How much does clock speed effect internet performance?

Insanity

Junior Member
Jan 2, 2001
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i am building a new machine for a friend of min i suggested a 750 Athlon she is on a college student budget using the internet alot she was told by a gateway salesman 933Mhz minimum if she is going to use the web alot. is the faster pc neccesary?
 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
5
81
ROTFLMAO! NO! If your sole purpose is just internet browsing a 750 Athlon is overkill. You'd be fine with a Celeron 400.
 

Wik

Platinum Member
Mar 20, 2000
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You got to love what idiotic things that comes from the mouths of salesmen.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,755
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Actually I been wondering how come my 650 tbird loads these threads almost inatantly, and I got ta wait ten 15 or more seconds on my celery 450. The difference is huge.
 

etech

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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My dad is running a P133 48meg edo ram with a good hardware modem. It handles surfing the web fairly well.
I have a C550 and never see the processor useage over 25% with four or five browser windows open.

A pox on Intel for their hype about faster processors being needed for surfing.
 

Tonec

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2000
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Well of course the salesman was right, 933 is better than an athlon 750 because its from intel. Everyone knows that the pentium3 speeds up the internet. Thus 1.4 P4 with a 56k modem will smoke a dsl line, right?;)
 

Blayze

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
6,152
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No go with the 750 if she is on a budget.

My friend went to Gateway Country and the sales guy told him that AMD didn't make anything under 950mhz and Intel didn't make anything under 933mhz anymore. I just laughed and walked away.
 

shiznut123

Banned
Dec 22, 2000
2,954
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<< Thus 1.4 P4 with a 56k modem will smoke a dsl line, right? >>


hell no.
a pentium 4 with cable will smoke a dsl line.
a p4 with 56k is weak
 

erub

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2000
5,481
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actually, on my DSL, my P200 MMX was choking. My Athlon 650 with Win2k allowed me to see the full speed of the line. I know some is from the improved TCP/IP stack in win2k, but a p200 mmx can't run win2k efficently.
 

goofy2000

Member
Nov 26, 2000
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got p200mmx as well. I have cable modem.. and my PC is definetly the bottleneck.
I plan to go for Duron700 for my next upgrade.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
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this 233mmx is fast enough for surfing. all she needs is a cheapo duron, the 650 is like $45. thats overkill speed and the nicest price for any modern processor around.
 

MGMorden

Diamond Member
Jul 4, 2000
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The difference between have a P200MMX and a modern processor and then difference between a 750mhz and a 933mhz isn't even close. Of course a 200mhz is going to have trouble with a really fast connection (hell I think some of those machines have trouble with a really fast typist :)), but a 750 will be more than fine for Internet surfing. I know a 750 Athlon would beat my 850mhz Celeron and I use it on a University T3 line, and my machine never breaks a sweat unless I start encrypting something.
 

goophie

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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i go with kami on this one, anything over 400 is really overkill. Internet surfing only takes processor speed if you encounter those damn &quot;shock the monkey&quot; ads and other badly made flash movies.

Processing html/text/pictures is no big deal for any modern day computers. A cheap duron will do anything you basically want, even play games. That gateway salesman's just trying to sell you the more expensive computer.
 

BigLance

Golden Member
Dec 20, 2000
1,206
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What a joke, and a guy blowing smoke !!!

Yea, just like everyone else has already stated, BS !
It makes me mad that SO many unkowing people (not talking about you, you knew there was something wrong with that picture) get screwed because of butloaf salesmen !
 

AMB

Platinum Member
Feb 4, 2000
2,587
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I'd recommend somehting close to 700Mhz, either T-Bird or Duron. I wouldnt recommend a PIII, nor a 933.

 

DJSnairdA

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2000
1,018
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haha that's funny. Almost as funny as the time when i overheard some guys are school bragging on how they had recently got an athlon 800 (or something nearby) and the internet was going 3 times as fast. I decided not to spoil their fame... lol :)
It's all about your modem, Insanity.
 

BDawg

Lifer
Oct 31, 2000
11,631
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The reason that Gateway told her that is because they don't sell much slower.

The slowest P3 they sell is 933, and the slowest TBird is 950.

I visited them a few weeks ago with my father-in-law (who needs a new computer).
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
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if you're running on a dialup connection, anything in a Pentium class or above should do fine. For broadband connections, i'd recommend sticking to something on the level of a celeron/duron or above.... a T-bird 800 will be no faster than say a Duron 600. Your athlon 750 will be fine. Of course the salesman is going to suggest a faster model.... it's his JOB to sell you the most expensive system he can.