P 4 1.6 vs AMD XP

[Train]

Did anybody notice hes in an Autobody repair shop and plans on using Works Suite? Does this sound like a job for a P4 or XP and tons of Ram? NO, this is something a 800Mhz CPU with 128 MB of Ram could handle just fine.

 

[ProviaFan]

Athlon XP, of course! But if you need to load NT 4, you'll need drivers, and I've noticed that HP and "drivers for other operating systems than the default" are two things that just don't go together very well.

 

[freebee]

Don't buy ram upgrades at Dell, buy the minimum, install the rest yourself. Dell 4300 only have 2 dimm slots so keep that in mind for future upgrades.

You can order without the monitor and i think you can even call to delete the works suite...SDRAM is fine for general office applications.

 

[dullard]

I looked at Dell small business computers. You can get this:
Dimension 4300
1.6 GHz P4
256 MB SDRAM
Win XP home
20 GB HD
Total: $608 + shipping

If you upgrade that same thing to DDR it is $767 + shipping (Dimension 4400).

If you upgrade that same thing to RDRAM it is $777 + shipping (Dimension 8200).

Now for the fun part. You don't have to get a small business computer. The home Dimension 4400 is a better value. With the same things listed above, the price is $679 and free shipping! (possibly $709 and free shipping, I was confused if you can order without any speakers)

Sure there is a performance increase when changing from SDRAM to DDR or RDRAM (up to 30% faster). However, unless you play games, you will not notice the difference. Thus I wouldn't get the Dimension 8200.

The best value is with the Home Dimension 4400. You aren't going to get a much faster computer shipped for much less than $679. You could build an Athlon yourself for about $600, but then what if something goes wrong? Also what if Microsoft decides to prosecute you for illegally installing an operating system on other computers? Ok it won't happen, but a legal computer for $679 is hard to beat.