The installation of the manufacturers driver for The Robot's on-boad video is still proceeding. But I did a quick tally for what it's going to cost to upgrade it's hardware. It still has a 32-bit system. And the last time that I checked, Windows operating systems are cheap these days. I could probably buy a 32-bit version for $95, but considering that The Robot has been through many static shocks years ago, I already know that the motherboard is having some problems and it's just a matter of time.
In order to get a system that will do the high amount of mapping that I need it to do, the cost to upgrade the motherboard, memory, power supply unit and get a fast hard drive controller card is coming in at $715. I might be able to bring that down if my existing memory is comparable with the new motherboard. That will give me half as much, but its what I'm operating on as it is. The power supply unit is the most expensive. I have 750 watts now and I want to go up to 1,000. On an electric bill, a customer's rate is in kilowatt hours. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts.
I'll be salvaging the following:
- Both optical drives (I rarely use these)
- expansion graphics processing unit (video card)
- expansion sound card
- data cables for the optical and hard disk drives
- the case, or chassis
- expansion USB 3.0 card
- expansion USB 2.0 card
- expansion Wi-Fi card
And maybe my card reader, but it's SD slot doesn't read the new extra capacity cards that I use in my smartphone, tablet, digital camera and handGPS. The other slots and it's USB 1.1 port are obsolete. When you upgrade a motherboard, you usually have to replace the CPU and memory.
For most you out there... you don't need the kind of power that I do. Your upgrade costs would probably only be half of what mine are. But at that rate, you should just buy another computer. I would do that, except that they come with a metal tampering sticker that voids a warranty if it's removed to access it's interior.
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