This case asks you to use the guidelines in Chapter 12 for creating effective graphics.

The Case: Recommendations for Computer Processors at Tremont Dynamics

As a member of the management information systems department at Tremont Dynamics, one of your jobs is to evaluate the newest technology and suggest to management future purchases you think would help the company increase productivity or reduce operating expenses. You present your recommendations in a monthly report to your boss, Mark Sanchez.

Your boss is a busy person. In order to get your recommendations across as efficiently as possible, you've learned to use graphics when you want to present comparisons of products or services. Your most recent report will present your recent research on the new Pentium processors that are on the market. The company is interested in purchasing new PCs for its staff, and the new Pentium machines seem to offer the most power for the dollar. The company currently has a mixture of 386 and 486 PCs. The applications the staff uses include spreadsheets, word processing, database management, accounting, and desktop publishing. It is important that the current applications run quickly on the new machines because the company does not want to invest in new software.

The Task

The article below compares how fast a computer equipped with different processors can perform typical tasks associated with using a word processor, spreadsheet, and database applications. The processors are divided into two classes, Pentium and non-Pentium. The Pentium processors include two speeds, 60-MHz (megahertz) and 90-MHz, and the non-Pentium processors include two speeds, 386 and 486. The larger of the two numbers in each class signifies a faster machine (thus, a 486 processor is faster than a 386 processor).

First, analyze the data in the paragraphs below. Then create one or more tables using data from the paragraphs in the article. Finally, use the data in the article to create a bar chart, pie chart, or other visual aid that will adequately demonstrate the performance speeds of the processors. (Your instructor may want you to create specific graphics for this exercise.)

Documents/Information/Samples

Word Processing

For word processing, a 60-MHz Pentium machine was able to perform a search and replace of a word in a 200-page document in just 10 seconds. A 90-MHz Pentium machine performed the same task in 6 seconds, and the best 386 and 486 machines took 34 seconds and 28 seconds, respectively.

In order to spell check a 200-page document (with no typos), the two Pentium machines performed more identically, with the 60-MHz machine clocking in at 18 seconds and the 90-MHz machine at 17 seconds. The 386 machine spent 52 seconds, and the 486 machine took 40 seconds to perform the identical spell check.

Spreadsheets

When performing spreadsheet calculations, the 60-MHz Pentium took 31 seconds to re-calculate a table of loan information. The 90-MHz machine spent 28 seconds when performing the same task. The 386 and 486 calculated the results in 74 and 65 seconds, respectively.

To run a complex macro, the 60-MHz and 90-MHz Pentium spent 9 seconds and 7 seconds, respectively. The 386 machine calculated the macro in 18 seconds, the 486 machine calculated it in 13 seconds.

Databases

Using database software, the 60-MHz Pentium was able to find a single record in a 500-record database in 18 seconds. The 90-MHz Pentium was able to perform the same search in 13 seconds. The 386 machine clocked in at 44 seconds, the 486 machine at 29 seconds.

Using the database software to join and display the contents of three tables, each with 200 records, the 60-MHz Pentium was able to perform the task in 14 seconds, the 90 MHz Pentium in 12 seconds. The 386 machine spent 38 seconds to join the tables, and the 486 machine took 29 seconds.