Time to show my ignorance of computers: difference between Pentium 4 and Celeron

[Nerull]

I went ahead and bought it, but I do agree about the AGP slot (however, considering that I am running on a 16 MB video card currently, I think I will still notice an improvement). It only cost $15.00 to upgrade to 512 MB memory, so I did so. So once I get the money back from the rebate, it will only set me back $214.99.

However, though I do like some gaming, I do not do too much heavy gaming. The most system intensive game that I own is Temple of Elemental Evil; the movies are a little choppy (they suck anyway), but otherwise it runs alright. I use my computer quite a bit for school (and some work). Lots of Office XP usage, etc. along with quite a bit of internet. I still mostly play BG2 as my main game, so as long as that is not choppy I should be fine. But this is primarily a school machine with some multimedia (playing movies and music, mostly).

[Bahamut]

well congrats! you bought it [img]smile.gif[/img]

given what you said it's a fine choice... but remember, you still have to think about the future... you would want to make your PC as flexible as it can be... so it can quickly adapt to your needs

[Tobbin]

Originally posted by Nerull: I went ahead and bought it, but I do agree about the AGP slot (however, considering that I am running on a 16 MB video card currently, I think I will still notice an improvement). It only cost $15.00 to upgrade to 512 MB memory, so I did so. So once I get the money back from the rebate, it will only set me back $214.99. However, though I do like some gaming, I do not do too much heavy gaming. The most system intensive game that I own is Temple of Elemental Evil; the movies are a little choppy (they suck anyway), but otherwise it runs alright. I use my computer quite a bit for school (and some work). Lots of Office XP usage, etc. along with quite a bit of internet. I still mostly play BG2 as my main game, so as long as that is not choppy I should be fine. But this is primarily a school machine with some multimedia (playing movies and music, mostly).

That's cool that you picked it up. Sorry if what I said made it sound like you couldn't run it at all or anything. The performance hits you are talking about were mainly what I had meant. I'm glad you opted up for the 512 Mb's of memory though. That'll help smooth some stuff out (especially since your video shares the same memory.) I have a Celeron laptop and it runs pretty decent. I used to have an off-brand for a desktop too, but about a year ago, I upgraded to a Pentium IV. It runs a lot smoother now. Still, I was able to get by with the Celeron in the interim. Congratulations on upgrading regardless of the rest. You can try out some stuff that you couldn't run before, so that's all that really matters. That, and it will come in handy for school. [img]smile.gif[/img] Congrats

[Nerull]

Thanks for all of your responses. I haven't hooked it up yet (typing right now on the old system), but I am planning to do so either today or tomorrow (really busy day today, so might not get a chance until tomorrow).

Actually, I do have another question. What is the real difference between AMD and Pentium? Just curious, as I have stuck with Pentiums pretty much the whole way.

[ 11-29-2003, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: Nerull ]

[slicer15]

With AMD you mean Athlons? As far as I know, they are better for gaming and run a little faster than Pentiums. For example, the recommended specs for Max Payne 2 is either a 1.7GHz Pentium or a 1.4GHz Athlon, so they do run faster. Any deeper than that I have no idea, so I guess you'll have to wait till more techies are on. Sorry!