General questions about buying new computer

[miker296]

We're looking into buying a new computer...dell c521 i think it is. What is the difference between all the amd athlon, celeron or whatever those all are? Could someone give me a list of them with the best ones on top and worst on bottom (or something like that).

Also...for burning discs, is 16x faster than 48x? One of the computers we were looking at had 48x but you could "upgrade" and pay like 30 bucks more or something for a 16x burner. I'm just a bit confused.

Also, is it worth it to pay 55 bucks extra to have them put in another 512mb of ram? I've put them in before, but i was just wondering if 55 bucks for 512 is a reasonable price....if its too high, then what is a good ram stick that i could get for cheaper that i can just do on my own?

thanks
mike

 

[Draug]

Too sum it up quickly, AMD is for gaming while Intel is for "home/office" use.
I belive there is a sticky on the forum more about this subject that explains it in detail.


The burning discs issue, is it CD or DVD you want to burn? Or both?
The 48x was most likely for CD burning while 16x is pretty standard for burning DVD. If you get any standard DVD burner you will also be able to read and burn regular CD's as you wish.

Most likely it was just a regular CD burner and for an additional $30 you could have it upgraded to a DVD burner.


$55 for an additional 512 mb of ram depends all on what you plan to use the machine for. You did not specify how much memory you had in the machine from start so I will assume you have 512 already.

If you just plan to surf the web and do minor tasks on the computer 512 is enough, however an upgrade to 1GB for games or the alike is always a good choice, if nothing else you'll be a little prepared for the future

$55 is a rather standard price, you can go lower or higher depending on quality and effiency of the memory but I would say its pretty standard.

If you want more info please specify a bit more what type of use the computer will be for etc. The more information you provide the more help you will be able to get.

 

[Elbatrop1]

We're looking into buying a new computer...dell c521 i think it is. What is the difference between all the amd athlon, celeron or whatever those all are? Could someone give me a list of them with the best ones on top and worst on bottom (or something like that).

The C521 is correct. The Athlon, Celeron, etc are CPUs. What is best really depends on your budget and requirements. Someone who uses a computer for email and web browsing is going to benefit from a more wallet-friendly CPU, than someone who uses their computer for gaming.

The C521 seems to use only AMD CPUs. Out of the ones listed, the X2 is the most powerful, then the Athlon, then the Sempron.

Also...for burning discs, is 16x faster than 48x? One of the computers we were looking at had 48x but you could "upgrade" and pay like 30 bucks more or something for a 16x burner. I'm just a bit confused.

You were probably looking at a CD burner vs a DVD burner. 48x would be for a CD burner that only burns CDs. The 16X is a DVD burner that can burn DVDs and CDs. Furthermore, it will usually burn CDs at the same speed as a CD burner.

Also, is it worth it to pay 55 bucks extra to have them put in another 512mb of ram? I've put them in before, but i was just wondering if 55 bucks for 512 is a reasonable price....if its too high, then what is a good ram stick that i could get for cheaper that i can just do on my own?

For $55, you might as well get it done for you.

 

[Ephexx793]

There are many processors...

Intel has;
Intel Celeron family
Intel Pentium family
Intel Xeon (mainly for servers)
*NEW* Intel Core 2 Duo family
And there are only 2 or 3 different ones, but the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme processor.

Intel's celeron is the lower-end of intel's processor, for instance you may have a Pentium 4 and a Celeron, both at 2.4 GHz, the p4 processor will out-perform the Celeron processor any day..

Intel's Core 2 Duo seems to be the best out there says the benchmarks (from the post I created..).
AMD used to be on top with gaming, etc. but Intel's new Core 2 Duo took the cake..

AMD has;
AMD Turion (most often found in laptops, not very recommended for PC)
AMD Athlon family
AMD Sempron family
AMD Opteron (mainly for servers)

AMD used to be the best of the best, but like I stated Intel's new processor wins.. However AMD is still good, if you want the latest and the greatest, Intel is for you..


I explained all this because you asked in your original post, not because your building a computer.

Need any more info just ask.