Intel Pentium 4 3GHz HT Northwood vs AMD Sempron 140

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PinkJazzX

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I am looking to upgrade my grandpa's system, and I was wondering, would the AMD Sempron 140 be an upgrade from his current Pentium 4 3GHz HT Northwood processor? I just want to upgrade his system for he can run Windows 7. The Sempron 140 is much newer and uses a superior architecture (K10 vs. the P4's NetBurst), however, the P4 has HT.

Does anyone know which is the better CPU? I don't want to spend too much money. Should I go for the Athlon II x2 245 instead?
 
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I'd say that you may as well just keep the case, HDD, & DVD. That means you're really just replacing the CPU, RAM, mobo, & PSU with integrated video.

CPU: i3-2100/H61 combo on Newegg $189
MOBO: included above
RAM: $48 Geil 4GB (2x2GB) 1600CL8 DDR3
PSU: Corsair CX430 or other >380W, maybe Antec Basiq $40

TOTAL: $277

PSU: Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or XFX only w/o superb reviews (see jonnyguru for examples)

You'd go $80 cheaper (and lose 3 years longevity) with an Athlon II x2 and cheap motherboard. If you don't want to replace your grandpa's computer for 6 years, this is the way to go. And the CPU will be easily upgradeable for several years.
 
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problem is if ti is a dell,hp etc then case not standard form factor normally
also the chipsets with P4 3.0 HT usually didnt support Sata
so DVD and HD are probably out

Remeber this is for Grandpa :)
He probably isnt playing Crysis at Max settings LOL
probably a early AMD dual core will fit his needs
for example email,browsing etc
I could be wrong
Some grandpas can hack Nasa LOL
 
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Just ot answer the OP question simply
get the X 2 245
at 2.9 dual core it will blow away the sempron single core 2.7 (just looked it up)
with dual cores multitasking and running os will definitely be improved

a athlon x 3 445 3.1 would be the best budget chip from all reviews
about $75 usd
 
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To answer the OP's question simply:

If you want the best possible answer, give me some more details: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

It won't be so simple, but it will be better. I'm not talking about playing games. I'm talking about having enough processing power for 1080p playback and future media (3D) and everyday tasks in a couple years. Then again, maybe you'll just give him your old rig in 2 years.

The last computer I built was in my parents' used HP case. That's why I suggested it. And keep in mind, most of the new motherboards support IDE. So you can still reuse drives. A SATA DVD drive is only $20.

I agree with king smp that you should not go below an Athlon II dual core. What's your total budget.
 
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I know you didnt ask for build suggestion but
just as general guideline this is what I would do for
office/mulitmedia/light duty computer

Athlon x 3 445 rana$75 amazon
stock amd cooler
NZT case $20 + 10 ship
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154095&cm_re=nzt_case-_-11-154-095-_-Product

Asus DVDrw $20 on newegg

Antec 380w $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=antec+380w

seagate barracuda 500gb 7200 rpm sata ii $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701&cm_re=sata_hd-_-22-148-701-_-Product

ram - not sure i am not a AMD guy (though I appreciate them :) )
probably around $60 for 4gb
could slide by on 2gb for about $40

ati HD4650 for about 40-50

should be at $300 roughly
also dont know what parts you have already

That was just a guideline for budget build
all credit to other members of toms and Toms articles for
the build list

it would be a decent budget tower that could tear apart
office/browser and be a light gamer

I am not sure of what other parts you have also
 
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Good info
I didnt know new mobo still supported IDE
I do know that most Dell/hp/etc cases dont conform to standard form factor
though obviously there are some
as you proved
 
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wow am i tired (3am)
forgot motherboard @ $50-75
i am the last person on here to recommend amd mobo
so hopefully dalauder could

also maybe reuse HD for now to shave cost
still keep it at around $300

that will probably be my Christmas/Holiday build minus
my current HD/DVD/GPU/ram?

Also to tell you my last custom build
was a Athlon Thunderbird around 2001 so I am just a little
rusty LOL
 
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One of the reasons I push the i3-2100 is because its integrated video keeps pace with a 4650. That saves you $40, which puts it at the price of a $80 CPU. Then we're just asking whether an i3-2100 is worth $5 more than an Athlon II x3. And both have the same mobo price.

