Need help choosing new PC
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Thread: Need help choosing new PC

  1. #1
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    Need help choosing new PC

    Please help me decide which of these dell pc's should I go for:

    1)

    Processor Intel® Pentium® G630 Processor (2.70GHz, 3MB)
    Memory 2GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at -1MHz
    Hard Drive 500GB1 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
    Video Card Graphics : Intel® HD
    OS Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
    Warranty 1Yr Collect & Returns Warranty – No upgrade selected

    289.00 UK sterling

    -----------------

    2)

    AMD Athlon™ II X2 250 (3.0GHz, 1MB Cache)

    Processor AMD Athlon™ II X2 250 (3.0GHz, 1MB Cache)
    MEMORY 4096MB Dual Channel DDR3 [2x2048] Memory
    Hard Drive 500GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive
    GRAPHICS CARD Integrated ATI Radeon HD4200 Graphics
    OS Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

    FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES 19-in-1 Media Card reader
    Dell System Media Kit Inspiron Desktop 570 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
    Gedis Bundle Reference D025705
    Order Information Inspiron Desktop 570 Minitower Order - UK
    Speakers No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
    Cable 2 Meter Power Cord - UK

    298.00 UK sterling
    -----------------


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    Last edited by shahan; February 10th, 2012 at 10:37 AM.

  2. #2
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    I'd definitely go for the second one out of those two. The extra memory is worth having (especially if you go for a 64-bit OS), and the CPU should be a bit quicker too.
    Nick.

  3. #3
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    If you can run to a little more, this one would be better still:

    http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...d=inspiron-620
    Nick.

  4. #4
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    I have a feeling the AMD is a bit slower. What do u think, the will AMD machines i specified at option 2) be fast like the Intel(s) ?

    I use two AMD machines at work running at 2.80 Ghz and 2Gb RAM one with XP Professional and the other with Vista and both are dual core, sometimes it feels a bit sluggish. At the same place at work, downstairs I work on a Pentium dual core machine running at 2.93 Ghz and 2 Gb RAM with Windows 7 Professional.

    I would like the machine in the link its just bit expensive, looks like the Intel machine in the link is similar to the AMD machine (option 2), just a bit more clock speed with the Intel, its a Intel manufacturer, cache is 3Mb but same with 2 cores.

    or are Intel machines more superior ? meaning will it run abit more faster than the AMD ?



    Quote Originally Posted by SuperSparks View Post
    If you can run to a little more, this one would be better still:

    http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...d=inspiron-620
    Last edited by shahan; February 10th, 2012 at 02:15 PM.

  5. #5
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    Not really, I run AMD and have for the past 10 years. I find they aren't any slower or do they run any hotter than Intel. Right now I'm running the one in my signature. With Windows 7 64bit, I do all kinds of things on it. Play graphic intense games, edit video, use PhotoShop, and surf the net, including youtube.

  6. #6
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    The Intel Core i3 that I linked to is a far superior architecture to either of your original choices, and would give decidedly better performance. IMO it is worth the extra money. But of the two that you linked to, I think I would go for the AMD.

    I've built PCs with both Intel and AMD, and I have no strong preference for either. I just go with whatever gives me the price/performance that I want at that particular time. I do mostly seem to end up going for Intel though.
    Nick.

  7. #7
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    AMD laptops bare a little cookerbut then I have used a i3 yet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Train View Post

    ... bare a little cookerbut ...
    Quote Originally Posted by Train View Post

    ... then I have used a i3 yet.

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  10. #10
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    Thank you all for your suggestions/recommendations, if its a tough choice I will have to make, AMD and Intel both sound good.

    I guess if Im already in debt and im gonna spend £300 on a new pc then what's £50 more, I'll have to get the confidence to spend on the Intel route or stick with AMD. Im tempted to go for Intel, but once I had a bad experience when I bought my first Intel PC thats why I went down the AMD route. My last AMD Athlon lasted 12 years.

    Will feel the extra power with Intel's extra clock speed and level 3 cache ?

  11. #11
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    You should do, the i3 is substantially more powerful.

    http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

    Name - Passmark CPU Mark (higher is better) - Overall ranking (lower is better)

    Intel Core i3-2120 @ 3.30GHz 4186 149

    Intel Pentium G630 @ 2.70GHz 2657 307

    AMD Athlon II X2 250 1698 486
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    Samsung Syncmaster SA300 23.6" monitor

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  12. #12
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    AMD is backward compatible and Intel is not, does that mean that is the case if I have to upgrade the processor then i have to change the RAM and motherboard as well or does the same go for adding more RAM or any other devices (without a processor upgrade)

  13. #13
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    If you get the pc with the i3, then as far as I can tell it uses a LGA1155 socket motherboard, so you should in future be able to upgrade all the way to core i7 Sandybridge processors, by simply swapping the cpu out.

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  15. #15
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    There really isn't anything to choose between AMD and Intel as far as upgradeability is concerned. I never view that as an important consideration anyway - as long as you choose a PC in the first place that will give you plenty of life, then you shouldn't need to worry about upgrading. It's not like it was a few years ago when you needed a new PC every 18 months just to keep up. Even a low-end PC is powerful enough to last a good few years now.
    Nick.

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