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Buyers Guide - Choosing A Processor by ***REMOVED***
You might think this is the most important component that will determine your systems overall speed, Well you are right but make sure you don't spend all your money on buying the processor as the processor speed wont mean anything if you don't buy the right memory, Storage device and motherboard.
How Is A Processors Speed Measured?
Every processor has a speed rating which is measured in MHZ. 1000mhz is usually addressed as 1gig so a 3.2gig processor would be 3200mhz. Intel's processors are usually called Intel Pentium 4 3.2gig. So you know that the processor speed is 3200mhz. But be careful with AMD as they name there processors AMD Athlon 3200+ / 4500+ but 3200 and 4500 does not mean that the processor speeds are 3200mhz and 4500mhz, the mhz rating will be much less than this number and is sometimes in small print so watch out.
Do I Need A 64 Bit Processor?
Your software will only benefit from a 64 bit processor if you install an operating system which supports 64 bit. But be aware that some programs / games do not run on 64 bit operating systems.
Do I Need A Processor With Cache?
The more cache a processor has the faster it will be able to perform. Budget processors usually come with 128-512k of cache, Whilst the higher spec processors will come with 1-2mb (1024-2048k) of cache
How Many Cores Do I Need
You might of heard of something called a dual core processor, This is a single processor that has two cores inside it. Each core acts like a single processor, So a processor will act as two because it has 2 processor chips (Dual Cores) inside it.
You will benefit from a dual core processor if you run more than one program at a time. For our entry system you will not benefit from having a dual core because you are not running processor hungary programs and you are also not running many programs at once.
The dual core processors share the processing that a system needs to do which makes this processor a must for our top of the range system.
Which Processor Brand Shall I buy?
In recent years AMD have really taken over the market from Intel. The recent AMD processors have been out performing intel's pentium processor range. AMD have also been packing in gaming performance enhancements in to there processors which makes AMD the clear choice for anyone.
Which AMD Processor Shall I Buy?
AMD's processors include, The budget sempron, which is a low spec processor that will be used in our budget system. The sempron processor does not have a dual core and doesn't have much cache.
The next step up processor is called an Athlon 64 processor. 64 means that the processor is 64 bit, some operating systems and software will greatly benefit and perform better from your system having a 64 bit processor. The amount of cache a processor will have vary's, If possible pick the processor with the most cache. We will use the Athlon 64 processor for our Mid Range System.
The top end processors are called AMD Athlon 64 X2, The X2 means its a dual core processor. And the other processor is called Athlon 64 FX, Which is also a dual core processor Personally if I was building a top of the range system I would use these processors as they have been proven again and again that they out perform the Intel processors.
Which Intel Processor Shall I Buy?
Please be aware that sometimes Intel call dual core hyper threading
The intel lineup is a bit of a mess as they have released so many processors, But I will put them in to three bands. The intel processors are similar to AMD as they have budget and dual core processors.
Intel celeron, celeron D and Pentium M are all budget processors and will be used in our entry system. Just like the AMD processors all of these processors are single core and not much cache.
We have a wide range of mid range processors. There is the single core Pentium 4 processor, The lower rated dual core Pentium 4's, The dual core Pentium D and Pentium 4 Extreme edition processor. To make matters even worse some processors come in 64bit versions as well. I would say for the mid range system pick a dual core processor and I personally would go for the Pentium 4 Dual core processor.
The top of the range processors are a bit easier to pick out. You have the top of the range Pentium 4 dual core processors and you also have Pentium D 800+ processors. These Pentium D processors are the fastest processors that Intel have released and this is what we are going to put in to our top of the range system.
You might think this is the most important component that will determine your systems overall speed, Well you are right but make sure you don't spend all your money on buying the processor as the processor speed wont mean anything if you don't buy the right memory, Storage device and motherboard.
How Is A Processors Speed Measured?
Every processor has a speed rating which is measured in MHZ. 1000mhz is usually addressed as 1gig so a 3.2gig processor would be 3200mhz. Intel's processors are usually called Intel Pentium 4 3.2gig. So you know that the processor speed is 3200mhz. But be careful with AMD as they name there processors AMD Athlon 3200+ / 4500+ but 3200 and 4500 does not mean that the processor speeds are 3200mhz and 4500mhz, the mhz rating will be much less than this number and is sometimes in small print so watch out.
Do I Need A 64 Bit Processor?
Your software will only benefit from a 64 bit processor if you install an operating system which supports 64 bit. But be aware that some programs / games do not run on 64 bit operating systems.
Do I Need A Processor With Cache?
The more cache a processor has the faster it will be able to perform. Budget processors usually come with 128-512k of cache, Whilst the higher spec processors will come with 1-2mb (1024-2048k) of cache
How Many Cores Do I Need
You might of heard of something called a dual core processor, This is a single processor that has two cores inside it. Each core acts like a single processor, So a processor will act as two because it has 2 processor chips (Dual Cores) inside it.
You will benefit from a dual core processor if you run more than one program at a time. For our entry system you will not benefit from having a dual core because you are not running processor hungary programs and you are also not running many programs at once.
The dual core processors share the processing that a system needs to do which makes this processor a must for our top of the range system.
Which Processor Brand Shall I buy?
In recent years AMD have really taken over the market from Intel. The recent AMD processors have been out performing intel's pentium processor range. AMD have also been packing in gaming performance enhancements in to there processors which makes AMD the clear choice for anyone.
Which AMD Processor Shall I Buy?
AMD's processors include, The budget sempron, which is a low spec processor that will be used in our budget system. The sempron processor does not have a dual core and doesn't have much cache.
The next step up processor is called an Athlon 64 processor. 64 means that the processor is 64 bit, some operating systems and software will greatly benefit and perform better from your system having a 64 bit processor. The amount of cache a processor will have vary's, If possible pick the processor with the most cache. We will use the Athlon 64 processor for our Mid Range System.
The top end processors are called AMD Athlon 64 X2, The X2 means its a dual core processor. And the other processor is called Athlon 64 FX, Which is also a dual core processor Personally if I was building a top of the range system I would use these processors as they have been proven again and again that they out perform the Intel processors.
Which Intel Processor Shall I Buy?
Please be aware that sometimes Intel call dual core hyper threading
The intel lineup is a bit of a mess as they have released so many processors, But I will put them in to three bands. The intel processors are similar to AMD as they have budget and dual core processors.
Intel celeron, celeron D and Pentium M are all budget processors and will be used in our entry system. Just like the AMD processors all of these processors are single core and not much cache.
We have a wide range of mid range processors. There is the single core Pentium 4 processor, The lower rated dual core Pentium 4's, The dual core Pentium D and Pentium 4 Extreme edition processor. To make matters even worse some processors come in 64bit versions as well. I would say for the mid range system pick a dual core processor and I personally would go for the Pentium 4 Dual core processor.
The top of the range processors are a bit easier to pick out. You have the top of the range Pentium 4 dual core processors and you also have Pentium D 800+ processors. These Pentium D processors are the fastest processors that Intel have released and this is what we are going to put in to our top of the range system.
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