Would an AMD E2-1800 suffice for the most basic of computer tasks?

Alright, well I found a super good deal for this all-in-one shipped for $300 and just ordered it for my parents who wanted a new computer. They really wanted an all-in-on because they hate having a tower with all the "extra cables". I know technically this is for notebook discussion, but the chip in this is mainly used in low end budget laptops. I felt really good about the deal I got for getting this under $300, but after looking at some of the benchmarks for this chip I'm starting to get buyer remorse. My parents do only the most basic tasks on their computer: word processing, quicken, and casual internet browsing, but I'm beginning to wonder if this chip will even be able to handle these tasks after seeing the benchmarks scores. So what do you guys think? Will this chip hold up alright to the most basic of computer tasks?

 

it will do just fine, even an old C50 chip can do that. ( and in my case does in an old windows 7 tablet I still use )

it will mop the floor with old netbooks based on Atom chips and even they can handle stuff that basic

 

Wow, this seems very low performance...

See:
PassMark - AMD E2-1800 APU - Price performance comparison


for a comparison to what I am using for one of my desktops:

See:
PassMark - AMD E-350 - Price performance comparison



The above is matched with single channel 8GB RAM DDR3 Sodimm module and an M4 512GB Crucial SSD.

Still 'slow' in the end - but it cost me ~$120 to put together (I had the RAM and SSD as 'spare'...) in a Foxconn Nano PC (on sale, of course).

See:
FOXCONN nT-A3550 Nano PC Barebones System w/ AMD E350, Radeon HD 6310, DVI-I, HDMI (No O/S) at Memory Express




Of course, I am running this with two 24" monitors for 'office' stuff and always on - so the 'speed' issue is not so bad if you leave it running.



I would suggest at least 2x4GB RAM modules (to enable Dual Channel mode) and even 2x 8GB modules are not out of the question (for me...) along with Windows 8 x64 of course to take the best advantage of the hardware.

Of course, this will also depend on your parents expectations too - but for 'basic' computing, I think that you got the best possible deal on a brand new (complete) system.

At the very least though; I would be doing a clean install of the O/S (to fully remove all the bloatware it will most likely ship with - not a 'Restore'... this will just put it back in the position you received it... after about 3 hours or so...).

Hope I've helped a little?



Good luck.

 

Alright, thanks that's what I wanted to hear. My parents current desktop computer has a nearly 10 year old Intel Pentium 4 1.80GHz so I know anything would be an upgrade from that.

Yeah, thanks that helps. I was planning on re-installing windows when I got it. I'm not going to be putting in Windows 8 on it though. That'd be an absolute nightmare for me trying to teach my parents how to use. And as an upgrade in ram, would that really be necessary for what my parents do? It already has 4GB on it.

 

Not only increase the capacity of the memory: buy the fastest you can too...

Going from 2GB to 4GB (10667MHz) to 8GB (1600Mhz) modules made the system go from throw away to usable (even 6+ months later). The maximum performance of the system didn't increase: the responsiveness of the system did.


Teaching someone to use Windows 8 takes 5 minutes (here is the Desktop tile...) when they already know Windows 7, btw...


And the reason you want Win8x64 is to squeeze as much performance from the hardware as possible...

 

Trust me, even having them click the desktop tile is going to be a disaster. And they're going to freakout without the start button. They're really that bad. And I'm really not wanting to upgrade the ram. I really fell like 8GB would be a complete overkill for the things that they do.

Edit: And I just found these reviews from Walmart about this same computer. Ha as bad as this sounds, I feel like my parents would be the equivalent of walmart shoppers when it comes to computers, so I feel like if they walmart crowd says it's "fast" then my parents will think the same.

 

It'll be fine for them, even with "just 4GB" for the basics so yes the E2-1800 will suffice.

 

If I didn't have the Foxconn Nano to compare to, I would be thinking this is a great computer after reading those reviews, lol...


Easy to try it 'as-is' and see if they feel something is missing...

I guess normally using a quad core IB 16GB w/SSD to check email, I'm kinda spoiled...

 

Can you cancel or return it? When buying stuff for family, especially parents, I think it should be something good. Any recent ivy bridge stuff will do

 

4GB E2-1800 will be fine. Perfectly fine. Make sure you go dual channel RAM though (2x2GB), not just single 4GB stick. My kids were using an E-350 notebook for a while and all they did was play flash games and watch YouTube videos, and it worked fine. I understand completely about parents computing ability. My dad still struggles with basic PC tasks. Get them what they're used to. Windows 7 is it. I know it's a budget machine, but also consider a cheap 128GB SSD if you can swing it, it will make the experience so much better for them too. It can turn a machine like that from sluggish to responsive.

And don't install Microsoft Security Essentials. It will hang the system periodically, use another free, light weight anti-virus like avast, and set it to game/quiet mode so there's never any popups.

 

+1 to what HT said. The advantage is not necessarily in the amount of memory, but in having two modules to take advantage of dual channel. I ran a little E-450 laptop with two memory modules and a small (80GB) solid state drive. For basic tasks like you're describing, it was actually quite pleasant to work with. And if you look at my signature, you can see the desktop that I'm comparing it to when I say 'pleasant'.

