Advice on PC spec needed

[Ingsy]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my PC from the current Athlon 2200+ 512RAM with a 128MB PCI graphics card which I have now. I run (just!) CS2, but when loading a RAW file, if I'm listening to music it stutters - that's how slow it is.

I've seen a Dell system which I think is a deal, but just wanted some input as to whether it would be a noticeable improvement over what I've already got, or whether it's worth waiting 'til I've got more to spend. I'm getting married in 2 months, so money isn't exactly lying around waiting to be spent.

Anyway, the spec of the system is:

Pentium Dual Core 2.2Ghz 800Mhz 1MB Cache
Windows Vista Home Premium
2GB RAM 667MHz
Integrated Intel Graphic Media Accelerator X3100

Base unit only is £197 delivered.
Is this a good price?

Many thanks,
Alex :)

[Bobster]

thats a stupid price!

you'll notice a huge jump going from a XP2200+ to a dual core 2.2!
remember with intergrated graphics, you'll be using the RAM as Video RAM (if it has a PCIE slot look in PCWorld for a cheap card, i think i saw one in a couple of weeks ago that was £28.00)

[Ingsy]

Cheers for a quick reply Bobster. I assume the price is stupid as in good? :)

Just out of interest, what's the difference between a dual core, and a core 2 Duo?

[tim]

I suspect pentium dual core is slower than core2 duo. Is it an old clearance system? How much for a quad core system with otherwise similar specs? Personally I wouldn't buy anything less than quad core right now, and i'm probably waiting until 8 core is common as my dual core's holding up fine.

Got a link?

[Ingsy]

Click (http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&oc=D082023&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756)

If you take the monitor off it works out about £174 for a 2.0Ghz. I'm thinking of going for the 2.2, and added a card reader = £197 ish.

I can't justify a huge outlay now, due to other expenditures shortly, so I'd rather get a basic system now and then maybe a new GFX card & monitor in the new year, if I need them. I won't use it to play games, so I've no need for the latest & fastest thing out there.

Basic windows stuff, internet, music, plus CS 2 running as though it's not in treacle (which is how it feels now) will be ample for me.

[bohdank]

By it the way you have configured it, with the card reader.

It should work well for it's intended use.

[tim]

My quick googling suggests that the pentium dual core is a generation behind the core 2 duo. However if they use the same socket i'd suggest you get the cheapest processor now that will take a fast chip in future. Integrated graphics will do the job, but yes get a graphics card some time, doesn't need to be fancy just something not integrated. Integrated graphics shares system ram and so uses memory bandwidth, which isn't helpful.

[Moppie]

As Tim said its cheap because its old technology.

While better than what you have, it won't be greatly faster.
I would save for a little while yet and get a slightly better system that will have more a functional life span.

[Bobster]

tim, he wants to spend as little as possible, currently that system sits just above the price of a Quad Core2 alone! and will blow the socks off his current XP2200!

[Tony-S]

My quick googling suggests that the pentium dual core is a generation behind the core 2 duo.

The principal difference is that the Core 2 Duos support hyperthreading and virtualization. They're both 64-bit processors, but the E-series he's looking at only has 1 mb cache - that's going to be a bottleneck.

However if they use the same socket i'd suggest you get the cheapest processor now that will take a fast chip in future.

775, so it should take a lot of different Intel processors, even the Q6x00 quads.

[Moppie]

775, so it should take a lot of different Intel processors, even the Q6x00 quads.


I was looking at some cheap boards the other day to build a new PC for a mate.
I found a couple of 775 board that would not take the new quad cores, and even some of the newer dual cores.

[tim]

There's no point buying into an obsolete system, just make sure whatever you get can be upgraded to quad core later.

[Moppie]

There's no point buying into an obsolete system, just make sure whatever you get can be upgraded to quad core later.


This is one area I would be wary of buying a Dell. The ability to upgrade.
From my own experiance trying to upgrade Dell systems, they tend to make it as hard as possible.
It is a very simply business model: Why let customers upgrade when you can just sell them a whole new system?
Of course the systems are often so cheap, that is usually easier to buy a new one anyway.

[tim]

The only upgrade worth doing these days is RAM or CPU, it's more CPU I was thinking of as RAM is easy.