2007 PC Magazine PC Upgrade

The PC Magazine 2007 Upgrade
12.20.06

In the last year and a half there have been several major advances in PC technology. But how can you get this new tech into your old system?

By Loyd Case

As you might assume, we get a great deal of e-mail at PC Magazine. Many of these missives ask a simple question, "What should I buy to improve my system?" This flood of e-mail, combined with the spate of recent technical advances, has convinced us to put together a handy upgrade guide to help you choose the components best suited to your needs. Though we'll discuss specific products, such as 3D graphics or CPUs, the real focus here is on a set of upgrade scenarios based on three different PC usage models.

The past year has seen significant changes in the PC landscape. As components have become faster and more capable, prices have decreased. Meanwhile, Windows Vista will be generally available by the end of January and is already forcing the evolution of the hardware ecosystem. Whatever your feelings about Vista—even if you plan on never touching it—it will have a substantial effect on the hardware you use in 2007 and beyond.

Determining whether you need to upgrade depends somewhat on your application scenarios. Some users may want—or need—to upgrade more often than others. We'll factor that into our discussion of the different usage models. Depending on the age of your system, you may be able to get by with replacing just a few components. Alternatively, you might be better off replacing an entire subsystem, or even the whole PC.

Before we dive into all of that, let's take a look at some key technological advances that have occurred recently. The past 18 months have seen a series of rapid advances in PC technology. We are going to focus our attention on those that either reduce cost or improve performance.

The PC Magazine 2007 Upgrade

The March to Multicore CPUs

The shift from single-core to dual-core and, soon, to quad-core CPUs has happened quickly—even by technological standards. The primary CPU manufacturers, AMD and Intel, have rapidly shifted their major product lines to dual-core processors. With Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processors at prices dipping below $160, there's no reason to avoid a dual-core processor. Even Intel's hot new Core 2 Duo CPU line has an entry-level model, the E6300, that can be found for under $180.

A dual-core CPU can bring benefits even to light-duty users. Fact is, modern operating systems tend to launch dozens of lightweight tasks. While each taken alone has a minor impact on CPU resources, together they add up. It's true that the operating system schedulers in Windows XP—the software that determines task priority and allocates CPU resources accordingly—aren't as efficient with multicore as they could be. (Windows Vista will be much more aware of multicore.) But even XP's Service Pack 2 benefits from having more than one processor core.

Memory: The DDR2 Inflection Point

Last summer, AMD launched its series of Socket AM2 processors, which support DDR2. With AM2-supporting chipsets from ATI, nVidia, and VIA, the industry is moving away from the older DDR memory (commonly called DDR1, though that's not an official moniker).

DDR2 doubles the bus frequency of DDR1 for the same clock rate and thus doubles the effective data rate. (A structural difference in the memory modules prevents you from placing either one in the other's slots.) The result has been a jump in demand for DDR2. DDR2 memory had approached price parity with DDR, but since the AM2 launch, DDR2 prices have climbed. Still, if you're in a position to move to a new processor, it makes sense to move to a DDR2 variant, since those will have a longer technological lifespan.

Meanwhile, Corsair and nVidia have taken unused parts of the SPD ROM on memory modules to enable enhanced performance profiles (EPPs). It's looking as if EPP may be the preferred term for this new memory type, rather than nVidia's term, SLI ready. For overclockers, EPP memory contains all the information needed to push the memory to its limit without their continually having to experiment and reset.

What's more, at the Intel Developer Forum, Intel announced support for system-level DDR3 RAM, and manufacturers are starting to sample DDR3 memory chips. But it will be the second half of 2007 before we need to worry about DDR3 in PC systems.

Storage Gets Perpendicular

This year, Seagate shipped desktop hard drives using perpendicular storage technology, which it used to produce the first 750GB hard drive. Hitachi, Samsung, and Western Digital have yet to ship perpendicular storage solutions on the desktop, though Western Digital did announce laptop drives using the new technology.

