Which one should I get?

[Moonlightman]

I am getting a new computer and I found 2 Compaq presarios that are both almost exactly the same but they have different processors. Here are the differences.

(1) Intel Celeron D 340 - 2.93 GHz - 256KB cash - 533 FSB - PC 2700 DDR RAM

OR

(2) AMD Sempron 3000+ - 1.80 GHz - 128KB cash - 1600 FSB - PC 3200 DDR RAM


They both come with 17" Flat screen monitors & speakers & Keyboard, 80G Hard drives, 256 Memory, DVR-DVD Drives & they are both $395.00

Which one would you pick?

 

[converting_boxes]

I vote for the celeron.

 

[ckfordy]

are you planning to do any gaming at all with it

 

[4W4K3]

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/cpu/article.php/3261_3498676__8

The Sempron, even with half the L2 cache it should have equal performance to the Celeron D, that and you get faster RAM, which is always a plus.

 

[ViperGTS19801]

Moonlightman: I would normally reccomend the AMD core by default, but andswer this: WHat will this rig be used primarily for?

 

[Praetor]

Overall you will probably have a better experience with the Sempron box (E-stepping based) although realistically you probably wont notice the difference

 

[Shambree]

My cousin purchased a compaq presario with the amd sempron and the RAM was rated at pc 3200 but was really underclocked to pc2700.Ugh
Anyway,he plugged in a 6600gt and it can play doom3 and half life 2 really well,so its a good budget gaming system.

 

[4W4K3]

You should be able to change the speed of the FSB/RAM in the Compaq BIOS, and you can disable "speed stepping" or w/e its called to have it run top speed 24/7 (at least my mom's Compaq has these options. But this will decrease battery life, so i usually use speed steppping when i can.

 

[Shambree]

Oh cool thanks 4w4k3

 

[fachim]

Anyway, I recommend you Sempron 1.8 GHz with faster and higher configuration on another devices. Processor speed will not give you significant affect on speed.

 

[Moonlightman]

Thanks for all the input guys. The only thing I will be doing on the computer is Internet some music downloading and burning and using some pograms like microsoft word but I wont be playing any games on it. BTW what is a 6600gt ? and does it speed up the computer?

 

[Geoff]

i reccommend sempron all the way, gaming or not, but if you aer gaming, sempron will do extremely better. Also less heat.

 

[Geoff]

BTW what is a 6600gt ? and does it speed up the computer?

a 6600GT is a video card, it will only improve graphics such as gaming, it wont do anything else performance wise. I would not reccommend getting it for your uses.

 

[Bobo]

The Sempron, even with half the L2 cache it should have equal performance to the Celeron D,

Since when did Celerons start having caches?

My cousin purchased a compaq presario with the amd sempron and the RAM was rated at pc 3200 but was really underclocked to pc2700

My compaq does that if both RAM slots are filled....just stupid HP/Compaq

 

[4W4K3]

Since when did Celerons start having caches?

im not sure what you mean here. The L2 cache size is 256K, its in the specs.

 

[Diego]

For your uses i recommend getting the one with the celeron processor. BTW whats the store you are buying it from?Can you give me a link to those desktops?

 

[Praetor]

My cousin purchased a compaq presario with the amd sempron and the RAM was rated at pc 3200 but was really underclocked to pc2700.

Sounds like an issue that occurs when all the memory slots are filled

You should be able to change the speed of the FSB/RAM in the Compaq BIOS

You should?

Thanks for all the input guys. The only thing I will be doing on the computer is Internet some music downloading and burning and using some pograms like microsoft word but I wont be playing any games on it. BTW what is a 6600gt ? and does it speed up the computer?

1. If u're not reallt doing anything on the computer ... then get the cheaper of the two
2. Dont waste money on the 6600GT ... just get the cheapest video u can find

Also less heat.

The problem with absolut blanket statements is that they are usually wrong

Since when did Celerons start having caches?

Since forever.

My compaq does that if both RAM slots are filled....just stupid HP/Compaq

Has nothing to do with HP/Compaq. They are gonna be downclocked regardless


At the end of the day, I reccemend the cheapest thing you can find