To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade
That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the CPU to suffer the slowness and frustration of outdated technology, or to put dollars towards a sea of upgrades, and by spending mend them.
So anyway, here's the thing. My Dell PC is now 3 years old. At the time I bought it, it was smoking. It's a P4 1.40 GHz processor with a 40GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, 250 watt PSU, CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives, 4 USB 1.1 ports, a 32MB ATI Radeon DDR video card, a Santa Cruz Turtle Beach Voyetra sound card, 10/100 MBPs ethernet on-board, and a 17" flat panel monitor. I later added a 3-port firewire PCI card, so I could buy an iPod.
For nearly everything I do, this system is absolutely powerful enough. But (isn't there always a but) I recently purchased the new Cyan game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. I'm not really a gamer. I don't like shooting things, even virtually. But I have always enjoyed the Myst games, in large part because they have no violence. It's all about puzzles. I like puzzles. I have also recently discovered that there is a genre of games for people like me. Games like Syberia and Rhem. Games I would be interested in playing. Games where you don't got to kill nothing.
My current set-up does meet at least the minimum requirements to play Uru, and in some cases (okay one case) meets the recommended. The minimum requirements are for an 800 MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 32MB video card, and the sound card I have. The recommended calls for a 1.40 GHz processor (yay me), 512MB RAM, a 64MB video card, and a Creative Audigy 2 Soundblaster card. The sound works well enough for me, so I'm not all that hepped about buying a new sound card. However I have been experiencing difficulty with the motion controls in Uru. I have all the latest hardware drivers (with the possible exception of the mouse; it's a pretty new "Dell" Logitech OEM USB optical wheelmouse, and I'll be damned if I can locate drivers specifically for it on the Internet) and the most recent BIOS version. Oh yeah, I'm running XP Home Edition.
I figure the motion control issues boil down to a problem with either the RAM, the video card, or the mouse driver (or any combination thereof). I could upgrade the RAM for about $130 ($110 if I order it over the Internet). It's RDRAM, so it's a lot more expensive than DDR. I could upgrade the video card to a 128MB ATI Radeon 9200 for $100. However I'm quite sure that if I upgrade the video card, I will also need to upgrade the power supply, as I doubt the 250 watts will be enough. I could get a 400 watt FMI ATX power supply for $59.99 or an Antec 400 watt ATX for $79.99 ($61 on the Internet). I've heard really good things about the Antec PSUs, although one guy gave raves to the FMI also. So for about $315-337 (including sales tax), I could upgrade the thing, forgetting about the sound card.
The thing is, when you start talking about spending $300 or more on upgrading a 3-year-old PC, the mind quickly turns to thoughts of whether it's worth it, or whether it's better to go for a new PC altogether. Especially since at some point I will probably want to add USB 2.0. I priced out a new Dell, which would be a P4 2.60 GHz (800 MHz front/side bus with hyperthreading), 512MB DDR RAM, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, 80GB hard drive, 128MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and Audigy 2 Soundblaster card. It comes with 8 USB 2.0 ports (2 front/6 rear). I'd swap the firewire PCI card out of my old unit into this one and keep my 17" flat panel monitor. The whole thing comes to $1070 with tax and shipping.
So, is it worth $700 more now to upgrade the whole thing (sans monitor) or not? I'd appreciate any thoughts.
Comments
My rule of thumb on upgrading is to always double and preferably triple processor speed each go round. Price performance isn't optimum for you to do that at this time.
I would upgrade the ram to 512 or whatever the max is for that mother board and if that doesn't solve the problem then get the best video card you can for under $100. just the ram upgrade should do the trick though. i don't think you will need to upgrade the powersupply just for a video card.
And i'd place a call to logitech and or the game manufacturer and find out about that mouse.
Posted by: BT | January 4, 2004 12:42 AM
I hope so about that video card, because as I turned up doing further research, Dell has a non-standard Intel motherboard. You can't use a standard ATX power supply in a Dell machine. You need to order a special one, and there's only one vendor that sells it. Surprisingly, not Dell, but still. I likes me some competition.
Posted by: Lesley | January 4, 2004 12:57 AM
I seem to remember from back when i worked that it is easier to just get a whole new system than to try and upgrade whatever current system you have.
If you can afford it just go ahead and order a new Dell with all the bells and whistles already in there.
That would be my suggestion.
Posted by: Bryan | January 4, 2004 12:32 PM
I have decided never to buy another Dell. The non-standard motherboard just really irks me. I like to be able to walk into any computer store and purchase upgrades without having to worry about whether they're compatible.
Also they have sent their technical support offshore, and although the technicians speak English, there is still a language barrier. They do not speak idiomatic American English, and I do not speak idiomatic Indian English.
Anyway, I purchased the additional RAM and the new video card. I've already upgraded RAM and replaced cards in other PCs, so I'm not worried about it. In fact, I want to build my own PC next time. It will save me at least $750 over buying a new souped-up one (if I buy all new drives, see below). I will also cannibalize my current hard drive and DVD-ROM drive (it's 12X, so it's not that far below standard). I'll also cannibalize my existing CD-RW for the moment. At some point, I'll put in a DVD burner and a second hard drive, but I'm not all that anxious about that right now. So right there I'll save even more than $750 up front.
Posted by: Lesley | January 4, 2004 03:43 PM
Idaho is offshore? Dell recently announced that they were opening tech support centers in Idaho, and 2 other states instead of India. Why do i still feel like I am getting screwed? Oh yeah, the Dell call center is in a taxpayer financed "high tech" call center near Boise.
I can help with the language barrier if need be.
I agree with BT. Buying new doesn't seem to make much sense at this point. Unless you really must have new I'ld wait a year.
Posted by: Justin | January 5, 2004 12:39 PM
Well, when I had to call their tech support two weeks ago, they were still in India. I didn't know they were moving them back, but there's still the non-standard-motherboard issue.
Posted by: Lesley | January 5, 2004 01:31 PM
non-standard components is one reason I swore off compaq years ago (how long has it been?).
There are two business models in the tech world product designers need to look at when considering standard v non-standard or proprietary components.
Microsoft and Apple. Who captured market share? Who went with compatibility?
Posted by: Justin | January 5, 2004 01:52 PM