New computer
06 February 2003, 10:30 AM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Im considering buying a new computer, and although I work on computers, I dont take much interest these days on whats good, and the differences.
So first off whats the difference between
Intel Celeron
Intel Pentium 4
AMD Athlon
I intend to use the computer to play games mostly, and do some development work, when I work at home. Any recommendations for a spec. Only want the base unit and looking to spend a maximum of £700.
So first off whats the difference between
Intel Celeron
Intel Pentium 4
AMD Athlon
I intend to use the computer to play games mostly, and do some development work, when I work at home. Any recommendations for a spec. Only want the base unit and looking to spend a maximum of £700.
06 February 2003, 10:33 AM
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,653
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Celeron's are cut-down version of the full blown P3/P4's
If it's games and development, go for a P4 or Athlon-XP but make sure RAM is upped to 512MB and a decent video card installed.
Visit europc.co.uk or dabs.co.uk for some nice specs.
If it's games and development, go for a P4 or Athlon-XP but make sure RAM is upped to 512MB and a decent video card installed.
Visit europc.co.uk or dabs.co.uk for some nice specs.
06 February 2003, 10:55 AM
#3
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: The poliotical wing of Chip Sengravy.
Posts: 6,129
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ordered a 2000XP base unit here yesterday for my bro, what do you recon for £290?
http://www.aria.co.uk/DisplaySystems.asp?BrandID=4
http://www.aria.co.uk/DisplaySystems.asp?BrandID=4
06 February 2003, 11:01 AM
#4
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Exc VAT £ 249.00 Inc VAT £ 292.58
Technical Information
AMD Athlon 2000XP 52x CD ROM
256Mb PC133 SDRAM 3.5' Floppy Drive
40Gb ATA100 Hard Drive MIDI ATX Case
PC CHIPS 810 SCKT A MB- 266 Windows Keyboard
Integrated 32MB Graphics Accelerator PS2 Mouse
16Bit Integrated Stereo Sound
Bonus Features
Integrated 10/100 Network Adapter
180 - 240W Speakers
56K Modem
That machine will be absolutely fine unless you want to play games. Basically the Integrated graphics card won't be able to cope so you will have to upgrade that. Also it uses the slower (cheaper!) PC133 ram and a cheap and cheerful PC Chips motherboard. One other thing does the hard drive spin at 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM.
Having had another think about it for £700 you should be able to build yourself a pretty decent machine with a really decent graphics card.
Technical Information
AMD Athlon 2000XP 52x CD ROM
256Mb PC133 SDRAM 3.5' Floppy Drive
40Gb ATA100 Hard Drive MIDI ATX Case
PC CHIPS 810 SCKT A MB- 266 Windows Keyboard
Integrated 32MB Graphics Accelerator PS2 Mouse
16Bit Integrated Stereo Sound
Bonus Features
Integrated 10/100 Network Adapter
180 - 240W Speakers
56K Modem
That machine will be absolutely fine unless you want to play games. Basically the Integrated graphics card won't be able to cope so you will have to upgrade that. Also it uses the slower (cheaper!) PC133 ram and a cheap and cheerful PC Chips motherboard. One other thing does the hard drive spin at 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM.
Having had another think about it for £700 you should be able to build yourself a pretty decent machine with a really decent graphics card.
06 February 2003, 11:37 AM
#6
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 9,781
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
06 February 2003, 11:55 AM
#7
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I used to think Dabs were good until I had a problem with them. Basically they are good until you have a problem and then it is a total nightmare. Basically their customer service is appaling, if you phone their support line expect to be on hold for about 2 hours.
I personally now buy all my ram from www.crucial.com/uk as they offer free next day delivery and are very good value for money. They are also currently selling Radeon 9700 Pro's for £232 which is excellent.
I personally now buy all my ram from www.crucial.com/uk as they offer free next day delivery and are very good value for money. They are also currently selling Radeon 9700 Pro's for £232 which is excellent.
Trending Topics
07 February 2003, 07:45 AM
#13
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks, Ill take a look.
Looking at some of those links yesterday, certainly are cheap. £300 for what would probably cost near £6/700 in somewhere like PC world, comet etc.
Looking at some of those links yesterday, certainly are cheap. £300 for what would probably cost near £6/700 in somewhere like PC world, comet etc.
07 February 2003, 10:57 AM
#15
Scooby Regular
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 831
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Would give the celeron a miss, there cache levels are crap ! If you intend to run windows XP, the latest AMD chips are deisgned for XP and hence have a good performance with it. If you like you can send me a performance spec you are after and i would be willing to make you a machine up (cheaper, better conponents).
02 June 2003, 10:40 AM
#17
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If you want to play games then the graphics card is of more importance than the actual processor. What you will find on really cheap PC's is that they either have an integrated graphics card on the motherboard or else will have a really cheap graphics card included. Neither of these will be any good for games as the minimum card you really want is either a Geforce 4 MX440 or a Radeon 9000. For £700 you might be able to get a PC which has one of the much better Geforce 4 Ti4200 cards inside.
Personally I would steer well clear of a celeron and as you only want to spend £700 I would go for an Athlon XP as these have a far better price/performance ratio than the Pentium 4.
For Windows XP I would recommend 512 Meg of ram, XP will run OK with only 256 Meg of ram but is much happier with 512 Meg. Also Check which type of ram the motherboard uses as some manufacturers will use PC133 ram as it is cheaper than DDR ram (and hence slower). The other problem with PC133 ram is that it is only really supported by older motherboard chipsets and hence will be missing a lot of the newer features motherboards have (USB2, ATA133 etc.)
[Edited by JoeyDeacon - 2/6/2003 10:43:11 AM]
Personally I would steer well clear of a celeron and as you only want to spend £700 I would go for an Athlon XP as these have a far better price/performance ratio than the Pentium 4.
For Windows XP I would recommend 512 Meg of ram, XP will run OK with only 256 Meg of ram but is much happier with 512 Meg. Also Check which type of ram the motherboard uses as some manufacturers will use PC133 ram as it is cheaper than DDR ram (and hence slower). The other problem with PC133 ram is that it is only really supported by older motherboard chipsets and hence will be missing a lot of the newer features motherboards have (USB2, ATA133 etc.)
[Edited by JoeyDeacon - 2/6/2003 10:43:11 AM]
02 June 2003, 01:24 PM
#18
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No, I have one of those TFT monitors.
Thinking about it some more, a sound card that I can use to record my Guitar playing with would also be good, but thats probably going to cost more than £700.
[Edited by CTR - 2/6/2003 1:24:26 PM]
Thinking about it some more, a sound card that I can use to record my Guitar playing with would also be good, but thats probably going to cost more than £700.
[Edited by CTR - 2/6/2003 1:24:26 PM]
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post