU.

Two to three years ago, processor upgrades, from companies such as Kingston and Evergreen Technologies, were readily available and popular. But they're usually not an option anymore because today's motherboards are designed for specific processors running at specific speeds. For more advice about upgrading choices, see "Upgrade or Buy a New PC?"

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