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Should you upgrade your PC?

Upgrading your PC means to either add to or replace some component or software of your PC, thus lengthening its useful lifespan. Upgrading your existing PC may be the most economical solution depending upon several factors. Those factors include, how old is your PC, what are you trying to achieve by upgrading, are there other upgrades you are considering for later?

How Old is the PC?

In the business world, a PC has a useful lifespan of about 2 to 3 years. It may operate for more than 10 years, but speed, maintenance and compatibility make it obsolete much sooner. For most home users, these factors are not as important. It is not unusual for a home PC to be used for 2 or 3 times as long as it would be used in the business world.

Upgrading a PC can lengthen its useful lifespan. However, upgrading an older PC can have several drawbacks. First, the older it is, the more likely that some component is going to wear out. Just like an old car, at some point you have to decide whether it is worth spending any more money on it.

Second, one upgrade can cause a chain reaction of upgrades. Once you make one change, you may find that you have to make others. If you add up the cost of multiple upgrades, a new PC can become a more attractive option.

Third, depending upon the type of upgrade, it might not deliver the expected results. For instance upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is likely to cause your PC to operate more slowly, instead of improving performance. In fact, it is quite likely that Windows 7 would not even be able to run on the older PC.

Finally, your PC may not be compatible with the upgrade you want to make.

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