PentiumD or P4

[JCROCCO]

I have a choice of the following CPU's. I dont know much about the PentiumD processors. Dont know if they are better than P4, but I can assume they are.

Boxed P4 524Proc 3.06GHz 533FSB 1M cache HT LGA775

OR

Boxed P4 805Proc 2.66Ghz 533FSB 2x1MB LGA775

For $14 more, I can get the PentiumD, but it has a lower speed. Is it worth it or doea the dual core more than make up for it?

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[BassBomb]

gaming the 5 series

anything else the dual core

 

[Maximilian]

Theyre both hot cpu's temperature wise. I would get the pentium D if i HAD to choose between them. If you can get a 9xx series pentium D that would be much cooler.

 

[tersome]

Pentium D 925>both

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: tersome
Pentium D 925>both

AMD > PD925

 

[Markfw]

Conroe 6300 !

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
Conroe 6300 !

Unless he has to buy a new motherboard and new DDR2 RAM, making it more expensive.

 

[hennethannun]

OP:

which processor is better depends largely on what you intend to do with it. the single core P4 will be better for single threaded applications (like most current games).

but the dual core PD will outpace it apps that suppord multi-threading (like photoshop, video encoding and newer games like Quake IV and the upcoming Crysis and Alan Wake etc).

however, there are almost always better options than an older pentium 4 or pentium D, no matter your budget restritctions. the only reason to look into those processors is if you have older, legacy hardware that you don't want to replace.

If you are buying a new, pre-built PC, you can DEFINITELY find a better system than either of those CPUs for a similar price, and if you are building your own PC I would strongly recomment looking at AMD (for a low to mid range system) or Core 2 Duo (for mid to high end builds).

 

[JCROCCO]

I want to buy just the mobo/cpu installed in a case/w/ps. I will add everything else. I am limited to what I can buy that includes the mobo, cpu, and case in a configuration that I want. I have never actually installed a mobo or built one completely from scratch. Would it be cheaper, or better parts, if I buy the mobo, cpu, and case separately and installed it myself?

I was looking at adamant and these two options were available in the configuration that I wanted, tho I didnt really care for the cases.

Just in case anyone is wondering why I am doing it this way, I have "bestbuy bucks" from Mcdonalds for Best buy. $800 worth, but can only use 200 at a time. I can easily buy the video card, hard drive, memory, cdrom, dvd burner for those amounts and add them to the case I am buying (paying cash for). Any issues with using items from best buy in a rig?

 

[The-Noid]

Yes much much cheaper to buy individual parts rather than the whole computer.

Items from Bestbuy tend to be overpriced and not really of the best quality. You may be better off trying to sell the Best Buy bucks for like $600 cash, or possibly buying something at Bestbuy and selling it on Ebay that yields you the most cash. Then you can get exactly what you want and will in most circumstances get a higher quality product for about 1/2 as much money.

Cheers.

 

[hennethannun]

yup, the problem with best buy isn't so much the parts they DO sell, it is just that they over price individual computer components, AND they have a very narrow selection.

And yes, you would save a lot of money AND get a better pc if you buy the parts seperately, rather than buying a bare-bones system with either one of those CPU options.

 

[VooDooAddict]

In your Best Buy Bucks situation I'd go with the Pentium D. --- General windows multitasking will be much, much snappier and the added core will really give it a longer life as a general usage PC. It takes alot of general multitasking to really saturate any Dual core CPUs.



If Gaming:
First off be sure to get a system with PCI-Express and not AGP. Gaming is still mainly limited by video card selection. Do you know what video card you'll be getting? and what resolution LCD you'll be getting? or will you be gaming on a CRT? It would help determine if the bottleneck will be your CPU or your Video card.

i.e. If you are planning to get a midrange to mid-highend video card and run at 1680x1050 on a 20" widescreen LCD (With vsync on), then the Pentium D will be adiquate as you will be limited by the video card.

If you plan to get a top of the line video card and run only at 1280x1024 or below then you will probably be limited by either choice of CPU.

You can build a perfectly adiquate budget to midrange system (even for gaming) with the Pentium D 805... there are just much better choices if you are looking for near top of the line performance.

All this said ... Intel's Core 2 Duo or AMD X2 would give you much more bang for the $$ if you weren't limited by the Best Buy Bucks.

 

[myocardia]

Adamant has the worst barebones prices I've ever seen. You should just use your Best Buy bucks to buy separate components from adamant. They have horrible prices on their components, too, but at least you'll be getting quality components for those prices.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
In your Best Buy Bucks situation I'd go with the Pentium D. --- General windows multitasking will be much, much snappier and the added core will really give it a longer life as a general usage PC. It takes alot of general multitasking to really saturate any Dual core CPUs.

Actually, it wouldn't. The P4 has HT, which enables it to do light to moderate multitasking just fine.

Heavy multitasking and multithreaded apps will of course gain more from dual core.

 

[gramboh]

Buy an Xbox360 with accessories, or an Xbox360 + PSP and sell them without opening, you should lose maybe 15% at most off what you pay, then use the money to buy parts from Newegg.com or a local parts retailer. That's what I'd do anyway. Or sell them to someone you know who wants to buy something from Bestbuy giving them 10% off.

 

[lyssword]

I'd buy a nice LCD monitor and some hard drives maybe, its easier to return if you have dead pixels, and you could directly see what u are buying. Make sure to research and not buy a crappy one