OT: Can someone help me pick out a desktop machine? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

13 Mar 2011

...
 short and this deal is too good.  It looks like they
have HP/Compaq
(yuk), Acer, and Lenovo.  I'm going to aim for a machine with quad 
We use lots of HPaq machines at work, what's the matter with them?

...
 cores and 8 gigs of ram.  I can spend a little more
than the $650, but
not by much.  My main problem with picking out a machine is that I
don't understand the differences in processors beyond the number of
cores.  In the good old days, they'd list the processor speed and that 
Link below: CPU comparison charts, ranked by 
PassMark score. Yes, I know, not everyone thinks 
the PassMark benchmark is completely valid; lots 
of people swear by them, others swear at them. 
But it's better than a poke in the eye with a 
sharp stick. Some of these charts were updated today.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

There are (presently)  four brackets of CPU 
charted - high-end, mid to high, low to mid, and 
low-end. They have prices listed for many of the 
chips that are still current. Since they keep 
some chips on there for historical comparison, 
and since computing capacity seems to mostly go 
up,  most of the ones on the low-end chart have 
no prices and are no longer available new.  The 
Intel Atom parts are the exceptions.

Then there are 12 charts over in total.

204 . [Philosophy] "Cutting the space budget 
really restores my faith in humanity. It 
eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us 
get straight to the business of hate, debauchery, 
and self-annihilation." --Johnny Hart
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