PC Hardware Buyers Guide.

[Shaun]

Due to new hardware, I suggest the following changes to the ultra low-end, low end, and mid-end computers:


CPU
Ultra Low End: Sempron 2800+, AM2, 50 dollars. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104301
Low End: Athlon X2 3800+, AM2, 150 dollars. (Newegg is down at the moment)
Midrange: E6300, Conroe, 200 dollars (Newegg is down)
High-end: E6600, Conroe, I forgot the price (See above)

Mobo:
AMD:
Basic: The cheapest at the moment. Any would do.
Overclockers: The DFI infinity, 100 dollars.

I think an AMD athlon X2 5000 would pretty much still be high end with the release of Conroe. Well, i got mines for £220, so maybe midrange.

Intel: Ask someone who knows.

Anyway, with Athlon and core Duo there really is no point in buying any other intel, they all suck compared to Core Duo.


Also, whilst browsing some sites today, I came across Opteron, what is opteron?

[Lee1026]

Rebranded athlons, basically.

[Shaun]

Rebranded athlons, basically.

Ok, but are they better, as they do cost twice as much?

[Lee1026]

Well, they are meant for servers and the such, and people with servers don't worry about cost as much as we do. Those also tend to have more cache.

[Shaun]

Well, they are meant for servers and the such, and people with servers don't worry about cost as much as we do. Those also tend to have more cache.

Ok, so are they worth buying over an athlon? Are they better than the Conroe?

[Lee1026]

depends on the clock speed and the cache and the price, of course.

[Incinerate_IV]

Thanks for the suggestions. I know, this guide needs a major update now that Conroe is released. (Hence why I unstickied it)

[H_man]

I have an HP Pavilion a1540n desktop computer with AMD 4200X2 Dual-Core with 2*1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 RAM. But only a measely Geforce 6150LE integrated card. What would be the best higher end card (PCI-E) for this computer that will allow me to play all strategy games at highest detail, that come out in the next year or so. Is there any card that would be too powerful or that would be dragged down by anything in this computer? I'm trying to purchase one that will run MIITW on higest settings at high speeds.

Also, will all the current cards support DX10 when it comes out?

[Lee1026]

For MTWII, the answer is no one knows, literally.

[Lee1026]

The least you can do is to at least put up my suggestions, you know.

[Incinerate_IV]

Sorry, I've been pretty busy lately, PSAT and stuff you know.

I think I got some freetime tomorrow, then I'll rewrite the whole thing, since the CPU and Graphics card section is pretty much totaly wrong.

[Incinerate_IV]

There, its now officially updated. I even added in some new VB code visuals.

[Amompharetus]

Why is no one mentioning any athlons in the mid or high level computer range?
Where would a AMD 4200X2 Dual-Core fall in mid or high?

Which is better, 7600GS or 6800XT? The cost the same, here in Japan.

[Lee1026]

Where would a AMD 4200X2 Dual-Core fall in mid or high?

It would be a fool's choice.

[Amompharetus]

It would be a fool's choice.

It would be a fools choice because . . .

[Lee1026]

It is more expensive then its direct competition (E6300), and does not perform as well, and is hotter.

[AlfonsoVIII]

It is more expensive then its direct competition (E6300), and does not perform as well, and is hotter.

$1 difference from newegg.com, give me a break . And as far as running hotter, it is because its faster and built on a different platform. I read some benchmarks to see which is better, heat only matters depending on your cooling system.

[Incinerate_IV]

Not really, the new Intels is much cooler than their AMD counter parts, and uses less power too. This is partly due to its die being much smaller, and Intel added a lot of power saving features to it. And because of that, Core 2 Duos have some pretty amazing overclocking capabilities.

[AlfonsoVIII]

Well I will say yes the Intels run cheaper but after doing alot of research, my prove being:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=2802&p=12

I will say that both processors (X2 4200 and the E6300) are about the same and are good competitors with both outdoing the other in certain benchmarks. For the same price, there really is no argument. But it is a coin flip and people need to decide what they want and let it be their preference. Most people will never OC their processor, so I think that should not be taken into account. As far as heat, what is there really to say?

[Lee1026]

Are we reading the same review here? The E6300 is a fighting match for the 4600+ not the 4200+.