DescentBB

Ok, I'm a programmer, but when it comes to hardware, there are a LOT of gaps in my knowledge. Great BIG gaps.

This morning, my PC fried. No warning, just suddenly went to flashing lights and the smell of burnt rubber when I turned it on. NOT a good sign.

It may have been the power supply, I'm not certain, the slave HD is gone, although the master boot drive seems ok, but on the mother board, the power supply fan doesn't even come on when you plug the computer in.

I pulled out the Voltometer and I'm getting about 10.7 volts out of the power supply, which seems mighty low, but I suppose it could have spiked when it died and fried the motherboard and the secondary HD. (I'm not CERTAIN that the motherboard is fried)

ANYWAY, It was an Emachines T1840 1.8ghz Celeron. It had served me pretty well for 4 years, but it was about due to be replaced anyway. So I went shopping.

I found a nice Compaq sr2050nx with an Intel Pentium D Processor 820 2.8GHz, 1gig ram, and Radeon Xpress 200 IGP graphics for $500, and I was all ready to fork over my plastic, when the salesman points out to me that he thinks the HP a1600n for $549 is a MUCH better deal. 1 gig ram, same as the Compaq, but its powered by a 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor (and Nvidia GeForce 6150 graphics).

Now then, first, I'm assuming that the AMD dual core processor is really a LOT faster than my old 1.8ghz celeron, despite the fact that they SOUND so close. AND, was the salesman correct in telling me that this will really outperform the 2.8ghz Pentium D? Multi-tasking has simply got to make a difference, but a lot of stuff runs single thread.

Should I have purchased the Intel Pentium D, or will I be happier with the AMD Athlon 64 X2?

The 820 isn't worth it. I'd sugest to get something w/ a Core 2 Duo, any speed will do. An E6300 should be cheap but is fast as hell and a E6600 beats any AMD CPU out there ATM.

Edit: a 6150 level GF/X card will not make you happy..

Grendel wrote:a 6150 level GF/X card will not make you happy..

It's GOTTA be better than the onboard celeron graphics, and thats been working pretty well for me so far.

I'm not exactly an intense gamer. Descent, Dungeon Siege, Stronghold. hmmm, thats about it for graphic intensive games.

I'm just hoping the 6150 will handle Core Decision. Otherwise, I can always purchase a new video card for it I suppose.

Kilarin wrote:I'm just hoping the 6150 will handle Core Decision. Otherwise, I can always purchase a new video card for it I suppose.

I would plan on getting a new card, odds of that integrated video card holding up in Core Decision well are QUITE low.

To answer your original question, the 3800+ should edge out the 820D for most uses, although the difference wouldn't make your eyes bug out. Note that both are dual core (your second to last paragraph indicated maybe you thought the 820D wasn't).

It's too bad your budget can't be raised a couple hundred dollars. The salesman is offering year-old technology but the newer chips offer more than the usual incremental performance boost.

Genghis wrote:Note that both are dual core (your second to last paragraph indicated maybe you thought the 820D wasn't

Figures. Looks like I got lucky and did get a slightly better machine, but certainly not due to the knowledge of the salesman. I don't remember EVER getting really reliable information from a computer salesman.

Krom wrote:I would plan on getting a new card, odds of that integrated video card holding up in Core Decision well are QUITE low.

Ah, well. I was afraid of that.