Kingston to Sign Deal With IBM : Technology: The Fountain Valley firm will provide circuit boards to enhance the performance of older PCs.

Kingston Technology expects to announce Monday its first agreement with IBM to provide upgrade products that will convert older personal computers into machines that can run more powerful software.

Under the deal with IBM Technology Products, Kingston will provide circuit boards that can convert a 286-based IBM PC to IBM’s SLC line of processors, which can speed performance by eight to 10 times.

The deal with IBM ensures that Kingston products will be designed so that they are fully compatible with IBM machines, said Mike Ramada, an IBM manager. The upgrades will be priced from $129 to $425.

Ron Seide, director of marketing for Kingston, said the deal could generate as much as $30 million in additional annual revenue for the company, which is based in Fountain Valley. In 1992, microprocessor upgrades accounted for about $15 million of Kingston’s $251 million in sales. The vast majority of Kingston’s revenue comes from memory upgrades, circuit boards that can be snapped into a PC to boost its memory capacity.

This year, Seide said, Kingston hopes to hit $350 million in revenue and increase its staff from 185 employees to more than 250.