Breaking The Speed Limit
For some computer owners, fast enough is never fast enough
By Doug Bedell Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
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The computer industry loves people like Pat McGee of Garland. As manufacturers push their newest processors to extraordinary speeds of 1 giga-hertz — 1 billion hertz — and beyond, they count on Mr. McGee, high-end gamers and other computer "gear heads" to buy up their latest innovations as soon as they hit the market.
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Mr. McGee upgrades his home PC so often that he threw away the case and designed a special wooden box so he can instantly pop the latest, fastest processor and other components into its motherboard. "Everything changes so fast, I just got sick of ripping open the case to stick in new stuff," says Mr. McGee, a self-described "electronics nut."
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"I made a top for it, but I got tired of taking that off, too. Now it all just sits there — wide open." Mr. McGee's attitude may be extreme. But it mirrors some of the frustration felt by computer users everywhere. Processor clock speeds double every 18 months, forcing upgrade decisions with alarming frequency. With each new milestone broken by Apple, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, ripples of angst race across the computing populace. Consumers who once glowed over their new 266 MHz processors are streaming into local electronics shops to fret and drool over machines running at 500 MHz and higher.
At Take It Home Computers in Arlington and Computer Junction in Richardson, the proprietors often find themselves talking customers out of ambitious purchases. "I mean, how fast do you want Solitaire to come up? Or your spreadsheets in Excel?" Take It Home's Ronnie Neighbours asks. "Most people just don't need that kind of speed. I'd rather send a guy out of here with a machine he can keep online without other worries." John Staples of Computer Junction says he continues to perform most of his in-shop demonstrations on a 350 MHz Pentium II. "And still today, that's a fast machine," Mr. Staples says. "It's plenty for most normal people." "Normal people" are generally described as those doing computer tasks such as word processing, Web surfing, sending e-mail, simple home photo and video editing, and basic game playing. One of the newest 1 GHz Athlon or Intel processors isn't going to provide much noticeable difference in those functions over a system running in the 350 to 450 MHz range, as long as there is plenty of memory in the machine, experts say. Meanwhile, Apple's spiffy Power Mac G4 500 MHz positively smokes both of the newest PC offerings in some tests. But unless you're doing heavy-duty graphics and video work, the feeling of speed from an upgrade will most likely go unnoticed.
For those sitting at the sub-200 MHz level, an upgrade may seem inevitable. "If it's just a user like myself and I wanted something that would get me into the modern world, I'd look in the 600 or 650 MHz range," says Mr. Staples.
Whether you go lower or higher, there are several key decisions to make before you begin shopping.
AMD vs. Intel
This year, AMD announced its 1 GHz processor first. Intel followed days later, although it has yet to deliver its version to the market. And the two largest makers of PC processors are in a neck-and-neck race toward the 1.5 GHz speed demon.
These high-end processors provide power on consumer desktops that was previously confined to supercomputers used by large academic and research institutions. To keep things in perspective, the 1 GHz Athlon is about 9,000 times faster than the original IBM PC produced in 1981.
Even new laptop computers are boasting incredible increases in speed these days. Many popular models are now available with up to 700 MHz clock speeds.
The bad news is that a 1 GHz Athlon will cost more than $1,000.
The good news for consumers is that prices keep falling for the medium-range processors behind those speed demons. Most of the cheaper models will adequately handle just about any application run by average users. But the choice between Intel and AMD has never produced such a wide disparity in pricing. If you choose Intel, you're going to pay more. The move to AMD will be cheaper for the processor, but you may be forced to make other hardware changes that add costs to the upgrade.
On high-end purchases, CPU Review (www.cpureview.com ) reports that AMD's Athlon is about 44 percent cheaper than the Pentium III at 700 MHz and 37 percent cheaper at 650 and 750 MHz. Pricewatch more than $1,000.
The good news for consumers is that prices keep falling for the medium-range processors behind those speed demons. Most of the cheaper models will adequately handle just about any application run by average users. But the choice between Intel and AMD has never produced such a wide disparity in pricing. If you choose Intel, you're going to pay more. The move to AMD will be cheaper for the processor, but you may be forced to make other hardware changes that add costs to the upgrade.
On high-end purchases, CPU Review (www.cpureview.com) reports that AMD's Athlon is about 44 percent cheaper than the Pentium III at 700 MHz and 37 percent cheaper at 650 and 750 MHz. Pricewatch (www.pricewatch.com) listed the lowest April price for the AMD 1 GHz processor at $1,119, while retailers had yet to begin shipping Intel's 1 GHz version.
Later this year, Intel plans to release its Willia-mette Pentium IV running at 1.5 GHz, or 1,500 MHz.
At the low end, that 266 MHz Pentium II you bought for $500 two years ago now sells for a mere $55. For about the same price, you can buy an AMD K6-2 model that runs at a zippy 550 MHz.
