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AMD v Intel ?


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I think it used top be AMD because while thier chips were slightly less powerful than a Pentium they savings that were made by buying them offset the minor difference in performance.

Now, from what I mind, Pentiums destroy AMD processors but AMDs are still good for building a cheaper system to allow for other luxuries like a better graphics card,

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Short answer - right now Intel Core2 Duo has the edge and Intel are blowing away AMD.

With AMD having bought ATi, future systems may also be geared to a narrow choice of ATi graphic cards

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Depends on your budget and what your motherboard supports.  If your tight for cash, and there really is no alternative You can pick up a Celeron D for around £30.  As Scotty said though, Core 2 Duo is where the vast majority of the market is going.  If you're looking for cutting edge performance though, hold off for a couple of months as Quad Core processors are hitting the market just now - they are costly at the moment, around £600 but give it until middle to end of the summer I reckon Quad Cores will cost about £200. Final thoughts on purchasing, don't go for an OEM processor unless you really know what you're doing.  Go for a retail boxed one, they usually come with a better warranty and with a heatsink/correct fan combination.

In any case if it were me, I'd go with an Intel.  In my experience, Intel produce reliable processors, and AMD produce performance processors at the cost of reliablilty.

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Many people get hung up on having the fastest most efficient processors when they will rarely if ever stretch thier PC far enough to come close to using all it's resources.

One of my PCs is a 1.2GHz AMD Duron Processor with 512MB Ram which will happily allow me to do most of what I need to do on a day to day basis.  The PC is about 5 or 6 years old and is rarely turned off and until I started work again 8 months ago it was in use for over 12 hours every day.

It's not much cope when it comes to video/picture/music editing or for playing games with complex graphics, but for everything else it rolls along nicely.

The relationship between processor and motherboard, graphics card etc can also be important in getting the best from what you buy, and it it seems to have become even more important in recent years.  For that reason it's a bit of a false economy to go for a high end processor at the cost of other components which aren't up to the task.

Building your own high-end PC used to be a breeze.  Now, unless your on top of everything thats going on it's a total minefiled IMO.  If your not aiming at high end then it's hard to beat what the likes of Dell & PC World are offering up at the moment for your average user.  Also, if your not after a high end PC for specific reasons then it's well worth considering a laptop - plug in a keyboard mouse and monitor for home use and you'll rarely tell the difference in day to day use.

Those are the ramblings of someone who used to be on top of "What's What" with PC technology, but has kinda lost track more recently  :015:

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Dell are notorious for pre-installed software, most of the stuff they include, you don't even need e.g. 3 different dvd viewing programmes.  Something else to be aware of is the fact that they no longer provide a copy of the operating system, instead you have to rely on the pre-installed OS, and hope the boot sector on the hard disk dosn't go bad.  If you can order the computer by phone rather than over the internet and insist on the XP or Vista disk to be included in the package.

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That is a very good guide, the only thing I'd disagree with it about is

When building a PC, you start with the CPU first
  When I'm designing a PC for myself or for someone else I always start with the motherboard, that way everything is narrowed down for you, type of processor, type and size of memory, graphics cards and expansion cards.  All the names they mention I tend to use, as it is the best of quality e.g. Asus Motherboards, Lite-on DVD drives, Seagate* Hard drives, Creative sound cards etc.

*Seagate now own Maxtor and as a result, have replaced the entire Maxtor range with Barracuda's so you can pick up what is essentially a Seagate hard drive at a Maxtor price.

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That is a very good guide, the only thing I'd disagree with it about is
When building a PC, you start with the CPU first
  When I'm designing a PC for myself or for someone else I always start with the motherboard, that way everything is narrowed down for you

I guess you could go either way - depends on whether your heart is set on a particular CPU or not - When researching, I usually start with the mobo as well unless the person I am building it for wants something in particular. (I like ASUS boards)

I wouldnt even look at a Dell - for reasons specified earlier ... ie. bloated amount of 'free' software, and the lack of a separately provided OS - our work PCs are all high-end HP workstations and they are pretty good.

I havent decided what I am going to get yet for my own system. Quad-core is now available but way over-priced for the performance boost when compared to dual-core so I may look to get a good mobo that has enough versatility that the components (esp CPU) can be upgraded later. The ASUS P5 range is looking good right now.

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I'll be building myself a new computer between the end of summer and xmas sometime - As you said the p5 range is probably the best around at the moment in terms of what it offers between cost and performance. I've noticed that the Quad-cores available at the moment are based on socket 775, with any luck that'll be a sign of things to come for future Quad-cores and all that'll be needed is a quick upgrade of the Bios in order to run one. Might be tempted to keep my P4 Prescott until I can afford to get a super-duper new processor   :005:

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I have a phobia for Dell Laptops ever since one caught fire on my desk whilst I was with a client.

However, for your average user who gets lost in the minefield of whats available they really aren't going to go too far wrong with a Dell Desktop/Laptop.  They'll do pretty much everything they need and they are reasonable value for money.  I do agree with the comments about the pre-installed guff and lack of OS disks, but you can create your own restore disks (in fact the setup process encourages you to do so) so it's no huge issue.

