This is just a really quick question....But I have the option of buying 2 computers, and I wanna know which one would be the fastest....

A pentium 3.0 GHZ
512 MB DDRAM



or

A Pentium 3.2 GHZ
256 MB DDRAM

yes I know I can upgrade the ram and I fully intend to, but out of these two, which one would be better to get? The better processor with less ram, or the better ram with less processor? :p

The 3.2 GHz, its always easier and cheaper to upgrade RAM than to upgrade a processor.

Yeah I think I'm gonna do that....and just get an extra stick of some sexy 256 MB DDRAM.......mmmmmmmm sexy computer here i come

Or build it all yourself, and don't use an intel, for about five hundred bucks less.

BTW, less RAM. Overclocking 200 mhz is very doable.

Go for the RAM. 200 mhz won't change much.

Hm...So I should go with the 3.0 GhZ and 512 MB RAM, and get a nice vid card..

You're going to need a good card to get the most out of the processor

I think it would really help people to decide if you posted some actual comparison prices. THat is often the determining factor; unless money is no issue in your case.

Also, assuming the price seems reasonable, I would go with a PC with a good video card if you have the option. Those things can cost a boatload separately.

Yeah, sorry...I'll provide all my choices....


I'm buying from a program offered to the friends and employee's of IBM Canada. You get discounted computers for relatively cheap...Here's my options:

Option 1:

Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz With Hyper-threading tech.
40 GB HD
PC 3200 256 MB DDRAM

$699.00

Option 2:

Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz With HT.
40 GB HD
PC 3200 256 MB RAM

$799.00

Option 3: (which I am pretty sure I won't go with)

Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz
512 MB PC3200 DDRAM
80 GB HD

$949.00

For all these computers, whichever one I choose, I plan to buy the following as well:

48x/32x/48x/16x DVD/CDRW Burner/Player $93.00

256 MB PC 3200 DDRAM Extra $90.00

ATI RADEON9600 SE 128 DDR AGP $175.00




EDIT: I just noticed, that if I go for option 3, I can knock off the extra RAM and the DVD CD Burner since they already come with it...and just get the Graphics card extra...Which would bring it to a grand total of

$1, 292

WTF

Those prices are NOT american, I can guarantee. A radeon 9600SE for 175 bucks? It's like 100 bucks, max, American.

Otherwise, I'd try to find something using AMD, as it will be massively cheaper, if price is any object. AMD64's are just as expensive as P4's, and they perform WAY better (except for encoding/decoding and doing some various tasks). Also, I'd go for a gig of RAM (roughly 280 American for 400MHz or as it's more commonly known, PC3200), and a 9600XT

The 9600SE is a horrible card, and barely runs most modern games decently. If you're going for a cheap, good card, the 9600XT is where it's at.

Unfortunately, I'm limited in my choices, as I can't go TOO far of a price... My parents are paying for this, not me. I'm just helping them choose the best one for the best price..

As well, I am limited to buying a computer from this IBM site. I live in Canada, not USA, so that might explain the higher prices. I dunno.

The choices are also limited to what the IBM site offers, and I have been told by the employee who told me about this, that I can get video cards and such in stores for way cheaper than from there. Which I have no doubt of. However, since my computer knowledge is somewhat limited, I needed advice here.

EDIT: The other cards offered on the site however, are:

64 MB Geforce MX 440 - 69.30

64 MB Geforce MX440LP - 69.30

64MB DDR ATI RADEON 9200 - 84.00

64MB DDR ATI RADEON 9200 LORPR -84.00

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

*breathes*

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

IBM...cheap...hahaha. Okay, first lesson--IBM and cheap are antonyms in every form of the word.

Second lesson--there are tons of canadian websites or sites that ship to canada out there. Wait till the canadians get a hold of this thread, you'll be in good hands.

The SE really is horrible. Go for the 9600XT, you can get one for like $130 or less new.

Well, they need to hurry up :p



I only somewhat care about the price.. Because I know if I go too high, my parents won't buy it..However, aside from that, I could care less how much they pay for a piece of crap....As long as it benefits me game wise, that's all I really use the computer for. I'm not looking for OMGWOW!11111 graphics, just something I can play modern games on with no trouble. :p

So you'd rather pay more money for less, instead of less money for more then?

No, I'm just confused as hell. I know about computers, but when it comes to buying them and money, and all the extra parts, and which is the cheapest for the best performance, etc...I have no clue... I get lost easily for some reason. I dunno why.

I have no idea of any site's in canada that offer a very good computer, for a really good price. But if anyone knows one, that is easy to use (for someone who gets confused like me) I welcome you to post it :p

I do not want to put a computer together myself, even though I know you can do it for a significantly less price, I just haven't got the knowledge or ability to put one together.. I can do ram and video cards, thats about it. I have nobody to put it together for me either...So I'm screwed on that account.

