Rebuilding GFs computer Pentium Dual Core or Athlon 64 X2

I

IveBeenBad

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 4, 2001
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So my gfs emachines finally died and its time for an upgrade. Old system was a Celeron 2.6 and 256mb ram. Speed will increase no matter what, but im having a hard time deciding between an e2140 and an Athlon 64 X2 4000+. I have no experience with the AMD chip, but I know my E2160 is a trooper. I am also unsure of which chipsets are good on the AMD side. My P35 machine is rock solid. Budget is around $150 for CPU/Mobo/1GB RAM and I will be upgrading her to 2GB ram soon.

Also, will her XP Home support a dual core CPU?
 
I've had a X2/Opty 165 before. Once i saw the performance or lack thereof of the new AMD stuff i jumped on the C2D and haven't looked back! :D

EDIT: Yes it should. Since Home supports a PHYSICAL single cpu it doesn't care if it has one or more cores as long as its one PHYSICAL cpu. :)
 
If you have a Fry's near you, they have a nice CPU/Mobo bundle right now. Its an E2180 and ECS i945GC board for $88. They also have some 2GB OCZ RAM for $55 - $30MIR. While ECS is one of the lowest end brands, its Intel-based boards are probably its best. I just hope those boards come with the updated BIOS, or else Fry's will have to update the BIOS for you to get that E2180 working.

If you don't have a Fry's near you, go for an X2 build instead. AMD 690G chipset-based boards are good, as are GeForce 7025/7050. If she doesnt need onboard graphics, then look at the nForce500 series. What does she do with her system? If she may use it as an HTPC, go for one with HDMI support.
 
She is an internet and Sims addict and thats really about it... she may get into things like movies and music now and then, but shes no hardcore gamer or anything

edit: im on the left coast, no frys :(
 
no.... i was curious about the performance difference in the two lines... im unfamiliar with the amds and cant find any comparison reviews of the two chips.
 
I went for a similar setup to you OP. Simply because when oc'd the E21x0's out run ANY standard dual core. upto the E6750. And gives the E6850 somthing to think about as well. Now since you have a Quad on the way. I suggest using the E2140 to power a new GF bulid. And see if you can score another IP35E for 60 odd US After MR.
 
After reading that, I think I'm going to go with the 64X2 4000+, an Asus 690G mATX board and 1GB of A-DATA RAM
 
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