I'm looking to upgrade ....

[janzman]

...my PC. One of the main areas to consider is the CPU.Can anyone help me with an easy to understand site that compares Intel and AMD for instance.tia

[Hymie]

Unless you are into high-end gaming or have PC applications which require fast processing – any off the shelf PC should suffice for everyday use. I am using a PC that is nearly 10 years old running XP on a single core processor running at 2.4GHz.

I could spend £500 on a better PC – but any improvement in performance (in what I use the PC for) would be minimal. Much better to have the £500 in the bank – or in my case, to pay off some of my debts.

[janzman]

Hymie.. thats the soundest advise I could have asked for thankyou

[VHG]

Lots of things to consider before upgrading.

First, you say about Intel and AMD, but almost all PCs can ONLY take an Intel OR an AMD, you cant switch between the two.

This is because a motherboard can EITHER take an Intel or AMD.

Secondly, CPUs tend to come out in "generations" (every couple of years) so you cant put a CPU from one generation into a motherboard from another generation.

So if your PC is say 3 years old you cant just buy a brand new CPU and put it in your computer.

Also, if a new CPU is say 25% faster than your existing CPU and you put it in your computer it wont make the computer go 25% faster.

There are all sorts of other things that will slow it down, so you may only gain 5% or 10% speed improvement.

Often the only way to REALLY improve a PC is to upgrade the motherboard AND the CPU AND the memory, and by the time you have done that you may as well have bought a new PC.

[Old_Geezer]

Unless you were experienced enough to not need to ask here, then swopping the CPU is unlikely to achieve much for you. As VHG says the CPU is determined by the PC's motherboard so at best you can probably find a faster version of the same processor you are already using. Useful for the cutting edge addicts to boast of, not for much else.

Naturally if you were thinking of building anew, from scratch, the type of site you requested would be useful, but not unless.

Normally one would tend to suggest you have added the maximum amount of memory, made sure your hard drive is large enough to have lots of free space and leave iot there. Maybe if you are into gaming you may want to check the graphics you are presently using, and the type of free slots your PC has for a new card; should you even go that route. But to be honest 'looking to upgrade' is quite a vague phrase, may be useful to work out exactly what you hope to achieve.

[janzman]

Thankyou all for your comments and suggestions.I'll take a lot on board and continue my research, thanks again.