CPU Types

[fat_basterd21]

A few years ago I was told by a friend that AMD was better than Pentium and they were made by the same pople but the high end. Then a year ago I go with my mom to get a computer cuz I know a little (enough to be dangerous) and the guy tells me celeron is "pentiums little brother" more like little baby. I was not impressed for a 2.5 gig it was extremly slow at time for "out of the box condition" no extra programs and such. to me it should have no lag... Anyway I see the new AMD semprom I assume its the same way.. so my ? what are the leading CPU's and the differences and is it worth the extra money... I have never been a fan of macs last I knew the didnt compare to a cheap pc...

[Rob Pomeroy]

Currently the leading CPU for the home/SOHO is the Intel Core 2 Duo.  According to all the benchmarks it is blowing everything by AMD right out of the water.

[Neil]

It depends how much you want to spend. AMD and Intel are two competing companies... they do NOT make the same processors. They are always battling to release the fastest processsors... sometimes Intel wins sometimes AMD wins. But unless you want to buy the best, latest (and most expensive) it doesn't really matter too much, and both offer good mid-range processors. If you want power for games, buy an Athlon 64 or Pentium 4 (or D, I don't know which one is faster... someone will tell us). If you give us a price range, we can offer you some suggestions.

[honvetops]

Unless your "rich" disregard the  high end dual core Conroe chips for awhile, wait about 1 1/2 years for the drop. The sempron & celeron are basically lower quality "testing" chips from their higher priced "big-brothers".  (Athlon/Pent 4) I own a Celeron D 346 cpu and it is just fine for my basic computing needs, never any problems though still new.
From what I have been reading lately on the cpu stuff,  AMD's for the money have a better L1/L2 cache speed then do the Pentiums . I think that is much more important in computing speed than the GHz  << speed. Just read last night if you are into overclocking the Celeron chip is the best bet due to low cpu core temps . Not sure about the sempron, did not say .I have read much about AMD chips and finally got one for puter I am building for my son. I guess they both have decent qualities. I'd go for the higher-end bus speeds compared to processor speeds and don't forget to have "at least" 512 megs ram, maybe more like 1 gig good ram. A good motherboard and good memory make all the difference. Keep your cpu cool for a longer life span.

[SilentAssasin64]

I myself (at home) use a AMD Sempron 64 3400+ 2.0Ghz...I love it.  But that's just me, it's mostly preference.

[fat_basterd21]

Good stuff guys, I dont play lts of games and dont need grafics so I try to keep to lesser out-dated and cheap... But I was not impressed with the celeron I had got for my mom. I uninstalled most of the worthless software that starts up at boot and then hogs precious cpu, and still i would have paid another 100 buck for pentuim I've never had an AMD but allways heard good thing at the time I bout this one AMD was $100 more than Pentium, and there was no semprom to my knowledge. I dont remember the exact computer manufacure i know it had 512 sd ram... maybe it was the specific computer... It was a cheap prebuilt from staples or something... Not the cheapest though... I was just curious before i go buying another...

Thanx Everyone    C_H_.com ROCKS

[soybean]

Here's some history on the Sempro: Duron Successor: AMD Sempron.  It's predecessor was the Duron.  I had a 600 MHz Duron processor; as I recall, it often performed closer to the Pentium than the Celeron in benchmark tests.  If you're debating about whether to get a Sempron, I'd say you would be pleased with it, based on what you've said about your computer usage.

[Neil]

The high end Semprons are very capable.

[fat_basterd21]

Yea I just noticed the computer I've been using is a HP Celeron 2.9 GHz. (Now I feel stupid.) This is not my computer but I am pleased with it Wouldnt mind having it. I had seen some 2.9 GHz AMD semprom comps with flatscreen for 300 buck at staples... I thought it was a killer deal, Wal-Mart has them to without the flat screen. This is what made me wonder about the Semprom.

[Neil]

The graphics card is more important than the processor for gaming. I can play Call of Duty 2 on a computer with 1.2 ghz processor (which is below the min requirement) but a 5700le graphics card, yet the game barely runs at all on my dad's 3.2 ghz computer with only on-board graphics.

[honvetops]

Good stuff guys, I dont play lts of games and dont need grafics so I try to keep to lesser out-dated and cheap... But I was not impressed with the celeron I had got for my mom. I uninstalled most of the worthless software that starts up at boot and then hogs precious cpu, and still i would have paid another 100 buck for pentuim I've never had an AMD but allways heard good thing at the time I bout this one AMD was $100 more than Pentium, and there was no semprom to my knowledge. I dont remember the exact computer manufacure i know it had 512 sd ram... maybe it was the specific computer... It was a cheap prebuilt from staples or something... Not the cheapest though... I was just curious before i go buying another...

Thanx Everyone    C_H_.com ROCKS

Last time I do this, i hate promoting stuff (but tell me if you ever saw a deal like this!) **beware**  rebates involved!  

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem1193.asp?CMP=ILC-FPM02

[soybean]

Yes, that looks like an excellent price on that package, after rebate.  At first glance, I wondered why they list it as a barebones package, since it has all the hardware components you need to have a functioning computer.  Apparently, it's labeled barebones because an OS does not come with it; maybe the lack of mouse, keyboard, and speakers, also.

[fat_basterd21]

This went a little farther than I expected thanx every1. The next computer I but is going to be a laptop... Im guessing the processors are not that different from pc to laptop?

[Neil]

A laptop will cost more than its equivilent power desktop, but the high end laptops can play games. I don't think they'd last long playing games on the battery though, so you'd probably need to keep it plugged in the mains, somewhat defeating the point of a laptop. But it will be easier to move around if you go to different areas a lot with your computer. If the laptop is for work only, the processor does not matter. (By "work" I mean simple word processing etc)