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#1
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Purchasing new computer
I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to
purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
#2
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"Smurfs" wrote in message . .. I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Don't believe them... 1.3ghz may be slow by todays standards, but is more than good enough unless you're a gamer. Have you tried formatting and re-installing? The PC should have come with a recovery disk. This will erase anything on the hard drive, so copy anything you want to CD or another hard drive, etc. Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? If I were to build a new machine today, I'd get something based on a 939pin AMD64 chip. I'd avoid Intel due to the heat/performance ratio. DDR2 memory and PCI-e slots as well. Onboard video/sound will work for what you plan to do, but you should consider future upgradablility for the video if you ever plan to get into gaming. |
#3
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Smurfs wrote:
I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I am a serious computer user...running heavy apps such as photoshop... yet my machine ai just an AMD-1100 (1200 clocked down) It runs absolutely fine... However I have more RAM ...512 megs. If you bump your RAM up and run msconfig and take most of the junk out of startup (leave in your virus checker and firewall) I bet your system runs fine. May want to empty your inernet cache, delete temp files and run defrag. Also make sure all your fans are running and not dusty... especially the cpu cooler... I bet you do not need a new machine,regardless of what the sales guys say. |
#4
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On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:30:21 +0000, Smurfs wrote:
I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I wouldn't even consider an Intel based machine these days, the Athlon 64 is better in every dimension. The A64 outperforms the P4 in virtually every application, in some case by a huge amount. The power consumption is also vastly better. The P4s are almost uncoolable, the A64s run cool enough that the CPU fan is off most of the time. On my Athlon 64 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop the fan only runs when I'm doing heavy duty crunching. If you want a name brand machine look at HP/Compaq, they have a number of A64 systems. My 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop are both Compaqs and I've been happy with both. If you want a custom system then look at MonarchComputer, I have a dual core X2 4400+ system that I got from them. http://www.monarchcomputer.com http://www.shopping.hp.com |
#5
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"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message news On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:30:21 +0000, Smurfs wrote: I wouldn't even consider an Intel based machine these days, the Athlon 64 is better in every dimension. The A64 outperforms the P4 in virtually every application, in some case by a huge amount. The power consumption is also vastly better. The P4s are almost uncoolable, the A64s run cool enough that the CPU fan is off most of the time. On my Athlon 64 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop the fan only runs when I'm doing heavy duty crunching. If you want a name brand machine look at HP/Compaq, they have a number of A64 systems. My 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop are both Compaqs and I've been happy with both. If you want a custom system then look at MonarchComputer, I have a dual core X2 4400+ system that I got from them. How was your experience with Monarch ?I was thinking of getting a 4400+ system from them myself,but from reading their forums there seems to be a rash of problems with late deliveries and faulty systems lately,seems like they're having trouble with the workload that their success has brought. |
#6
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On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 07:37:00 +0000, Gojira wrote:
"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message news On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 21:30:21 +0000, Smurfs wrote: I wouldn't even consider an Intel based machine these days, the Athlon 64 is better in every dimension. The A64 outperforms the P4 in virtually every application, in some case by a huge amount. The power consumption is also vastly better. The P4s are almost uncoolable, the A64s run cool enough that the CPU fan is off most of the time. On my Athlon 64 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop the fan only runs when I'm doing heavy duty crunching. If you want a name brand machine look at HP/Compaq, they have a number of A64 systems. My 3800+ desktop and my 3400+ laptop are both Compaqs and I've been happy with both. If you want a custom system then look at MonarchComputer, I have a dual core X2 4400+ system that I got from them. How was your experience with Monarch ?I was thinking of getting a 4400+ system from them myself,but from reading their forums there seems to be a rash of problems with late deliveries and faulty systems lately,seems like they're having trouble with the workload that their success has brought. The system was well put together but it did take them longer to deliver it then I was expecting. However I ordered mine on the day that the dual core chips became available so I attributed the delay to the availability of 4400+s. They were very good about e-mailing me about the delivery date and it was clear that I was exchanging e-mail with a real person, it was not an automated response. I would have liked faster delivery but overall I was happy with them. I wasn't able to find any one else on the web who was selling comparable A64 systems. |
#7
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"Smurfs" wrote in message . .. I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. 1) Try getting to the bottom of this problem first. I wonder if you have recently changed something? Upgraded the OS? XP will run very slowly with 128MB. Increase your ram - should only cost $40 for another 368MB. Reformat and reinstall windows. Dell are trying to sell you a new PC. 2) For your needs, your existing set up is fine - you would certainly get a good enough system brand new for £500 here in the UK - presumably $500 in the US. |
#8
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Most likely adding more RAM to your computer will fix it for you. The speed
of your computer is adequate for general office type work, and simple photo work with a home digital camera. The minimum to have is 512 mb with XP. 1 gb would be much better. If you are running Win 98, anything past 256 mb of RAM on a computer will not make much difference. -- JANA _____ "Smurfs" wrote in message . .. I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
#9
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I have done a power consumption evaluationin a later post and
I worked out that intel costs about £25 more per annnum to run. Probably closer to £34. "Smurfs" wrote in message . .. I currently have a Dell Pentium 4 1.3ghz, 128 mb. I am looking to purchase a new computer, but it is very confusing. I need a computer that runs fast & doesn't get hung up. (my current one constantly freezes, runs extremely slow. Talked to Dell, there is nothing we can do to fix it) Anyway, Dell is trying to sell me a Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 2.8 ghz 512 mb. When I shopped at other stores they are saying that the AMD Athlon 64 3200 is better than the 2.8 ghz. Is this true? I need the computer for office work & internet access. Maybe a little online gaming. Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
#10
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On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 02:13:35 GMT, "Albert Grennock"
wrote: I have done a power consumption evaluationin a later post and I worked out that intel costs about £25 more per annnum to run. Probably closer to £34. When considering details as minor as which CPU is installed, one must also itemize the other factors, choices that can be made. For example the number of drives, speed of the alternative CPUs, length of time until power management would be invoked, and types of tasks the system will perform. If someone "only" does light tasks, something like a Via CPU might suffice if ultimate power savings are really warranted. If someone does demanding tasks and has an aggresssive power management inteval to soon power down the box, the most savings could come from having the CPU (and other system parameters) which have the highest performance per that/those jobs such that the job gets done and system sleeps. CPU alone is but one variable, easily one can get more processing done per watt used by choosing the most optimal CPU per task, and in those cases, overclocking the CPU to higher speed and voltage can actually SAVE power, again, if the system is set to power down when the jobs are finished. |
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