 

Alright guys, I decided to cancel the order for my parents with the E2-1800. My parents have had their current computer for over ten years, so I want to get them one that at least is somewhat future proof since they'll probably have it for so long. I'm now looking at an all-in-one that has a Pentium Dual-Core G620 2.6GHz but is $100 dollars more. Looking at benchmarks, the benchmarks for this is about 4 times of what the E2-1800 was. Would this let the computer be future proof for five or so years down the road even for them assuming they'll still be doing the basics things they're doing now? Here is the all-in-one if you guys want to look at it. And again, I know this is a notebook forum, but I really want to help my parents out, and after being here for 6 years I know you guys can.

 

Well, if it helps at all, I have a desktop with a Pentium G630 (marginally faster than the G620) and before I installed a dGPU, it was able to handle all my needs/wants reasonably. Not only does it not have a problem with internet browsing, Youtube, Office, etc., but the integrated graphics were able to play some of my older games (2001-2005) pretty well.

 

Alright. So it would be a huge upgrade over the E2-1800 then? Because passmark has it as a 2263 and had the E2-1800 at a 834.

 

I would take synthetic benchmarks, particularly Passmark and Sysmark with a grain of salt. Passmark gave a 2.4 GHz mobile i7 a higher score than the i5 3750K.

 

That's because of hyperthreading. The i5 desktop is only 4 cores, where i7 is four plus four hyperthreads. But yeah, I agree, synthetic isn't as important as actual app benchmarks. Even though the Pentium scores higher, it's still splitting hairs between low end CPU's, but the Intel is still more powerful.

 

Hyperthreading is not going to make up for a 1 GHz difference, even in heavily threaded tasks.

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Check out these benchmarks: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ts-sager-np9570-clevo-p570wm-review.html#7zip

i7-3610QM outperformed desktop i5-3570k in CPU benches.

 

Would it really only be "splitting haris?" I know it's still a budget CPU, but this looks like a lot more than "splitting hairs."

 

I didn't see any 3750K, just the i5 670.

 

What do you mean? From that link it was comparison of laptop i7-3610QM vs desktop i7-3970X vs i5-3570k in CPU benchmarks. The i5/670 means i5-3570k with GTX 670 GPU.

 

Alright, well I was actually able to find my parents an even better all-in-one, and I got it for an amazing price (under $400 shipped). This one has a i3-2120. This chip will be way more than enough for them now, right?

 

'Way more'? Not the way the O/S, programs (and their constant updates) and user demands keep increasing month by month.

But considering it is ~4.5x more powerful for only 33% more cost - I think you made the best choice to ensure longevity of this system for as long as possible for your parents.


Cheers!

 

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think AMD Brazos family (such as E2-1800) can only support single channel memory, right?

 

You're right.

 

Hmm, I thought with the updated chips they changed that from the E-350/450.

 

Nope, still Brazos.

As a matter of fact Temash and Kabini will also continue with a single channel ddr3 controller too. Since this is Jaguar arch it will still perform much better and GCN graphics will more than compensate for some of this 'performance loss'. These are ULV SoCs and performance is 'low' because its meant for ultraportabes like fanless tablets, hybrids w/ fans, AIOs, even 15.6" throwaways, HTPCs and other thin/light variants. I would love to see a netbook about 10"-11.6" with an AMD Temash/Kabini SoC (except for Acer) for roughly $300 or less.

Richland/Kaveri are for dual channel and 'full performance'.

 

I still don't see how adding dual channel would be a negative in the chip design. It's like gimping the chip on purpose when it can perform significantly better with it. It seems the benefits outweigh the negatives (very slightly higher TDP and power consumption? almost negligible I would think).

 

The issue is that having two RAM modules take up more space than only having one module. There's a reason why DRAM is frequently soldered to the mobo in small laptops.

 

Well that's not the reason for no dual channel controller. These chips are used in everything from thin and lights to full sized 15" notebooks.

 

Sleepy, that i3 is one generation old and is using the hd2000 iGPU. While the primary use isn't gaming, the gpu is having more and more of an impact on everyday tasks anymore. I would be hesistant to buy an i3 that isn't ivy bridge with the HD4000 iGPU. I wouldn't bother waiting for haswell, though.

Your stated purpose being 'only the most basic tasks', I probably would have stuck with the e2-1800. Given the propensity for hardware accelerated graphics more or less across the board, I personally feel that having the better graphics hardware benefits more than the hyperthreading or clock speed, again, given the stated purpose, and the later statement of attempting to future proof.

At this point, without having to have you cancel an order yet again, the best advice I can offer is to give it an SSD boost, if possible.

You never did provide a link for what you ended up with.. care to share?

 

Considering that the HD graphics on a Pentium G630 can play some of my 7+yo games very well, and Minecraft somewhat well (at lower settings), and Youtube videos at 720p very well, I'm sure that the HD 2000 will be more than plenty for OP's parents.

 

Here is what I ended up getting them. Found it for $405 shipped. And I already have ordered them a SSD that's arriving when the computer gets here.