Ok, I'm looking for a new computer, since my old one died. (first power supply, now either RAM or video card is bad). I want something cheap (200-300$) that has at least the same gaming capacity as my old system.
Old System stats: 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Celeron Processor 256 MB RAM GeForce 5500FX video card
I'm thinking of ordering a barebones computer off of E-bay, any number to choose from, but my question is this:
Will a: 1.4 GHz Dual Core Processor
have at least the same processing power as my old Celeron processor? As for the other stats, the video cards and 1 Gig of Corsair RAM seems more than adequate. I'll just transfer my old hard drive, sound and networking cards, plus CD-ROM and DVD drives over, don't want to bother reinstalling all the software crap anyways.
So, advice on what to get in order to have at least similar peformance, preferrably better, on a low budget?
He's after a computer that can game as well as his old one. Not a gaming computer. :P
AKA he's after similar stats.
WELL, the beauty of dual core processing is that it allows you to run two processes at the same time. In reality, it's two processors in one unit. Now the problem is this: Do you plan to run just one major process at a time or multiple things at once?
If you're using Windows, dual cores are awesome since the Windows crap in the background is half the reason you need to rev up the processing. The newer the Windows, the worse it is for this.
But since you're asking this question, I bet you're not working in a UNIX-based environment.
SO, my suggestion is a pre-built rig with no monitor. Dell has some for a decent price. I suggest Dell just because they have some of the best warranties out there. The problem is that everything comes with the devil that is Vista. But you could always just format the damn thing when you get it. :P
Also for the video card, i think they got Invidia 6900s for like 50 bucks if you go to the right store, I almost bought that but ended up getting and Invidia 7600 myself.
And yes. I don't like ATI video cards or Intel processors. I like my machines with Nvidia video and AMD processors. AMD has always been a step above Intel in terms of quality for gaming, and I've had nothing but trouble with ATI drivers.
Core2Duo is faster in almost every single benchmark, and the Radeon X1xxx always outdid the Geforce 7xxx cards in terms of image quality, and traded in terms of speed. You don't really know what you're talking about.
Like I said at fans, save another $300 and then I can actually tell you to buy something worth buying.
Well I will probably go to computer renassiance and see what all they recommened, plus talking to my sister's fiance to see what he thinks, since he built his own gaming computer.
