Ok, its time. I gotta replace this old dinosaur (Pentium III , 650mHz) with something new.

I admit it , I don't know crap about these new-fangled processors so I'm asking for your opinions.

Everything's Vista now so that one's settled. But from what I've read I'll need a minimum of 2 GB ram to run it right.

Before anyone says it....NO I'm NOT going to build it on my own...I'd end up with something that looks like a half-built Mouse Trap game , and a migraine. So....NO.

I don't need a NASA command center, I'm just looking for a good mid range computer that'll be upgradable as needed and last a few years.

Here's some of the one's I've been looking at.....Here

In the comparison charts it looks like the Athlon processors are much faster than the Intel.
Is this AMD Phenom triple core any better or just hype? < Ram can only go to 4 GB though.

What's the difference in Level 2 and Level 3 cache?

Gonna use it for Word, Excel, PowerPoint , work stuff. Kids are tired of wa...ting....f..or...their.....ga....mes ....to.....load.....<<blue screen--kernal error>>

Get a Mac.

Larger caches have better hit rates but longer latency. To address this tradeoff, many computers use multiple levels of cache, with small fast caches backed up by larger slower caches. Level 1 the fastest, level 2 the second fastest, level 3 the third fastest (or slowest).

Quoted: Get a Mac.

He said he wanted a computer.




To the OP, I would say build your own...but I see that you are a volfan...

Quoted: Quoted: Get a Mac. He said he wanted a computer. To the OP, I would say build your own...but I see that you are a volfan...

I bought an iMac Friday.  I love it.  I also have a Win XP box I built myself, a laptop with Vista (i wouldn't wish that on a liberal), and a linux box.  If you want stuff to just work and not have to mess with much get a Mac.  If you were a hardcore unix guy I'd still say get a mac.  Best of both worlds for the most part.  


ETA:  OK, on second thought I would wish Vista off on a liberal.  

Get a Mac, unless you like fixing problems and speaking to people with Indian accents.

build it yourself.  it's easy, and who doesn't want another toy to tinker with?

Plus it's waaaaaay easy to come by replacement/upgrade parts for a Windows PC.

Truthfully I would just go to your local electronics box store and pick what the geekiest salesman says will work for you.  You are stuck with Vista as of this June I believe.  You are going to want a quad core and 4 gigs of RAM.  You are going to want a separate graphics/video card for the gaming with at least 512 RAM of separate video memory.   MAC's are great for some apps but lots of games don't have MAC versions and your PC software won't run on them.  Should be able to do this for under a K.  

(FWIW, The geekiest guy I know is a big AMD fan.  Cheaper than Intel and run a little hotter but not a problem in well-ventilated desktops and the extra money can go toward goodied that make a bigger impact on the whole system like a better video card.)

Quoted: Truthfully I would just go to your local electronics box store and pick what the geekiest salesman says will work for you.  You are stuck with Vista as of this June I believe.  You are going to want a quad core and 4 gigs of RAM.  You are going to want a separate graphics/video card for the gaming with at least 512 RAM of separate video memory.   MAC's are great for some apps but lots of games don't have MAC versions and your PC software won't run on them.  Should be able to do this for under a K.   (FWIW, The geekiest guy I know is a big AMD fan.  Cheaper than Intel and run a little hotter but not a problem in well-ventilated desktops and the extra money can go toward goodied that make a bigger impact on the whole system like a better video card.)

Thank you. This is the type of info I was needing.

Found some other choices that fit your suggestions....but confused on the video memory deal. Some say  
128 MB dedicated Ram up to 1343 allocated with Vista
or
256 shared ram
or
256 separate ram

what's the difference? (best)