Quote:
Originally Posted by ben
Looking at the specs of new machines, the processor speed seems to be quoted as around 3Ghz (so not much more than the 2.8Ghz I already have) but I don't know what all this Duo core/quad core business is, presumably that means processing speed is doubled?
|
Speed is not a particularly useful measure.
Intel processors have a heirachy of Atom < Celeron < Pentium < Core < Xeon. There are different generations, and different levels within each type. I'd take a seventh generation Core with a slower speed than an older Pentium or Celeron any day. Most of the time I recommend starting with a Core i5.
Note - if you get a Core processor with a number starting with 7, it will not be supported by Windows 7 or 8.1.
Multiple cores do not multiply speed in a linear fashion. A modern (i.e. not DOS) OS will be able to do more at once by spreading threads and processes across multiple cores, so they can happen at the same time (this is a very simplistic explanation but gets to the core of it - no pun intended).
If you do a lot of work, and your applications are written to be multithreaded, then more cores is better. Again, a starting point I use for desktops is a quad core i5, which often supports two threads per core (similar to Hyperthreading on P4).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben
I also noted that some of the new PCs do not have a VGA output, which I need as I already have perfectly good VGA monitors. Do they still have PCI slots or have they also gone the way of the dodo by now?
|
Check the specs. Some of the latest generation HP ProDesk 600 range (G4) have two DisplayPort connections and one optional DP/VGA - the NZ models have this populated with DisplayPort. You can get passive DP-DVI and DP-HDMI adapters, and active DP-VGA converters, which are not expensive.
Most computers come with PCI-E, and older graphics cards still have VGA. If you are building your own, many motherboards still have PCI as well, although I'd never use that for video - stick with a PCI-E card.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben
Buy a new plug- in -and -go PC CPU from the local electronics barn (cheapest they have: HP (AMD) 4X2GHZ 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD, WIN10, cost: 320 Euros). I don´t really want to pay for win 10 as I would downgrade to win 7!
|
I was put off AMD processors years ago, so can't comment on support for older operating systems. My starting point for clients is the HP ProDesk 600 G4, i5-7500 processor, 8 GB memory, either 1 TB HDD or 256 GB SSD and Windows 10 Pro. If you want to use Windows 7, and the processor supports it, you will have to buy a machine with Windows 10 Pro and exercise downgrade rights, unless you find a retailer with old stock.
It's a pity you're not in New Zealand. I have a five year old HP Compaq 8200 Elite that's come from a client, Windows 7 license with Windows 10 installed and an Office 2010 OEM that I just can't get rid of on Trademe, would have done you a good deal to get it out of my workshop