DVD recordable drives continue to plummet in price. With some DVD±RW dual-layer units dropping below $30, there's no reason to avoid DVD burners any more. Pioneer Electronics, I-O Data Device, and others have announced PC Blu-ray burners, but both the drives and the media are still exorbitantly expensive, with drive prices near $1,000. Meanwhile, flash memory prices have also plunged, allowing users to carry around 2GB or even 4GB of portable storage for under $100.

Graphics in a Holding Pattern

With Windows Vista on the horizon, both ATI and nVidia have been shipping more of the same, but cheaper: Both have reduced prices while increasing performance throughout their product lines. nVidia has just launched its next-generation DirectX 10-capable GPU (see our review on page 32). ATI seems to be a bit behind here, and we'll probably not see an ATI DirectX 10 GPU until early in 2007.

For most users, DirectX 10 is a nonevent. While DX10 will become very important over time, it will be at least a year or more before games using DX10 become commonplace. A high-performance DirectX 9 video card is perfectly capable of running the full Vista Aero Glass experience, plus all games that will likely ship within the next year. Certainly, we can expect those first ATI and nVidia DX10 cards to run DX9 games faster than anything currently on the market, but we also expect them to launch only in high-price models, with midrange and entry-level parts to follow in the spring.

Both ATI and nVidia have been pushing their dual graphics card technologies. Currently, nVidia's SLI seems more mature, with greater gains seen in SLI versus ATI's CrossFire, as noted in Extremetech's ATI X1950 Pro review (go.extremetech.com/ati). The X1950 Pro and ATI's future GPUs now no longer require the bulky pass-through cable or special master card, which will make life easier for ATI CrossFire users in the future.

Motherboards: More, More, More

Motherboard manufacturers continue to add features to their products. ASUS is probably the kitchen-sink champion here, adding 802.11g Wi-Fi and transparent SATA RAID backup to its top-end boards, including the P5W DH and the P5B Deluxe. Other manufacturers are adding features, too, particularly to give overclockers easier and more efficient ways to ramp up CPUs and memory. Meanwhile, Intel's BTX form factor seems at present to have fallen from favor with the DIY set, although you still find BTX-based systems from companies like Dell and Gateway.

If you don't need all the bells and whistles, consider getting a microATX motherboard. If you use one, you can build a relatively compact system that still offers more expandability than some of the tinier machines. If you don't need expandability beyond perhaps a second hard drive and external peripherals, consider a true small-form-factor system, such as the Shuttle SN27P2 for AMD's Socket AM2 CPUs.

Cases and Power Supplies

As processor manufacturers are delivering CPUs that generate less heat and require less power, GPU and hard drive vendors are turning out products that generate more heat. A modern, high-density 7,200-rpm hard drive gets surprisingly hot, and high-end graphics cards can run pretty hot, too.

If you want to build a high-end system, you need a case with adequate airflow. By the same token, you'll want an ATX 2.2 power supply unit capable of delivering steady current loads across all rails, especially if you're running dual video cards. Several PSUs now on the market can deliver 700W or more, and there are a surprising number of units that can pump out as much as a kilowatt. For those running a system with more sedate specs, there is an increasing selection of microATX cases, such as Silverstone's SG01B. You won't need as beefy a power supply, either.

Even as power supply wattages go up, they're becoming more efficient. This means better use of your electricity dollar, as more of the wall current is turned into useful DC current for the PC, thus generating less waste heat. Look for 80 PLUS power supplies, which are certified to offer at least an 80 percent efficiency rating.

Before You Buy . . .

Before you yank out your credit card and start buying hardware, perform a system assessment to make sure that your system is actually worth upgrading. Often upgrading the system you have can prove to be a headache, and it may not be worth the effort. We like to operate by the "PC Magazine Rule of Four," which goes like this: If you find yourself with a desktop that is four years old or more, or you're going to replace four or more components, it's time to get a new system.

There is a similar timetable involved when you are dealing with laptops. After about a year you should look into upgrading your RAM if you are not at 1GB already. Two years in, your battery should be starting to give out, and if you need a new hard drive, it's time to replace the laptop.

