New PC.....What processor?
 

I'm about to bite the bullet and purchase a new PC. It will be used for the internet, word processing, storing music and digital camera pics and using photoshop elements. I'm not too bothered with playing games on it.

Would a Celeron 2.8D do the trick or should I go for a pentium 4 3.06 based on what I need the PC for.

I currently have a iiyama s702GT monitor and as cash is tight at the moment would prefer to keep it. The PC I'm looking at is available as a base unit or + £79 for a CRT or + £169 for a TFT. I might update at a later stage to a decent TFT.

Any help would be really appreciated. :)

Thanks in advance

As a suggestion:

2400+ Sempron
512MB DDR Memory
52x CD-RW
40GB HDD
Win XP

£230-ish

Add a 17" TFT for about £140 if your budget permits.


Paul

Mac Mini

Found this spec on meshcomputers for 399

AMD Sempron 3300+ Processor
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
512MB DDR400 RAM (PC3200) Memory
160GB Serial ATA (150Mb/s) Ultra Fast Hard Drive
Direct 2D/3D Onboard Shared Memory Graphics
17" CRT Digital Colour Monitor (16" VIS)
SONY 16x Dual Layer DVD-RW (R/W all standard formats)*
5.1 Surround Sound - 6 channel audio
Creative Labs Soundblaster SBS260 Stereo Speakers
Internet Ready V.92 56Kbps data/fax/voice modem
Network Ready integrated 10/100 Ethernet Adaptor
Logitech Desktop Keyboard & Optical Mouse
FREE Microsoft Works 8.0
FREE CyberLink Video Editing Software
Classic Warranty - 1 Yr Parts & Labour (Back-to-base)
Black Mini Tower Case/4 USBs + Additional Features

get an xp64 processor. they overclock very nicely. i have mine running stable @2.64Ghz on air cooling. the fx55 currently run @2.6 :D

dont go mac mini, way to overpriced. If you not playing games then the spec paul said would be fine.

If you want to play games at all go with the new amd939 cpu's

I tend to stay on the AMD side myself - semperon's offer decent performance on a budget

The Athln64's are bloody great - fast, overclockable and run very cool (relativley!)

If it's purely a choice between celeron and P4 I'd go P4 though.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions - very much appreciated :)

I'd stick to AMD. You get more bang for your buck, plus the mobos tend to be cheaper. You can also use plain DDR memory and none of that fancy DDR2 stuff that the fast P4's like...

P4 if you want an all round machine, more overclockable than an AMD chip ;) but if its purely games orientated, wait a few months till the new 64bit duel core P4's are out, they are more than a match for the similar spec AMD duel core chips :D but you will need to utilise the 955 chipset to get the best out of them ;) (ABit do a mobo for them mow)

Tony:D