What is the best CPU available?

[BehaCepa]

I would like to purchase a new computer for my family, and slowdown has always been an issue.
The computer they use currently holds a Pentium 4 @ 2.8 Ghz. CPU.
Buying a new computer, I know I should get enough Ram to help slowdown, but I would really like to know what would be the absolute best processor I could purchase without it being too expensive.
I don't want it to be mid-ranged or anything, but it doesn't need to be the most powerful/expensive processor available, just the all-around best. Intel/AMD, I don't really care. In my personal, non-family, computer, I have an Intel E6600 @ 2.4 Ghz, which is great, but still has its slowdown moments. I need a processor that eliminates slowdown as much as possible. Any help/ Newegg products would be greatly appreciated.

 

[shadowthor]

It totally depends on what you plan to do with it. I would go with the Q6600 or Q9450. Is there a budget constraint?

 

[runswindows95]

What are you doing when the slowdowns happen? How long do these slowdowns happen? How old is the OS install? There are so many factors that will cause a computer to slow down, software and hardware wise.

 

[pcgamer12]

Q6600 with 4GB RAM, use Vista 64-bit or XP.

 

[albundy2]

quads
q6600=$100 q6700=$200 phenom be=$230-250

tri=not really worth it.

dual=wolfdale 8xxx only $200ish

yes this is a half @s5ed response...

 

[cjl]

Q9450 is a great CPU for $300 or so.

 

[dagger]

Does "best" mean fastest? That would be QX9775, at $1.5k.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115044&Tpk=qx9775

Q6600 is the best bang for the buck, at $190. Q9450 is the next step up, although it's nowhere nearly the best bang for the buck, as it's a large price increase for a small performance increase.

 

[cjl]

Well, you could always go with a 9770 for $90 less...



As for Q6600 vs 9450? I think the 9450 is worth it for the 45nm (oc's better, lower power) and larger cache. If you're on a budget though, the Q6600 is certainly a good choice.

 

[shadowthor]

Q6600 is definitely a good choice if you are on a budget.

 

[iluvgillgill]

the best i will buy is the Q9450 but the best of the best now is still the QX9775!

 

[Umagalis]

quads
q6600=$100 q6700=$200 phenom be=$230-250

tri=not really worth it.

dual=wolfdale 8xxx only $200ish

yes this is a half @s5ed response...

true it is....half!
but also on good CPUs

A relevant question would be are you purchasing parts to build/custom build or a box from manufacturer like HP/Dell or something like that~
Your own build or custom build means you want to look at the what the cpu will need to go with it for a motherboard and ram......

(do 2 halfs of an @s5 make a whole one?)

 

[Guest]

I believe the WateryBridge Intel Processor which has 8192 cores and a core speed of 4 terahertz (its a new model the military just got... its 5 generations after sandybridge.... it only works in the X118 mobo) costs only 1.768 trillion

for normal people the q6600 or the q9450 =D

 

[the last resort]

quantum computing. LOL

 

[croc]

Obviously, OP has no further information to impart.

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

quads
q6600=$100 q6700=$200 phenom be=$230-250

tri=not really worth it.

dual=wolfdale 8xxx only $200ish

yes this is a half @s5ed response...

Could you let me in on where you can get a Q6600 for only $100. The cheapest I've ever seen them was around $180 for the OEM model.

 

[BehaCepa]

-There isn't a serious budget constraint, I just can't spend over $500 on a CPU.. that'd be ridiculous
-General computer use/ minimal gaming
-I'm just sick of my computer being unable to handle opening files and more than one application
-These slowdowns generally happen when I'm using more than one application or trying to browse a folder with pictures/vids in Thumbnail view. And when I do this, the computer will freeze, and I'll wait about 5 minutes before I can do anything.
-I'm looking for a processor that will make my computing experience hassle-free

 

[BehaCepa]

Thank you for all your answers btw

 

[shadowthor]

Q9550 it is $500 I think , if you want the highest speed but not paying ridiculous price for a quad core(Qx9770).

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

-There isn't a serious budget constraint, I just can't spend over $500 on a CPU.. that'd be ridiculous
-General computer use/ minimal gaming
-I'm just sick of my computer being unable to handle opening files and more than one application
-These slowdowns generally happen when I'm using more than one application or trying to browse a folder with pictures/vids in Thumbnail view. And when I do this, the computer will freeze, and I'll wait about 5 minutes before I can do anything.
-I'm looking for a processor that will make my computing experience hassle-free

I agree with you that spending $500 on a processor is excessive in most cases. The only time a processor that expensive can be warranted on a desktop for home use would be if you were planning on doing some serious gaming and wanted to use all of the high settings and high resolutions. That doesn't sound like what you're looking for judging by this post.

It looks to me like you do a significant amount of multitasking and that is causing the slowdowns. My recommendation would be to get the least expensive quad core platform you can get.

I'd recommend you pick up an AMD Phenom 9600 from Newegg for $170 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244 and a motherboard with the 780G chipset. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...149 107191003 1071937261&bop=And&Order=RATING

This will be cheaper than the Intel route as the Q6600 from Newegg costs $190 (for the OEM version with no fan included), and comparable Intel motherboards cost more (at least $10 for the G35 chipset depending on model) and have inferior graphics capability.

I'm basing these recommendations under the assumption that you will not be overclocking, and that you do not plan on doing a lot of serious gaming. If you plan to overclock the CPU or you want to do serious gaming then the Intel setup is a better choice even if it is more expensive.

 

[cjl]

I would not get a phenom right now, as they are slower and generally hotter running than the Intel quads (especially the 45nm intels).

