It's Time For An Upgrade... But What's Best? : Introduction
Introduction
The scene's a familiar one to anyone who owns a PC and uses it on a regular basis - two years after buying it; the computer is a lame duck. In the past, constant updates of Microsoft's operating systems and Office applications made hardware upgrades necessary. Times have changed however and 2D applications are no longer the driving force for new processors, as the following performance charts show. Today, 3D games are the most typical resource-eaters on the consumer market. In the professional segment, image processing, rendering, ray tracing and CAD constantly demand more processing power from a system.
Many users don't want to dump their old PC after two years in order to buy a new one. This means that the only alternative is to upgrade. We'll show you how new components can be integrated in order to 'revive' your old PC. The report investigates the various upgrading options that exist, such as a new processor, more RAM, a bigger hard disk and a new graphics board. Along with the effect of specific upgrades on overall performance, we'll also take a look at the relationship between price and the effort involved in carrying out the upgrade. Furthermore, we will point out areas where a specific upgrade may not produce any overall benefit in the performance of your PC. Anyone who intends to add new components to improve an old system should always check which components would actually have the desired effect.
- Next page The Basic System
- Processor and Chipset Tables: How to Configure a CPU Correctly
- Internet World: It's a Free World
- The 150 MHz Project, Part 1
- Let the Games Begin: Game Developers Conference in San Jose
- Exploration into Overclocked AGP Graphics
- The Giga-Battle Part 2
- The Giga Battle
- Showdown at 133 MHz FSB - Part 2, The Real McCoy
- Issues with VIA's Apollo Pro133A
- Performance Showdown at 133 MHz FSB - The best Platform for Coppermine
