what processor speed

[Matt R.]

I am gathering info on hardware parts, i plan on using my computer for college. I am an engineering student, so i will be running various engineering programs (CAD, etc), word processing, cd burning, and some gaming. I know that i will go with an Amd athalon, but don't know if i should go with 1.8 or go above2.0 ghz. what do you guys think?
Thanks
Matt

 

[neb1211]

get an athlon xp 3000+. I use my p4 2.6 for surfing the web mostly so i think that you need a 3000+ to get the job done. Accually i do more than just surf the web on my p4 but it is mostly used for surfing the web.

 

[Slam'n Systems]

Yea, you need some nice computer! My schools computer has CAD with 128Mb of ram and on-board video! HAHA! Its a laugh, takes about 10 minutes to start it up and it lags badley! I'd have to say AMD Athlon XP 2800+

 

[randy]

Hey, I have a Athlon XP 2400+ an love it. I would recommend the AMD Athlon XP 2800+ also, because why pay that much more for the 3000+ when the performance isn't much better.

 

[Martin]

Yea, you need some nice computer! My schools computer has CAD with 128Mb of ram and on-board video! HAHA! Its a laugh, takes about 10 minutes to start it up and it lags badley! I'd have to say AMD Athlon XP 2800+

My school still uses PIII 550's + Rage Pro's, even in CAD class, but recently, we got a bunch of P4's and replaced those ancient ones.

For the processor, I would look between the 2400+ and 2800+ models, though the 2500+ is nice as well.

 

[Seloce]

The 2500 barton is well worth it, especially in a CAD environment...I'm sure the 512k of L2 cache is going to help out there.

 

[Shakie]

Yep. The faster the better, but don't skimp on the RAM either.