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The Lowdown on Upgrades

Is your aging PC worth saving, or should you put the money toward a racy new model? Check out our superguide full of tips on how to bring your computer into the present.

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RAM and CPU Upgrades

If your goal is to wring faster performance out of an aging computer, additional memory and a replacement CPU remain the two upgrades that will do the most good. RAM is cheap and easy enough to install that boosting your memory to a comfortable level--64MB, if you want to run Windows 98 or Office 2000 at a reasonable clip--isn't a major decision. At press time, typical RAM prices ranged between $1.50 and $4 per megabyte, depending on the memory type, size, and vendor.

Processor upgrades are a trickier matter. If the system you really want costs more than $1000, and that's more than you're willing to spend, a new CPU (supplemented with more RAM, if needed) can be an effective stopgap. The cost? Anywhere from $90 to $400. But upgrading the processor makes little fiscal sense if you'd be just as content with a new sub-$1000 PC. And the upgrade won't boost your PC's speed to rival that of systems based on the fastest Pentium III and Athlon processors; for that, you'll have to replace your motherboard (see "The Mother(board) of All Upgrades").

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