I've dined for free on many occasions off the back of cleaning out all the useless gumpf from desktops and notebooks bought from the likes of Dell & PC World...so long may they continue to fill the machines as full as my belly ends up  :015:

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I'll be building myself a new computer between the end of summer and xmas sometime - As you said the p5 range is probably the best around at the moment in terms of what it offers between cost and performance.  I've noticed that the Quad-cores available at the moment are based on socket 775, with any luck that'll be a sign of things to come for future Quad-cores and all that'll be needed is a quick upgrade of the Bios in order to run one.  Might be tempted to keep my P4 Prescott until I can afford to get a super-duper new processor  :005:

What a complete buerk! What does Jill see in you again!?  :015: :004:

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  • 2 months later...

My laptop has gone to the big computer shop in the sky.  I now have a voucher to replace it, but it has to be pcworld.  I'm getting just over £500 to spend, which is quite a lot for a laptop these days.  pcworld Can't remember which one it was but there's one reduced from £599 to £549 online, but you can get the online price and collect in store.  Processor is 1.66 compared to the cheaper ones with 1.73 processors.  Alternatively I can buy a cheaper one and get some other bits and pieces to make up the money.  I would be happy for any advice on priorities I should look for and to avoid, from anyone who has a minute to have a look.

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If I had to pick one from PC World in the 400 - 500 price range it would probably be the ACER AS5633

Pros

    [li]Intel Dual Core (better than AMD at moment) - steer clear of the word Celeron !!![/li]
    [li]667Mhz 'Front Side Bus' - faster than most others in this price range (even the next model up !!). while processor speed is important, the FSB is also important. Think of it as a motorway that data passes along to/from the processor to other components. the lower the number the less traffic can pass at one time (think dual carriageway / 3 lanes / 4 lanes)  [/li]

Cons

    [li]GMA Graphics - built into mobo and although it says 224Mb what it doesnt say is that this 224Mb comes from your 1024 main memory. cut down capabilities - but thats the payoff for a 'cheaper' machine as virtually all in this price range use GMA graphics.[/li]
    [li]80Gb HD - a bit small - easy enough to rectify by buying an external HD or upgrading internal one[/li]

If you can stretch to 570 then the PACKARD BELL MZ36-T015 is looking decent

Pros

    [li]Core 2 Duo[/li]
    [li]667Mhz FSB[/li]
    [li]120Gb HD[/li]

Cons

    [li]shared Graphics memory - ATI Radeon[/li]

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Cheers Scotty, that give me some good into.  I do prefer Heilandee's option, but unless he comes up with a positive response to my last question then I'll just have to take the new one.  :001:

The only tip I have had so far is that I should make sure it has Vista premium as opposed to basic, no idea what the differences are, but obvioulsy premium is better.  :017:

Vouchers are supposed to be for £540, I'm just waiting for them to arrive in the post.  Considering I only paid £440 a year ago for my one that's not bad.

Graphics aren't a huge concern as long as they are decent enough.  We don't use it for gaming so I'm sure they will be okay for day to day use.

Thanks Scotty

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Shame oor mutual aqauintence's better half isnae still in that world or we may have been onto something there L_G  :021: anyway's, while on the subject Scotty ,I,m also in the process of getting new lappy(nae vouchers for me though  :007:)  whats the pro's and cons of Vista over XP, I,m hearing there are a lot o compatibilty issues with Vista or is this just rumour control,and wondering if i should stay with XP

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see attached file ..... home premium or ultimate are the only two to go for .... for a laptop, ultimate is definitely a consideration because it has the bitlocker drive encryption option which would protect your data - depends how much sensitive data like business records or bank details etc you would have on the PC.

The biggest differences between home basic and premium is the 'Aero' Desktop and Media Centre. Aero desktop is the 'wow' factor they show in many ads for Vista and without that feature/look, the new system might as well be called XP2 !!!

[attach=1]

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Scotty ,I,m also in the process of getting new lappy(nae vouchers for me though  :007:)  whats the pro's and cons of Vista over XP, I,m hearing there are a lot o compatibilty issues with Vista or is this just rumour control,and wondering if i should stay with XP

The biggest hurdle right now is that Microsoft changed the way they deal with the driver database

basically, the driver database in windows xp had literally tens of thousands of products/devices that XP recognised with some of them dating back to the days of DOS. this was hugely bloated and outdated so MS decided to get rid of it and supply only a very minimal set. The onus is now on the vendor to supply Vista drivers as opposed to MS developing and including them in the OS. I am sure this will change over time but to be perfectly honest it seems like a better idea.

I bought my new PC about a month ago (Vista Ultimate) and have only had one program that failed to work (the sound recorder I use for matchdays) and this is because of differences in the way it is handled between XP and Vista. If you want the best of both worlds and are buying a PC with a decent size HD then the solution might be to create a 'dual-boot' system which offers you either Vista or XP when you boot up and a quick google search will probably bring up a plethora of pages with detailed instructions on how to achieve this.

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