What's the best processor for a home office?

Question

I'm about to configure a new desktop system and I'd like to pick the best processor out there for multi-tasking of MS Office and Internet Explorer. I'm also probably have MP3s going at the same time.

Any hints appreciated...

Answer 1

The requirements you specify have been possible with standard computer systems for the past few years.

I know you don't want to hear my tale, but iIn the late 1990s I was using a Pentium III 500MHz with 64MB RAM to do just that.

If you're building a new system from scratch though, I would recommend you centre it around the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The cheapest E6300 model (runs at 1.86GHz) will be plenty sufficient.

The reason I recommend this chip is it's relatively cheap for a powerful CPU, it uses relatively little power and as a result can be cooled silently. I'm typing this on one now, and it's a wonderful processor.

As someone else has mentioned, you would do well to specify your system with as much RAM as you can afford. 512MB I would recommend as a bare minimum. Certainly go for 1GB if you can afford it.

An alternative CPU would be to go for an AMD Sempron processor which would be even cheaper. I don't know what the power requirements of these are, or how easy they are to cool, but I believe you get good processing power for your money.

Don't forget to check your other components for compatibility when choosing your purchases. You need to get a compatible motherboard for the processor, and the right RAM - if you get the Core 2 Duo or the Sempron AM2, these both require DDR2 memory in matched pairs.

Best of luck - I hope this helps! I'm sure your system will certainly be powerful enough for a few IE windows and MS Office at the same time as your favourite tunes.

Answer 2

If all you will be doing is MS Office, IE, and Media Player then anything 1 ghz or better will be an ample proc. You can most likely get by with half of that. What you might run into is a memory issue if you use large spreadsheets in Excel or large Power Point presentations. 256 megs of ram will work if you do not open large spreadsheets or PP presentations. Go with 512 megs or 1 gig of ram if you are a POWER MS Office user.

If you plan on playing any online games, even the little Flash or Shockwave ones, you may want to consider a more robust processor. I have seen many times when IE becomes a processor hog while these games are running.

Windows Media Player is not normally associated with taking up a large chunk of your processing power unless it is from a buggy website or rarely DVD processing.

Best of luck!

eric

Answer 3

It does not seems too much of a tasks. Unless you are running some gigantic spreadsheets with plenty of formulas in it. Then it will be a different stories. Or you are going to prepare some video presentations. Then you need some serious machine.

For just reports and slides presentations, even my P3-800 is more than enough.

Answer 4

If your not going to be doing any hard gaming or video editing I would probably go for AMD I would try for 2.0GHz or higher with atleast 512mb or more of memory (ram). Amd is usually a little cheaper on the PC side of the CPU market..thanks

Answer 5

in that case fo gor an intel 4 with hyper threading technology. Great for multitasking and multi-media processing. ALso make sure you get sufficient amount of ram is it enables you to have more applications open at once with more windows.

AMD on the other hand would do good for gaming but not multimedia and such.

Answer 6

Choose either Intel Core Duo or Core 2 Duo.

Answer 7

I think a PII 350 would be enogh. If you will run office 97 then pentium mmx 120 will be ok..

Answer 8

now its intell3.0 work horse . but next month may be another story. best to hang around and see.