I have a friend who uses excel speadsheets heavy duty type, he will open up like 20 plus worksheets at a time.....

It started to hang and crash after the 20 sheets onwards....

So he upgraded to 768MB RAM, before that was 256MB, and it crash a little less time but still crash sometimes and slow too...

Currently, he is using :
P4 2.4Ghz (478)
768MB RAM
80GB harddisk with 8MB buffer
Onboard VGA with 32MB

Please recommend me a super computer specs. that can help him work with breeze.....

Hello Mamister. Welcome to BC!


Regarding your question.

Is spread sheetwork the full extent of what your boss uses the computer for?
Does he use the computer for Graphic editing?
What is your budget?

The reason i ask these questions,

Its simple to recommend a computer that will cover all, but it will be expensive, i would like to recommend a computer most suitable for your needs.


Brian












"

Thanks for the reply,

I would like to get a powerful machine that handles office work well, not on gaming....

As long as it works I think he is willing to pay.....

where are you? usa or europe?

Singapore

10451 - Dell Dimension™ 5150 Pentium®D 820 w/Dual Core Desktop
1 1,622.00 1,622.00
Date 28/04/2006 05:13 PM
Catalog Number 135273
Base System Dimension™ 5150 Intel® Pentium® D 820 with Dual Core Processing 1

(2.8GHz, 2X1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)

Intel® 945G Chipset
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional(English) 1

Genuine Windows® XP Professional SP2 Edition (English) CD Media

Genuine Windows® XP 32-bit Label
Dell Services: Hardware Maintenance * 1-Year Limited Warranty (Next Business Day On-site Service - parts & labour) 1

1 Year Standard Phone Support:

Items included in the System Integrated Fast Ethernet 10/100 1
System Drive CD Kit 1
Dimension™ 5150 Badge 1
Memory 2GB (4X512) NECC Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz SDRAM Memory 1
Keyboards Dell™ USB Quietkey® Keyboard(English) 1
Mouse Dell™ USB 2-Button Scroll Mouse 1

Dell™ Mouse Mat
Floppy Drive & Card Reader No Floppy Drive and Media Card Reader
Hard Drive (EIDE/SATA) 160GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with Native Command Queuing 1

Info Mod
Optical Drives Dual Drives 16X Max DVD-ROM + 48X DVD/CD-RW Combo 1

16X Max DVD-ROM Drive

Sonic™ CinePlayer

48X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive

Roxio Creator LE
Software Microsoft® Works 7.0 - OEM version 1

Word Processor/ Spreadsheet/ Database/ Calendar/ Address Book/ E-mail tools
Security Software No Security Subscription (M) 1
Dell Media Experience Dell™ Media Experience Software 1
Video Card 128MB PCIe™ x16 ATI Radeon™ X300SE HyperMemory™ w/TV-Out, VGA and DVI 1
Display 19" Flat Panel LCD Monitor (Analog Only) 1

For Dimension™ Monitor Only
Sound Card Integrated 7.1 Audio 1
Speakers Dell™ A525 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer (SG) 1
Limited Time Offer 1 Free Upgrade from 17" Flat Panel to 19" Flat Panel Monitor


Mod Specs Info (Singapore)
Limited time promotional offer only. No further discounts apply. 1
PC Restore Dell™ PC Restore 1

The capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment.
Others Shipping Documentations 1
S&P FLYERS S&P flyer for consumer 1
Freight Charges Dimension™ MT Handling & Insurance Charges (Singapore) 1
Delivery Charges Dimension™ Delivery Charges (Singapore) 1

Total

Before Tax 1,622.00
GST - Singapore - 5% 81.10
Total Amount SG$ 1,703.10



MS office not included

This only my humble opinion. Other BC members will post their choices aswell

Thanks guys,

Now I think I have some idea but please correct me if I am wrong.

1. Still get single core cpu lilke : P4 3.0 640 (775) and above as excel its single threaded and doens't benefit from dual cores or multithreaded cpu" (Actually, I wanted to get dual cores.... )

2. Get at least 1 GB of RAM. (will dual channel helps? or just normal type?)

3. Is PCI-Express Video card needed or just onboard 64MB S3 video can do? Or better to have AGP 128MB or 256MB?

4. Will the harddisk buffer size help if higher? Like 8 or 16MB?

Finally, as long as it works I think he is willing to pay.....

The videocard comes as standard with this type of computer, its well above average in the pc range so therefore it will have a higher spec as standard, i dont think there is an option to downgrade and unless you plan on using alot of graphics there is no point in upgrading


Follow the link below for more detailed information on Pentium processors.

Information on Pentium Processors

Brian

Thanks,

May I know is all ms office single treated software, what about winxp?

What software will get the benifit out of dual core processor?

Software that has smt written into their code will benifit from duo processors, as far im aware there are not a huge number of them at the moment, that would be relevent to the home user.

Other wise the main benefit is the euuilivent of having 2 processors in 1, therefore been able to process 4 threads simultanous.

Don't go with the 820!! Go with the 920... #1. Hiigher FSB, able to 'talk' between cores much faster; #2. Since the recent price drop, it's cheaper!!

Yes, dual channel memory will help. It's like when SDRAM went to DDR-RAM, double the bandwidth. With dual channel, that bandwidth is once again doubled.

Just my 2cents.