I'm looking for a decent system to buy for a family member, budget is about £400. I've seen a few nice looking specs within that price range on ebay, some Pentium D dual core, others Pentium Core 2 Duo. I was initially looking for a Core 2 Duo but after seeing some of these prices I've started to consider Pentium D. These are the main two offers:
Pentium D Dual Core:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pentium-D-Dual-Cor...1QQcmdZViewItem This one has 64bit processing capabilities (don't think they exist on core 2 duo yet..?) and seems to be pretty fast at 6.8ghz (but maybe still not as good as Core 2 Duo 6300?). Not so good ram, ddr400.
What is difference between core 2 duo and the pentium d? I read pentium d is a budget cpu (and great for overclocking, though I won't be considering that straight away). Is there a big performance difference? Which of these systems would any of you suggest? Which is best value? I'd appreciate any comments.
I actually try to avoid those as much as possible. Those eBay deals are extremely dodgy and WAY underpriced for the system if you ask me... Try to stay away from computers and parts on eBAY. They tend to be broken or worn and there's no guarantee on getting your money back.
But if you need to get a new computer I would recommend an Intel Core 2 Duo hands down. They are all dual core and they all have 64-bit. The Pentium D isn't a budget processor it's just an older generation than the Core 2 Duo. Much slower too.
Those wicked high overclocks on the two systems there are more than likely done with liquid nitrogen. You'd need a lot of experience with dangerously high overclocks to maintain those systems. Even then they probably are just not real and there to snare a patsy like you into buying something that doesn't exist.
If you're really willing to pay up for a PC then either build your own or get a more expensive one from Dell/Gateway/Alienware, like $2000USD though.
For about 1000 pounds sterling you can build a very fast computer using quality parts. Then you KNOW exactly what components are in the system.
Here's a basic outline for a good gaming/multipurpose system.
Core 2 Duo e6600 2.4GHz
a well-trusted intel motherboard
1 or 2 GB of DDR2 800 RAM
GeForce 7950GT or something of the sort
a decent cdrw-dvd combo drive or a DVD-RW drive
120GB Western Digital or Seagate Barracuda Sata 3.0GBps Hard drive
hiper 580 watt power supply
any nice case over 20 pounds sterling will do
and if you have a moniter/keyboard/mouse you can use all those.
You get what you pay for in those dodgy eBay PCs. Don't become a victim.
All but the e6300 are severely overclocked to the point where they would need liquid nitrogen to be cooled efficiently. Good luck affording enough of that to run for more than a few hours a month. It's fairly expensive and hard to find in some areas.
No commercial processor has ever been beyond 3.8GHz stock. Those are definitely overclocked.
And the video on all those is atrocious. For any self-respecting gaming rig I HIGHLY RECOMMEND a GeForce7600GS/GT, 7900GS/GT, or a Radeon X850XT/X1800GTO. Unless gaming isn't a priority.
But a low level Radeon X1xxx series card will give you awesome video and picture quality plus TV-Out and S-Video components. Not to mention full Windows Vista support.
A warranty can always just be thrown out to rope you in. I would avoid any overclocked eBay rig like the plague. It's not worth it. Take it from a very experienced eBay user. All those full systems tend to extremely flaky and don't always have the parts advertised.
