CPU (Processor) Upgrades: How To

One of the most benificial upgrades that you can perform to almost any system would be to upgrade the CPU (Central Processing Unit).

Which Processor To Buy
You can find prices for some of the more popular processors by clicking here. The CPU is installed onto the systems motherboard. Every motherboard will list which type and speed of processor that you can install into the motherboard model that you have inside of your computer. If you purchase a pre-built computer system, then you can find this information from the website of the manufacturer. There you can look up your particular model and find all the information that you will need in order to decide which processor to purchase. You should also make sure that upgrading any components on the system will not void the warranty that you may have on the system. If you know the motherboard manufacturer and model, you can get the information that you need from their website as well. You may have to open the case, and take a look at the motherboard itself to find out which motherboard that you have.

To Upgrade Or Not To Upgrade
Once you know which type of processor that you can install into your system, you can take a look at the prices of the processor to see whether it is worth while or not. If you can only upgrade a couple hundred mhz (megahertz) then it is not really worth while. If your upgrade can be quite substantial, and it will not cost too much, then it would be a beneficial upgrade.

How To Install
It is recommended that you backup any critical data on your system before doing any type of work on your system, just to be on the safe side. The first thing that you need to do is turn off your computer. Once the computer is shut down, you can unplug the power cord from the back of the computer. Open up the computer case, and remove the old processor. You must be very careful to not cause any static electricity discharges from your body to any of the computer components. To do this, you can either purchase a wrist band antistatic device, or you can touch the metal of the internal frame of your computer case continuously to be sure that you are discharged before beginning work. Most models of processors have a lever that is used to lock the processor in place, and all you really have to do is unlock the lever to eject or unplug the processor, depending on the model. Specific instructions should be included in the documentation of your new processor or on the website of the motherboard or computer manufacturer.

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