Need Pentium/Celeron Socket 775 Advice

[cyberia]

I am building a kind of media center PC. It will be used primarily to watch an online streaming TV channel. I am not planning on adding a TV tuner and doing TV recording, but I might try to capture the streaming video signal.

Can I stick to a Celeron, or will it be too underpowered even for watching/recording an online video stream? If I do decide to add a TV tuner, will a Celeron handle it.

Thanks.

 

[996GT2]

Depends on what speed the Celeron is, but considering that Pentium 4s/ Pentium Ds are so cheap you might want to check those.

 

[cyberia]

I don't think that motherboard supports Pentium Ds. As fas as pricing on P4s and Celerons at Newegg:

Celeron D 326 2.66 = $47 shipped
Celeron D 346 3.06 = $59 shipped
Pentium 4 524 3.06 = $86 shipped

For two media center boxes that I am trying to build for my parents and my in-laws as cheap as possible, the $39 or $27 price difference between the P4 and the celerons is kind of significant. Especially considering the single-task nature of the application.

Another way to look at it is, I can almost get two Celerons for the price of the P4.

So, do you think they will get a smooth performance out of a Celeron?

 

[dexvx]

Give the model number to look for proper CPU support.

 

[cyberia]

It's a Dell mobo they used in Dimension 4700C. Here are the specs: https://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700c/en/SM/specs.htm">Specs</a>

EDIT: Also, even if the mobo does support dual-core CPUs, I don't know if I want to spend any more than $86. It is a one-task machine, so a dual-core would be an overkill. I know the P4 would work, but I really want to know if I can get away with a Celly for half the price.

 

[JWade]

well my brother has a dell 2400 with a fx5200 PCI video card in it and a tv-tuner card. has the celeron 2.4ghz 400mhz socket 478 processor in it and he doesnt have any issues doing video on it. i would think the 2.66 or 3.06 celeron would work for you since his 2.4ghz celeron works for him.

may want look at the 515 (2.93ghz) for $77 shipped though as another alternative to teh celeron.

 

[cyberia]

Thanks! Not seeing the 515 at Newegg. I would probably go for it.

 

[JWade]

well the geeks (ww.geeks.com) had it for that price.

 

[dexvx]

You might want to consider posting on the Dell forums asking what CPU's you can put in it.

The best would be a C-1 Revision 9xx series. Next best would be 6x1 Cedar Mill or Cedar Mill based Celeron (512KB L2 cache)