I'm not sure if this topic is appropiate for this forum but heres my question-

I am considering to buy a new computer from Dell. I have customized two computers which are almost exactly the same but the price difference is $310. Money is not an issue, but I would only buy the more expensive one if its actually worth it. One of the desktop is a dell dimension 8300 and the other is a 4600.

PC Specs-
Differences-
>The dimension 8300 (more expensive) has 2.8 ghz with 800 mhz front side bus and hyper threading technology. The dimension 4600 (cheaper) doesnt have hyper threading technology and only has 533 mhz fron side bus.
>Dimension 8300 (more expensive) has 512 dual channel ddr sdram at 400mhz. The Dimension 4600 (cheaper) has 512 dual channel ddr sdram at 333 mhz.
Does the difference affect internet gameplay ping on a 56k modem?

Similarities (not sure if I needed to say this but I will just in case)-
>3.5 floppy drive.
>48x CD-RW drive
>Dell Enhaced Multimedia Keyboard and Dell optical usb mouse
>19in monitors (18 in. viewable) flat crt
>ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
>integrated 5.1 channel audio
>Dell a425 speakers w/subwoo
>56k pci data fax modem
>integrated 10/100 ethernet card
>40gb ata/100 7200 rpm hd

Thank You very much. I appreciate all help possible.

I would say that the difference is definitely worth it. Hyper-threading technology allows the processor to execute two commands at once, instead of just one, theoretically *acting* as a dual-processor system (although it's not nearly as good as a real dual-processor system, but definitely gonna be good when programs start to really take advantage of it).

Secondly, the front side bus speed and ram speed will speed things up a lot. This will help gaming in addition to being able to keep multiple programs open at once. It won't affect ping time, however, as that's a factor of your connection speed - which in this case is simply a dial-up modem.

Whichever one you do buy, get an add-in sound card--the ADI audio in both machines is a "host-based codec" which is weasel-speak for AC '97 audio. The drawback to this kind of sound system is that the CPU (the "host") does all the work of dealing with sound; no matter how fast the processor is, this sucks up CPU cycles like crazy, especially in anything beyond stereo, like 6.1 surround sound.

A SoundBlaster Live! or Audigy card has an on-board processor (lower CPU overhead) and better power filtering (cleaner sound).

Thanks for the helpful info. I'm gonna get the dimension 8300 n upgrade soundcard to a sound blaster live, i dont use my comp for audio purposes much so I wouldn't need the audigy.

if you can get the audigy go for it. if you listen to music its well worth it

i have a Sound Blaster Audigiy it rox