CPU and Cache Upgrades
When changing the CPU or cache there are
usually many jumpers on the motherboard that
have to be checked. If they are not set correctly, it's possible the computer
will work flawlessly for a while, but eventually it will fail.
First of all, what upgrades will your motherboard support? For '486
motherboards, you may only have one choice of CPU speed, or only multiples
of a certain speed. Some '486 systems will let you upgrade to a Pentium
Overdrive, and some Pentium systems will let you install a faster CPU.
If your system will not let you upgrade the CPU, can you at least install
a math coprocessor (such as a '387 or '487)? Keep in mind that a math coprocessor
with only improve a small group of applications that make heavy use of
math.
What kind of performance improvement one can
expect when upgrading the cache? It depends and it varies. Of course, that goes the same for any motherboard
upgrade. Doubling the speed of the CPU, for example, does not necessarily double
the speed of your software. Computer magazines will give an average speed
increase of anywhere from 5-20%. Some of the more daring publications will
take several different computers and run several different programs on
each one with and without cache and measure the difference. So to answer
this question you should look for a company that has run tests on the upgrade
you are going to perform, like consumer reports. Intel is pretty good
about listing the performance increases for their upgrade processors and differences
between processors.
