Hey everyone.
I'm still stuck with an old 1.20GHz Intel Celeron here with only 128 megabytes of RAM and Windows 98 Second Edition. It's got a 20GB hard drive, so I guess that's a good thing compared to the rest. I'd like to have something better for gaming and stuff like that. I'm thinking of an upgrade. How's this?
3.60GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT processor
2GB RAM (4GB would be better but it might be overkill)
256MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card
$1,500 - $2,000
The problem with the above setup is that I would need to buy a new LGA775 motherboard and operating system, since Windows 98 can't support 2GB of RAM. I'd have to switch to Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Would this be overkill? I've heard that AMD is good for gaming but I'm going to stay on the safe side and go with Intel. The graphics card is the best one out there and I can imagine it being rediculously expensive.
Just the other day, I saw a similar desktop system but it had a 3.20GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT and only 1GB of RAM. It had an integrated graphics card made by Intel. It was $1,300, so I guess the above system with the faster Intel processor would cost between $1,500 and $2,000. That's too expensive.
I could also get the dual core Intel Pentium D, but I don't plan on multitasking.
My budget is small, so I probably won't be able to build such an expensive computer. Here's a more realistic option...
2.40GHz Intel Celeron processor
256MB RAM
40GB Hard drive
Integrated graphics chipset
$500 - $700
This computer's specifications are exactly two times better than my current one. I've heard that you shouldn't buy a processor until it is two times faster than the one I have right now. The same goes for RAM and hard drives, I guess. This setup uses the NetBurst architecture, which is less efficient than the older Intel Pentium III architecture but the difference should be small.
This setup also uses the socket 478 technology. Socket 478 motherboards are cheaper than the LGA775 motherboards so this is no problem.
So what should I do? Should I upgrade to the 2.40GHz Intel Celeron system with the integrated video card or wait a few years until prices come down and get the first system with the Intel Pentium 4 HT and the dedicated video card? Which one would be better value for my money?
I'm still stuck with an old 1.20GHz Intel Celeron here with only 128 megabytes of RAM and Windows 98 Second Edition. It's got a 20GB hard drive, so I guess that's a good thing compared to the rest. I'd like to have something better for gaming and stuff like that. I'm thinking of an upgrade. How's this?
3.60GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT processor
2GB RAM (4GB would be better but it might be overkill)
256MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card
$1,500 - $2,000
The problem with the above setup is that I would need to buy a new LGA775 motherboard and operating system, since Windows 98 can't support 2GB of RAM. I'd have to switch to Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Would this be overkill? I've heard that AMD is good for gaming but I'm going to stay on the safe side and go with Intel. The graphics card is the best one out there and I can imagine it being rediculously expensive.
Just the other day, I saw a similar desktop system but it had a 3.20GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT and only 1GB of RAM. It had an integrated graphics card made by Intel. It was $1,300, so I guess the above system with the faster Intel processor would cost between $1,500 and $2,000. That's too expensive.
I could also get the dual core Intel Pentium D, but I don't plan on multitasking.
My budget is small, so I probably won't be able to build such an expensive computer. Here's a more realistic option...
2.40GHz Intel Celeron processor
256MB RAM
40GB Hard drive
Integrated graphics chipset
$500 - $700
This computer's specifications are exactly two times better than my current one. I've heard that you shouldn't buy a processor until it is two times faster than the one I have right now. The same goes for RAM and hard drives, I guess. This setup uses the NetBurst architecture, which is less efficient than the older Intel Pentium III architecture but the difference should be small.
This setup also uses the socket 478 technology. Socket 478 motherboards are cheaper than the LGA775 motherboards so this is no problem.
So what should I do? Should I upgrade to the 2.40GHz Intel Celeron system with the integrated video card or wait a few years until prices come down and get the first system with the Intel Pentium 4 HT and the dedicated video card? Which one would be better value for my money?
