Are AMD Sempron a naff processor?

wolfman

No not at all. Can see how it might have been misread. AMD64's come in two (three if you include 940) socket forms, 754 and 939. They are starting to phase out socket 754.

I wouldn't think it would matter too much with a laptop anyway, as they're not as upgradeable (or as easily upgradeable) as a standard desktop pc. What I'm trying to say is, when you do come to upgrade you'll just sell the whole laptop and buy and completely new one.

HLK

Thanks.. I think?

T4i

Time moves pretty fast, if you dont stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.

This certainly applies to IT.

blinky

Yep, things change rapidly in IT. You just have to accept it. It's why it's never worth paying through the nose for the latest bleeding edge stuff - it depreciates too quickly.

The latest AMD64 mobile processors called Turion are all 754, though as wolfman has pointed out laptops are never as easy to upgrade.

Florrie_Fimble

The processor will be more than adequate - semprons overclock very nicely. What you should be looking at is a good graphics card - if your other half plays Half Life2, Far Cry or Doom 3 then a good card is a must. A 5500 will be desperately underpowered. The price you have been quoted overall is far too much for what is on offer.

I think your best bet is to gather a few magazines like Computer Shopper etc and look through the reviews. They tend to test computers based on what they are made for - ie, work, graphic, apps, bit of internet or heavy gaming.

One useful route to always try is yesterdays graphics cards which are still good for todays games but are far cheaper (9800pro for example). Or cut down varients of the new ones that can still be overclocked. A 6600 for instance is an even cheaper version of a 6600GT - but how it will perform will be dependant on what is being played on the machine. Does he already have a monitor and keyboard etc? Is he quite techie? If not, I'd be tempted to buy a basic Dell package and upgrade the graphics card inside by buying one from Ebuyer. Avoid onboard graphics if you want to play games. They aren't up to the challenge.

HLK

blinky wrote:

Yep, things change rapidly in IT. You just have to accept it. It's why it's never worth paying through the nose for the latest bleeding edge stuff - it depreciates too quickly.

The latest AMD64 mobile processors called Turion are all 754, though as wolfman has pointed out laptops are never as easy to upgrade.

If you go to the ALDI site for Austria (Hofer) they have Turion's at a great price... 1299 Euros (where is that euro sign on my keyboard?)...

see here.. http://www.hofer.at/images/data_product/94752972042789830d9a87.pdf

and here (for UK ann
http://www.nforcershq.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2766

I'm well off topic now....

jo3uk

Personally I would steer clear of this offer...

The system you have been quoted offers you absolutely no upgrade path... if you can find someone friendly to assemble the stuff for you (and providing you have a valid XP license key...)

Athlon 64 3000 (Socket 939)
Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-9 SKT939 NFORCE4 PCI-E DDR400 RETAIL BOX
Corsair (VS512MB333) 512MB, DDR333 / PC2700, non-ECC, Unbuffered, CL2.5, Lifetime Warranty
Antec SLK1650/mt 350w Smart ATX Black Case
Maxtor 6Y120M0 120GB Serial ATA 8mb Cache 7200rpm - OEM
NEC ND-3520A 16x DVD R/RW Dual Layer Internal IDE Black OEM
XFX GEFORCE 6600 PCI-E 256MB DUAL DVI *Passive Cooling*

is the typical spec of components you will receive for just £17 more from Ebuyer (467.22 inc. VAT)

The benefits of such a system is that it should be future proof for at least the next 2 years because:

Socket 939 is the most 'up-to-date' Athlon processor socket for AMD.
Graphics card expansion is via PCI-Express (again the most up to date technology available)

In addition to this:

The case is by a respected manufacturer not a cheap flimsy piece of rubbish that will soon start to fall appart (not to mention the cheap and nasty PSU which is likely to go *pop* after any serious gameplay)
The motherboard uses one of the best chipsets for processor overclocking to get the best performance (probably advisable to get a new processor heatsink/fan)
The optical drive is also among one of the best available

The overall result is a system that will be at least 25 - 30% faster in gameplay for just a little bit more.

Hope this is of help.

P.S. Please verify the compatability of these components before purchasing as I can't be held responsible if everything doesn't work together!

simes

Here is a very well specced PC , perfect for gaming for £398 including legitimate windows XP..
I bought a PC from them a few years back.. I put a friend onto this very same PC, and he is very happy with it. Its a bargain at the price.

http://www.pc-interworks.co.uk/acatalog/buyit247_net_Grade_2_Fujitsu_Siemens_Computers_3.html

You want the £398 model with the Radeon 9600 XT graphics card ... This card alone still retails at well over £100 ( as its the video-in video out model )..
Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz ( prescott ) processor
DVD rom
DVD burner
200Gb SATA hard drive
card reader, firewire , etc etc

You could not build this spec for that money ( even not counting windows XP )

jo3uk

If you can find someone to assemble the bits for you, spotted this deal for £385... graphics card isn't the best but should provide equivalent performance to the one you were originally quoted:

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301143&cks=PRL

300493 - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, BOXED
118497 - TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB Dual Pack Kit w/two matched PC3200 CL2.5 DDRs
300671 - EPoX EP-8KDA3J Mainboard for Socket 754 nForce3 250GB,SATA,GbLAN,ATX,Sound
120051 - Samsung SpinPoint P80 120GB IDE ATA/133 8MB 7200RPM
308125 - XFX GeForce 6200A 256MB DDR AGP8X, Tv-Out, S-video, DVI, Retail
305762 - NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Black Bulk (Dual Layer)
113046 - Q-Tec Midi tower ATX 6024MD, Black Pro Line, w/350W

Edit: The chipset supplied with this motherboard is considered to be good for overclocking if that's what you plan to do....