Is Atom 330 enough for my needs?

[DalaiLamar]

My Pentium 4 1.7g system gave its last breath and I need just sufficiently better to surf the net, Youtube and MP3. I also run Microsoft Office programs, just no video games. I conscious of running cost.

Is there any comparison of the power of an Atom 330 dual core with an Pentium 4 system? Or should I go for an AMD system with 790 chipset with graphics card?

 

[AKM880]

A Atom 330 can handle the web browsing, youtube (probably not HD content tho). I think the only formfactor for the Atom CPU is ITX.

For those tasks something like this would be good enough.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e 2.6Ghz 45W - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298&Tpk=amd%205050e

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128379

Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148163

Corsair 400CX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=Corsair%20400CX

I chose the 5050e since its usually for videos/web browsing, the 5050e is only 45W so it'll run cooler and use less power. I don't think you'd need a dedicated GPU for your tasks, even Youtube HD relies on the CPU itsself, IIRC.

 

[Gedoe_]

My Pentium 4 1.7g system gave its last breath and I need just sufficiently better to surf the net, Youtube and MP3. I also run Microsoft Office programs, just no video games. I conscious of running cost.

Is there any comparison of the power of an Atom 330 dual core with an Pentium 4 system? Or should I go for an AMD system with 790 chipset with graphics card?

The atom will outpreform your old pentium 4 1.7, but not by alot. By todays standards, that is bad preformance for a CPU.

I would only consider the atom if cost is a really, really big issue. But if you actually use your computer more then 15 minutes a day, i would strongly suggest to buy a normal laptop or desktop. If your buying a desktop and dont mind getting your hands dirty, then putting components together can be really fun and cheap to boot. Else you should buy the cheapest dell/oem machine that has a core 2 duo cpu in it. Otherwise, buy the cheapest laptop you can find with an acceptable screen size and at least a core 2 duo and 2 gigabyte ddr2 in it.

You need to be aware of ancient technology still being sold as new. Look for core 2 duo or Athlon X2 and at least 2 gb of ddr2, everything else is a rip off. (not counting quadcores ofcourse)