Black Friday Desktop PC Question

Factual Questions
1

I’m planning to get a desktop PC during the Black Friday sales. Just for general purpose stuff. Internet, remote desktop to my work PC, playing music, etc. No hardcore gaming or anything. There are 2 models I’m looking at. Here the main specs I’m asking about and my thoughts.

  1. Quad-core AMD processor (not upgradeable). 8GB RAM (max 16GB, only 2 slots on MB.) 1 TB hard drive.

  2. Dual-core AMD processor (upgradeable). 8GB RAM (max 32GB, 4 slots on MB.) 500GB hard drive.

So, I prefer #1 overall, but being able to move up in processor and up to 32GB RAM is enticing from #2.

What gives me more bang for the buck out of the box, the quad processor or the extra RAM?

2

you don’t need 32GB of RAM for the purposes you listed

3

Yep, that’s true. However, with the 4 slots onbaord I can go to 16GB using memory I already have. I couldn’t do that with #1. I guess I’m not sure how big an advanatge a quad-core processor is in real life over a dual-core. Is it noticeable?

4

brands and model numbers or more specific details would be helpful. For example you may be looking at a pile of crap components and or the worst versions available to make a price point. There are a bunch of Dual cores that can outrun Quadcores depending on the specific model chips.

5

These are very cheap HP desktops. The processors are an AMD A6-5200 (quad) and an A4-5300 (dual.)

6

The A6 is in a Pavilion 500-a60 and the A4 is in a 500-016.

7

passmark scores
AMD A6-5200 (quad) 2448
A4-5300 (dual.) 2067
A4-5300B (dual) 1632

So raw performance wise, the quadcore is only giving you about a 20% boost those cores are only 2ghz each.

8

Thanks for that. So then, the expandability might make the A4 model a better choice.

9

Run the Windows Experience Index. Control Panel > System and Security > System.

Compare the scores. There are sub scores. You can also click to re-run the assessment. That will give you some comparison at least.

10

That Pavilion 500-a60 has a mini-ITX motherboard with no PCI expansion slots, has only two SATA ports that are already in use, and uses an external 65W 12V power supply. You would not be able to add anything to that unit. It would make a good HTPC or secondary PC, but for anything else it is severely crippled.

11

Excellent point. Plus the 5200 chip is a notebook chip while the 5300 is a desktop chip. The first is soldered into the mobo. The other is in a socket and likely upgradeable. You can see the mobo for the 016 here. The mobo for the a60 is here(click on the plus next to where it says ‘Camphor’ under ‘Motherboard’)

edit: of course the notebook chip will use less electricity and produce less heat, in case that is something that important to you -65w vs. 25w TDP (thermal design power I think)

12

Good information. Thanks!