Different Processors

[delta k]

I don't know anything about computers, but i want a simple one to burn DVDs and play poker on. What kind of processor do I need? There seem to be a lot of them. I'm looking at Dell's btw.

[Redd]

Delta,

Basically any new processor that you can buy will handle DVD burning and multitabling fairly well. Generally, the intel Core 2 Duos are the best value for high-end machines right now, and the lower-end AMD X2s are the best value for the low-end.

As long as you're not encoding DVDs as well as burning, I'd just go for the cheapest dell you can find, as long as it has a DVD burner ofc. Don't forget that some of the cheapies still come with CD-only burners or combo drives (which burn CDs but only read DVDs).

[BiPolar_Nut]

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I'd just go for the cheapest dell you can find, as long as it has a DVD burner and doesn't have a Celeron processor

[/ QUOTE ]

A Celeron would function...they're just a horrible horrible value. You'll get a substantial performance increase for a marginal cost increase going with any other CPU type.

[_dave_]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd just go for the cheapest dell you can find, as long as it has a DVD burner and doesn't have a Celeron processor

[/ QUOTE ]

A Celeron would function...they're just a horrible horrible value. You'll get a substantial performance increase for a marginal cost increase going with any other CPU type.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seconded, no doubt.

[delta k]

ok im buying one of these, assuming they can both handle 2 monitors, which is better?

1. $678 Dell Dimension E521
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+ edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition edit
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS VISTA Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Basic from XP Home, $55 payable at redemption edit
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE 16x DVD+/-RW Drive edit
MONITOR 19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel edit
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache edit
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

or

2. Dell Dimension C521 $653

AMD Athlon™ 64 3800+ edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition edit
UPGRADE TO WINDOWS VISTA Upgrade to Windows Vista Home Basic from XP Home, $55 payable at redemption edit
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16x DVD+/-RW Drive edit
MONITOR 17 inch E177FP Analog Flat Panel edit
VIDEO CARD 128MB ATI Radeon X1300 edit
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

or does someone want to build be a good one on dell.com w/ either a 17inch monitor or no monitor, i gig mem, 160 HD, and dual monitor action. thanks

[lastchance]

The E521 has a 19 in. monitor and DUAL CORE.

Picking the C521 over the E521 would be moronic, and the C521 doesn't look sucky. (of course, there might be better deals).