Recently, we received an e-mail from a reader looking to upgrade the memory on his older Pentium 4 system, which was still running on an Intel 850 chipset. That particular chipset supports only RDRAM, which current motherboards no longer use. Since the biggest RDRAM modules still available are 512MB RIMMs—and PC1066 versions cost $205 apiece—we suggested that it was time to move on. The $400 it would take this user to upgrade his RDRAM would nearly cover the combined cost of a new motherboard, CPU, and memory. Though that combination would still make for an entry-level system, it would almost certainly outperform his RDRAM-based system.

Different usage models, however, necessitate different upgrade cycles. A light-duty office system may crank along for years, while a high-end gaming system may need a twice-yearly refresh. It all depends on your needs, your patience level, and your budget.

The Home PC Upgrade
12.20.06

The PC that the family uses for Web surfing is becoming old and slow. A few upgrades will give this system a jolt of power and speed.

When home users invest in the latest systems for gaming or media applications, their older systems are often relegated to light-duty office work and Web browsing. But Web browsing can place heavy demands on such systems: Anyone with a high school student at home recognizes the increasing sophistication of today's young PC user, particularly when it comes to Internet usage.

Light-duty office work, too, can strain a system more than you'd think. As document production, often with embedded artwork and charts, increasingly taxes resources, more responsive systems are needed.

The key here is the word responsive. Users of light-duty systems don't need bleeding-edge CPUs or graphics, but they are highly intolerant of poor response time. When you click a mouse, drag a document between folders, or save a file, you expect to see a result without delay. This doesn't mean that the actual task needs to be completed immediately. But if it does take some time, you should be able to get back your cursor and keyboard immediately after launching the task.

We found we can make even PCs with relatively anemic CPUs feel responsive just by increasing memory. This is particularly true for systems that use integrated graphics or video cards with HyperMemory (ATI) or TurboCache (nVidia). Graphics chips integrated into the motherboard chipset use system memory for all graphics, so 512MB of system RAM often translates to 448MB of RAM actually available to the system and 64MB reserved for graphics. Similarly, TurboCache and HyperMemory use some system memory for additional frame-buffer support. Hence a light-duty office system that seemed to struggle with 512MB of RAM suddenly seems much snappier with 1GB.

The next step after memory would be a CPU upgrade. For example, upgrading from a single-core to a dual-core processor can improve system responsiveness, particularly if you have lots of background tasks running. Spyware catchers, virus scanners, and desktop search can all suck in CPU cycles.

Finally, a newer hard drive can help speed up apparent responsiveness. Modern hard drives deliver data by offering very high data densities and larger buffers—up to 16MB on higher-capacity drives. A higher data density means that the head can read more data even though the linear speed of the media under the hard drive is the same as before.

Key Upgrades
1 Memory
2 CPU
3 Hard drive

Featured Components
A Memory: OCZ Gold 2GB DDR2 800.................$200
B CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600...................$345
C Hard drive: Seagate 7200.10 200GB SATA.........$80

Peripheral Upgrade
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 Why not use some of that big new hard drive to record some of your favorite shows? This TV tuner card connects over USB 2.0 and packs its own onboard hardware MPEG-2 decoder. It comes with a Windows MCE-compatible remote and receiver, an FM radio antenna, and an IR blaster. ($150 street, www.hauppauge.com)

The PC Gaming Upgrade
12.20.06

Being a PC gamer can be an expensive habit. A few choice upgrades will help you keep pace with the rest of the LAN party.

Gamers are obsessed with getting the best gaming performance from their systems. That's not to say that all of them have deep pockets and can rush out and buy the glitziest Falcon Northwest Mach V. But it does mean that they want to be able to run their games well, within their individual budget constraints.

Today, we seem to be at an interesting crossover point for PC games. Historically, you had times when games were either mostly CPU bound or mostly graphics bound. A game that consumed CPU cycles could benefit from a faster processor, while a graphics-intensive game would run smoother with a new video card.

For the moment, we seem to have entered an era of uneasy balance between the GPU and the CPU. Some games are almost purely CPU bound, like Microsoft's new Flight Simulator X. Others, like the real-time strategy game Company of Heroes, require both a decent video card and a CPU that can deliver good performance. There are also a few games that are heavily graphics-bound, like Prey.

