how many GHz's does a computer have to have in order to be awfullly fast?(how much money would that be)?

Question

well I am looking for a computer that can handle many tasks or operations at the same time but still be fast, normally called a "workhorse "computer. Also what processor(out int he market) should one have to achive this FAST speed on a computer. I dont know if to just buy one (any suggestion in model?) or to build one, if i do build one what kind of hardware should i get, theres so many kinds( can you provided the Name and brands?)

intel core2 duo QUAD VS. intel core 2 duo EXTREME who is the best.?(does one know any next generation processors that might come out soon or in a couple of years?)

Answer 1

Firstly, you need to know that Ghz is not a measure of speed - it is a measure of clock frequency, used for finding processor speeds within "families" of CPU: for example, a 3Ghz Pentium 4 will be faster than a 2Ghz Pentium 4, and a 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo will be much faster than a 3Ghz Pentium 4.

You can make/buy a computer that is best for different tasks. The best computer for gaming would look something like this:

CPU: Core 2 Duo/Quad
Graphics: 8800GTX
Memory: 4GB
etc...

For a server, a high-end computer might be:

CPU: 8 Quad core Xeon processors (8 on one motherboard)
Memory: 64GB
etc...

The gaming setup might cost you around £1500 ($3000), server configurations (with multiple xeon/opteron processors) can be tens of thousands of pounds/dollars. It all depends on what you will use it for.

Finally, the two factors affecting the number of operations at once are CPU cores and RAM. The operations are called "threads", and these are shared between cores - the more cores you have, the more you can avoid running many threads on a single core - therefore, a 4 core CPU is better than one with 2 cores. Also, the RAM holds the current operation(s) as they are being carried out, and is important for multitasking.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I hate to be a spoiler but your approach is all wrong and you will get the wrong solution. You already have Intel and AMD heads giving their opinions on which processor is better.

Start with your work load. What are you trying to do? What kind of software are you trying to run that needs the processing power Then make a decision. You also have to take into consideration what OS you want to run and things like that.

The speed of the processor does not hardly mean squat these days if your software can't use it all!. Do you need a 64bit processor? Do you need multi Core? Do you need multi-threading (SMT).

Processor manufacturers want you to fall into the "Processor Speed" trap so you can keep buying more processors.

Also, don't spend any more than you have to! I can pretty much gurantee you that if you run some performance tool on your machine, you will find that you only use 30% of your processors cycles (or some low percentage) which means that you would have thrown away 100%-X% of your money.

Answer 3

Get as much as you can afford. The same goes for ram. That's the general rule when buying computers. Spend the most that you can or you'll end up having to upgade or replace it in a few years.

I use a P4 2.8 ghz and it works well for 3d modeling and animation software like Maya. If you're buying new, I'd definitely recommend getting a Pentium Core 2 Duo processor. 2ghz and up should do you fine. Get about 2 gigs or more of RAM too. Look at the video card options on the PC you're lokking into. Get an nvidia or ati video card with about 512mb RAM or more and you should be fine.

I recommend Dell XPS desktops or Dell Precision workstations if you want a real "workhorse".

Answer 4

If you need super use then u should build it.

Most pre-builts are for normal use.

Choose a motherboard with a high bus speed!!!!!!!

This is the bottleneck.

I dont care how much memory you have, size of the hd, speed of CPU, etc... The data can still only travel at a certain speed on the bus.

Then there's your OS. Learn to configure it: Registry, startups, services, configurations, processes, optimizations, pagefile defrags, etc...

Download SANDRA to learn everything about your machine as well as get tips for configs.

I have an ECS motherboard with a 800 Mhz front side bus, 3.8 GHz Pentium D, 2 gigs of memory, 128Mb dedicated to Video.

About $400 together in a bundled deal at FRY's

(no i dont get paid to advertise but I really loved the deal I got)

with another $30 for the tower case. It is way better than $1200 pre-assembled with all the trash and commercials that comes with it.

IT SCREAMS!!!

Answer 5

the new core 2 duo's by intel are good for that. they range from 180-550. if u want to spend more then the core 2 extreme is amazing. it costs a good 975. if those are too much then find an AMD. a 5000+ will be decent and not too bad on price. if u want to build a system then start with your processor and then motherboard. thats the most important part for speed. i use newegg.com. get at least 1gb of ram.

Answer 6

a mac might not be "awfully fast", as you put it, but it can handle several tasks at the same time. providing you have all the peripherals, a mac pro ($2000-3000 USD) is the fastest in the line of mac computers (3 ghz), and its possible to upgrade the memory easily and cheaply, to handle all the tasks. and it uses the same proccessor as pcs (core duo). the only thing is, do you want to change you computer interface and everything (im guessing you're a pc user)? if you really do switch, you'll probably be making among the best choices in your life- im a mac user, with pcs at school and...ya...you get my idea.

by the way, tu as faim? lol interesting choice of display name.

Answer 7

Here is a link to a site with all the information you could need on building a good system.

Particularly useful are the CPU, Graphic, and hard disk charts they have listed on the right hand side of the page a little down from the top.

http://www.tomshardware.com/

I also like:

http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.sysopt.com
http://www.xbitlabs.com
http://www.bjorn3d.com <--- I am in no way affiliated with this site, it's just a coincidence.

Answer 8

Oh those crazy Intel fanboys. AMD is the best. It is not about the GHz, it is about balance. My overclocked Athlon 3000+ rig running at 2.25GHz will beat an Intel 3Ghz any day.

Answer 9

Anything over 2 gigs will probably be more than enough. but do not neglect your RAM, it has a lot to do with speed also
Intel is one of the best

Answer 10

get a quad-core intel ... raid about 4 superfast harddrives together .. and have about 2 gigs of high-quality system memory ..