Need some help selecting a processor

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Stacocakes

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Sep 26, 2004
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Hey guys. Just a quick question for you since I am sure you guys will know what would work best for me. I've built computers in the past so buying the majority of the components shouldn't be that big of a deal but I am having trouble deciding which cpu to buy. I have had both AMD and Intel in the past so I am open to going with either of them.

I won't be playing any games so getting a super machine is not really an option. I do my work exclusively on the internet and I am looking to build a computer that can handle having many different browsers open at once and a computer that will be running two monitors at once. With my current computer I find that if I have many browsers open at once(between 15-20) that my computer tends to pause on occasion when I am changing between different browsers. Is this due to my internet connection,cpu or memory?

I don't really have any cost concerns for building the machine I would just like to get the best bang for the buck I guess. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
 
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quad core is 4 u. those new AMD Athlon II x4 620 are a steal, quad core for ~100$, but I guess an i5 will be just as good money/performance.
also, u will need a lot of ram - the more the better. maybe try 8 GB ?
about gpu, the new low-power cards are a great deal, something like ati 5750 or nvidia 240, depends how much power u want.
 
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Thanks for the reply
To add to this the computer that I currently have is a Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHZ with 2 GB of memory

From your post Jimishtar I am guessing that my cpu is not what is causing my problem but it could be only having 2 GB of memory possibly?


 
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If you live near a frys electronics store, you can choose from 3 quad core setups: one has an amd propus 620 for $109 after rebate with biostar 785 board; the other has the core i7 1156 860 cpu with biostar tp55 board for $229 after rebate. Both these setups use ddr3 which is also on sale for $99.99 for 2x2gb of kingston 1600. Prices good through Thursday. The last combo is an Intel 775 q9400 with biostar tp45e board that uses ddr2 for $159.99 after rebate.
 
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2GB of RAM is the recommended amount for dual channel, 3GB for triple channel, and 4 GB of RAM is enough for the vast majority of modern gaming systems. You'll need 8GB or more if you're trying to run virtual machines or some crazy RAM intensive apps.

Get 4GB if you're doing dual channel, or 6GB for triple channel.
 
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I would say to definitely look at the amd chips. The new chips are keeping up with the intels on almost all benchmarks, and they are a lot cheaper. I use them for gaming and graphics, and they are awesome. And go with atleast 4gb of ram. You could get away with 2, but really 4 would be a good number, it would allow you to do pretty much anything without you noticing any real performance issues.
 
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your cpu is just fine. the ram is keeping u down. 4 GB for your needs is pretty much the minimum these days. I believe your should go for 8 GB. the trick is, ddr2 is the same price as ddr3, if not more, so gettin ddr2 is not recommended anymore. if u can't upgrade to ddr3 system, try gettin some ddr2 ram for a low price.
 
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+1

Scene you have a Q6600 i would recommend getting more ram than getting a whole new system. you wouldn't gain much performance than what you have now. (you could also overclock that beauty if you want. 😉 )

 
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Thanks for your help guys.I guess if I can modify what I currently have it will save me some money at least. This is what I currently have for my system:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz 8 MB
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Motherboard
Antec Nine Hundred Gamer Case
Corsair CMPSU-520 HX 520 Watt PSU
Seagate 320 GB 7200 RPM 16 MB Sata II
EvGA e-GeForce 8800GTS 640 MB PCI-E
Crucial BallistiX 2GB PC2- 6400 kit
Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit



If I upgraded the Ram and changed from Vista to Windows 7 would I notice any difference in the load times when I am going through the browsers on my computer? Like I mentioned in the first post, I usually have about 15-20 browsers open when I am doing my work and with the current configuration I sometimes experience lag when going from one browser to another or the system just pausing for a bit.

Thanks for your help
 
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Thanks

I am guessing if I was going to add ram it would have to be the same as the ram I currently have in there. Should I just get 2GB more of the Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 or should I take out what I have and get 4 GB of something better?
 
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u have 4 ram slots. just add another 2 GB of the same ram (exactly the same), and u will have 4 GB dual channel ddr2. if u need more, u can still get 2x2 GB of the same ram, and u will use 4x2 GB ram.
 
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hi,

Your problem is the combination vista + 2 gb of ram...if you had xp, ir machine would be crazy fast...

Upgrade to 4 or 8 gb and, if possible, change to windows 7...
 
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I have little doubt that a shortage of ram is an issue.

Go to the crucial web site, and access their memory advisor tool. Enter your motherboard, and get a list of supported modules.
http://www.crucial.com/
Verify that your ram is on the list.

Ram is sold in kits so that all the modules are matched. Production differences, even with the same part number sometimes cause incompatibilities.
My suggestion is to buy a 4gb (2 x 2gb) kit of the same type of ram that you already have.
Install that first and run memtest86+ to verify it's operation. You should see NO errors on a full pass.
Run the same test with your 2gb.
If it all runs properly, then install 3gb(2gb + 1gb) in each channel, giving you 6gb of ram. You will need a 64 bit OS to be able to access more than 3.5 gb of it, but your 32 bit vista will still run.

Since you have vista ultimate, you should also have the 64 bit dvd which comes with it. I think I would just use that. Windows-7 is nice, but will not be much of a difference to you unless you have a SSD with trim support. If you want windows-7, check out what added features you get with professional or ultimate. Like vista, there is not much that a home user would need.

Another possibility is that web browsing does generate some hard drive activity. You might want to consider using a good SSD for your OS drive. They are a bit expensive per gigabyte, but the performance does make your system feel snappier. Get a unit with "trim support" Trim improves performance by releasing free space in the SSD without doing I/O to the flash. Also, Windows-7 is the only OS that supports trim. The technology and pricing of SSD's is changing rapidly. Research carefully. Today, I think you are safe with an Intel X25-M gen2 drive.
 
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Thank you for the replies. The computer store in my area didn't have any of the crucial ballistix memory that I have in my machine so I had to purchase 4gb of it off of the net. Will have to wait for that to arrive. Once it does I am going to upgrade to a 64 bit Windows 7.
I'll let you guys know how everything goes. Thank you all again for your help
 
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No problem.

any more problems, or questions just let us know.
 
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