In other words, today's gamer needs to consider balance. There's no point in buying a Core 2 Extreme X6800 if all you have is an ATI X1300 or an nVidia GeForce 7300. By the same token, dropping a GeForce 7950 GX2 into a Celeron- or Sempron-based system is just plain silly. So consider the idea of balance when you're upgrading. It may be better to split your $500 budget between a CPU and a graphics card, but the ratio of that split may depend on your gaming habits.

As with the previous scenario, more memory tends to be better, particularly with recent game titles. A number of games out now can benefit from having more than 1GB of RAM. Most games should run well in a 1GB footprint, however.

Finally, don't shortchange audio. A Creative X-Fi sound card, along with high-fidelity speakers or good headphones, can substantially intensify the immersive experience. If you can't afford a sound card, make sure your next motherboard upgrade uses one of the higher-quality HD codecs, like the Analog Devices AD1988B. You won't get full EAX 4.0 3D audio, but it's still a pretty good experience. Do get good speakers and headphones. What good is a game where stuff explodes if you can't hear it?

Peripheral Upgrade
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard The G11 maintains the look and feel of your standard keyboard layout without compromising much space to make room for its extra keys. To the left of the main typing area are six rows of "G" macro keys, totaling 18 keys. Above these are 3 keys that switch between modes, bringing the grand total of macro keys to 54. ($70, www.logitech.com)

Key Upgrades
1 GPU
2 CPU
3 Sound card

Featured Components
A Graphics card: XFX GeForce 7900 GT...............$280
B Memory: Corsair TwinX 3500LL Pro (2x, 1GB)...............$325 ( www.corsair.com)
C CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600..................$305 (www.intel.com)

The Digital Media Home System
12.20.06

The focus of the home PC has changed from homework to storing ­pictures and music. Is all this digital media slowing down your PC?

Many home PC users are finding that the PC they bought to surf the Web has been transformed into a digital media hub. Whether you're simply an iTunes or Windows Media Player user, or dabble in digital photography and video editing, digital media is quickly becoming the main focus of a PC that wasn't built for it.

If this sounds like your PC, then the upgrades that might work best for you are capacious fast storage, lots of memory, and a fast CPU. Secondarily, a reasonably good graphics card may be useful for certain types of applications, such as rendering 3D transitions in some video-editing applications. Fortunately for most users, these upgrades, with the exception of the CPU, are some of the easiest to perform. You may find that you can easily upgrade your system in about a half hour.

Digital media requires storage—and lots of it. Professional videographers look to solutions such as large, striped arrays to boost capacity and performance. Home users, too, should seriously consider data integrity and safety before performance. Losing all your digital photos from the last two years will not engender peace and tranquility in your household.

What you might prefer is a single, fairly large drive for your primary drive and a pair of high-capacity drives set up as a RAID 1 redundant array, which works by replicating all data onto two different drives, even though it looks like a single volume. Store most of your "precious cargo" on the RAID 1 array.

Memory is another key upgrade item, particularly for digital photography and video editing. Having 2GB of RAM or more will help minimize swapping out to the hard drive during those intensive rendering or filtering operations. You may not think that you will ever do any photo editing of this magnitude, but a few years ago you probably never thought you'd turn your trusty SLR in for a digital camera, either.

Finally, a fast CPU is extremely useful when you're running those intensive filtering operations. Many video-encoding and editing apps are designed to take advantage of dual-core processors, so that's a worthy upgrade if your system can handle it.

Peripheral Upgrade
Maxtor OneTouch III Turbo Edition The Maxtor OneTouch III Turbo Edition's compactness and copious amount of storage space raise the bar for storage systems. Video editors, heavy downloaders, and any users needing a lot of capacity should be happy with the 1TB it provides in a RAID 0 configuration. Set up as a RAID 1, the system still offers 500GB and can keep the data safe even if one internal drives fails. ($750 street, www.maxtor.com)

Key Upgrades
1 Hard drive
2 Graphics card
3 CPU
4 Memory

Featured Products
A Memory: 1GB Corsair ValueSelect DDR400.............$80
B Graphics card: EVGA GeForce 7600 GT CO.......$180
C Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar RE2 400GB......$160