New computer?

kwikbreaks

derrick wrote: »

I'm afraid that list does nothing for me.

What I need is an idea of what would be a rubbish CPU and what would be a good one.

.

There are far too many processors around to do that - especially if you throw in AMD as well as Intel. The list is intended to be used to compare processors.

Why are you replacing your current machine? Have you considered upgrading instead?

A reasonable spec for a general purpose desktop that will handle all non-specialist tasks would (imo of course) be..

Windows 7 or later
4GB or more of RAM
i5 or i7 processor

You saw what I paid for a refurb with an i7. Figure on double for a similar spec to that new.

The best upgrade you could make to any machine without an SSD is to fit one as the main drive and use any mechanical drive it came with for data.

derrick

Not sure if it helps but below is what I have, (via Belarc Adviser), I am happy with it except that it can get slow and playing videos like iPlayer etc are juddery when they decide to actually play., I know this requires more RAM and a better processor:-


Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 01/08/2005 20:13:58
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported) ECS M848A 1.0
Enclosure Type: Desktop Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.50 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded Board: ECS M848A 1.0
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01 Drives Memory Modules c,d 82.34 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
47.58 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SONY DVD RW DW-U18A [Optical drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1613 [Optical drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ExcelStor Technology J680 [Hard drive] (82.35 GB) -- drive 0, s/n VNR21EG20PAZFA, rev V32OA60A, SMART Status: Healthy 1024 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 512 MB
Slot '1' has 512 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Slot '3' is Empty Local Drive Volumes




c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 37.56 GB 6.36 GB free

d: (NTFS on drive 0) 44.79 GB 41.22 GB free


* Operating System is installed on c:



RADEON 7000 SERIES [Display adapter]

Fightsback

derrick wrote: »

I'm afraid that list does nothing for me.

What I need is an idea of what would be a rubbish CPU and what would be a good one.

.

Put it this way derrick, with the system Kwickbreaks highlighted you can turn two of it's cpu cores off (it has 4) and it will still beat most of the things on that sheet in a CPU benchmark test.

derrick

kwikbreaks wrote: »

There are far too many processors around to do that - especially if you throw in AMD as well as Intel. The list is intended to be used to compare processors.

Why are you replacing your current machine? Have you considered upgrading instead?

A reasonable spec for a general purpose desktop that will handle all non-specialist tasks would (imo of course) be..

Windows 7 or later
4GB or more of RAM
i5 or i7 processor

You saw what I paid for a refurb with an i7. Figure on double for a similar spec to that new.

The best upgrade you could make to any machine without an SSD is to fit one as the main drive and use any mechanical drive it came with for data.

I think my machine is to old to upgrade, (see above), 10-12 years old.


.

Fightsback

You poor chap, no wonder you want to buy something new as that's a horribly slow antique system. If you want to go new then i'd suggest an i3 as a minimum spec processor.

derrick wrote: »

Not sure if it helps but below is what I have, (via Belarc Adviser), I am happy with it except that it can get slow and playing videos like iPlayer etc are juddery when they decide to actually play., I know this requires more RAM and a better processor:-


Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 01/08/2005 20:13:58
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported) ECS M848A 1.0
Enclosure Type: Desktop Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.50 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded Board: ECS M848A 1.0
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01 Drives Memory Modules c,d 82.34 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
47.58 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SONY DVD RW DW-U18A [Optical drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1613 [Optical drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ExcelStor Technology J680 [Hard drive] (82.35 GB) -- drive 0, s/n VNR21EG20PAZFA, rev V32OA60A, SMART Status: Healthy 1024 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 512 MB
Slot '1' has 512 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Slot '3' is Empty Local Drive Volumes




c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 37.56 GB 6.36 GB free

d: (NTFS on drive 0) 44.79 GB 41.22 GB free


* Operating System is installed on c:



RADEON 7000 SERIES [Display adapter]

kwikbreaks

I agree - no realistic upgrade potential in that one. You could always try it on Linux I suppose but that could well be a frustrating experience unless you enjoy using google constantly to find out how to get stuff to work.

derrick

Fightsback wrote: »

You poor chap, no wonder you want to buy something new as that's a horribly slow antique system. If you want to go new then i'd suggest an i3 as a minimum spec processor.

Is that the main thing I need to look at? I will be going for minimum 4GB RAM.

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I agree - no realistic upgrade potential in that one. You could always try it on Linux I suppose but that could well be a frustrating experience unless you enjoy using google constantly to find out how to get stuff to work.

Yes I know it is old:o, but as I said, I am happy with it for what I use a computer for, I know XP isn't supported and I do need to upgrade but don't need a whistle and bells computer, just something that will, along with the basics, play HD videos, if this one did that I would not be on here:D.


.

kwikbreaks

The i3 is a very capable processor. This laptop has one and along with the onboard Intel graphics has no problem playing HD video although with the display it has that's at 720p. I haven't tried hooking it up to an HD monitor but have no doubt that it would work. In fact there are £30 Android media players that handle 1080p so you aren't setting the bar especially high.

dktreesea

Good processors are important, though you do need similar quality of things like a graphics card and motherboard to go with them. I run Windows 7 64 bit, and have a AMD FX-8370 8 core processor 4.01 Ghz, with 16Gb DDR3 memory, with an ASUS Sabretooth R2 motherboard and a separate VT-X 7870 graphics card.


Dual core and quad core processors are fairly old by today's standards. But for sure, even quad core shouldn't cost over £200. how about this if quad core would meet your needs:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-OR-HP-COMPUTER-PC-QUAD-CORE-8GB-RAM-1000GB-1TB-HD-WIFI-WINDOWS-7-PRO-/201386195072?hash=item2ee38d7880:g:mhoAAOSwd0BVrkDw


It has a one year warranty.

NiftyDigits

dktreesea wrote: »

Good processors are important, though you do need similar quality of things like a graphics card and motherboard to go with them. I run Windows 7 64 bit, and have a AMD FX-8370 8 core processor 4.01 Ghz, with 16Gb DDR3 memory, with an ASUS Sabretooth R2 motherboard and a separate VT-X 7870 graphics card.


Dual core and quad core processors are fairly old by today's standards. But for sure, even quad core shouldn't cost over £200. how about this if quad core would meet your needs:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-OR-HP-COMPUTER-PC-QUAD-CORE-8GB-RAM-1000GB-1TB-HD-WIFI-WINDOWS-7-PRO-/201386195072?hash=item2ee38d7880:g:mhoAAOSwd0BVrkDw


It has a one year warranty.

..........

I don't really want to go for refurbished.....