Re: OT:hardware query

[Dan Ritter <dsr@randomstring.org>]

mick crane wrote: 
> On 2019-06-29 17:17, Dan Ritter wrote:
> > Martin Smith wrote:
> > > On 28/06/2019 17:11, mick crane wrote:
> > General advice:
> > 
> > - look for a generic PC, avoiding laptops and anything described
> >   as "mini".
> > 
> > - Don't obsess over CPUs. The last 8 years have only given
> >   incremental improvements.
> > 
> > - Look for PCIe slots on the motherboard instead of PCI.
> > 
> > - Look for 4 DIMM slots for RAM, either DDR3 or DDR4. DDR2 is
> >   too old to find in useful quantity.
> > 
> > - Assume that you're going to replace a spinning disk in the
> >   near future. As long as it has a sufficient number of SATA2 or
> >   SATA3 ports, you'll be fine. 4 is the minimum.
> > 
> > - Assume that you need to replace the graphics card in order to
> >   play games.
> > 
> > -dsr-
> 
> are you saying that there's not much noticeable difference between
> i3,i5,xeon E3,i7
> with the same graphics card ?

I'm saying that, among the range of CPUs you can purchase in
used machines for under 200 quid, there's not much difference.

It is *also* the case that for most games on Steam, the quality
of your graphics card (again in the used, low price range) will
make more difference in game playing than the CPU.

There are certainly combinations that will escape this
generalization.

> Would seem that a processor without integrated graphics might be better ?

It's irrelevant: hardly any Steam games will play acceptably
using integrated graphics. 

-dsr-