CPU choice

jem16

Looking at a new desktop so usually take advice from shop where I have bought my systems for the last 15 years or so.

My use is surfing, emailing plus Office applications for work. Their advice back in April was the Intel G6950 which was then just under £80. Intel i3 seems to be around £105 and i5 around £180.

Do I need the i3 or i5 or will the G6950 do the job for me?

kwikbreaks

Surfing, email, and Office applications really don't need a lot of grunt - I can do all three of those on a netbook which in terms of power is pathetic - almost as bad as the decrepit P4 I still have at work despite pleas from the Science Museum

chris.lewis

Always buy the best processor you can afford! It will most likely pay in the long run, if in a years time the processor you bought isnt powerful enough and you decide to upgrade you might have to upgrade your motherboard to as it isn't compatible with the new processor. Have a look at novatech there normally pretty cheap!

fwor

I'd go with kwikbreaks on this one. None of what you describe is going to need massive CPU power, and unless you run lots of things at once, the two cores of the G6950 should be sufficient.

jem16

fwor wrote: »

I'd go with kwikbreaks on this one. None of what you describe is going to need massive CPU power, and unless you run lots of things at once, the two cores of the G6950 should be sufficient.

Only occasional use, but would BBC iplayer make any difference to your advice?

I don't tend to run lots of things together - really only Word + internet browser.

I don't think I need the i5 processor but would the i3 offer me anything for the extra £25 approx?

chris.lewis

Which i3 model?

kwikbreaks

All of the I3's are faster than the G6950 ( ~ 50% - 75% faster according to the numbers at http://www.cpubenchmark.net ) and £25 isn't a huge margin but is the system price difference only limited to the difference in processor price?

iPlayer doesn't require much grunt either.

jem16

chris.lewis wrote: »

Which i3 model?

Hadn't got that far yet but possibly Intel I3-530.

chris.lewis

Ok well the i3-530 is £99.99 on novatech and the G6950 is £81.99 so only £8 difference I would defiantly pay £8 extra for a processor which is twice as powerful according to benchmark figures. But as people have rightly pointed out your not going to be doing much a bit of bbc iplayer isnt going to challenge either cpu so its totally down to whether you think its worth the extra £8!!

jem16

kwikbreaks wrote: »

All of the I3's are faster than the G6950 ( ~ 50% - 75% faster according to the numbers at http://www.cpubenchmark.net ) and £25 isn't a huge margin but is the system price difference only limited to the difference in processor price?

As yet I don't know the exact difference in price. I'm only going by the quote I had back in February for the G6950 and their website price for the I3-530.

Whether the change of processor would mean other changes I don't know yet. I've emailed them for an update on recommendations and prices - they may well have changed since I last asked about a new system.

jem16

chris.lewis wrote: »

Ok well the i3-530 is £99.99 on novatech and the G6950 is £81.99 so only £8 difference I would defiantly pay £8 extra for a processor which is twice as powerful according to benchmark figures. But as people have rightly pointed out your not going to be doing much a bit of bbc iplayer isnt going to challenge either cpu so its totally down to whether you think its worth the extra £8!!

For £8 yes it's worth it.

However I'm not buying from there so I'll see what the difference in price is from the shop I do intend buying from.