Pentium versus AMD

[wildwood]

I am thinking of replacing my trusty old HP pav with something a bit faster, probably a whole new tower. Afraid I'm a bit cynical as far as salespeople go, and would appreciate advice on the type of processor. I don't play games but do enjoy mucking about with photos in photoshop. Thought about 2GHz should do me. Is Celeron and Pentium a different breed, or just a name. Is it true that an AMD XP (2.0GHz) will outperform a Pentium 4 (2.53MHz)... Pentiums seem to be quite a bit dearer, so that doesn't make sense. Also please, the RAM, the ones with an AMD seem to have DDR RAM, and the others have DDR SDRAM - is that relevant/important?

[xyzzy@bok]

afaik wildwood; celeron is Intel pentium's economy brand. AMD is a rival. All are in the same ballpark, Pentium, you pay for the name. Ram issues are not an issue as both are widely available. Optimum choice for graphics work.. steps back, is a Mac. not a PC but in practice either is good if you got a good software like Photoshop. Processor etc; wise to buy as fast as you can afford due to obsolescence. If you can stand not living on the cutting edge though, a 2nd user machine would save you a packet as the new ones depreciate a few �100 just for taking them out of the shop. So maybe a 2nd hand 1.5Ghz with a guarantee would be best buy, say �250 for a tower. good luck with your shopping :-)

[lisaj]

In my opinion, the best value you'll get is a Dell 2.8Ghz P4 system at around �550. It's got the legs to go for quite a few years and should keep you happy in Photoshop.

[sft42]

for 2nd user masheens at a helf decent price give this a click

http://www.europc.co.uk

[wildwood]

Thanks people, I shall now go shopping.

[dodd_tim]

Hope its not too late...

check out www.nethighstreet.com

I've used these guys loads before. They're very flexible on what you can buy so whether you've decided on a Pentium of AMD chip, I think they'll be hard to beat on price.

Hope that helps.