RAM vs CPU

[pepper]

Getting a new PC but have a limited budget http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif
I can either afford a Celeron 700 with 128Mb RAM or a PIII 667 with 64Mb but I don't know which is better.
I'll be using the PC for internet (of course!), word processing, web design & image processing (scanning & amending pictures). I don't really play games - not fast paced ones anyway.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Sharon http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[Richard_Cranium72]

If the P3 is 133mhz FSB, then by all means get it.

Heck, the Celeron is 66mhz FSB and if the PIII is a 100mhz unit, it'll outrun the Celery badly..

You can't upgrade the processor easily, but the RAM you can..

Get the faster processor

DrVette

[Richard_Cranium72]

That was confusing wasn't it ?? http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

The faster processor in this case is the Pentium III

[Warthog]

PENTIUM III ALL THE WAY!!!

Celerys suck! Been there, done that. Plus, I'm sure you can afford the $50 for 128mb memory http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Warthog

[Roy]

The PIII is more powerful and lends it's strengths to image processing.

The 100MHz models are much easier to overclock because there is easy headroom above 100, much less above 133. I have a PIII 650/100 that is happy at 935/144 without any voltage boost. Since you are considering the 667/133, then 133 SDRAM is part of your plan, as well as a mobo that supports this FSB speed. I suggest you give serious thought to a 650/100 for about the same price, in the same environment. 6.5x133.33=867. Rendering processed images is boring at low speeds. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[NDC]

Oh, yeah. Definetly get the P3. There are a number features that makes the P3 superior to a Celeron. The FSB is 100/133 on P3's and 66 on a Celeron. The cache memory isn't only bigger on a P3 (256kb Vs. 128kb), the cache runs at 1/1 ratio on a P3, meaning that if your CPU is 650Mhz, the cache speed is 650Mhz. As for Celeron, the cache speed ratio is 1/2, meaning a Celeron 700Mhz cache speed will be 350Mhz.... Fast cache memory is good...

I would have to agree with Roy on getting FSB-100 if you're gonna overclock the CPU. P3 667EB is FSB-133, so I wouldn't recommend getting that for overclocking, Get either a 650E or 700E, the price difference is very small.

[pepper]

Thanks all, PIII it is then - you'd better be right (j/k) http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

Sharon http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[Variable]

Duron and 256MB of RAM!!!
Picture Design/Editing??
You need lots LOTS of RAM!!

[Wilan Wong]

Why don't u just get a cpu.. like duron or celeron and o/c it, and get good amounts of RAM.. i would recommended at least a MINIMUM of 128mb.. since you're doing image editing, but you would be much better off with 256mb ram if you handle quite large files.

[NDD]

Dude !
Don't come even close to all Intels out there. You can buy AMD Duron at much lower price than Celeron, yet Duron beats Pentium III at the same clock ratios. It's not so much overclockable as Intels, but it's still worths a LOT more than you pay for it. And the money you save on processor you can buy more RAM, as the dudes here said, 256+ PC133 highly recommended. The only case PIII is faster than Duron is Photoshop, due to it's SSE optimization, which Duron doesn't have, but Photoshop is not all the world. My advice, as somebody who really knows - AMD Duron 750 MHz/Gigabyte 7ZM (you get free 50+ MHz o/c)/256+ PC133 Micron ECC (!!!). You have to consider ECC, coz it means a lot in graphic editing, and it's worth it's high price.
You can look at all the hardware sites (tomshardware, sharkyextreme) for Duron reviews... then consider what's good 4u ... i promise - u won't be dissappointed with Duron ...

[Warthog]

I thought Duron's were more o/c-able?

Warthog

[pepper]

ND, If only! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif - I'd love a Duron 750 with 250Mb but that'd add another £320 to the price http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif

I've currently got a notebook (PII 300, 128Mb) so hopefully it be as fast as that.

[NDD]

In fact, Durons & T-Birds are much more overclockable, I just met somebody on a net who runs Duron 700@960(!), but "free" o/c I meant when I talked about Gigabyte mobo, is their "EasyTune" soft, which raises the bus automatically to ~108 MHz, and u don't have to mess with BIOS/DIP/etc ...
I know what I'm saying, coz I had one last summer, when Duron 600 just came out, I used Gigabyte 7ZM and clocked the processor @700 with a mouse click.

Proud Owner Of Pentium 4 *** Kicker :
AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) 1 GHz
Asus A7V
512 MB PC133 Infenion ECC SDRAM

btw, even 512 MB may not be enought sometimes, when I use Photoshop, and working on large, 300+ MB images, even I have to wait http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[NDD]

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
we've been online at the same time ... )
consider what u need your comp for ...
go maybe for lower clock, but stay with AMD ...
cu

[Imperion1]

Duron 750 cheaper and faster than the intel chips. Plus you can oc that baby.

Had to edit the last part, don't know if any of the vendors on pricewatch will deliver to the UK.



[This message has been edited by Imperion1 (edited 12-06-2000).]