Everybody has an opinion about how Intel and AMD perform at the same clock speeds. Mr. Neighbours, for example, believes Intel makes a fundamentally more reliable chip. Some benchmark tests show Intel outperforms AMD's offerings, particularly at 450 MHz and under. Other tests seem to indicate that Athlons outperform Pentium IIIs at clock speeds of 800 or lower.
AMD has long been admired by serious gamers for its ability to render 3-D graphics and special effects. It is also the choice of a weird breed of computer users who push their processors beyond the labeled speed recommended by manufacturers. These people — overclockers — are hobbyists who delight in bragging about their machines' performance on specific benchmark tests. A whole subculture of overclockers is on display at sites such as Overclockers.com, where the latest news, reviews and performance tips on processor speeds are available.
Either way you go, a move up from a 200 MHz processor will probably mean replacing your computer's main board at anywhere from about $50 to $120.
Moving to a Pentium III 450 or higher will require a board with Intel's proprietary Slot 1 architecture, while a K7 Athlon will require something different called Slot A. The fastest Athlons may also require a new power supply because they are notorious juice hogs.
But for most people, leaping any higher than about 500 MHz will bring little satisfaction. There are few applications that will use higher speeds —right now, anyway. "That's one of the big problems at the upper end," says Mr. Staples. "If you're using programs like Excel and Quicken, you're just not going to get your money's worth up there. Heavy-duty users — the people running AutoCad or 3-D modeling programs — they're going to see the big difference." Mr. Neighbours says serious gamers make up a large portion of his high-end business. At 700 MHz and above, they report a distinct advantage. "These guys are going online with fast connections to play Unreal Tournament," says Mr. Neighbours. "I do some of that online with a 56 Kbps dialup modem. By the time I'm shooting, they've already shot. They have a real edge." Mark Vena, director of consumer desktop product marketing for Compaq, says gamers are the largest portion of those calling for his company's 1 GHz Athlon-based Model 5900Z. However, he says, a new breed of high-performance freak is emerging.
Home video editing becomes much easier with a camera and ultrafast computer equipped with FireWire connections, Mr. Vena notes. He says he recently watched a camera load 45 minutes of video onto a 40-gigabyte hard drive on a 1 GHz machine without a single frame drop. "That's taken off in a big way because people are attaching their camcorders to the computer and getting incredible results," Mr. Vena says.
Faster access to the Internet is also propelling upper-end sales, Mr. Vena says. "About 70 percent of the people buying these machines are upgrading to broadband at the same time," he says. "It makes sense for that kind of user." Especially, he says, if the computer is going to be used to download entertainment and stream it to televisions or other locations in the home.
Alternatives to a processor leap
Custom computer makers such as Mr. Staples and Mr. Neighbours often urge those fixated on processor clock speeds to consider other alternatives, especially if they're already in the 400 MHz vicinity. "You always have to ask the question, 'What are you going to use it for?' " says Mr. Neighbours.
Expanding the available memory for even the lowest-level system can produce impressive performance results. At 128MB, your system can handle most chores with perceptive ease. Most PCs are using PC100 memory (the current standard for PC memory speed). Now, several faster versions have hit the market. PC133, one of the newer and zippier architectures, will run in most systems and will be reusable longer, says Mr. Neighbours. "It's not only that, but the graphics cards are much more advanced than before," says Mr. Staples. "That can be a fairly inexpensive addition that really makes a difference." Changing disk drives can also give a nice performance boost, says Mr. Neighbours. SCSI drives send instructions to the CPU much faster and are able to read and write simultaneously. Drives running at 7,200 RPM can make a 450 seem like a 550 MHz machine at a fraction of the processor cost, he says.
But for gear heads such as the 46-year-old Mr. McGee of Garland — who prides himself on staying current with the latest electronics trends —upgrading is not an option, it's a duty.
Although he doesn't play many games, run AutoCad or other complex programs, Mr. McGee just couldn't resist tearing into his box again recently to make way for a spanking new 750 MHz Athlon chip. "I run a camera, scanner ... damn near everything you can hang on a computer, and I'm real happy with the way it's performing now," says Mr. McGee. "I paid $339 for that chip. Of course, the prices turn over so fast, in six months you'll be able to buy a 1 GHz processor for the same price." In the industry, they call people such as Mr. McGee "first adopters." As a computer hobbyist, he says he is likely to spend any extra disposable income on upgrades, needed or not. "I'll probably watch the prices on 1 GHz until they go down some," he says. "I give it until fall. As much as I'm a nut about having to have things first, I'm trying to wean myself off that characteristic. "I'm really trying."
Staff Writer Doug Bedell can be contacted by e-mailing dbedell@dallasnews.com.