 

[geofelt]

If you do heavy multitasking, then any of the mentioned intel Quads in the $200 range would serve you well. If you are only doing a couple of things, then a duo like the E8400 would be fine. It is considerably faster than the E6600 which you liked.

The key is to have enough ram to hold all the tasks in memory at the same time. As cheap as ram is today, 4gb would be a minimum, and 8gb, even better.

If your work is hard drive intensive, then look for several smaller drives instead of one huge drive. The reasoning is that each drive can be more isolated to it's own particular task, and run more efficiently.

 

[BehaCepa]

Thank you Just_An_Engineer, all I need is something to ease my freezing and long waiting pains, so I'll take yours, and everyone's recommendations into consideration. Thanks a bunch

 

[cjl]

What geofelt said is true - the E8xxx series are quite nice for lighter usage, and in many cases actually faster than the Qxxxx for single threaded apps. So, depending on what you really want, that could be something to take into account.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

-There isn't a serious budget constraint, I just can't spend over $500 on a CPU.. that'd be ridiculous
-General computer use/ minimal gaming
-I'm just sick of my computer being unable to handle opening files and more than one application
-These slowdowns generally happen when I'm using more than one application or trying to browse a folder with pictures/vids in Thumbnail view. And when I do this, the computer will freeze, and I'll wait about 5 minutes before I can do anything.
-I'm looking for a processor that will make my computing experience hassle-free

5 MINUTES?!!? There is absolutely no justifiable reason for the PC to freeze when doing those things, slowing down maybe but a 5 minute freeze is unacceptable. I am running an E6750 and 2GB of RAM at this very moment, at stock I just reinstalled windows a day ago and as a rule I reset all overclocks so that there are no driver errors, and I have never had a slowdown like that happen. I run an active virus scanner, AOL desktop, firefox with 1-10 tabs, speedfan (I'm obsessive about seeing my temps.), Xfire, more often then not some music player with my music library open in a Windows folder, and on top of all this I game. NEVER have I had such a problem, though the closest thing was that at start up and shut down the PC would drag a$$ for a minute or 2, but upgrading to a SATA hard drive fixed that totally. All this and I run Vista Ultimate 64!

I think the problem is more that the PC needs cleaned and you need to research PC maintenance. Hell, I'll give you a brief run-through:

Things to do:
-Defrag ATLEAST once a day
-Run disk cleanup ATLEAST once a day (preferably a program called Ccleaner as well)
-MONITOR TEMPERATURES!!! (this will be the dividing line between a overheating, slow, and dying PC and a cool, fast, and stable one)
-Virus scan ATLEAST once a week (A great free virus scanner is Avast)
-Spyware scan ATLEAST once a week (Spyware detector is good, but not free, and the name is not exactly creative)
-Firewall (Window's firewall works fine if you also have an active virus scanner like Avast in the background)
-Make sure you do not have tons of unused programs running at once. Hit RUN, then type in msconfig, hit enter, click the startup tab, then click off what you do not need, MAKE SURE NOT TO CLICK OFF WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM, yes idiot Microsoft put that there just to pi$$ us off I think, and yes I have done it by accident. Anyway 95%+ programs do not need to be running at start up to work, if you need to listen to music with winamp then, CLICK WINAMP!
-*MOST IMPORTANT AND OVERLOOKED!* Windows gets fragmented and generally messy pretty quick and this can not be fixed with out reinstalling windows, which you should do ATLEAST once every 2 years, but there is one single way to help. DO NOT DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL EVERY SINGLE WINDOWS UPDATE!!! If it is not broken then don't fix it, research all updates and THEN decide whether to install it or not.

Things not to do:
-do things that are generally related to viruses, spyware, and adware, naughty websites included. If you must then I guess just make sure your PC is locked down tight.
-Use desktop shortcuts, or more than ABSOLUTELY necessary. It always pains me to see some one's computer and see half the screen filled with short cuts. Honestly that slows the PC down a lot, more so old ones but this definitely still applies, if you need to access a program go through the start menu, it is not THAT much of an inconvenience, not to mention the performance boost.
-Screen savers, a nice flashy screen saver is nice but if it is so flashy it is taxing your computer then it is not worth it.
-Did I mention not to install every windows update?

I'm sorry if you already know some of this, I am just trying to help, no offense was meant. Besides even many enthusiast and system builders have atleast 3 of those bad habits, or even more! I would recommend either a E8xxx dualcore, more for gaming and getting the most out of your money, or get the Q6600 or Q9450, the Q9300 is a waste compared to the Q6600. None of those will offer a substantial boost over your E6600, but some 800 Mhz + RAM with some decent timings will help, either get 2x 1GB sticks or 2x 2GB sticks for best result. Unless you plan on SLI'ng Nvidia GPUs then say NO to a Nvidia motherboard. I recommend the P35/P45 or other Intel motherboards. Also as I said above a nice new SATA hard drive can really make the difference, since the hard drive is supposed to be the largest system bottleneck.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask some more questions. Oh, and sorry for the long a$$ post.

 

[dvijaydev46]

I agree with The_Blood_ Raven. I'm using 4200 x2 with 2gb of ram which is fairly doing well. Believe me it's not only the hardware that matters. Check your installed software. Norton AV could mostly the culprit if you use. Use nod32. It's better than Norton and many other "leading" antivirus softs. e6600 with 2gb of ram should be very much fine. Check the startup programs by typing msconfig in Run from start bar. disable whatever you suspect you wont need from start up like quicktime. powerdvd service etc except for the AV you are using.

A 2 year old harddisk should not be the cause for the system slowdown. The problem is not at all woth your processor. TRY REINSTALLING YOUR OS. Save money for now and don't buy anything. If at all you need to buy something, buy some ram and that's it.