CPU Guide

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Guide to the Current Crop of CPUs from Intel And AMD

This guide to the current crop of CPUs from Intel And AMD is to help you decide which one best suits your needs and budget.

I've found some great ones on Intel & other popular CPU's . I have looked around and I don't think you will find better prices or a more reliable service.

There are three main types of CPU based on what connector they have to the motherboard. You must use the right motherboard with the right CPU.

1. Socket 478:

This is for the Intel Pentium 4 CPU. You can get 1.6 to 3.6 gigahertz Pentium 4s. The higher numbers correspond to faster CPUs. There are huges increases in price as you go up in speed so I recommend you always buy at the middle of the row. These processors are very expensive and the motherboards for them are also costly.

If you are interested in getting a Pentium 4 processor then check out the prices of Intel & other popular CPU's here.

Pentium 4s are very fast processors. In fact the 3.6 gigahertz Pentium 4 is the fastest processor you can currently get for audio/video editing and some 3D rendering.

Another common processor for this socket is the Pentium 4 Celeron CPU. This really is a slow option and is often considerably handicapped by integrated graphics chipsets. I would recommend the Celeron only to people who have very light computing tasks.

2. Socket 370:

This is for the old Pentium III/Celeron CPUs. This type of CPU is definitely on the way out now. The Celeron CPU (not to be confused has much less performance but is also much cheaper. Both the Celeron and Pentium III are currently the slowest CPUs around. However some good deals can be had on these parts if you shop around.

If you want to get the best value CPU around then click on the link below. You won't find a better deal for Intel & other popular CPU's .

This type of CPU is great for word processing, playing games and surfing the net. If you can get a good price and don't need top of the line performance then you can't go wrong with a Celeron.

3. Socket 940

This is AMD's top of the line socket for 64 bit Opteron and Athlon FX CPUs. Opteron motherboards can have up to 4 of these sockets for quad CPU performance in workstations and servers. This is a high end socket and most motherboards will be pricey.

4. Socket 939

This socket is also a high performance for 64 bit Athlons. This is a slightly lower price version and probably a better buy for those wanting a high performance PC for home use.

5. Socket 754This socket is the cheap socket for 64 bit Athlons. Motherboards with this socket only support single channel memory configurations which will slow down performance.

6. Socket A:

This is for AMD's old normal 32 bit Athlon XP and Duron processors. The Duron is a cheaper and slower version of the Athlon. Currently these chips offer the best price, performance ratio. I currently use an Athlon and I have been totally happy with it.

I found some sweet prices for AMD processors here. Click the link to browse AMD products and prices.

Final thoughts:

You always have to pay a great deal more if you want extra performance. The golden rule is to never buy the top model. The prices for the best are always way out of line with the extra performance you will receive.

If you are after a really cheap computer then I recommend getting a better graphics card .

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