A Brief Review of the Leading Processors on the Market

If you plan to build or upgrade your own computer, one of the most important decisions you will have to make is the type of CPU you will choose to purchase. The industry is so advanced and competitive, that there is little difference between most processor brands, in performing for the most common computer tasks. Your decision, for the most part, will come down to the use to which you will put your PC.

This article reviews the three top selling processors on the market today. By comparing the three you will be able to make an informed decision when selecting which one of these or other CPUs are best suited to go into your dream machine.

The Pentium 4
The most popular of all CPUs are manufactured and distributed by Intel, the maker and distributor of the very popular and well-known Pentium brand. Pentium 4 is a very powerful CPU, and is currently the best selling processor on the market. It is a very fast processor, and can easily handle several different computer operations very efficiently. It has a clock speed that ranges from 1.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz. Pentium 4, however, costs a pretty bundle. Luckily, Intel created an alternative to the popular, albeit expensive, Pentium brand called Intel Celeron.

The Intel Celeron
The Celeron processor is only recommended if it is only CPU you can afford. While it is capable of handling most basic applications, Intel Celeron will struggle when you need to run the latest videogames and graphical modeling programs.

The Athlon 64 X2
If you are looking for a CPU from outside the Intel family, I would suggest that you consider purchasing a processor manufactured by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). AMD has proved to be an able adversary to Intel's CPUs. The most current line of AMD processors is the Athlon 64 X2.

The Athlon 64 X2 is the first dual core CPU released by AMD and it is designed to go head to head with Intel's Core 2 Duo brand. Athlon 64 X2 is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the gaming market. It is designed to handle most of the graphical and technological elements required in videogames, and is thus the avid video-gamer's dream come true. It also boasts hyperthreading technology.

Do keep in mind that a good CPU is just one of the many elements that go into building or upgrading to your dream computer. It is important to take your computing needs into account when you buy the rest of the computer components and peripherals.