Building or UPgrading?

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Alexrkstr

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Hi guys,



I'd like to build a computer with the minimum specs:



- Intel motherboard (is there anything better for < $100??)

- Processor: Pentium 4; 3.0 GHz (around $100 I guess)

- RAM 1GB (I would imagine about $150)

- HD at least 120 GB (have this already)

- DVD Drive (have this already)

- Case (no idea how much they are)



or I could replace th motherboard and processor in mine... and upgrade the RAM.... I have a Dell Dimension 2350.

- P4 1.7GHz (THIS IS MY SLOW DOWN)

- 758 RAM (upgradable to 1GB)





What do you guys recommend? I don't want to invest too much <$300...
 
ehhh I would go ahead and spend the money and build one because of the limitations of your current system. I got a Gigabyte iDNA SLI 775 motherboard not that long ago for around $70. It's a pretty good board. For processors, I would spend the extra $50 bucks and get a decent dual core. RAM is not that expensive unless your looking at high performance RAM. 1GB should be around $100, give $20 for better memory, or less $20 for shitty 3 layered memory. Cases can start as low as $29 w/ 450w pw supply. This all depends on preferences really. Some people like those "cool" looking alien crap, others like the sleak look, others just dont' care as long as it holds the components. There's also other factors like if your going to be recording & tracking on this system, you might either want to get a quiet case, or put it into an computer enclosure to keep it quiet.

but for around $300... you can't do TOO much.
 
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Can someone enlighten me on the order of the Celerons M D etcand Dual Core etc Processors? Which one is better in descending order (worse last)
 
in todays' current CPU market??

This all depends on the speed really...

Xeon (server) 2.13
Opteron (server) 2.2

Core 2 Duo 2.6ghz
AMD FX-60
AMD X2 5000+
Pentium D 3.0ghz (930)
AMD X2 3800+
AMD Athlon 64
Pentium 4
Sempron
Celeron

then you can go to the really old chips....

I gave examples of the processor models that are the closest in relationship with the next.... So the Core 2 Duo outperforms like 99% of AMD chips, depending on what speed you get. the extreme 2.93 or whatever outperforms all processors (consumers). the AMD FX series is AMD's best consumer processor. the X2 is equivlent to Intel's Pentium D lineup. The X2 processors actually outperform the Pentium D's, but for the 930, the 3800+ would actually beat it, but that's the closest relations with each other. The only time Intel actually outperforms AMD is during the conroe era (core 2 duo's), every other time to the sempron & duron vs celeron's, AMD has outperformed Intel... Even all the way down to the Pentium III vs AMD Athlon XP's. Of course I'm not talking about 50% performances vs each other, but small differences.... This is really broad, as you got VIA making processors too, and other companies, and then you got a whole lot more processors from Intel & AMD, using different sockets, with different sized caches on 2 different versions of the same chip (AMD had the first 1mb cache for itself on the AMD Athlon 64 series until they dropped it to 512kb due to cost & performance wasn't that much of an increase). If you gave us the exact processor vs another processor, we could tell you which one is better..... Plus you gotta put into account, the motherboard, the memory used, power supply, hard drives, OS, and a lot of other things into account.

BTW, Intel's "M" part is for "MOBILE" processors.
 
never upgrade..

bro..never upgrade..

buy the new one trust me that will be more efficient..
 
Hmm. Well, for a long time now I've been building my own PCs from scratch and upgrading when I feel the desire, or need, to. Much cheaper and much, much more reliable. And easy to diagnose and fix any faults and carry out performance tweaks. It's also fun.
 
Building a computer doesn't always mean upgrading. You can build a computer from scratch. Upgrading is an option IF your not lacking too much from your system already. Meaning, that if you choose to upgrade your existing computer, it not be a pentium II, with 128mb sdram, 20gb HD, with a pci video card.... In that case, you'll probably need to replace much of everything, and sometimes even the case (especially if you got a dell or hp). btw I'll sell you a Gig of my memory for $150 lol. For YOUR system, you'll probably need to replace much of everything eventually anyways. Most likely your HD would come last in the your upgrading. Get the mobo/cpu & memory first. Most Dell cases are proprietary to their specific parts. You might just go ahead and get all new parts and piece them together, and give your current system to your kids, or sell it to someone.
 
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