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Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors
    #12394214 -

Hey gang, I'm looking at buying a laptop here, possibly a netbook, but I've come to realize I don't know shit anymore about which processors are good and what I should be looking for in a computer.

I'd like to be able to stream HD video, surf the web, maybe play some vidja games, but that's less of a priority.

I know to look for lots of RAM, but I'm pretty puzzled on these new processors (to give you a frame of reference, I haven't been paying attention since Pentium 4's were the hot shit).  It seems like clock speeds have actually gone down since I last looked into such things, but there's multiple core processors out now, right?

Anybody have some tips for me?

I'm looking at the Gateway LT3103u cause it's a cheap little thing with nice resolution and screen size, but I worry that it won't be able to do what I'd like for streaming video.


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No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394284 -

Quote:
I'd like to be able to stream HD video


I dont think you will be able to do that on a netbook.  My wife's netbook wont do HD thats located on the disk, let alone stream it.

Also, you are right - clock speeds are not the end all.

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394285 -

That model really isn't bad for the price.

Relatively older Athlon processor - so you're definitely going to suffer on battery life, but you'll see pretty good performance with that chip. The Intel Atom processors found in a lot of netbooks offer ridiculous battery life, and pretty good performance for the buck.

Personally, I dig the Core 2 Duos. I have an IBM laptop with a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo and it runs like a raped ape.

That being said though...most of these newer laptops have pretty good performance. If it's been since the P4 days that you paid attention to some of the specifics - you'll be happy I'm sure with whatever you go with. Make sure the video is sufficient and you can never have too much RAM. Just make sure if you go with over 4 GB you ensure the operating system is 64 bit. :thumbup:


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: DieCommie]
    #12394302 -

DieCommie said:
Quote:
I'd like to be able to stream HD video


I dont think you will be able to do that on a netbook.  My wife's netbook wont do HD thats located on the disk, let alone stream it.

Also, you are right - clock speeds are not the end all.



Oh ya...definitely what he said :grin: HD video might be a struggle with some of the lower end graphic cards in some of those netbook models. I know I've seen Nvidia's Tegra platform (600/650) can handle 720p/1080p with minimal power...pretty impressive, I'd suggest taking a look at some of those features.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: DieCommie]
    #12394319 -

DieCommie said:
Quote:
I'd like to be able to stream HD video


I dont think you will be able to do that on a netbook.  My wife's netbook wont do HD thats located on the disk, let alone stream it.

Also, you are right - clock speeds are not the end all.


What kind of netbook does your wife have?

I'm kinda on the fence on this issue....streaming HD would be really nice, and I don't buy computers often (I'm on a 2.4Ghz P4 with 768MB RAM desktop right now), so it might be worth the extra bucks to get a full sized laptop that can handle it.  Then again having a tiny little 3lb computer would be pretty bitchin too...


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No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394369 -

Also, totally not a hardware question but....Windows 7 vs Windows Vista?

I've not used anything past XP...


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No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394409 -

7 is better than vista and xp imo.  (but in reality they are all very similar.)

My wife has this netbook ->  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146574  Its not bad, its a little netbook.  It does what it does.

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394418 -

circularvortex said:
It seems like clock speeds have actually gone down since I last looked into such things, but there's multiple core processors out now, right?



I'm curious about this if anyone can shed some light on it. I understand the concept of multiple cores and how they work, but I'm curious why clock speed hasn't gone up much. Before dual-cores there was a lot of 3+ ghz processors. Now even as quad-cores become more common I'd expect clock speed to go up, but that's not really the case.


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That's me on the street with a violin under my chin. Playing with a grin, singing gibberish.

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12394419 -

I can't say enough good things about Windows 7. We actually just migrated our entire company from XP/Vista to Windows 7 and seriously, not one person out of 75 has complained yet.

Performance is ridiculous. Somehow my laptop runs it better with tons of shit going on then XP did :thumbup: Big thumbs up from me.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: DieCommie]
    #12394491 -

DieCommie said:
Quote:
I'd like to be able to stream HD video


I dont think you will be able to do that on a netbook.  My wife's netbook wont do HD thats located on the disk, let alone stream it.


as long as you get something with an intel atom and nvidia ion video you should be able to play back 1080p no problem.

using XBMC or something else that has been compiled to offload HD video playback to the GPU should be easy as hell.

ive got an nvidia 8500gt (about $40) and i can play 1080p without any issue because it supports GPU offloading.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: eulogy1211]
    #12394501 -

Basically it's just a trade, Fossil.

From my understanding, since you're essentially putting 2 processors (cores) into relatively same amount of space, you have to sacrifice some power. As processor footprints become smaller, and lower power chips going in, you'll be hard pressed to find a 3.0 Ghz Quad-Core processor anywhere =)

But, the thought behind it is that before...each application or process creates a thread, and a single processor can only handle 1 thread at a time. So it will sit there and switch back and forth between all threads running (albeit hella fast) Now with dual and quad core chips, each core has it's own ability to process a single thread. Hence the improvement in performance (as long as the software is able to take advantage of that...ie. multithreading capability, which honestly most Operating Systems/apps are these days.) I think the logic is simply, 2 Ghz to 1 core = 1 Ghz to each of the 2 cores. Now like I said, definitely not that cut and dry if the applications you're running don't have the ability to take advantage of multiple processors.

:thumbup:


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Edited by eulogy1211 (04/14/10 08:05 PM)

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: F0SS1L]
    #12394503 -

.

Edited by DieCommie (11/15/16 10:39 AM)

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: DieCommie]
    #12397254 -

So, I've been poking around and I found this little baby:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114875

Intel Pentium T4400(2.2GHz dual core)
3GB DDR3 (expandable to 4GB)
250GB 5400rpm Hard disk
Intel GMA 4500M graphics card
Windows 7 Premium
14" Screen 1366x768

Only thing I don't like about it is it's about $130 more than the other one I was looking at and the battery life is about half that of the other one....still, it's got WAY more power, and I'd be able to skip over windows vista entirely....


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No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12397333 -

That looks pretty sweet for the price.  I'm not sure about the video card though - a quick Google search yielded that it might be able to do HD video (def 720p, maybe not 1080p).  Just something to be aware of.

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12397633 -

I just want to throw out that I have an EeePC with the 1.66 N280 Atom with the shit video and I can't even play 480p stuff in youtube. It's fine with me, but just in case you were thinking about it.

For anything else I want to do it works perfectly, although I'm not sure how it runs with Windows so that could make a difference.


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I find myself yearning for clouds returning, all that the rain promises, and more...

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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: pwnasaurus]
    #12397743 -

720p is totally high enough for me.  I think I found a winner here.


--------------------
No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12397766 -

there are netbooks that can breeze through HD videos and even some video games.  specifically those with the Nvidia Ion gpu.  the problem is, there aren't all that many netbooks sporting an Ion yet.  however, i'm fairly certain Asus' N1200 is the first netbook with the ion chip AND a dual core processor.  and i'm pretty sure it can be had for about 500.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
    #12397776 -

got the model number wrong.  it's 1201N

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220659


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
    #12403743 -

Just got my paycheck!  Bought that Toshiba and a nifty little case for it.  Can't wait till it gets here!


--------------------
No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction.

For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.


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Re: Out of the loop on computer hardware -- specifically processors [Re: circularvortex]
    #12403764 -

Nice. Toshiba makes a solid ass laptop. Good choice.
I've had mine for 3 years solid and abused the fuck out of it and it's still kicking like a champ.


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