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Minimum acceptable desktop PC

VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
What is the minimum spec PC that is still acceptable for web browsing? Including flash websites.

P4 2.8HT? Celeron 420 (1.6Ghz C2D single-core)? Or is the minimum something like a dual-core computer (I guess watching Hulu full-screen requires either a dual-core, or a video card that accelerates flash 10.10)?
 
VirtualLarry said:
What is the minimum spec PC that is still acceptable for web browsing? Including flash websites.

P4 2.8HT? Celeron 420 (1.6Ghz C2D single-core)? Or is the minimum something like a dual-core computer (I guess watching Hulu full-screen requires either a dual-core, or a video card that accelerates flash 10.10)?
Click to expand...

Conroe & derivatives (any clock speed) or 2.2GHz Manchester & derivatives

So yeah, a dual-core basically.
 
Never tried hulu but a P4 2.8 can handle web browsing and flash just fine. Just need a gig of ram. I set machines like that up all the time at work and they seem just as fast as the newer dual core machines when XP is fresh at least.
 
My Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ HT with 758 MB RAM is fine for web browsing. It also has an ATI Radeon 9800 but that's fairly old too.
 
P4 3.0 worked well for my wife. Only problem was Facebook... that POS is such a resource hog. I bumped her up to E7300 and she no longer has issues with Facebook. Other than that the 3.0 worked fine for her browser and flash video viewing.

If you are really concerned about full screen flash I would recommend a cheap NVidia 9400, with the new flash versions it should handle it just fine.

Also, look at 2GB of RAM... you might be able to squeak by with 1GB and non-essentials turned off, but 2GB should be minimum for Windows Vista/7
 
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bobross419 said:
P4 3.0 worked well for my wife. Only problem was Facebook... that POS is such a resource hog. I bumped her up to E7300 and she no longer has issues with Facebook. Other than that the 3.0 worked fine for her browser and flash video viewing.

If you are really concerned about full screen flash I would recommend a cheap NVidia 9400, with the new flash versions it should handle it just fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. Any Javascript heavy sites (seem to be more and more these days) will struggle on a P4. For some fun, try Google Wave on anything less that a dual-core.
 
I think I'd go with Atom 330 or Atom D510, which are roughly as fast as a high clocked Pentium 4, except use much less power.
 
i was thinking about this a few days ago when i used an older p4 2 gig and it was noticeable slower at web browsing than a modern dual core, so i would be inclined to say you need at least a dual core. it actually had quite a bit of trouble playing video while at the same time scrolling in another window. but even my low end dual cores (pentium 6300 and c2d 7500) with low end nvidia cards are a little sluggish with some websites (e.g. huffingtonpost), so if you ask me i would get at least a mid range dual core like the i5 660.
 
OBLAMA2009 said:
??? my netbook can hardly play video without skipping, definitely not a happy experience
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Is an an atom netbook or an old asus celeron? I have a samsung atom 1.5 netbook with a gig of ram and it outputs 720p over vga just smooth enough to watch. Also streams netflix just fine...
 
Insomniator said:
Is an an atom netbook or an old asus celeron? I have a samsung atom 1.5 netbook with a gig of ram and it outputs 720p over vga just smooth enough to watch. Also streams netflix just fine...
Click to expand...

its a dell mini 9 with an n280. i rarely use it but when i watched the conan 60 minutes interview it clearly couldnt keep up, with lots of skipped video
 
lxskllr said:
Works well for me. I have Ubuntu 8.04 installed currently. Flash is generally worse on Linux though.
Click to expand...

ubuntu here too. you may be right that its flash. but overall i dont like atom. i hate the delayed responses when you scroll or switch windows
 
Atom definitely reminds you that you are on a budget machine. It's an acceptable compromise for a netbook, but for an every day primary machine that would suck.

I agree on a high-end P4.
 
minimum dual-core, whether amd, intel, or (intel) atom. I tend to think for the most part RAM is more important.

For netbooks, I have a compaq 110 and it's fine for most stuff but heavy javascript bogs it down. And flash plays fine in a window (like youtube), but fullscreen drops to maybe 10fps and interaction speed (like clicking on stuff) drops way down. I've got it loaded with Ubuntu if that matters
 
Well I think if you are going to use integrated motherboard that You may opt for a motherboard or a processor with the integrated video built in capable of displaying HD 1080 HD Video. An older computer might be nicer for the price, but you will not be happy. If you want to play any games you will want some kind of Video card. However, if you are looking at minimal you may consider not using a video card for the Integrated Video.

After that you may also want to consider whether you plan on overclocking. For a minimal computer I would suggest not overclocking so you can use an MATX Motherboard. I am using an E7200 processor. It seemed pretty fast when I got it about 2 years ago. I dont know if I would buy a processor with much less speed and processing power than that. Maybe someone else has a lower end processor and can comment on that.

Today maybe an I-3 Processor will work well if you can find an inexpensive motherboard.
 
mfenn said:
Conroe & derivatives (any clock speed) or 2.2GHz Manchester & derivatives

So yeah, a dual-core basically.
Click to expand...

This.

My X2 4200+ (2.2ghz dual core Manchester) is about as low as i'd go. My parents still use my old 3500+ system (half of a 4200+) without many issues. 1GB ram is becoming the limiting factor in my mom's flash games.

In todays market, the cheapest Athlon 2 X2 and 2GB of ram would be my take.
 
Using an athlon 2700+ system here because I'm too lazy to shift my stuff over to my significantly more powerful laptop. It's acceptable for daily use but for some reason videos refuse to play well with it. 2GB was a huge relief though when I added it later. I highly recommend at the very minimum having 2GB ram. Tossing in a cheap video card would help too but not too necessary.

Also, firefox is absolute and total rubbish. Do NOT use it with any hypothetical low-end computer you plan to use. Too much of a resource hog and can't handle the simple task of streaming youtube @480p (It will play it perfectly and it will download it fast but not simultaneously).
 
I recently pulled some P4 rigs I had in the garage, and to my surprise they were struggling to play basic SD youtube videos. Those were Northwood P4 2.53Ghz and 3.06GHz loaded with 2GB of RAM and ATI 9700 Pros. Being as old as they are, they are noisy and power hogs. I just can't believe I used to put up with these machines 8-9 years ago.

In contrast, I picked up an Atom/ION based barebone computer for $175. I added a Vertex drive I had laying around, 2GB of RAM and threw Ubuntu on it. The overall experience was much smoother than on those antiquated P4. It also helps that the Atom only sips on power and takes very little space on the desktop.

Viewsonic-VOT132_1.jpg
 
deanx0r said:
I recently pulled some P4 rigs I had in the garage, and to my surprise they were struggling to play basic SD youtube videos. Those were Northwood P4 2.53Ghz and 3.06GHz loaded with 2GB of RAM and ATI 9700 Pros. Being as old as they are, they are noisy and power hogs. I just can't believe I used to put up with these machines 8-9 years ago.

In contrast, I picked up an Atom/ION based barebone computer for $175. I added a Vertex drive I had laying around, 2GB of RAM and threw Ubuntu on it. The overall experience was much smoother than on those antiquated P4. It also helps that the Atom only sips on power and takes very little space on the desktop.

Viewsonic-VOT132_1.jpg
Click to expand...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/d510mo-intel-atom,2616.html
 
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