Dell Advice.

tomstickland

I've finally had enough of my "hand me down" computer tonight. Opening MSE pages takes the CPU to 100% usage for a few seconds! It can't cope with playing mp3 at the same time as using 2 web pages - the audio drops out.

I've had a look on the Dell site. I'm looking to spend around £450. Don't care about screen size or DVD rewriting etc. But I do want some good processing power.

It's going to be used to listen to mp3 files whilst I look at MSE, or do Casino bonus offers etc. Nothing too demanding.

Looking at the Dell home computer range I see:
3100c Celeron D 3.06GHz 256KB Cache 512MB ram, 17" monitor £279
3100 Pentium 4 3GHz/0.8GHz, 1MB Cache , 512DDR RAM, 19" monitor £379
3100 same but 1024MB RAM and XP media edition, 17" monitor £449
C521 Athlon 64 dual core 17" monitor £449
E520 Intel CoreT 1.86GHz/1.06GHz, 19" monitor £549

My thoughts are:
-processor: I rate processor speed quite highly, but don't need more than I really need
- RAM : I want a decent amount
-monitor 17" or 19", not bothered
-CD DVD etc, not bothered about rewriting
How does this dual processor work? The 3100 has 3/0.8GHz whilst the more expensive E520 has 1.86/1.06GHz. I'd expect the 3100 to be faster.

At the moment that 3100 model for £379 looks good to me.

akmodi

HI

Without question take the dual core Athlon -- it will just simply kick !!!.

Make sure that you have atleast 1 gig RAM. Dell charges too much for the extra RAM -- so if this hasnt got the RAM -- buy it from Crucial and snap it in.

Cheers

Mc4ndy

Hi tom.. My thoughts on your dilemma

Not sure the spec of your 'hand me down' pc.. For what you need and for the money they will all be fine. I think all those pc's have enough cpu power for your use imo. It's better to have a balanced system, rather than a really fast cpu and not enough ram.. 512kb is a minimum for xp really, it's better to have enough ram, if you computer runs out and starts using swap files on the hard drive, things will really slow down. The dual core processers are just that, they have two processer cores but in one chip. The intel one is currently the fastest and best cpu on the market, after years of AMD having the lead. They are a complete re-design so you can't compare like for like clock speeds. They benefit in multi-tasking quite a lot becease they share the load, if you max 100% one core, the other is free for doing something else.

That said for £379 inc vat & a 19" flat panel I don't really think you can go wrong. Dell always seem to try get more money off you with the drop down "upgrades" boxes, which never seem that competitive to me. Stick with the basic, and if you want to upgrade & you know what you are doing, buy cheaper from somewhere else.

The dual you quoted was the intel core duo, they are very quick, and they run cool so they don't need as much cooling and therefore fan noise.. Noise can be an issue with some people. If you do get a dual core, which I don't think you really need based on your post, then it would be wiser to opt for the intel over amd now.

tomstickland

I might call round my local small-shop computer place this Saturday and see what they could build me for £400. Just for comparison.

If I went Dell then I reckon that the

3100 Pentium 4 3GHz/0.8GHz, 1MB Cache , 512DDR RAM, 19" monitor £379

Would be good enough.

I'll work out what my current spec is. I think it's P2!

tomstickland

OK, it's
500MHZ Pentium III
32KB primary cache
512KB secondary cache
256MB of memory with room for a further 128MHz

Quite respectable in its day. I remember in 1994 taking delivery of PCs with 66MHz processers and 8MB or RAM!

That £379 jobby is 6 times faster on clock speed.
Sad to think that I'm using a computer that's approximately 15 times faster than what I used in 1994 and it's not capable of running basic tasks without annoying me.

Mc4ndy

Your PC is lacking ram, 256 is low for XP (assume that's what you are running). When it runs out it uses paging file and that's when things get real slow, even that pc with more ram would be ok for mp3's and browsing!

I've always built pc's myself, but it gets really hard to build one to the same spec as what a big coorporation like Dell can do cheaper. They must get massive reductions from the manufacturers. I mean for £400 you could build a pretty respectable pc, but when they throw in a 19" tft monitor and software it really gets hard to beat, as I said I'm sure they do rely on people opting for some of their not so good priced 'upgrades'. Bear in mind that with a build you need software (xp home will cost £55). You need a case £20, a power supply £30 a 19" tft will set you back at least £100.. so really you don't get too far before it's getting tight. If you are on a budget and are not very specific about what you want then it's probably your best bet to stick to pre-built systems. Still it's always worth asking.

tomstickland

Yes, I run XP.

I could try sticking more RAM into my current machine.

Then again, I do want a flat screen. I use them at work and they're much more pleasant to look at. That's when Dell starts to make sense - the screen could cost £100 alone.

I'm thinking the £379 option could be money well spent.

Mc4ndy

Yes' i'd tend to agree... off ta bed.

tomstickland

Thanks for your advice (or should I say "advise" to keep up with current fashions). It really is a case of the buying power of Dell meaning ridiculous prices. I can see that they make their money from sneakily expensive upgrades.

albertross_2

Tom,

You know the mse 100% problem, have you tried it in firefox?
The same thing is happening to me of late, drives me mad, and it doesn't do it in firefox, and only does it on mse, every other site is fine..

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

tomstickland

Might be worth a try. I often wonder why every time I load an MSE page it then reloads every single image etc. I'd pay to have a Green Screen text only MSE if it was fast.