The fact that pretty much anyone can have a crack at upgrading their own PCs these days is nothing short of brilliant. It’s no longer a case of being terrified to look beneath the shell – so many advances have been made that the plug-and-play PC upgrade is often a very real possibility.

However, when it comes to choosing the most appropriate parts for any PC upgrade, buyers will always face a bit of a puzzle. A certain CPU and RAM upgrade from a known brand is up for grabs at £150, though what looks to be an identical package is being sold for £60…what gives? Is it just a case of paying more for a designer label, or is there really a big and important difference between the two?

Read on for a brief insight into why buying only genuinely branded PC parts really does matter:

Performance

First of all comes the subject of performance, as you can’t always take what you read at face value. Just because two processors both say “quad-core 2.6GHz” it does not for one second mean that they will be remotely similar in performance. There’s always been a marked difference between the world’s best component producers and those that just throw things together for the cheapest possible price. This might not be important if you’re that interested in the performance of your computer, but if you’d prefer to invest in something that delivers as it promised, branded parts are a must.

Compatibility

And that’s of course assuming you can get the things to work in the first place – something never to take for granted with cheap parts. The very best products and components out there from leading brands are designed to be as easy to fit as possible and widely-compatible. By contrast, low-end components and parts can lead to all manner of conflicts the likes of which can make the whole upgrade process more of a headache than you’d believe possible.

Safety

It’s not exactly common for a cheaper PC part to cause the machine to blow up entirely, but this doesn’t mean it couldn’t fry every bit of hardware the case holds. When you buy cheap parts, you buy cheap workmanship and when it comes to intricate electrical components…well, let’s just say it’s risky. Best case scenario is some catastrophic failure wipes all of your hard drives – worst case scenario it fries your machine, kills your warranty and leaves you with a pretty big bill to foot.

Lifespan

And finally, it might seem silly to pay twice as much for branded parts when there are cheaper options available, but not if the top-end parts you buy last for three-times as long. In terms of value for money, you have to look at overall lifespan and the length of the warranty the parts come with. And while there will always be the odd exception here and there, it’s largely impossible to find a cheap PC component that would outshine its high-end counterpart in terms of both lifespan and overall value for money…it just doesn’t happen!