All the buzz is Sandy Bridge, but is upgrading the old computers worth it?
So one of the things I like to do on occasion is benchmark different machines and look back at whether it was worth upgrading or not. I usually try to get rid of most of my older computers, but somehow between repairing and upgrading other people's computers, I end up with old ones lying around.
I read daily to keep up with the current computer and networking technology to be able to recommend to other people as well as think about my next upgrades. All the buzz lately has been Intel's Sandy Bridge and the upcoming AMD platforms Bulldozer, Fusion, and other.
I recently got myself a new laptop for Christmas. I had been holding off on the latest and greatest but the wait was getting longer and longer and the then current laptop I was using was not cutting it. I use most of my computers for a variety of tasks. Most of the evenings it is web surfing, flash games, and watching video. But quite often I am doing website publishing, photo, and video editing. I am also a casual gamer in the RTS and FPS genres.
When I went looking for the new laptop, I wanted a Core i series and a DirectX 11 capable graphics card. The big catch was I wanted it in a 15-16" size and under $1000 dollars with a numeric 10-key keypad. I watched as many brand names put out Core i3, i5, and even i7 laptops, but then would not pair them with a decent graphics card. AMD had the decent DirectX 11 graphics in several laptops, but not many with the size and CPU I wanted. The other issue was the switching of graphics for battery life when I travel. Then on Black Friday a decent one went on sale for the right price. $600 for an Acer 15.4" with a Core i3 and an NVidia GT420m which includes Optimus technology. Now this is by no means a powerhouse, but I can tell you that the Core i3 running at 2.4Ghz and the 1GB 420m cuts through the same video tasks and plays games as well as my son's desktop Core 2 Quad Q6600 and 1GB NVidia GeForce 8800GT. The other desktop is a Phenom X4 Black Edition with an ATI FireGL Card and Video Capture cards. The desktops all have WD Raptor/Velociraptor drives. The old laptop was a Core Duo with an ATI video. Several months ago I got rid of my big gaming laptop which was a Core 2 Duo and Nvidia GT7900. It was a 17" and just sat in the closet most of the time as it was too big for daily use and carry. The daily laptop was a 14.1" Core Duo with integrated graphics.
Now after the CES 2011 dust has settled and we have seen what is new and what may be coming I am considering upgrading one of the desktop computers. Either my son's Intel or the video editing AMD will be the recipient of the new components. I have seen all the numbers from Sandy Bridge reviews and they look amazing. I almost upgraded to the Core i series in the desktop months ago until I learned that Sandy Bridge was going to get a new socket. I wasn't going to get taken that quick again by Intel knowing how fast they seem to love to abandon a socket. That is one thing I have loved about AMD, and yes it looks like they are going to change sockets finally as well. But my AMD Quad Core chip started in a AM2+ with DDR 2 and upgraded to an AM3 with DDR 3 when the boards and memory came down. That was wonderful only having to swap a board and memory and keep all things common. Upgrading the Son's Core 2 Quad is a consideration, but it is going to take new board, new memory, new cpu, and probably new coolers as Zalman probably does not have adapters for the coolers I have been using in my desktops. I could upgrade the video machine, but still be out new board, new CPU, new cooler, and possibly new memory if the current DDR3 is not compatible.
I had a thought after CES as to how much have we really gained with the new technology and decided to dust off several old computer components and benchmark them. Now I could have easily visited several sites with charts and just looked up numbers, but where would the fun in that be?
Following will be the comparison of several CPUs, Memory, and Chipsets as well as the integrated graphics from the past and hopefully up to the present.
Because I was going pretty far back with some of the components I chose to first use Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3. Windows 7 results may follow later.
I read daily to keep up with the current computer and networking technology to be able to recommend to other people as well as think about my next upgrades. All the buzz lately has been Intel's Sandy Bridge and the upcoming AMD platforms Bulldozer, Fusion, and other.
I recently got myself a new laptop for Christmas. I had been holding off on the latest and greatest but the wait was getting longer and longer and the then current laptop I was using was not cutting it. I use most of my computers for a variety of tasks. Most of the evenings it is web surfing, flash games, and watching video. But quite often I am doing website publishing, photo, and video editing. I am also a casual gamer in the RTS and FPS genres.
When I went looking for the new laptop, I wanted a Core i series and a DirectX 11 capable graphics card. The big catch was I wanted it in a 15-16" size and under $1000 dollars with a numeric 10-key keypad. I watched as many brand names put out Core i3, i5, and even i7 laptops, but then would not pair them with a decent graphics card. AMD had the decent DirectX 11 graphics in several laptops, but not many with the size and CPU I wanted. The other issue was the switching of graphics for battery life when I travel. Then on Black Friday a decent one went on sale for the right price. $600 for an Acer 15.4" with a Core i3 and an NVidia GT420m which includes Optimus technology. Now this is by no means a powerhouse, but I can tell you that the Core i3 running at 2.4Ghz and the 1GB 420m cuts through the same video tasks and plays games as well as my son's desktop Core 2 Quad Q6600 and 1GB NVidia GeForce 8800GT. The other desktop is a Phenom X4 Black Edition with an ATI FireGL Card and Video Capture cards. The desktops all have WD Raptor/Velociraptor drives. The old laptop was a Core Duo with an ATI video. Several months ago I got rid of my big gaming laptop which was a Core 2 Duo and Nvidia GT7900. It was a 17" and just sat in the closet most of the time as it was too big for daily use and carry. The daily laptop was a 14.1" Core Duo with integrated graphics.
Now after the CES 2011 dust has settled and we have seen what is new and what may be coming I am considering upgrading one of the desktop computers. Either my son's Intel or the video editing AMD will be the recipient of the new components. I have seen all the numbers from Sandy Bridge reviews and they look amazing. I almost upgraded to the Core i series in the desktop months ago until I learned that Sandy Bridge was going to get a new socket. I wasn't going to get taken that quick again by Intel knowing how fast they seem to love to abandon a socket. That is one thing I have loved about AMD, and yes it looks like they are going to change sockets finally as well. But my AMD Quad Core chip started in a AM2+ with DDR 2 and upgraded to an AM3 with DDR 3 when the boards and memory came down. That was wonderful only having to swap a board and memory and keep all things common. Upgrading the Son's Core 2 Quad is a consideration, but it is going to take new board, new memory, new cpu, and probably new coolers as Zalman probably does not have adapters for the coolers I have been using in my desktops. I could upgrade the video machine, but still be out new board, new CPU, new cooler, and possibly new memory if the current DDR3 is not compatible.
I had a thought after CES as to how much have we really gained with the new technology and decided to dust off several old computer components and benchmark them. Now I could have easily visited several sites with charts and just looked up numbers, but where would the fun in that be?
Following will be the comparison of several CPUs, Memory, and Chipsets as well as the integrated graphics from the past and hopefully up to the present.
Because I was going pretty far back with some of the components I chose to first use Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3. Windows 7 results may follow later.
