Help choosing Computer

[Goothry]

Alright, here is the situation. In work we have "left over," old PCs sitting around after a recent upgrade to a few work stations. Since the old PCs were going to be junked or given away I am allowed to keep one for personal use. I have a choice between two models; Intel Pentium Dual Core inside or AMD 64 Athlon. It just so happens that I know nothing about either of these, and they are, for the most part, the only information I have on them. The computers were both refurbished units and contain no extra components within them other than the essential components to make them run. Also, I suppose it is worthy to note that the chosen computer will be used for nothing more than general web surfing and word document typing.


Which one is the best option to take?

 

[Rorda]

The names you mentioned are basically 'brands', so there's an insane amount of variation between specifications.

Try to ask your employer/whoever is in control of these pcs what the actual product name is.

 

[Goothry]

Would if I could. There isnt a single person here that would know anything in depth about PCs. The only way to get more info would be to plug them in and check them out, which is not possible to do as there are no additional monitors to hook either up to (and it would be greatly frowned upon if I started unhooking exsisting stations).

I suppose I can just use a gut feeling on this one. It's not like it's life or death if I go with the lesser of the two.

 

[ElFenix]

iirc all pentium dual core are conroe based, so should be better than anything branded athlon 64 (particularly if it doesn't say athlon 64 X2 on it).

does the athlon have a logo sticker on it that matches these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon_X2#CPU_cores

 

[VirtualLarry]

As long as it's not a Pentium D, then the Pentium Dual-Core would be superior. At least you know that it's a dual-core. Whereas, unless the Athlon says "X2" anywhere, is likely to be a single-core system.

For todays usages, definitely prefer a dual-core to a single-core.

 

[BrightCandle]

Its not a lot to go on. Of the possibilities I suspect they are likely equally bad in modern standards so I wouldnt sweat the loose/loose decision.