[vaisakhr]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Go for X2. E4500 is not the best deal. My Athlon X2 5000+ was better performing than E4500. This is II X2 250.
Athlon II X2 and Phenom II X2 are basically same with minor difference, mainly in cache.

+1 to aaggoswami said. Phenom will perform good in games.

[v.anand]

Originally Posted by AMAN_SACHDEV

These are my Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop configurations,

1.Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9900 (3.06 GHZ / 1066FSB/6MB Cache)
2.6GB (1x4GB+1x2GB) 1066Mhz DDR3 SDRAM
3.Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit
4.16' 1080p WUXGA (1920x1080) WLED Full HD Display
5.500GB Hard Disk
6.Blu-Ray Combo Drive
7.512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 Video Card

Nice specs there Aman_Sachdev. Looks to be a very fast machine indeed.

Mine is a Dell Studio XPS 16 too.

Intel Core i7 720QM Processor.
4 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz RAM.
500 GB 7200 RPM HD.
ATI 4670 Video card.
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit.

Do you face any heat issues with your laptop?
Only possible design defect in Studio XPS range is the screen apparently covers the heat exhaust thereby trapping it inside.

[anku94]

I'd say X2-250. One can compare the stats or follow a simple rule of thumb. When a product is not a flagship/top-of-the-line model, AMD offers more VFM products than Intel does....

[shajufx]

I am planning to upgrade my desktop. Here is my shortlisted names as of now. Please suggest if there is anything to be added or changed: Usage is mainly running trading platforms and charts workwise, photoshop and video editing as hobby.

CPU - Intelcore i5 750
Motherboard - ECS P55H-A
Memory - 6 GB (3X2GB) NEC dual channel DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM
Graphics - 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
Harddrive - WD 500 GB Green 32 MB buffer
Cabinet - Cooler master Elite 310 or 342
SMPS - Corsair VX 550
IEEE Firewire 1394 PCI card
DVD writer (either shifting my existing LG 16X writer or a new one)

Monitor to be retained : AOC 18.5"
Keyboard and mouse to be retained: Logitech

[AMAN_SACHDEV]

Originally Posted by v.anand

Nice specs there Aman_Sachdev. Looks to be a very fast machine indeed.

Mine is a Dell Studio XPS 16 too.

Intel Core i7 720QM Processor.
4 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz RAM.
500 GB 7200 RPM HD.
ATI 4670 Video card.
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit.

Do you face any heat issues with your laptop?
Only possible design defect in Studio XPS range is the screen apparently covers the heat exhaust thereby trapping it inside.

Nice configuration v.anand,
Yes , the machines cooling system is crap, after 20-30 mins of use it becomes pretty hot and if watching hi def pics or movies, it becomes very hot .
But I am using a cooling pad, which keeps it really cool ..

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I am planning to upgrade my desktop.....

CPU - Intelcore i5 750
Motherboard - Intel DP55WB
Memory - 4 GB (2X2GB) NEC dual channel DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM
Graphics - 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 220
Harddrive - WD 500 GB Green 32 MB buffer
Cabinet - Cooler master Elite 310
SMPS - Corsair VX 550
IEEE Firewire 1394 PCI card
DVD writer LG

I confirmed the above configuration and getting it assembled by tomorow. Best quote I could get after lot of cross checking and comparison is 39k.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I confirmed the above configuration and getting it assembled by tomorow. Best quote I could get after lot of cross checking and comparison is 39k.

That's an excellent price. Where are you getting the rig from ?

[Chipz]

Hello guys. Can anyone tell me about the performance of Athlon Xp 240. Is it better than dual core. And can anyone tell me the price of the chip and motherboard.

Thanks

[anku94]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Hello guys. Can anyone tell me about the performance of Athlon Xp 240. Is it better than dual core.

I think you're talking about X2 240. It's a good enough chip for the price. Basically a stripped down version of the Phenom series. I'm not sure but I think the main difference b/w Phenom and Athlon X2 is lack of L3 Cache in X2. If you're not gonna do anything more than casual computing and light gaming, it'll do well.

Originally Posted by Chipz

Is it better than dual core.

Athlon X2 is a dual core processor. If you're referring to Intel dual cores, there are a lot of models and series to compare to.

