CPU/Processor

The CPU is the bit of your computer that does all of the actual `computing`, the faster the processor the faster your computer should run, however thats not quite the whole story.

For a start it does not matter how fast your processor can process data if  the rest of your computer is incapable of matching those speeds, for instance  the motherboard (aka mainboard)  has speed limits, it can only transfer data from your CPU to your memory or other components at a certain speed , you can easily have a 3 Ghz CPU outperform a 3.4Ghz CPU if the latter is mounted on an older motherboard with a lower bus speed, and all the processing power in the world will not speed up a computer that has less memory than it needs.

As with most  things balance is the key, your CPU should be matched with a compatible motherboard and memory.   Not taking account of   these and other factors will lead to less performance than mayh otherwise be expected.


You have probably had people say to you , ‘get a pentium‘ and I am not going to suggest that you should not, however Intel Pentium processors are no longer head and shoulders above the competition, in fact in our experience the alternatives are not only cheaper but actually better, Centurion recommend AMD processors , we recommend them because they (in our experience) dollar for dollar outperform Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron processors, its not just us of course many respected benchmarks also show AMD Athlon processors outperforming Intel in industry standard benchmarks.

The above was written before the introduction of Intel's Core2 Duo processors which performance wise are simply head and tails above anything that AMD currently produces for the Desktop, Intel also now have some slightly crippled budget versions of the Core2 for which we currently have no opinion.

There are 2 main types of intel Dual core processor, the Pentium D and the Core2 Duo, however they are very different beasts, if you are considering a Pentium D, then Centurion would suggest that you instead consider the AMD X2 range of dual core processors which outperform the PentiumD range and are far better value for money, the Core2 Duo processor however outperforms most if not all of the Desktop AMD X2 range.

A big point of confusion is clock speed, Intel processors have long been marked with their clock speed , so a PentiumIV 3 Ghz has a clock speed of 3Ghz , a comparable AMD Athlon CPU would have a clock speed of about 1.8 Ghz , simply put the Athlon CPU does more per cycle than the Pentium so you can not compare processors simply by the clock speed, this is confusing for everyone , system builders included so AMD products are normally named after their equivalent counterparts, e.g. an Athlon 3000 is expected to perform around  the same as a PentiumIV 3Ghz but will actually have a clock speed of about 1.8-2.0 Ghz


In early AMD CPU‘s the higher workflow would result in more heat and early AMD chips were notorious for overheating, whilst this is no longer true the myth continues and many who should know better still insist that AMD runs too hot, thats utter nonsense and you can say we said so !

 

 Overclocking

Overclocking is the process of modifying your computer‘s motherboards settings to increase the clock speed of your processor, AMD Athlon chips were always easy to overclock (and added to the overheating myth since overclocking a processor does indeed heat them up) and many motherboards come compete with built in overclocking facilities, in general overclocking is best left well alone, for the sake of a marginal (if noticeable) speed increase you run the risk of destroying your processor (and possibly the motherboard) and voiding your warranty. These days modest overclocking is unlikely to do any permanent damage but the above still holds true.

Motherboards built for AMD CPUS`s are often deliberately easy to overclock, often the motherboards will come complete with overclocking software, unless you know what you are doing we suggest that you not bother, the speed difference is hardly noticible until you go to far at which point the lifespan of your CPU will suffer.

 

 Sockets

When upgrading a computer you need to be aware that certain types of processor only fit in certain motherboards, the most common sockets until about 2004/5 were socket 478 (Intel Pentium and Celeron) and Socket A (AMD Athlon and Duron)
In 2005 a new breed of sockets came into the mainstream , Socket 775 for newer Intel Pentiums and Celerons and Socket 754 and Socket 939 for AMD Athlons and Semprons, a socket 939 processor will not fit in a Socket A (or any other) mainboard .
So beware that $500 computer, it probably has a Socket 478 or Socket A motherboard and processor, and whilst these will still be replaceable with new components until mid 2006 they will become more expensive as demand wanes, your computer will be near impossible to economically upgrade or repair.