pentium 4 or C2D

[hjh5990]

my computer JUST died. it was a 2.08GHz and was doing fine.
im about to get a new computer at computergeeks.com or somewhere else if its cheaper =/.
if i were to get a pentium 4 3.2GHz, would it be better than a C2D 1.86GHz for normal use and games?
and what about for pcsx2 or some of the emus here?

[emwearz]

No the C2D would be the much better option, theres also a lot of headroom for overclocking, even if you know utterly nothing about it.

Get the C2D.

[StriderVM]

What I suggest is look at your budget.

And then look at this :

CPU Charts | Tom's Hardware (http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=946&model2=882&chart=435)

This shows the current generation processors and how fast are they.

If you're the budget conscious guy, I suggest to look at this :

CPU Charts | Tom's Hardware (http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=946&model2=882&chart=444)

It kinda shows the performance per buck ratio of processors. Sadly, I do not suggest the Sempron processors on serious gaming. But still, if that what your budget allows, then go for it. ;)

[hjh5990]

ok thnx.
do you happen to know anysites where i can order dekstops for a much cheaper price than, lets say dell.com or w/e? i've been looking at computergeeks.com but they dont have much options.

[tuanming]

I believe the 1.86Ghz C2D is about 2 times faster than the 3.2Ghz Pentium 4.

[hjh5990]

I believe the 1.86Ghz C2D is about 2 times faster than the 3.2Ghz Pentium 4.

really?
geez, ok i get the point now =P.
C2D it is.
thnx for all the info.

[tuanming]

really?
geez, ok i get the point now =P.
C2D it is.
thnx for all the info.

Somewhere in between there ;) 2x faster is not the limit here though. You could make 3x or 4x+ if you overclock it! Of course, I'm talking about raw speed here, can't guarantee it would perform more than 2x on every/any application...

Pcsx2 is one of those program/application that you'd likely to see more than 2x the speed/performance of a 3.2Ghz P4 only if you overclock the E63xx (1.86Ghz) 3Ghz or more. And of course you'd need a decent graphic card to cope along with the out put speed of your processor.

Pretty much any DDR2 667 or 800 ram and almost any P965 motherboard or P35 would easily do 3Ghz + on a 1.86Ghz. Also, overclocking is not a guarantee either because sometime you could end up with one of those bad/sucky low bin processor that refused to do a measly overclock (3Ghz).

You don't have to overclock, it just there for anyone who'd take advantage of the processor and make it work faster than the rated frequency or clock speed without paying extra.