I’m buying a new PC on Thursday and I’ve settled on all the specs except for the processor. For around the same price I can choose between the Intel Pentium 4 2.0 ghz or the Intel Celeron 2.4 ghz (the former is just a tad more expensive), so what’s the difference? Any recommendations?
I’m not really a gamer but I guess that’s probably because my current PC can’t handle anything above solitaire; and that could change once I start trying new things out. I use it mainly for word-processing, surfing and imaging.
Core - The Celeron chip is based on a Pentium 4 core.
Cache - Celeron chips have less cache memory than Pentium 4 chips do. A Celeron might have 128 kilobytes of L2 cache, while a Pentium 4 can have four times that. The amount of L2 cache memory can have a big effect on performance.
Clock speed - Intel manufactures the Pentium 4 chips to run at a higher clock speed than Celeron chips. The fastest Pentium 4 might be 60 percent faster than the fastest Celeron.
Bus speed - There are differences in the maximum bus speeds that the processors allow. Pentium 4s tend to be about 30 percent faster than Celerons.
Grrr… I guess I should’ve tried a more straightforward search; I googled “celeron/pentium comparison chart” and came up with nothing . Thanks though, that site certainly helps - guess I should go for the pentium, huh?
Yeah, though I gave you the info I didn’t really answer your question!
It really depends on what you want to do with the machine I suppose in the sense that the Celeron chip may be good enough for your apps but given the choice I’d take the P4 chip everytime.
I would say that if you are worried about price/performance etc, you should definately get the P4. However, most modern processors are wildly over the requirments of the typical use and if you just want to do word/internet/music/light gaming, then even the cheapest processor is going to be indistinguishable from the two. Instead, focus on getting at least 512MB of RAM and a fast Hard drive.
I had to make the same decision last year. Since I don’t play games and have no need to be running multiple apps at home I went for the cheaper and faster Celeron and used the price difference to upgrade the RAM, the hard drive and the CD burner. I figure that any processor will be obsolete in 12 months and I can upgrade to a P6 or whatever is out for about $50 by then.
Do you have any more info / a cite about this? I’ve just bought two new PCs with AMD Athlon 2600+, they get left running 24/7 … you’ve got me worried now. :eek:
I’ve had an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ for over two years now and never once has it ran hot, and I’m even using the standard CPU cooler that came with it. I think most of those early complaints came from pepole upgrading their systems in cases that did not have sufficient airflow.
AMD processors used to run hotter than Intel ones, but since the Thoughbred B & Barton core AthlonXPs came out, as well as the Athlon64s, the heat dissipation has been about equal or less than equivalent speed Pentium4’s. And the new Prescott core Pentium4’s run insanely hot - 78 degress C or 173 degrees F! :eek: :eek: :eek:
Personally, I would stay away from a Celeron processor, since the Pentium4 really needs a fast bus and lots of cache to run fast, and those are exactly the things the Celery has removed. The Centrino/Pentium-M is a completely different processor from the Pentium4 or Celeron, and like Athlon processors, it runs programs much faster than a similarly clocked P4 - ie, and AthlonXP 2100(which runs at 1.73ghz) or a 1.6ghz Pentium-M would easily beat a 2ghz Pentium4 in most benchmarks.
Personally, I prefer AMD processors, as they offer much better price per performance than their Intel counterparts. Of course, I build my own machines, I don’t know how much of a difference there is if you buy a pre-built system.
Well, they run hot in comparison to an Intel, but not hot enough to fry bacon or anything ;). No proper cites as such, since this is only something that I’ve heard, but a google search on “amd hot” does come up with quite a lot of people wondering about their processors overheating. But at the same time it comes up with those saying they have no such problems with their AMDs. Nothing that a couple of CPU fans couldn’t fix, I reckon.
Or Violet could just listen to RandomLetters since I’m a bit out of date on these things
At the moment I’m leaning towards the P4, although the Celeron/512mb ram combo seems like a pretty good idea. I’ll try and sleep on it and I feel it could be a game-time decision. Thanks for the advice everyone.
They’re using an Abit motherboard, which has been known to overstate the heat of the processor a bit. I have an Asus P4C8000-E Deluxe and I’m running a Prescott 2.8E @ 3.3. Currently, I’m running at 34C. Under load, it never ususally hits more than the mid forties C. Of course, I have an an Intel recommemended tower which both intake and exhaust fans. I did have heat issues with the processor on an Abit IC7-G, which I returned and bought the current Asus board. So far, no problems.
Probably. Athlon boards also require stronger power supplies than P4s, something to be taken into consideration when one is upgrading from Intel to AMD (or adding more hardware to an AMD box). Insufficient power output could also lead people to believe that the CPU is running too hot.
. Thanks though, that site certainly helps - guess I should go for the pentium, huh?