Advantages: cheaper than a CPU, memory & motherboard
Disadvantages: A small % of PC are not compatable

...The evergreen Spectra 333 is a direct replacment for you old Pentium CPU, it replaces Pentium 75Mhz and up and offers a big boost in performance, which means you can run newer apps. The upgrade uses an AMD K6 II as the CPU and comes on an adapter board that alters the voltage to make it compatable with your system, the heatsink and fan are also provided as are BIOS updates. If you like your old system or you can not afford another, the spectra is an affordable work around. the price may seem high at first until you take into account that a new motherboard and memory are not required. for just under £100 the spectra is an excellent way to squeeze another year or so out of your old machine. The upgrade has a life time warranty and technical support is via a freephone number.... Read review

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Advantages: Fast and cheap
Disadvantages: Slower than Pentium 4

...I wanted to build a gaming PC. I was torn apart of buying an expensive Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ and an Athlon Xp 3000+. If I buy the Pentium processor I will have very little room in choosing a quality video card, so I opted to buy the less expensive processor. Going for Athlon XP 3000+ is really a tough one,I really have to sacrifice the processor speed to be able to buy a more expensive video card. The Athlon XP 3000+ is a very nice processor, This processor we is based upon the core codename Barton. This new core is made on a new 0.13-micron process fabrication process It has a 333 mhz front side bus and a 512kb L2 cache while the thorougbred core has a 266 front side bus and a 512kb L2 cache. This new core is based on a 0.13 micron technology. The term “3000+” does not mean that it is running on a 3.0 GHZ, it just means that it... Read review

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Advantages: lower price & reability
Disadvantages: no documentation

...the AMD ATHLON XP 2400 is one of the best cpu from AMD for full compliance it's better to get a 266mhz memory velocity and mother board @266 fsb minimum as a 0,13 micron technology you can get your application faster than ever in comparaison the athlon xp2400 mhz encode and decode wma files(windows media) file than p4 2200 if using memory @ 333mhz welcome to overcloking your processor can be place at 2800 mhz as athlon xp3000+ without problem the power of A xp has a very hight temperature and need specialized CPU cooler there are some good models as zalman and igloo cooler firm although die temperature is 85 grad. celcius it can use up to 65.30 w as max power it means a 300w corpus will be welcome for it mother board on kt400 nforce 2 are optimum for this cpu we tried it on a server machine with mother board Gygabite on Raid... Read review

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Advantages: power boost is good
Disadvantages: only good value if other components can keep up

...So if you're still using a 75, 90, 100, 120, 133, 166 or 200MHz Pentium PC, this Spectra 333 upgrade may be just what you're after. It can upgrade your system to a 333MHz AMD K6-2 processor, with MMX and 3DNow! instructions. It's not quite a simple case of plug and play with the Spectra 333, though. First you must run the installation software, which will tell you what motherboard and processor you're currently using. It'll then tell you if you need to change your motherboard bus speed settings - you need 66MHz for the full 333MHz performance - and advise you if there's a suitable/necessary BIOS upgrade or patch on the CDROM that's included with the chip. Once you've done all that, you simply remove the old processor, replace it with the Spectra 333 package and you're away. The performance difference is not subtle - in almost all... Read review

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Advantages: Value for money, Light
Disadvantages: Old Model

...... Read review

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Advantages: Inexpensive, reliable, memory upgrade gives huge boost in performance
Disadvantages: You must make sure you get the correct type of memory!

...type you need: First check that you have some slots free. If not then it will involve removing one of the existing chips. Secondly you need to know the type. Old pentiums will probably take SIMMS (72pin), in which case you need to buy a pair of two chips. Anything will use DIMMS. Usually pentium 2 will use SDRAM 100Mhz or 133Mhz (168pin). Pentium 3s normally take DDR SDRAM (184pin), which can be either 200Mhz, 266Mhz, 333Mhz or 400Mhz. Although 200Mhz is very rarely seen. Roughly speaking a 1 to 2Ghz processor usually goes with 266Mhz RAM, 2-3Ghz with 333Mhz and 3+ with 400Mhz. Very new computers will take DDR2 (240pin) which is even faster speeds. To find out exactly which you need consult the motherboard manual. If that fails then open up the computer and look at the chip inside. If you are lucky it will have a sticker... Read review

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Advantages: Upgrading memory is best way to improve performance
Disadvantages: You must make sure you get the correct type of memory!

