Before you jump out there and buy a new Central Processing Unit, CPU, you better find out what type of socket you have on the present motherboard. It will do you no good if you currently have an Intel based motherboard and you attempt to install an AMD CPU. Or it will not work if you buy an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and then find that the motherboard does not have a 775 socket. CPUs are something you just don't change on a lark. Your IT guy must be geek enough to keep you on the right track.
I have run CS2 very well with 2 gigs of RAM (by the way, RAM is not in the CPU). You could install more but if you are using Windows XP, no more than 3 gigs will be recognized. You might see some improvement with 1 or 2 more gigs of RAM. But again, you will have to find out what type of RAM and are there slots available to install more. There is DDR memory and there is DDR2 memory and other types.
Are you running a bunch of programs in the background? If so, shut them down. Are you allowed on the internet and have you spent much time with this computer on the internet. If so, you may need to clean it out of malware and adware. How much space do you have free on your hard drive. Photoshop requires hard drive space for its scratch file. If you have more than one hd in the computer set up another drive for the scratch disk.
There is no special CPU for graphic designers. Photoshop make little demand on the video card since it images are 2 dimensional and static.
ASUS scores yet again with lowest radiation motherboards
Our IT Correspondent | February 10, 2010
ASUS has yet again pushed the envelope of motherboard design with the launch of Protect 3.0 boasting the lowest electromagnetic emissions from a motherboard in the industry.
Equipped with intelligent anti-radiation shielding to help protect users, systems and the planet, the Xtreme Design based Protect 3.0 significantly eliminates harmful electromagnetic rays. While on average, users are exposed to about eight hours of electromagnetic radiation daily from computer usage, Protect 3.0 effectively reduces this radiation exposure by up to 50 per cent.
A low radiation circuit design reduces the radiation produced by electrical components by positioning oppositely-charged electrical flows across each other to cancel out the fields generated. Additionally, a radiation moat design effectively eliminates radiation leakage to surrounding components by confining it to small region around an active area.
An active anti-surge protection further helps enhance component and system longevity. Protect 3.0 detects under or overvoltage conditions in components and prevents electrical surges from spreading. Anti-Surge also immediately shuts off the electrical supply and prevents potential component damage whenever surges occur, especially during periods of unstable grid power delivery, thereby enhancing total system longevity.
To ensure a more environmentally sustainable operation, Protect 3.0 includes the ASUS Energy Processing Unit (EPU), an energy-saving chip that reduces system-wide power consumption by up to 80.23 per cent.
To further reduce energy consumption, EPU also automatically delivers appropriate power via intelligent acceleration and overclocking.
Lower power generation results in less carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere. A single EPU-enabled motherboard can save up to 33kw of electricity annually, reducing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere by 20.7kg, according to Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA), a website that estimates the carbon emissions of power plants and power companies around the world.
Today, one in every three computers houses an ASUS motherboard. In fact, 10 million EPU-enabled motherboards can help eliminate up to 207,430 tons of
CO2 - equivalent to Australia's annual carbon emissions.
Best Processor on the Planet
Michelle Carter - Spectrum Communications | November 20, 2008
Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximise data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 per cent without increasing power consumption.
Broadly heralded by the computing industry as a technical marvel, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006* benchmark test that measures the performance of a processor. This is the first time ever for any single processor to exceed a score of 100 points.
“Intel has delivered the fastest desktop processor on Earth to the most demanding users on Earth, the ones who are using their PCs for video, gaming and music,” said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group. “When you couple what is Intel’s biggest leap in chip design with other incredible innovations like Intel’s solid state drives, the Core i7 processor has redefined the computer of tomorrow.”
Intel’s unique Turbo Boost Technology accelerates performance to match a computer user’s needs and workloads. Through a sophisticated on-die power control unit and using new “power gate” transistors based on Intel’s advanced 45 nanometer, high-k metal gate manufacturing process, Turbo Boost automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single- and multi-threaded applications to boost performance, without increasing power consumption. The Core i7 also has the latest Intel power-saving technologies, allowing desktops to go into sleep states formerly reserved for Intel-based notebooks.
The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel “Extreme” platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bites in and out of the processor with Intel® Quickpath Technology. Designed with Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology, the processor also allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at once. As a result, the Core i7 quad-core processor delivers 8-threaded performance.
The Intel Core i7 processor also offers unrivalled performance for immersive 3-D games – over 40 per cent faster than previous Intel high-performance processors on both the 3DMark Vantage CPU* physics and AI tests, popular industry computer benchmarks that measure gaming performance. The Extreme Edition uses 8 threads to run games with advanced artificial intelligence and physics to make games act and feel real.
The Intel® Core™ i7 processors and Intel® X58 Express Chipset-based Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO Extreme Series are for sale immediately from several computer manufacturers online and in retail stores, as well as a boxed retail product via channel online sales.
The Core i7 processor is the first member of the Intel Nehalem microarchitecture family; server and mobile product versions will be in production later. Each Core i7 processor features an 8 MB level 3 cache and three channels of DDR3 1066 memory to deliver the best memory performance of any desktop platform. Intel’s top performance processor, the Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Edition, also removes overspeed protection, allowing Intel’s knowledgeable customers or hobbyists to further increase the chip’s speed.