Well you could LEARN how to put it together, save yourself hundreds, or buy a prebuilt, get a crappy computer, and get nothing out of the experience and no way to save money in the future.

Like I said--I don't know canadian specific online stores, but I've seen them before.

omg dude your getting ripped off... you need to open your eyes to newegg.com and outpost.com for 600 or 700 bucsk you could build a nice computer... im bored so i will make you a sweet computer for that price

Pentium 4 3.0 Prescott/ 8000mhz FSB $193.00


Kingston 512 PC3200 RAM (good ram!) $79.00

Generic MOBO $50

Radeon 9600XT $129.00

Generic Cool Looking Case there are so many options $25.00

Maxtor 120 GB 7200RPM IDE w/ 8MB cache $83.50

TOTAL!: $559.50!!!

Upgrades

Radeon 9800PRO (flash to XT): add another 70
Double RAM: add another 79

TOTAL!: $708.50

If you're honestly serious about that, I'll mention it to my parents.

Convert that to Canadian for him

?

http://www.canadacomputers.com
http://www.icct.ca
http://www.factorydirect.ca

He's not getting ripped off, he lives in Canada, so that video card is $230 not $130 and that ram is $200 not $100.

Newegg prices are American.

bah!! so confused my heads going to explode! lol

Now i get to go through these websites looking for the best for the cheapest....

I'd say my pricerange would be highest 1,200...

dammit canada and your metric/deflated money ways!! ::shakes fist::

For 1200 you can still get an awesome PC. Go to the links Mikus posted.

Nope, they're even too expensive to be Canadian prices.

[url]www.microbytes.ca[/url]

[url]www.tigerdirect.ca[/url]

Best deals I've found around here.

Wow, for only $100 more dollars you get a whopping 200 Intel pseudo mhz! Thats some kind of deal!

Get more ram, 256 is going to make things hurt for new stuff. The number one mistake people make when buying new PCs these days is ignoring ram. Everyone wants to say "I've got a new Dell with the fastest P4 preshot available! Its super fast. My Dell's got teh megahurts and its awesome." Meanwhile the guy with a 2.8 and enough ram to actually run programs without excessive harddisk swapping really has the faster computer. 256 is not enough for new games.

They don't make slow processors anymore. But they do make PCs without enough ram, and major manufactorers make them by the bucket loads. Its really the consumers fault though, because they want to oversimplify a PCs overall speed into the speed of a single component, when really a computer is only as fast as its slowest component.

The 9600se blows, as has been said. Get at least the 9600pro if you're buying a fancy new card.

You'd do well to get a PC with a slower (cheaper) processor, more ram and a faster video card.

Ok...Thank you very much for the advice


But....What the hell is the difference between a Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz and an AMD Athlon 64 3200.....arent they both 3.2 ghz...?

No. 3200 != 3200mhz.

You can find the actual speed on amd.com

Hmm.....So for games and everything else basically....I should get an AMD Athlon 64 System, instead of a pentium 4 system? The pentium 4's I was looking at had a 800 MHZ Front side Bus, I dunno if that makes a difference or not..

I'm looking through all these computers on Tigerdirect.ca (good prices) and I've narrowed it down to these choices:

For $1,232

Athlon 64 3000+ processor 512MB fast DDR memory, 120GB hard drive and award-winning Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system not only meets these daunting challenges, it exceeds them. With its astonishing array of features, including incredible ATI RADEON 9200SE 128MB video graphics card, spectacular 3D 6-channel audio, DVD+/-RW burner.

For $1,575 (Probably too high of a price)

AMD Athlon™ 64 3200+ processor with Hyper-Transport™ Technology. 1GB of RAM, giving you the lightning-fast reaction time of PC3200 DDR400 memory. A hardy 80GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive spinning at an exceptionally quick 7200 Rotations Per Minute. ATI RADEON 9800 SE 128MB AGP video card with TV-Out.

Again, probably too steep, $1,479

AMD's newest Athlon 64-Bit 3000+ Processor, a full 512MB of ultra-fast DDR memory, a huge 80GB Serial ATA150 hard drive with an 8MB cache Buffer, mind-boggling 128MB DDR nVidia GeForce FX5200 8x AGP video, Gigabyte’s K8Npro nForce3 Chipset Motherboard, 8x DVD Burner Drive & secondary DVD-ROM Drive, fax/modem, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, keyboard & mouse, Windows XP Home, Vision’s new V-Alien Gamer Tower, 500-Watt power supply, an overclocking fan control center, cool neon lights, extra cooling fans and plenty of external ports to make your head spin.

