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.

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).

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 ...