Skip to Main Content
PC Hardware Annoyances
book

PC Hardware Annoyances

by Stephen J. Bigelow
November 2004
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
272 pages
10h 6m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from PC Hardware Annoyances

PROCESSOR ANNOYANCES

IDENTIFYING A PROCESSOR

The Annoyance:

I need some real processing speed to run a CAD program. How can I check the current processor make and model before deciding on an upgrade?

The Fix:

Open the System control panel (Figure 1-13). For example, my Toshiba Satellite uses a Pentium 4 2.8GHz processor. However, sometimes the System Properties reports nonsense like “Family 6 Stepping 5.” This makes it almost impossible to make heads or tails of the particular processor.

System Properties often describes hardware information such as processor type and speed.

Figure 1-13. System Properties often describes hardware information such as processor type and speed.

Fortunately, you can download a utility designed to detect hardware, such as SiSoft SANDRA 2004 (http://www.sisoftware.net). It will also identify processor details and display comparative test results (see Figure 1-14).

SiSoft Sandra identifies processor hardware and other system components.

Figure 1-14. SiSoft Sandra identifies processor hardware and other system components.

PICKING A NEW PROCESSOR

The Annoyance:

My nephew needs a serious processor upgrade, but I have no idea which processors ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Inside Out

Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Inside Out

William R. Stanek
Windows® 8.1 IN DEPTH

Windows® 8.1 IN DEPTH

Brian Knittel, Paul McFedries

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596007159Catalog PageErrata