which Processor for Poker?

[zion]

The more I browse the web about which pc to purchase (mainly for poker), the more I get confused: Intel Celeron, P4, AMD Athlon, Sempron, x Ghz......, I´m really no more up to date with todays processors,- still have an 1999 Pentium II, 400 Mhz.

I´ll use the pc mainly for multitabling poker, with pokertracker and playerview, furthermore mainly for trading online, i.e using java applets and multi-browser-windows.

I already got a 19 inch CRT, 1600 x 1200.
I know the new pc should be equipped with 1024 MB ram, a 128 MB video card and a large hard disk.

Which processor would you recommend?

I wonder whether I really do need a Pentium 4 (don´t like to spend money for oversized equipment), or is ram the main thing?

Thanks for answers in advance!

zion

[o0mr_bill0o]

get a decent athlon xp. it'll be cheap and do great for all you need. also, i really don't think you need a 128 mb video card for poker. if you're not playing graphics intensive 3d games, a much cheaper one should work.

[stinkypete]

you dont need a fast processor. just get something cheap.

[imported_stealthcow]

whether you have 512mb or 1024 mb ram wont make a difference when 4/ 8 tabling.

the only time it will make a difference is with pokertracker- but either way it takes a long time with those databases

stealthcow-

[Rah]

Well then, add Playerview and suddenly 512 is not enough.

[AncientPC]

If you're going for the best bang for the buck I'd suggest either a socket 754 AMD 64 or a higher end Athlon XP with a gig of budget RAM.

High end video card is for gaming, and gaming only. Most high end gaming cards are crap for 2D actually.

You might look into getting dual DVI outputs if you have monitors to support it. Otherwise get a video card with an analog and a DVI to support two monitors (whether you have them or not, it's nice to plan for the future). Video card should cost at most ~$100 if you're not a hardcore gamer.

Hard drive is person dependent as well. As long as you stick with a 7200rpm it doesn't really matter how big you get it. You could go for one of those 10k WD Raptors, but for the average consumer it's probably not worth the money or the noise.

[Jonny]

I just picked up an AMD 64 socket 939 3500+ for my new machine with 2 gigs of budget ram. This whole system will be roughly $1500 not including the monitor. I would say an AMD XP would do the trick though.

[AncientPC]

[ QUOTE ]
I just picked up an AMD 64 socket 939 3500+ for my new machine with 2 gigs of budget ram. This whole system will be roughly $1500 not including the monitor. I would say an AMD XP would do the trick though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just upgraded my machine as well with a Chaintech board, AMD 64 3000+, and 2GB of Kingston HyperX RAM. However from what I've read after I bought everything:

1) AMD 64 really decreases the effect of lower memory timings and dual channel RAM to point where it's a marginal boost. On top of that, when you take up all 4-slots with dual channel the max speed is only 333Mhz but BIOS updates in the future may fix this.

2) I find myself rarely using more than 1GB of RAM. Most of the time my RAM usage hovers around ~800MB or so including PT, PV, and 8 Party windows.

3) I got a socket 939 CPU and mobo but slightly regret it. Socket 754 AMD64's are not any less unstable when overclocked while they do run a little bit hotter. OTOH you do have an upgrade path, but I realise that everytime I buy a new CPU I buy a new mobo as well. If I upgrade my CPU, what am I going to do with the old one?

[scotnt73]

i just built my brother a new pc yesterday for world of warcraft. it is and amd 2200 sempron. it has 1 gig of ram and a 120 gig 7200 rpm hd. we bought a cheape 256 mb graphics card and a cool light up see through case(he wanted it not my suggestion). we also got the wow game and a 2 month subscription all for 680$ from frys.

he wanted a machine good enough to play wow flawlwsly with no lag. hes very happy. he plays it on the highest graphics settings with absolutely no lag even in the highly populated areas of the game.

for online poker im running a 550 mhz pentium withn a 20 gig hd and 256 mbs of cheap ram. i play 3 tables with absolutely no problem. dont spend alot on a poker pc. im about to build a new pc for myself for wow. its been along time since a game was good enough to make me buy a new pc for it but wow is the best game ive seen in a long long time. they did just about everything right that eq did wrong.

[AncientPC]

WoW isn't exactly a game that taxes the system. I was running the game just fine on my older Athlon XP 2800+ with a Radeon 8500 Pro.