Originally Posted by Chipz

And can anyone tell me the price of the chip and motherboard.

Processor costs approximately Rs. 3000. There are a lot of motherboard models available for any processor, ranging from Rs. 2200 to Rs. 12000 and even higher for enthusiast-class boards. However, for this processor, I'd suggest you don't spend more than Rs. 4000-5000 on the motherboard.

[Chipz]

Thanks anku for the reply, ya I meant x2,and intel dual core
Can you please compare athlon x2 and intel dual core or forward me any link. Is any specific motherboard good for the performance. I mostly watch movies, play some small games, etc. What about the memory and various FSB speed.

Thanks in advance.

[anku94]

No problems.

Originally Posted by Chipz

Can you please compare athlon x2 and intel dual core or forward me any link.

Intel has many lineups in dual-core, including Dual Core, Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. A general rule of thumb, as I've mentioned earlier, is that when you're on a budget, AMD offers best performance/price, and when you need a high-end chip, you go for Intel.

A direct comparison, I'm afraid will not be possible in a post. There are a lot of factors, including what model of Intel's dual core line-up are you talking about.

My suggestion : If 3k bucks is your budget for a proccy, stick with the X2 240. If you're looking for more options at a higher price, let me know or visit Tom's Hardware: Hardware News, Tests and Reviews which is an excellent source for reviews, comparisons etc. on technology, mostly computers related.

Originally Posted by Chipz

Is any specific motherboard good for the performance.

As it happens, motherboard has little to contribute towards performance, except when you're depending on onboard graphics. The factors to look for in motherboards are mainly features, and ease of overclocking, if you intend to. Right now, your demands are a bit vague for me to recommend a motherboard. Since different processor sockets require different motherboards, I'd recommend you to choose a processor first, and then look for motherboards within a specified budget.

Originally Posted by Chipz

What about the memory and various FSB speed.

2GB Dual Channel RAM would be all you need, or 3GB triple channel if your motherboard supports it.
FSB speed is one thing you don't have to worry about. It doesn't make any major difference, or not even a minor difference perhaps, to a processor's performance. Things to consider are-No. of cores, clock frequency, and cache, and overclocking potential.

End of story : Choose a processor, let me know if you need some info for that, and then you can build a PC around it.

[Chipz]

Thanks a lot anku for sparing the time. Actually my brother wanted the system to do some data entry work at home. We need to run word, browser, and a small speech software. Currently we are using pentium 3 with 128 mb ram. So you see this does not require any high end configuration, but it does not mean we can do away with a calculator , since we will watch movies and do some small gaming too.

The pentium series will be of no value for money in this scenario. So as you said AMD X2 240 is what I am going for + 2 gb RAM. I have a 160 + 80 gb IDE. The 160 gb is new, so I am retaining it. Also got a 250 gb external. So does not need a HDD right now.

Some people say USB 3.0 is coming soon. Is this available now. I dont want to change the system in another 4 or 5 years.

Thanks a lot for your time.

[anku94]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Some people say USB 3.0 is coming soon. Is this available now. I dont want to change the system in another 4 or 5 years.

USB 3.0 is coming...but it won't become mainstream in India in less than an year. Also an interface as fast as that would require better hardware, most likely faster storage. If you want a system you can be happy with for 4-5 years, I'd recommend a better CPU and a good motherboard.

Originally Posted by Chipz

Thanks a lot for your time.

You're welcome anytime

[Chipz]

Anku, since I am going to get x2 240, should I go for some specific brand of motherboard. can you recommend me one. I have described my usage above.

Thanks

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Chipz

Anku, since I am going to get x2 240, should I go for some specific brand of motherboard. can you recommend me one. I have described my usage above.

Thanks

All I can say is avoid Asus. Their RMA is not the best and secondly I have read somewhere that the PCB is dual layer so heating problems might occur. I am not sure if the dual layer PCB is solved or not, but the RMA is still not the best. Although the processor has reasonable headroom for overclock, dont Asus due to availability of overclocking features.

I would suggest anything from MSI or Gigabyte with AMD chipset.

I am currently running Athlon II X2 240 on MSI K9N Neo V3. The BIOS was cheated and socket was also changed. Got this job done from Mumbai.