What Speed Computer Processor Do I Need??

Written by Jeff H. Reynolds

Fifteen years ago, the computer systems on the shelves of our local electronic stores typically had processors running at 10 to 20 mhz and they cost up to $8,000, if not more.  (I remember buying a 386sx laptop back then and paying more than $3,000 for it... and I thought I got a deal!!)  Those machines were so fast!!  We thought they could do anything.

In the year 2006, computers have advanced by leaps and bounds.  Not only can the typical home computer run circles around the fastest and most advanced super computer of yester year..., it's affordable.  You can open up the newspaper in most any city and find a store selling wonderfully equiped machines for less than $1,000.  

Intel and AMD, the two leading processor/chip manufacturers, have both introduced technology which incorporates dual cores on a single chip/processor.  Processing speeds have also advanced... with speeds well in excess of 3 ghz.  But, we have also seen new designs that have changed the way we look at and measure the productivity of these devices.  We have AMD to thank for this. 

Needless to say, things have gotten complicated for the average person who's looking to purchase a computer.  There are just so many different processors/chips to pick from, a decision can be quite difficult.

I find myself telling my customers over and over again that they do not need to necessarily purchase the most advanced computer.  In fact, I tell most of my customers that they can get by just fine with an older used machine and put the savings in cost into other items, such as printers and advanced audio speaker systems etc....  In my shop, we typically sell our basic Pentium II machines for $35; our Celeron machines for $50 to $75; and, our Pentium III machines for $75 to $150.  (These machines are generally equipped with 128mb of memory, 4 to 6gb hard drives, cd/rom, usb ports etc....)  Obviously, the difference in price between our used equipment and the likely cost of a new machine is substantial.  The question that must be answered is simple... do I really need to spend that additional money for that faster proceessor? 

Windows XP is a wonderful operating system but it is a resource hog and does require a decent processor and a bit of memory to be installed in the computer.  I have run XP on machines of only 300 mhz... but, the computer was sluggish and I had to install a great deal of memory to make it work.  I have found that I prefer to sell machines equipped with either the Intel Celeron 2 processor or Intel Pentium III processor.   These machines typically will do most everything my customers want or need and, I focus on the 500 to 1,000 mhz range.  It has been my experience that most individuals will never require a faster processor than this.

In general, a Dell GX100 computer equipped with nothing more than a 566 mhz Celeron processor and 128mb of memory, can do most anything.  You can run most all operating systems, software, stream music, edit photos, play videos, manage your business or home and surf the web, chat etc... all without a problem.  But, if you are going to be doing all of this at once... you will start to over tax the system and will require substantially more memory and a faster processor. 

So, from my experience I have found that most customers can get by just fine with a computer equipped with nothing more than a processor of 500 mhz or more and 128mb of memory at minimum.  And I should note, I have seldom found a need for more than 512mb of memory.  

Before closing out this article, I wanted to take a moment and to also express some thoughts on the differences between AMD and Intel processors.  Most people have little idea as to what brand processor is best for them... or, if there is a difference at all.  Though I sell mostly Intel products, my personal computers are all equipped with AMD processors.  The reason for this is simple.  The most bang for the buck comes from AMD.  If you are considering the purchase of a computer system of more than 1 ghz... I strongly suggest that you go with an AMD equipped machine.  The AMD Athlon, Athlon XP, Sempron, and Athlon 64 series processors are the best ever produced in my humble opinion.  

For those of you that might be interested... my primary desktop computer is equipped as follows:

DFI KT600 Motherboard, AMD Athlon XP 2900+ processor, 1gb PC3200 memory, 30 gb quantum hard drive, 5 gb maxtor hard drive, ati 9800se 128mb video card, running on Windows XP Professional, using Firefox and Maxthon browsers.  

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Recently, I came across an article at ATI's website addressing the question of processor speed.  It seems that they are of the opinion that 800mhz is the fastest speed that the average user will require for most all applications.