Older PC vs Full HD

So yesterday I concluded the old laptop trial with a clear failure. So this got me thinking about a specific issue: what are the minimum requirements in today’s era of resource hungry media content when it comes to personal computers.

In order to determine this, I decided to do certain specific tasks on three separate machines with different hardware specifications. The tasks are;

1. Watch a streamed HD video from a web source in 720p and 1080p;
2. Watch a downloaded video file in 1080p that is in .mp4 format stored on a usb 3.0 stick;
3. Edit a picture while listening to music in a separate application and browsing the web.

My test machines are;

1. My Uber Station; Windows 7 64 bit,  i7 4th gen cpu, 32gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 670 2gb video card;
2. My Theater PC; Windows 7 64 bit, i5 2nd gen cpu, 8gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 610 1gb video card;
3. My in law's PC; Windows 7 32 bit, Amd Athlon 3800 xp, 2gb DDR2 ram, sata drive,
   GForce 8400 512mb video card.

I connected each of the machines to a 27 inch lcd monitor running at full HD (1920 x 1080) and started testing. The idea is to see how would a six year old pc handle HD content versus a mid range 3 year old one versus a top of the line modern workstation.

As expected, the Uber Station had no problems completing any of the tasks due to its overkill hardware setup. I was able to easily watch full HD video while running multiple applications on a dual screen display.

What I did not expect however was the behaviour of the mid range Theater pc. Let me explain;

When I Did the initial test, streaming HD video online I had no problems, my kids happily watching YouTube videos in full HD. However, when I plugged my USB key into a USB 3.0 port and launched a 1GB full HD file, VLC froze. Once the file was transferred to the desktop, it ran just fine. The music and web surfing test concluded without incident.

On my inlaws’ PC, I was surprised that I was unable to play any HD content despite the dedicated video card and the files being copied to the local desktop. Also online content was choppy and only the 3rd task of music and web surfing was successfully completed. In an effort to get their PC optimized, I will try to upgrade the memory in the in laws’ computer and see if this solves the issue.

The bottom line is that outdated hardware is generally incompatible with today’s high definition media content. Does this mean that you need to replace your computer every year? No, but when you do you should invest into a future proof device that can potentially be upgraded as its purpose evolves.