A Simple Question

[Johnny Schmitt]

As a person who grew up with Intel Processors, I know that a Pentium 4 is
more powerful than a Pentium 3,...and I know that a computer rated at 1.7
ghz is faster than one rated at 850 mhz, but here is my problem:

Is there any type of comparison chart or something that lets me know the
same thing with AMD processors (or any other brand processors for that
matter)?

I would like to know for example what is an AMD-K6 3D processor' closest
neighbor? Is it roughly the same as a Pentium 2 or 3,...what is it compared
to in relation to speed in mhz or ghz?

I am working on some old computers but for the life of me I don't know which
ones are more powerful and/or faster so I can make judgment calls on whether
to install Win98SE, or ME, or if it is powerful enough to handle XP.

Johnny

 

[John Ski]

Subject: A Simple Question

From: "Johnny Schmitt" (e-mail address removed)
Date: 7/31/2004 2:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>

As a person who grew up with Intel Processors, I know that a Pentium 4 is
more powerful than a Pentium 3,...and I know that a computer rated at 1.7
ghz is faster than one rated at 850 mhz, but here is my problem:

Is there any type of comparison chart or something that lets me know the
same thing with AMD processors (or any other brand processors for that
matter)?

I would like to know for example what is an AMD-K6 3D processor' closest
neighbor? Is it roughly the same as a Pentium 2 or 3,...what is it compared
to in relation to speed in mhz or ghz?

I am working on some old computers but for the life of me I don't know which
ones are more powerful and/or faster so I can make judgment calls on whether
to install Win98SE, or ME, or if it is powerful enough to handle XP.

Johnny

Johnny,
A simple answer...Googling "processor comparison" returned nearly 3,000,000
hits. I'll bet you your firstborn that at least one of them will tell more than
you want to know about the subject.

Cheers,
John
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
***Arthur C. Clarke***

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I would like to know for example what is an AMD-K6 3D processor'
closest neighbor? Is it roughly the same as a Pentium 2 or 3,...what
is it compared to in relation to speed in mhz or ghz?

Unfortunately, this is *not* a simple question. The problem is
that processor A may be faster at doing task X than processor B,
but processor B is faster at doing task Y than processor A. So
direct comparisons don't always work, and it depends on what's
being done.

There are tables of rough equivalents which you can find on the
internet (do a google search), but be aware that are by their
very nature, just rough.

I am working on some old computers but for the life of me I don't
know which ones are more powerful and/or faster so I can make
judgment calls on whether to install Win98SE, or ME, or if it is
powerful enough to handle XP.

For help with these questions, post the specs of the computers
here.

 

[Johnny Schmitt]

Ken, Thanks!

What can an AMD-K6 3D processor with 192 mb ram handle without being too
slow to comfortably enjoy it. Win98,..ME,..XP?

 

[zippy]

AMD K6 will handle 98 and Me better than it would with XP. You can put more
ram in it and it might make it somewhat better but it will not be a speed
demon with XP. Bare bones it would not be bad, but once you get to putting
alot of programs on it, it may start bogging down. How big is the hard
drive?

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Ken, Thanks!

What can an AMD-K6 3D processor with 192 mb ram handle without being
too slow to comfortably enjoy it. Win98,..ME,..XP?

You're welcome, Johnny. Glad to help.

I'm sure that you can easily run Windows 98 or Me with that
setup. I'm less sure about XP.

Doesn't the K6 3d come in different speeds? What speed is yours?
You should have something at least around 350-400MHz to begin to
get adequate (but not great) performance.

The RAM is a different question.192MB is marginal for most
people. I usually recommend at least 256MB. And if by chance you
have built-in video on the motherboard, rather than a separate
video card, some of your RAM will be used for video, so you
effectively have even less than 192MB.

Although how much RAM *you* need depends on what apps you run,
most people running a common range of business apps will find
that 192 may be marginal, especially if some of it is used for
video.

My wife runs Windows XP on a P2-400 with 256MB. The performance
isn't great, but she finds it adequate. I wouldn't want to go
much below that, though.

Can you add more RAM?

 

[Johnny Schmitt]

The hard drive is 8 GB in size. I have no idea what speed the computer
might be as I can't find it listed under "System", "My Computer", or "System
Information", is there another way to find out?

Upgrading the ram to a larger one is not a possibility at this time. It's my
sister-in-law's computer and I had just recently had her purchase ram to
bring it up to what it is now (it was all she could afford to buy). The
computer had gotten a virus and so many things are screwed up that I am just
going to reformat the hard drive and do a clean install of a Windows
Operating System.

Johnny

 

[Ken Blake]

In

The hard drive is 8 GB in size.

That's marginal.

I have no idea what speed the
computer might be as I can't find it listed under "System", "My
Computer", or "System Information", is there another way to

find out?


Any of these should tell you:

AIDA32 http://www.aumha.org/freeware.htm

Everest
http://www.lavalys.com/index.php?page=product&view=1

Belarc Advisor www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Upgrading the ram to a larger one is not a possibility at this

time.


Then it may be inadequate. You could probably manage to make
this work, but I think that no matter what you do you're going to
be pushing it, and you're better off staying with an older
operating system. You're likely to be happier with 98 or Me.

 

[Plato]

I am working on some old computers but for the life of me I don't know which
ones are more powerful and/or faster so I can make judgment calls on whether
to install Win98SE, or ME, or if it is powerful enough to handle XP.

500MGz will run xP OK if you have enough ram. 512 is recommended.

 

[Alex Nichol]

What can an AMD-K6 3D processor with 192 mb ram handle without being too
slow to comfortably enjoy it. Win98,..ME,..XP?

Depends on the processor speed. I have a 500 MHz machine with 256MB
that runs XP reasonably well, provided I don't go for demanding
multimedia. At 192 and under that speed, I think I would go for 98 SE
rather than ME