.... Secondly you need to know the type. Old pentiums will probably take SIMMS (72pin), in which case you need to buy a pair of two chips. Anything will use DIMMS. Usually pentium 2 will use SDRAM 100Mhz or 133Mhz (168pin). Pentium 3s normally take DDR SDRAM (184pin), which can be either 200Mhz, 266Mhz, 333Mhz or 400Mhz. Although 200Mhz is very rarely seen. Roughly speaking a 1 to 2Ghz processor usually goes with 266Mhz RAM, 2-3Ghz with 333Mhz and 3+ with 400Mhz. Very new computers will take DDR2 (240pin) which is even faster speeds. To find out exactly which you need consult the motherboard manual. If that fails then open up the computer and look at the chip inside. If you are lucky it will have a sticker on it with the information you need. It is also worth noting the "codes" often used to refer to the different types: 100Mhz = PC100 133Mhz = PC... Read review

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Advantages: Nice design
Disadvantages: No DVD reader or writer

...Over all, this is a nice laptop. Slim and sharp design by Fujitsu Siemens Amilo makes it much thinner than it actually is. Intel Pentium M 1.7Ghz, Front Side Bus 400 Mhz seems not to be very powerful but it is not slow at all. Games like Counter Strike or Warcraft will have no problem. I've tried running Counter Strike at 1024x748 and the result was awsome, 99 frames per second. However, the mainboard and Bios are quite old. Intel 82855 doesn't support extending memory bandwidth for its Intel Extreme 2 Graphic Card like others do. 512 Mb PC2100 Ram doesn't seem to fit with the processor as its speed only at 266 Mhz. Replacing a new pair of Ram at 333 Mhz or 400 Mhz will give this laptop much more ability in multitasking and more chance to avoid crash. The keyboard is also really nice, comportable, hard button and support with lots... Read review

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Advantages: VERY COMPACT., FAST, SLEEK SHAPE
Disadvantages: COMPAQ CUTOMER SERVICES, SPEAKERS UNDER WRIST REST

...I WAS VERY FORTUNATE TO RECEIVE A COMAPQ PRESARIO LAPTOP 1260 AS A GIFT AS IT MUST BE THE ONLY THING OF THIS VALUE WITHOUT GETTING CREDIT. THIS MACHINE WAS BUILT WITH THE INTEND USE OF BEING AN INTERENT SUFING SYSTEM. IT RUNS A 56K MODEM, A SLEEK SHAPE WITH VIRTUALLY NO WEIGHT PROBLEM. THE KEYBOARD COMES WITH A SYMNAPTEC TOUCH PAD WHICH ENABLES PROSISION POSITIONING OF THE ARROW EVEN FOR LOSE PEOPLE WITH LARGE FINGERS. THE SYSTEM RUNS A COOL 333 CPU. NOT TOP OF THE RANGE WITH THE VARIETY AROUND THESE BUT SUFFICENT IN PRODUCING A FASTE SYSTEM. THE SCREEN BOASTS HIGH COLOUR AND DETAIL AND COMES READILY WITH WINDOWS 98 INSTALLED UNFORTUNALTELY THE SPEAKERS AND LOCATED BELOW THE KEYS WHICH DISTORTS THE SAMPLING SOUNDS AS THIS AREA ALSO SERVES AS A WRIST REST. LAPTOPS HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE UPGRADE BUT FOR AN EXTREMELY COST WHICH COULD... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap upgrade for slower Intel Pentium systems
Disadvantages: Let down by slow maths and lack of overclocking potential

...Having been a Cyrix MII user for the last few years, and having used their processors in systems that I sell and upgrade, I can recommend the product to anyone that has a Pentium based system with a mot