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Isn't it strange? The computer you thought was so fast the day you got it, now seems so slow. Actually, you're just getting better at operating it I'd bet. That's great, but you want your computer to keep up with you. It's probably time to move up to something faster. This would mean upgrading your cpu (and usually the motherboard as well). There are so many processors on the market today, which one do you choose?There are three major players in the field: Intel, AMD, and VIA. Intel's newest offering is the Pentium 4 (no more roman numerals?!) This cpu fits a PGA 423 socket, which is different from the previous socket 370 used by newer Celeron and Pentium III chips. P4's are currently available at 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7 and 1.8gigahertz (can you say varoom?) It requires a motherboard with a system bus speed of 400 mhz. This is so it can support the faster RDRAM ram chips. Depending on which board you purchase, either audio or networking interfaces are integrated at this time. The Pentium III is offered in speeds from 450 mhz up to 1.0 ghz. Intel’s PIII line is known for reliability, but costs a bit more than a comparable AMD. Choose either 100 or 133 mhz bus. This is brand name, solid architechture that's getting a little older so bargains should soon become available. Intel's Celeron chip is still going strong. After its introduction as a competitor to AMD's lesser priced models, Celeron has fast become a standard for home use and student computers. This chip currently tops out at the 850 mhz model. Perhaps you've herad of Intel's new Itanium chip. This is a macroprocessor (not microprocessor) engineered to compete with Sun's Sparc units. Priced near $4,000 for the cpu alone, it is not designed for home use. Read more about it at intel.com/itanium. AMD's newest chip is the Thunderbird version of the Athlon. The Athlon processors are very popular due to speed, reliable performance, and low price. They are available in speeds up to 1.4 gigahertz. These sport yet another new interface type for the cpu to sit in called Socket A. This is the same interface used for their Duron chip (see below). The Athlon originally came out as a Slot A interface. Just like it says, the Slot A used a long slot for the chip to set in, similar to a PCI card but shorter. Duron is to Thunderbird what Celeron is to the Pentium, which is a slightly scaled-down version of the latter. It can't be beat for performance on a shoestring. This chip is low priced and reliability packed. So why do all these chips use different interfaces? Copyright laws mainly. Watch our for extra-low prices that look too good to be true. In many cases the lower price is attached to a practically non-existant warranty, sometimes as short as 48 hours!AMD is working on the Athlon MP chip for servers. Visit amd.com/products/cpg/server/athlon/index.html for more information on this chip. Remember Cyrix? They are now a part of VIA. They are back in the CPU business with their Cyrix III and C3 processors, as well as their new P4X266 chips. The P4X266 are comparable to the Pentium 4. Check them out at via.com.tw/jsp/en/index.jsp.The main thing to remember when upgrading is to buy the fastest item available at a reasonable dollar value. Don't mortgage your house just to bump up a few megahertz. As you know, a newer, faster chip will come out next month and you may want to upgrade again! |
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