I'd love to say AMD, but if you're spending more than $260 total, they're not worth it.

Also, for RAM, I'd say Giel $48 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3 1600CL8 on Newegg. You could do 1600CL9 for $5 or 1333CL9 for $40, but it's worth it in my opinion to get the 1600CL8. Of course that starts a snowball effect of, is it worth $10 to upgrade this part. My answer is often, "Yes", but it depends on the person.
 
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It's all gonna come down to budget. If he has to fit the build in at under $250, it's AMD w/ Radeon integrated. If it's $300, it's i3.

What motherboard is your grandpa currently using though? If it's 775, you may have a legitimate 775 upgrade path. If you're running DDR2, then your motherboard can probably handle an E5400 or something like that, which will do everything your grandpa needs for a $50 upgrade.

You could just post in the forums for a $30 to $80 775 CPU and see what people offer. You might get lucky and get a Q6600 or Q8200 (online for $125). This requires a 775 mobo and may actually be the most cost effective upgrade.
 
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@king smp, sure go ahead. I never mind a PM (for me to be useful, I'll still need http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice).

Oh...I didn't see the Northwood. I've got one of those. I'm about to replace my Dad's P4 Northwood (no HT) 2.4GHz w/ 1GB Rambus with my old Athlon x2 5000+.

I've also got a P4 1.8GHz sitting around if anyone wants that.
 
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tell me about
right now in parts inventory
is two Xeon P4 based Prestonia 3.06
two Xeon p4 based Prestonia 3.2
one Pentium D 945 3.4 (might make toaster out of it)
one C2D E4300 1.8 800mhz BSEL pinmodded to 2.4 1066 FSB

other than the E4300
I would give them away to somebody who needed them
they have classifieds here but they should have a CPU Freecycle Swap forum
just for that purpose

I go to bed now I think (4/26am) darn partial insomnia!
Hopefulyy the OP comes back tomoorrow
 
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I have a board for any 775 you're willing to get rid of. I've given away most of my extra DDR, DDR2, & extra HDDs quite successfully over the last couple months, so I don't have a lot to offer. Oh, I have an extra 775 board if you want that and you can keep your CPUs. That's just as good for me. (I would like the Pentium D though if you're offering).
 
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The Sempy 140 / Biostar AM3 880G for $80 should be fine for Gramps -- just be sure to install the Avivo UVD decoder for video hardware acceleration by the Radeon HD 4250 IGP.

If you win the AMD Chip Lottery, Grandpa might unlock his processor to an AthlonII X2 4400e ...

Sempy-3838mhz-AthlonIIX2.jpg


Otherwise, if yah want go to the 'cutting-edge' the ASRock E-350 APU Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo for $117 would be a nice touch.



 
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let me find out Toms rules for personal info etc
if you are in USA I would mind sending it by mail to you
just am a little nervous about personal info being exchanged
 
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The Semperion is Considerably faster even though it's only a single core CPU (basically an Athlon II X2 with one core dissabled). It would be a major upgrade for your Gramps, but it really would be worth it to spend just a little more to get a dual core Athlon II X2. After all, boards with ACC to unlock the extra core are a little more expensive and unlocking may not always work or be completely stable.
 
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Okay, I will go with the Athlon II x2 245.

I was thinking though, perhaps to save some money, I should go with an OEM version and buy the heatsink separately. An OEM Athlon II x2 245 costs $49, while the retail version goes for $70-$80. I could simply buy a Cooler Master heatsink for about $10.
 
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I am pretty sure that the 3.0Ghz P4 with about 1.5Gigs of ram is able to run Windows 7 just fine.

Make sure it's got some old nvidia or ati card with at least 64mb to take some of the video load off the chipset.

Upgrading to the sempron will not make much of a performance gain so it's not worth the investment.


For gramps, I think he would be fine with a nice reformat and reinstall of XP. Nice clean setup, IE8 and Chrome... perhaps firefox...

Unless he has a specific use that requires windows 7
He doesn't need to upgrade if all he does is Internet, Email, Skype and some flash card games.

I hope he has at least 1 gig of ram and some old Geforce or radeon and even that is only an option.
 
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good idea
 
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