Bod gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
I can honestly say I've never had a need for any of that information - or even cared particularly about the clock speed. Either the machine's quick enough, or it isn't. If it isn't, it's rarely the CPU speed which is the biggest bottleneck.
I ran it on mine, came up with 'actual speed', 2700MHz, but 'published speed' was also 2700MHz.
Sounds a bit suspicious actually; a bit like driving a car with a rated top speed of 120mph, and achieving exactly 120mph top speed.
Is it really measuring anything, or just reading out the clock setting from some register or other?
(I also tried CPUZ that someone else posted; that came up with a core speed of 800MHz, a multiplier of 4, and a HT link of 2000MHz (whatever that lot means).)
Bod gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Yes, it clearly is. That's why I'm asking - because I would like to know whether there's something I'm missing.
Unless you're producing some benchmarking, to produce quantifiable performance stats for comparison purposes, I can think of no reason you would need to know - other than purely for interest's sake.
Bod gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Right...?
Again - BUT WHY? What do you need to know all of that info for?
If you're replacing the CPU or graphics, then all you need is the socket/ slot spec, which a quick look will tell you. If you're increasing the memory, then all you need is the brand/model of the machine or mobo - and that can all be got from either the sticker on the front or (at the outside) the BIOS.
If you're upgrading, it helps to know what's there, and that in turn can tell you whether it's worth upgrading and how far the upgrade can go. CPU-Z can also tell you this in a minute or so after booting from a CD without opening the case, which can be an issue at times.
Saves having to go into the Bios. It also tells you the Mobo Number and version/date/PCI Express or AGP of Mobo etc. Also the Dram timings etc(in real time)...handy if you are overclocking a computer. In short, it gives all the info in one place, in seconds.
Why go to the effort of undoing everything, fighting your way through dust and cobwebs, delving through wiring looms, when something like CPU-Z will tell you everything you need to know? Socket alone does not tell you what CPU you can use. That is up to the mobo/BIOS combination. Often, a quick look isn't possible to check the socket, as the HSF will obscure the actual socket plate.
It's also handy as a simple check that everything is running at the correct speeds. Some old machines that I built defaulted to a lower bus speed. Yes
- the BIOS would tell me that on POST, but if already running, why reboot when you can find out immediately? The BIOS generally doesn't give detailed information regarding the CPU, such as the stepping etc.
You can identify the socket or slot type easily enough (although you'll have to open the case). In the event that the machine isn't fast enough, it's quick to tell if there is a faster CPU you can put in, or whether more is needed.
So if there was a big heatsink obscuring the socket area, you could determine if you were looking at a Socket 1155 or Socket 1156 machine by sight? ;-)
That depends on what you are doing: Here, now, when processing 3D and other graphics, its often 'go and make a coffee' whilst it chugs its way through 100,000 sided polygons..
Sunday night I did an export from one program to another. To get things accurate experience shows that exported curves sometimes blow up, exported polygons do not..however the program then needed to turn those back into curves. There were over 700,000 nodes...came down after conversion to about 1000.
So that's where CPU goes. Graphics manipulations.
OTOH I had greats success running web/file servers and suchlike on
putting xp on a 98 machine is a poor idea, its simply too heavy an operating system. 98 has many issues, but most are resolvable, whereas xp on such old kit would make it imitate a slug.
I dont know any task barring video software that wont run on a 466 celery. Lots of programs wont, but for pretty well everything there's a leaner designed bit of software that will go fast on such old hardware, given the right OS etc.
Most new software has no business running on a P2. You need a distro designed for an old PC, and for apps either bundled light apps, as linux generally does, or else hand picked light apps for win, if for some reason you msut run win.
Yes - though again for most stuff its easy to get used hadrware even now that will run fine
Not normally needed, nusb3.1 solves all that. Dont use win98 without nusb, its out of the box handling of usb is painful.
max it out, it makes all the difference. Freecycle is handy for old ram.
A lot of people make the mistake of picking obese software, it really is optional.
On a 466 I'd probably run Antix or perhaps Puppy for a general purpose desktop.
Not ever felt the need to try it but does it do more than the system info available in Microsoft Office software? (Open Word/Excel or other program, go to "Help/About/system info".
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