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deetah
Joined: 14 Nov 2004
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 Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:00 am Post subject: Single vs. Dual Processors? |
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| I'm in the market for a laptop and buying a single processor vs. a dual processor would save me quite a lot of money. All I want to do with my computer is: surf the net, download movies and MP3s, and write the odd word document. Simple needs-nothing complicated or intense! Do I need a dual processor? |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:46 am Post subject: |
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| You don't need one but it'll keep your machine usable for quite a bit longer. |
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Missile Command Kid
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:06 am Post subject: |
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| For the tasks you describe, a P3 with 256MB of RAM and a copy of Windows 2000 will do the trick. Get as cheap a computer as possible. |
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corroonb
Joined: 04 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't think Windows Vista will work on single cores and quad cores will be the standard in the very near future. If you are going to be paying $750+ you may as well get a dual core. The power usage for dual cores is very high so make sure you get a good battery. I didn't and mine lasts for about 45mins. (AMD Turion 64 X2). Plus with dual cores you have a handy portable heater to keep your hands, legs and desk toasty hot. |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| corroonb wrote: |
| I don't think Windows Vista will work on single cores and quad cores will be the standard in the very near future. If you are going to be paying $750+ you may as well get a dual core. The power usage for dual cores is very high so make sure you get a good battery. I didn't and mine lasts for about 45mins. (AMD Turion 64 X2). Plus with dual cores you have a handy portable heater to keep your hands, legs and desk toasty hot. |
I'm sure you mean well, but Vista will run on any single core CPU.
The minimum requirement is a 1GHz CPU. Where Vista will be taxing is in the area of graphics. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| since you are not doing anything labor intensive, anything will do just fine. Once you start getting into graphics manipulation, usage, creation, etc., THEN you need the horsepower; not now (according to what you have said). |
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Missile Command Kid
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| corroonb wrote: |
| I don't think Windows Vista will work on single cores and quad cores will be the standard in the very near future. If you are going to be paying $750+ you may as well get a dual core. The power usage for dual cores is very high so make sure you get a good battery. I didn't and mine lasts for about 45mins. (AMD Turion 64 X2). Plus with dual cores you have a handy portable heater to keep your hands, legs and desk toasty hot. |
Yeah, but if all he wants is surfing the net, movies, and MP3s, who cares about Vista? He doesn't need it - and he certainly doesn't need to spend more than $750 on such a laptop. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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Mate got the Dual! If you are planning on keeping your notebook for a while. then its best you have extra power with the Dual!
really how much more money is it? wouldnt it be better to download, watch a movie and do other tasks all at the same time without your PC running sluggish!
Dual is the only way to go..
you will regret not going Dual if you dont... |
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corroonb
Joined: 04 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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They recommend dual-core processors for Vista. The minimum req. are actually 800 mhz and a "modern processor", this is not defined, but you can bet that Vista and will be quite slow on a single core. A lot of new programs are designed for dual-core use and work much faster with them. Video-decoding is improved with the xvid and DivX (Pro) codec, used for almost all .avi videos. Dual-cores are no longer expensive, good budget models are available at reasonable prices, quad-cores will soon be widely available.
You should really have given an approximate budget for a proper recommendation but you don't need a dual-core, you don't even need a laptop. If you do your word-processing on a desk-top (not always comfortable on a laptop) you could probably use a PortablePC for the rest. I don't know much about these but they are probably cheaper than a new, budget laptop or you could use something like a PSP or ZenVision for video and music.
Anyway good luck with your laptop whatever you decide.
PS look out for older Sony batteries if you buy second hand, these could be defective, some can catch fire.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6128837.html |
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mishlert
Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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Want to know if your p.c. will run on Vista?
Go here. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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| cubanlord wrote: |
| Once you start getting into graphics manipulation, usage, creation, etc., THEN you need the horsepower; |
Speaking of... still running a FEAR server? I need to test my new machine. |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:53 am Post subject: |
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| corroonb wrote: |
They recommend dual-core processors for Vista. The minimum req. are actually 800 mhz and a "modern processor", this is not defined, but you can bet that Vista and will be quite slow on a single core.
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Where do you get this stuff? Stop thinking, start reading.
While 64-bit will have meaning to Vista, dual-core won't mean much more to Vista than it does to WinXP. To wit; Vista is not a multi-thread application. Vista itself won't make use of multi-core CPUs.
I agree that it doesn't make much sense to go single core right now, but it isn't Vista that prompts that thinking, it's just price and bang for the buck, as it were. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| cubanlord wrote: |
| Once you start getting into graphics manipulation, usage, creation, etc., THEN you need the horsepower; |
Speaking of... still running a FEAR server? I need to test my new machine. |
yes I am. As a matter of fact, it's up now. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| What's it called now? |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| !!!!!BEGINNERS ONLY!!!!! |
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