On CBS MoneyWatch: Deal or no deal? 8 lousy 'bargains'
BNET Business Network:
BNET
TechRepublic
ZDNet
TalkBack 5 of 19:
Next »
« Previous
Exactly
A couple years ago I built a PC for a friend who is a hard core gamer. Put a 2.4 GHz P4 and a Radeon 9700 Pro in the box along with a gig of RAM and fast hard drive. As Doom 3 was about to be released he started talking about a new machine and I convinced him that the cost of a new machine just wouldn't be justified by the performance increase he may see. I just couldn't see shelling out the cash to go from a 2.4 to 3.4 GHz machine (the sweet spot in CPU pricing when I checked). Granted it would have a faster FSB so faster memory along with the faster CPU, but enough to justify the upgrade? Turns out his 2 year old machine played Doom3 just fine.

Not too long ago CPU speeds were growing by leaps and bounds (at least clock speeds, but that's another argument). Lately, they've been growing by much smaller steps. It used to be that you could easily double the performance of a 2-3 year old machine without even having to buy the top dollar CPU. Today I can't double the performance of a 2 year old machine if I wanted too. At least not without going dual CPUs but it's questionable as to how much load sharing actually goes on depending on the application...
Posted by: PA-ITGuy   Posted on: 09/03/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

You can only stuff the channel for so long  bidemytime | 09/02/04
People Could Buy A Lot More CPUs if MS Wasn't Gouging  brenthawkinsmd | 09/02/04
You mean Linux isn't an option for you?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/02/04
Do I *need* a new PC?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 09/02/04
Exactly  PA-ITGuy | 09/03/04
Blane it all on Y2K......  Laff | 09/03/04
Need a new PC?  jguyp725@... | 09/03/04
Doen't Moore's Law only state that  Laff | 09/03/04
Moore's Law  PA-ITGuy | 09/03/04
But remember: "The Bush Economy is going Great!"  Atlant | 09/03/04
I think there plan BACKFIRED!  Laff | 09/03/04
LOL GOOD LUCK!  ScottT | 09/03/04
Sorry about that.. hit enter and it submitted twice...  ScottT | 09/03/04
got any kids?  JoeMama_z | 09/03/04
Increased Competition?  ScottT | 09/03/04
If you look  JoeMama_z | 09/03/04
Glad I helped Intel's Decline  ITGuy04 | 09/03/04
quit bi!ching  M_c | 09/03/04
Wintel decline  whisperycat | 09/06/04

What do you think?

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

advertisement
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors

SmartPlanet

Click Here