If your PC is less of a speed demon and more of a dinosaur then it's time to upgrade your CPU. We put the latest low, mid and high end processors to the test.
Upgrading your PC is a fine art. It comes down to balancing the marketing hype, wrapping your head around benchmarks, and keeping tabs on the best deals around. However, no component is more complicated to upgrade than your CPU; and there's never been such variance in desktop processors than there is today.
Traditionally, bringing your PC into the new age was as simple as buying and popping in the latest CPU or graphics card. But times are moving on, particularly with the recent technological move to PCI Express, meaning any upgrade will affect your other components.
While the future of processor technology such as Intel's socket 478 packaging may linger longer until the LGA775 fully takes off, AMD plans to phase out its longstanding Socket A design. The company will transition to two sockets types, with a possible third type on the horizon.
Currently only Intel offers both a DDR2 and PCI-E product for the desktop, which has both benefits and disadvantages. On the one hand, it's great that PCI Express will undoubtedly replace AGP, but tough in the sense that you'll need to replace your motherboard, memory, power supply and graphics card in one lot.
With such fundamental changes coming to your PC, there's a great deal of learning you need to do to stay informed. Fortunately, we've done the legwork for you, so turn the page to get the rundown on the latest CPUs out there.