What's better? Intel E5200 or D915?

[tuesday0180]

The E5200 is dual core 2.5gigs I'm using this for my gaming computer.

The D915 is dual core 2.8gigs I'm using this downstairs as my movie player.


Which one is better?


I just realized the "piece of junk" computer I have downstairs as a dedicated movie viewer has the D915 dual core inside. Is this a good platform to upgrade? The computer itself is a E520 Dell http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/desktops/dimen_e520/pd.aspx?refid=dimen_e520&cs=22&s=dfh

It only has 512megs of ram and a 70 gig hard drive. Should I upgrade this system a bit? It currently has a 305watt PSU and I'm using a nvidia 9500gt for the HDMI connection.

 

[Shadow703793]

Is this a good platform to upgrade?

No. Since it's for HTPC duty you don't need a very powerful DVD (unless you are ripping DVDs). The only upgrade I'd consider is maybe another 1GB or RAM if you can find it for $25-30.

 

[Onus]

What is it not doing that you want it to do? Other than adding some RAM as Shadow suggested, throwing money at it won't accomplish very much. A powerful GPU will be bottlenecked, and a mobo that supports a D915 may not support a much newer CPU, and would likely require a BIOS update.

 

[tuesday0180]

Right now it's fine for just watching movies. But I was thinking of setting up a wireless network downstairs and make that computer have internet access.

It's also running windows 7 with only 512megs of ram.

Ultimately I would like that computer to be a dedicated movie center with internet access for youtube videos and live streaming shows.

Also, is that D915 better than an E5200?

I know the D915 is a 2.8gigs and my upstairs computer is just a 2.5gigs, but I'm not sure which one is better for gaming.

 

[tuesday0180]

NM, scratch the D915 vs e5200 question. Just googled it and E5200 wins.

 

[BadTrip]

The pentium d 915 will be great for what you want it to do. Just have no less than two gigs ram.

 

[tuesday0180]

Alright cool. So I guess I'll just have to buy some more ram. I think it uses 533mhz ram. Is that real crappy ram?

I plan on removing the 512meg of ram inside of there and adding 2x2gigs for a total of 4.

It also shows that the motherboard can only handle 2x320gig hard drives. Is that true? Is there a limit to how big the hard drive can be on motherboards?

It currently has a 70ish gig hard drive as an internal. I have a 1terabyte external hard drive connected to it at the moment. That's what I use to store movies etc.

 

[BadTrip]

Alright cool. So I guess I'll just have to buy some more ram. I think it uses 533mhz ram. Is that real crappy ram?

I plan on removing the 512meg of ram inside of there and adding 2x2gigs for a total of 4.

It also shows that the motherboard can only handle 2x320gig hard drives. Is that true? Is there a limit to how big the hard drive can be on motherboards?

It currently has a 70ish gig hard drive as an internal. I have a 1terabyte external hard drive connected to it at the moment. That's what I use to store movies etc.

I have never heard of a motherboard that limits size of hard drive. Internal would be the way to go to store your movies, as USB isnt fast enough.

Edit: at least not in recent years.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Pentium D 915 is based off of Pentium4 technology.

Pentium Dual Core E5200 is Core2Duo technology with a wolfdale core.

The E5200 is much much much better than the D915.

 

[BadTrip]

If you wanna be technical The 915 is a Presler core

 

[jsc]

NM, scratch the D915 vs e5200 question. Just googled it and E5200 wins.

Well, sure. "E" is higher than "D" and 5200 is a bigger number than 915.

 

[delluser1]

NM, scratch the D915 vs e5200 question. Just googled it and E5200 wins.

Sure E5200 wins, but wouldn't work anyway, your Dell E520 MB doesn't support 45nm Wolfdale cpu's, 65nm Conroe/Allendale or Kentsfield only.