For non-gaming - which is better?

[episodic]

I'm in the budget market.

Would a high end celeron d (like the 3.4 gigahertz one) or an athlon am2 x2 processor running at 2 gigahertz be better for:

photoshop
video encoding (like with handbrake) or proshow slideshow. . .

I will have a gig of ram and be running xp pro.

I'm looking at a nvidia 6100 board with the onboard nvidia graphics (remember, not a gamer).

 

[kotrtim]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3072&p=2

a Core2 Duo with an ATI Xpress 1250 chipset... weird though, it suits you well, since you need better onboard graphics.

nvidia 6150 is slower (noticible in certain games, no benchmark required) than ati 1150, so its better to get an ATI.

Can't suggest an AMD system since you do media encoding and photoshop unless you don't overclock and AMD offers the same performance for the task u mentioned at the same/better price, then you can support AMD by buying their products

Pentium dual-core + ATI xpress 1250... is that OK?

better get a sempron, or athlon instead of celeron

better look at the graphs as a guide to decide which system gives you more performance for money
http://www23.tomshardware.com/...6&model2=882&chart=429

 

[pyroz]

i would get a c2d. e4300 if you're on a budget.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Pentium E2140 or a 3600+ would be a decent bet

 

[nyker96]

yes get C2D for your video stuff, I think my system literally run circles around an X2 on video processing related tasks. You can get an E2160 for $85 bucks at egg if you on budget.

 

[justly]

Is there such a thing as a "high end celeron d" ?...not if you are considering anything else.

Right now there is no reason to even consider anything based on the P4 design, there are just to many other choices out there that put it to shame.

Since your budget is low enough that you would even consider a celeron d, AMD might be the best choice.
The Intel core 2 line is also an option, but the performance difference is minimal (between similar priced models) and will likely go unnoticed in normal usage.

The best thing would be to compare the Intel core 2 line with AMDs AM2 socket line and go from there.
You may find more AM2 motherboads costing less than the Intel equivilants making the overall cost slightly less. Also be aware that reviews on the low end core 2 processors can be difficult to find and since Intel often reduces the cache and bus speed on these low end processors you can't directly compare their preformance to the higher end models (just something to think about).

Any system built with either AMD, or Intels core 2 line should provide you with a quality system, good luck with you build.