Pentium 4 631 vs Pentium D 805

[imported_pez]

I'm planning on building a faily simply computer just for office work for my mother. So she really doesn't do much besides check her mail, pay her bills, etc. I don't have any spare cpu's and boards and don't want to buy used over the net.

All I really need is a cpu/mobo(i have the rest of the parts). So i looked at the combo's frys has.

So its either between Pentium D 805 or Pentium 4 631 w/HT both will run on ECS P4m800Pro-M v2 board. Yes the board isn't the greatest but i just need something stable and cheap.

The Pentium D is actually $20 cheaper in this combo than the Pentium 4.

Any recommendations onto which is better and why? thanks for the feedback

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Hey pez, I'd say the 805, since it dual core...better multitasker. Then (if that motherboard's Core 2 compatible) step up to the E4300 when they get cheap(er)....

 

[Cheex]

If the D805 is cheaper in the combo then go for it. As oldhoss said, its dual core so that's a plus.
I guess he answered and I'm seconding it...:thumbsup:

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Thanks Cheex

 

[A554SS1N]

I'm thirding it!

 

[Maximilian]

I have to go against the crowd here, since its for light office work it wont really matter too much performance wise, but the 805 is a flamethrower. I would go with the cooler and most likely quieter 65nm 631. My personal preferance.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Soviet
I have to go against the crowd here, since its for light office work it wont really matter too much performance wise, but the 805 is a flamethrower. I would go with the cooler and most likely quieter 65nm 631. My personal preferance.

The 805 is definately NOT a flamethrower as you say. As long as you don't o/c the heck out of it. Running stock, it runs at average temps. And, dual core FTW.

 

[imported_pez]

Thanks for all the feedback, I'm leaning towards the 805 now, but I tried reading up a little bit on these processors...

A few forums said to stay away from the 8xx series but the 9xx series are good.

I read that the 805 is faster for multitasking programs but can be compared to a 1.6ghz sempron for single tasks.

Isn't browsing the internet, and word processing single tasks?

What counts as a multitasking program?

Everything will be running stock, so I doubt heat will be an issue.

 

[Extelleron]

I know the popular opinion here is to go for the 805 but I'm going to give the nod to the 631 for general tasks. The 805 may be dual core, but the 631 is going to faster in apps that don't take advantage of dual core (3GHz clock vs 2.66GHz, 2MB L2 vs 1MB, 800MHz FSB vs 533MHz FSB) and also has Hyper-Threading which, in apps that do support a second core gives a nice gain. Since its built on a 65nm process, the 631 should also run cooler and use less power which will be good for a non-enthusiast system.

 

[justly]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
I know the popular opinion here is to go for the 805 but I'm going to give the nod to the 631 for general tasks. The 805 may be dual core, but the 631 is going to faster in apps that don't take advantage of dual core (3GHz clock vs 2.66GHz, 2MB L2 vs 1MB, 800MHz FSB vs 533MHz FSB) and also has Hyper-Threading which, in apps that do support a second core gives a nice gain. Since its built on a 65nm process, the 631 should also run cooler and use less power which will be good for a non-enthusiast system.

If you must choose between these two processors I would have to agree with Extelleron.

 

[nZone]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: Soviet
I have to go against the crowd here, since its for light office work it wont really matter too much performance wise, but the 805 is a flamethrower. I would go with the cooler and most likely quieter 65nm 631. My personal preferance.

The 805 is definately NOT a flamethrower as you say. As long as you don't o/c the heck out of it. Running stock, it runs at average temps. And, dual core FTW.

I don't think anything is a flamethrower. C2D is a flamethrower too if this is the case. Their medium range temp is around 40C.

 

[formulav8]

All of the PD Cpu's i've built run Hot and put out alot of Heat and even at stock speeds.

Anyways, I say to go for the 631 cpu. IT will be faster than that PD in the apps your looking to use.



Jason

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: Soviet
I have to go against the crowd here, since its for light office work it wont really matter too much performance wise, but the 805 is a flamethrower. I would go with the cooler and most likely quieter 65nm 631. My personal preferance.

The 805 is definately NOT a flamethrower as you say. As long as you don't o/c the heck out of it. Running stock, it runs at average temps. And, dual core FTW.

Its average temps suck compared with the 65nm cedar mills and preslers. Also the 805 and 631 will both become obsolete *long* before office apps need dual core. I would never recommend an 8xx series pentium D, theyre pretty terrible.

Pez you are correct a 9xx series is better as its 65nm too (newer revisions also bring its power consumption to AMD's low level). It is basically a dual core version of the 6xx series.

 

[hardwareking]

If u had only those 2 as an option i'd say go for the pentium d 805.

If ur willing to go over to the AMD side u can find an athlon x2 3600+ for around $100 and a cheap motherboard for $50 that'll perform better than either of those other 2 setups.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103036
That combo deal nets in $150 and it'll consume much less power while giving way better performance.The 3600+ can even match up to the pentium d 915 accoridng to an xbitlabs review i read a while back.AMD owns the budget segment.

And like i said earlier,if u can't go AMD for whatever reason,get the pentium d 805.

 

[gramboh]

As long as you do a good config of XP after (tweaking, disabling useless crap, putting good AV like Kaspersky, maybe giving her a non-admin account to use by default and then give her admin password to install programs) either one will be fast for browsing web/e-mail/Office apps. I'd probably go 631 for the reasons mentioned above.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Either will be fine, but since you're not doing a lot of multitasking, I'd say go with the 631. TBH any modern processor can do what you're looking for very well, so there's really no point in going with the dual core, especially since you're not multitasking. Since the 631 is faster, has more cache, and is a more revised, efficient design, it seems like the obvious choice, especially since it's cheaper. Also, unless you start doing intensive tasks later, you shouldn't have to upgrade that processor later.

EDIT: They're both on THG's CPU chart, might wanna give it a look.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=449&model2=444&chart=181