For $ 1,300 (no video card I think, Im not sure..)

This Systemax™ Desktop is the hottest PC in the industry-loaded with the brand new AMD Athlon™ 64-bit processor 3000+, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, 1GB (1024MB) of fast 333MHz DDR memory, 120GB 7200RPM Ultra ATA hard drive, DVD burner, ATI® AGP video with 128MB, 6-Channel audio, FireWire, 10/100 LAN for high-speed networking or broadband Internet, 56K Modem, and a 7-in-1 media reader all in a designer black mid-tower ATX case with a 300-Watt power supply.

And finally $1,232

This is the hottest PC in the industry—loaded with the brand new AMD Athlon™ 64-bit processor 3200+, Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, 1GB (1024MB) of fast 333MHz DDR memory, 160GB 7200RPM Ultra ATA hard drive, DVD burner, ATI® AGP video with 128MB, 6-Channel audio, FireWire, 10/100 LAN for high-speed networking or broadband Internet, 56K Modem and a 7-in-1 media reader - all in a designer black mid-tower ATX case with a 300-Watt power supply.


Now, these might end up being my choices..I dunno, but from [url]www.tigerdirect.ca[/url] these to my knowledge are the best computers for what I want, gaming, at the cheapest prices....

I'd recommend RDRAM for P4's, but maybe that's just me?

Build it your self.

Wow. That video list was... WAHAHAHAHA! *pukes* Pathetic.




Hottest PC in the industery? WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Build you own. Now.

blah, I'll say it again.... I can't build a computer myself, and I have nobody that can put together one for me.

It's really easy. I built my first one in 30 min. Ask here for which part you should buy, and a quick google search will reveal thousands of PC building tutorials. It's really, really, easy.

EDIT: tadaa! 30min of reading and you can build your own PC, and forget getting ripped of by the PC manufactures again! Just ask and we'll be happy to reccomend parts!

ATHLON64 3200 = 2.2 ghz

Most Athlon 64 run at 1066 FSB...

Athlon 64 = Pwnage w/ Gaming

P4 = Pwnage w/ Ripping, Converting, Decoding

Ok, which parts should I buy? :p

So....Gaming wise, Even though it's only 2.2 GHZ, and Athlon 64 3200 would out-perform a Pentium 4 at lets say.....3.0 ghz?... Even if both had equally as much RAM?...

I'd personally reccomend the Athlon 64 system. a Socket 754 (old style) AMD64 is roughly equal in price (for each equivalent processor) to the old-style Pentium 4, and gets better performance on any tests that aren't simple data-transfer tests (which are certainly not real-world). As for the Front Side Bus of the Athlon 64, it's at 1600Mhz, double that of the Pentium 4.


I've done plenty of reasearch over computer prices over the past year or so (when examining all possible options for myself&friends), and I will say that Systemax is definitely the most competitive OEM against build-it-yourself. It's only slightly more expensive than building your own, and as far as I've heard, their systems are pretty solid in performance. Keep in mind that they allow you to design your own system; click here for an online form. Unfortunately, they do not have the radeon 9600XT, which would cost you about $170-$190 (Canadian). As far as cards go, the 9600 XT has shown to be arguably the best bargain to be found; it has a reasonable price (one that can be justified to most parents), and actually gets performance to put it in good standing; It will actually run Doom3 at a decent framerate, with moderate settings (presuming you have a good RAM supply and good processor).

That athlon 64 would possibly stand toe-to-toe with a Pentium 4 prescott 3.4Ghz, Temperamental. Ghz is far from everything, despite the claims of Intel's advertising department. As an example, notice that a Pentium M (The Intel Centrino mobile processor) running at 1.0Ghz gets better performance than a standard Pentium 4 2.6Ghz. AMD puts the numbers there for a reason; they are what you should use to compare them to Intel processors (though tests have shown that they slightly outperform the "comparable" Intel processor)

By comparison, I use a AMD athlon 64 2800+. Though it only runs at a mere 1.8 Ghz, it gets performance far beyond that of any Intel Pentium 4 that's less than 2.8Ghz. It actually performs comparably close to a 3.0Ghz Pentium: Running UT2k4 at maxed settings, at 640x480, I get 30-40fps, with a RADEON 7000 (a real performance killer; it's only as good as most modern integrated graphics chips).

Ok, I'm probably going to get one from [url]www.tigerdirect.ca...But[/url] it will be a prebuilt one. I think I'm gonna end up buying a video card from there as well....Would they let me substitute a video card like a geforce or ati or whatever from there for the video card that comes in the computer already...meaning, will they, if i buy it from them, take the one that comes with the computer and put this one in instead?

There's a huge list of them... I dunno which one is the best though...

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=28