A few questions from a stoneage PC user.....

[imported_Ziggy]

I have a P@ 450 MHZ computer with 128 megs of ram. I will be upgrading in the next few months. My question is, how long does it take your super fast computers to open up a new browser window with cnn.com? Mine takes about 5 seconds.

Also, how come with text boxes like this (but especially on certain websites, it moves aorund the text box very very very slowly? Like I'll start typing and then a few seconds later the text will appear? It didn't used to do that.

Also, what kind of damage can you cause a processor by overclocking? My understanding is that unless you up the voltage, it cant hurt it.

 

[MichaelD]

Hello Dr. E2.

When you're opening up a page from the internet, "how fast" it's displayed on your screen is really related to how fast your download speed is. Once a static page (text) is downloaded, my 2.1GHz box stuffed with ram won't "open it" any faster than your older system.

Now, if you are talking about opening up a 500mb Excel spreadsheet from the hard drive, that's a different story completely. HD speed, CPU speed, Front side bus...all inter-related and working together to get the data loaded and showing on-screen.

AFA overclocking goes...well, that's part science, part skill and a lot of luck. Two identical chips are not identical and may overclock very differently. These days, word gets around that a particular "batch" of CPUs (identified by the alphanumerical codes stamped on them) overclocks well and is generally true, but my first statement about it still applies.

Overclocking produces more heat, which is the enemy of anything electronic. A CPU is made to run at X MHz at Y voltage, with stability. Increasing the speed of the CPU most times requires feeding it more voltage to keep it stable. More voltage produces more heat, which has to be removed; ergo the monster heatsinks and high-rpm fans we have today.

There comes a point where a CPU won't give any more no matter how much voltage you feed it. That point is often followed by a burning smell and smoke coming out of your case. :Q That's called "overdoing it slightly."

Good luck.

 

[Need4Speed]

When you're opening up a page from the internet, "how fast" it's displayed on your screen is really related to how fast your download speed is. Once a static page (text) is downloaded, my 2.1GHz box stuffed with ram won't "open it" any faster than your older system.

what about client side scripts and dynamic pages? a faster cpu and more mem will defiantely make a difference

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed

When you're opening up a page from the internet, "how fast" it's displayed on your screen is really related to how fast your download speed is. Once a static page (text) is downloaded, my 2.1GHz box stuffed with ram won't "open it" any faster than your older system.

what about client side scripts and dynamic pages? a faster cpu and more mem will defiantely make a difference

You're right, it would make a difference, but a small one. When downloading from the net, connection speed is 90% of the battle, generally speaking. Not every site out there has windowed/framed boxes with streaming video in them.

Lets not confuse the good doctor.

 

[Need4Speed]

you're right of course, but i will add from personal experience that given the same bandwidth, a newer machine will feel much more responsive using the net than an older machine....in my case a 233 vs 2400xp. i can defiantely notice the difference. that of course also has a lot to do with the performace of the hdd since all pages are being cached as you download them.