is celeron good

iggyman

im buyin a new comp wit 2.6 celeron d processor..is it any good like will it play games alri..and replys helpful

unklerosco

Depends on what games ur looking to play... HL2, FarCry n the likes wont be the best on it.

Goodshape

What is the difference between a Pentium and a Celeron processor?

duridian

To be honest most pcs with a budget processor like Celeron D will probably come with a low end graphics solution as well and therefore will likely not be too good at most 'modern' games. What can be really bad with this type of machine is if it has integrated graphics (for example the 'Intel extreme' graphics is a common integrated solution), but has no AGP or PCI-Express x16 slot suitable for adding a better graphics card. In that event you really have no way of improving the graphics ability. If gaming is important/the main purpose for which you are buying this machine then I would say stick on the brakes on the purchase and ask more questions here first before you go buying a machine which may not be what you really need/want. There are plenty people here who will help and advise you.
This for example is the motherboard of a Dell Dimension 2400, the bottom of the line in Dell's lineup, perfectly ok for word processing and websurfing, but not too hot for gaming due to weak integrated graphics and no expansion slot for a graphics card (notice the row of silver dots, just left of centre, where the AGP slot would be positioned in a higher spec model)

Sparky

jeez would ya not think they would atleast leave the agp slot on the board.
FFS

Ri_Nollaig

Sparky_S wrote:

jeez would ya not think they would atleast leave the agp slot on the board.
FFS

Cheaper

maidhc

Sparky_S wrote:

jeez would ya not think they would atleast leave the agp slot on the board.
FFS

It would cannibalise the sales of the more expensive models if it did. Business decision!

TerrorFirmer

With a mobo like that, you could use a pci geforce fx?

You'd still be able play games like CoD, Far Cry, etc beautifully, things like Half Life 2 and BF2 - they'd work but not so well.

No agp slot....ouch

These machines are alright for office-y work - but if thats what you have in mind you could pick up a machine capable of that very task for about the price of a single crisp 50 note.

They are also perfect for lan machines for older games such as Sof2, CoD, Battlefield 1942 and the like

kinkstr

MobileInfantry wrote:

With a mobo like that, you could use a pci geforce fx?

You'd still be able play games like CoD, Far Cry, etc beautifully, things like Half Life 2 and BF2 - they'd work but not so well.

I doubt a pci geforce would run bf2 at all

sceptre

We've had this out a little bit on the Laptops board where both myself and maidhc (and a few others) have been proposing that for almost all users, the difference between a pentium4 (or rather a p4-m but the argument still holds) and a celeron isn't something that most will ever notice. The opposing view has mostly been rather weakly considering the badge on the front of the machine and specific use by specific people, which tends to agree with what we've been saying.

Now, if you're a serious gamer, you may well notice the difference. If you're heavily into video editing you may well notice the difference. If you don't do either of these things (and given that you've mentioned gaming this isn't necessarily applicable to you) there isn't all that much difference for browsing and word processing between the celeron 2.8 and an equivalent p4. or the p3-500 I'm currently typing on.

The newish Celeron D is a pretty darned good processor. And it comes at a nice price discount compared to a p4 rated at the same speed which is nice if you don't need the p4. The trouble is, as duridian mentioned, that many factory built machines that contain a celeron processor tend to go for integrated graphics as the only solution, which will cause far more of a hit to your gaming plans, regardless of how into your gaming you are. There are some machines, even those made by Dell (as mentioned above) that will come with a Celeron option and an AGP or PCI-E port actually present on the motherboard. I wouldn't abandon the idea of getting a celeron-based machine but I'd examine the basic specs for the motherboard contained therein first, again, obviously depending on how pushed you are about your gaming and how interested you are in upgrading the components in a year or eighteen months.

Stephen

As you have said you want to play games with this machine, I wouldn't even consider a celeron, and would instead go for an Athlon 64 (preferably) or a P4.