Intel Atom Processor? What is that?

[adrian2055]

I was looking at a all-in-one pc and a local pc shop (it's this one: http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=EZ1601-01)and when I looked at the specs it had an intel atom processor. After looking at these on intel's site they sound like a re-hashed version of the old pentium 4 processors. Is that correct and if so is it possible to upgrade to a dual or quad core processor?

(I had to change my pc buying plans. The ebay auction was a disaster!)

[puntoMX]

http://emachines.com/products/catalog.html?type=desktops

I would not pick any of those computers; they would do for internet and office apps but not much more than that.

If you are on a budget, take a look at an AMD AM3 based system with DDR3. Build it yourself and save some money... need help? Budget?

[CoffeeFiend]

they sound like a re-hashed version of the old pentium 4 processors

They're based on the Pentium-M line.

is it possible to upgrade to a dual or quad core processor?

Nope. It's a super-low power and low cost CPU that's totally NOT meant for performance. It has its very own socket 441 which no CPUs besides the Atom uses. The Atom ranges from very slow, like the Z510 which is pretty much on par with a P4 1.3, to the somewhat faster than a P4 3GHz but still very unimpressive, like the most high end D525 which roughly on par with a Pentium D 2.8 ... Not much of an upgrade over what you had, if at all. The absolute most high-end Atom is still fairly slow by today's standards. AMD's low end like the $60 Athlon II X2 250 is almost 3x the speed. Plus, it's not crippled like the Atom (e.g. it has VT-x/AMD-v) and it's easily upgradeable (up to 6 cores -- a drop-in replacement).

The ebay auction was a disaster!

For a Pentium D with a broken PCI slot I'd say the final price really isn't that bad.

take a look at an AMD AM3 based system with DDR3

What he said.

[puntoMX]

The ebay auction was a disaster!

For a Pentium D with a broken PCI slot I'd say the final price really isn't that bad.

For how much did it go?

[CoffeeFiend]

$162.51 USD

[puntoMX]

$162.51 USD

I would not call that a disaster, some 100 bucks more and you have a system 3 times as fast with some up to date hardware (well, no USB 3.0 and SATA gen 3.).

But the price included the 1TB drive as well (I would have kept that one out)?