repair

Upgrades

Need it to really sizzle?

Upgrades are a good way to get more features out of your machine, without spending a lot of money. However, when upgrading an older machine, keep in mind that newer hardware may not be compatible and therefore, to make your older machine compatible we would need to replace ALL of the major system components. This can get pricey, and will include the Motherboard (System board), Processor (CPU), and RAM at the least, more may be required, and when upgrading a motherboard you are required to purchase a new Microsoft Windows license. It is sometimes a better idea to purchase a new system. See our Custom Built Computers section

All upgrades listed are priced as a best guess. The actual cost will depend on the price of the hardware. My upgrade fees are very low, most of this cost is price (unless otherwise stated where a great deal of labor is involved). You will get an accurate quote after I know what type of system we are dealing with. Labor price includes the initial visit to find out what kind of hardware we need to order (my trip to your house), the ordering process (finding out what type of hardware is compatible with your system), setup (the actual installation and any other work that may be necessary along with the install), and a 1 year warranty on parts and labor. If you are doing multiple upgrades at once, or coupling upgrades with repairs, backups, or other services, the labor fee for the upgrade will be GREATLY reduced.




Upgrade Labor Price / Hardware Guess Description and Benefits (If there are any... I'm honest)
RAM (2GB) $40 / $50 The most popular component to upgrade in a computer is the RAM. It is the "short term memory" of the computer. The more you have, the more room your computer has to store temporary data and move variables around. This is important, without space to manipulate data the computer has to swap memory and this decreases performance greatly. You will notice a significant performance boost instantly after this upgrade.
Hard Drive (500GB) $50 / $100 If you are running out of storage space, then purchasing a second hard drive is a great way to go. It will instantly provide you with a lot of extra space without much hassle if your system resources will allow. Ranging from 250GB-1TB(1000GB).
Graphics Card $50 / $150 If you would like to get into computer gaming than throwing a new graphics card into your system is probably step number one (step number two is definitely upgrading your RAM). This is the card that processes and renders all of the system graphics, they run anywhere from $100-$600 depending on how well you want it to do it's job. The $150-$200 range is the best bang for your buck usually. The price of a RAM upgrade would be completely included in this $50 labor fee if you want to do that at the same time.
Windows Vista (Home Premium Upgrade) $100 / $125 If you want to migrate from Windows XP to Windows Vista, I can install everything for you. I will make sure your hardware is Vista compatible and then install the upgrade (this is not recommended, Vista has STEEP hardware requirements, New system recommended. Vista systems start at $499. Why pay $225 to get it on your old one?).
Anything Else? $50-100 / $?? What would you like changed? Give me a call and I'm fairly certain we can work something out.