New computer question

phatboybdk

Junior Member
Aug 22, 2010
3
0
0
I just ordered a new computer from tigerdirect, just looking to get some feedback. Here's what I had :
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1GB DDR
60GB HD
Windows XP
(had a radeon x1950 pro but it is nowhere to be found so, stock for a short period of time)
(http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...825381&lang=en)

Here's what I just ordered
eMachine ET1331G-05W Refurbished Desktop PC - AMD Athlon II X2 250u 1.6GHz, 4GB DDR2, 750GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...sku=S445-10079)

Yeah it is a Refurb, but it's also $299. (One year replacement warranty for $50, in effect after the manufacturer warranty of 3 months)

Just looking for general feedback here. Call me a dumbass, I don't care but I didn't even know what the u in '250u' meant until after I ordered it. I don't care. For what I'm doing, I'm pretty confident the pc will be able to handle.

At CPUbenchmark.net the 3200+ scores a 530 while the x2 250u scores a 984, AND the 250u is energy efficient. Not to mention the ginormous harddrive which I will take advantage of. and 4GB DDR2 is a vast improvement from 1GB DDR.

Just looking for general feedback, did I make a mistake buying a U, will I be able to do what I want? I play mmorpgs, use youtube, windows media player alot. I didn't want to dish out a lot of money but I still wanted a faster computer. Did I do alright??

I'd really love an answer to the question - is the 1.6ghz the speed of each core? or the total?
 
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FishAk

Senior member
Jun 13, 2010
987
0
0
If electronics break, it's usually fairly soon after you start using them, so if you don't have to use the warranty, you should be good, and it's just some down time if you do.

The hard drive is an exception to this. It' mechanical, and it will break. You never know when, but it will happen. Make sure you keep a copy of anything you don't want to loose on another drive- or two.

For what you do with a machine, I think you did fine for $300.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,566
10,182
126
put a real Athlon II X2 250 in there, or perhaps even an Athlon II X4 630 (quad-core!). 1.6Ghz, even for a dual-core, is kind of slow, esp for gaming purposes.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
wow, it's $100 just for win 7 home premium. that's a good deal.

as virtualLarry mentioned, you should upgrade the cpu to something decent however. should cost you ~ $60-$70 but will literally be 2-3 times more powerful depending on your oc ability. or so after selling the old cpu. that's listed as am3, so you can basically dial in your budget and desired performance pretty well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=Socket%20AM3

Black edition will allow for the easiest OC, and will probably give you much more life out of the computer.
 

phatboybdk

Junior Member
Aug 22, 2010
3
0
0
put a real Athlon II X2 250 in there, or perhaps even an Athlon II X4 630 (quad-core!). 1.6Ghz, even for a dual-core, is kind of slow, esp for gaming purposes.

I agree 1.6ghz sounds slower but at cpubenchmark.net it's almost twice as fast as the 3200+ I was run running which did run most games fine but it was just time for an upgrade. The 3200+ got a 530 on passmark while the AMD II x2 250u got a 984.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

Also, what does it mean with 1.6ghz dual core. Is 1.6ghz the total speed between both cores?
 
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phatboybdk

Junior Member
Aug 22, 2010
3
0
0
Okay so it says out of stock online..but i typed in my address and the store down the street has it in stock..suppose staples would give me the online price if I went in the store? and could I return the tigerdirect one unopened? its farfetched and i wouldnt mind if i kept the tigerdirect one but that one is definitely better.
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,021
136
The one I posted also has a better IGP

They should definately pricematch themselves. Id say worth returning the other if you already purchased it, but thats totally up to you if you want to deal with the hassle.

Not to be rude, but thats why its usually better to ask before you buy, unless you know its a really good deal and only available for a limited time.

The biggest difference between your old system and these new ones is that these new systems are dual core. The speed rating in GHz refers to the speed of each core individually. These modern CPUs are faster clock for clock, so the 1.6GHz Athlon II is probably about as fast as a 2GHz dual core AMD 64 (the extra core is what makes it faster than your 3200+). A modern 2.7Ghz AMD X2 would be faster than the best AMD64s like the FX62 or 6000+.
 

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
54
91
Im always amazedat how cheap pre manufactoredsystems are when u consider what they contain. Its very difficult to match pruce even when you go part for part but building yourown guarantees quality parts down to the cables and thermal grease

Alot of those boards are worthless for drop in plugins likevideo cardsand other things unfortunately, somtimes due to physical space.
 

badboyeee

Senior member
Nov 12, 2001
664
0
0
TD's system is composed of last generation components (TD is known for that with their barebone systems going on sale). ER's system is much better with current gen components..
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
6,490
1,021
136
Also DDR3 instead of DDR2 plus better monitor connections onboard (at least 1 HDMI instead of just VGA) and a 1yr warrenty included.

But thinking about it, depending on tax, any return shipping, and restocking fee that could be up like 100$. That much money makes it a tougher decision. You could just stick with what you got, try to OC it a tad (as long as you can change the cpu frequency you should be able to get a hundred MHz pretty easy) , sell it locally for about what you paid (just tell them you decided to go for a much faster system but dont want to pay to return this one. Dont mention the cost of the faster one) or you could pay for return shipping restocking ect and call it upgrade cost.

But just like you mentioned, going to a dual core (even a slow one) and 4GB RAM should still make a noticeable upgrade. One thing your missing out on, if you had an X1950 in your old system, is the GPU. I doubt either of these IGPs will be as fast and I doubt your video card will fit either of these systems (most likely an AGP GPU instead of PCIE) even if it did the PSUs would be suspect (especially the low power AMD system).