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Subject: Re: What Computer I Should Buy For Playing Chess? I Need Advice.

Author: John Merlino

Date: 14:26:20 03/05/01

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On March 05, 2001 at 16:35:05, Eran wrote:

>
>I plan to purchase a new high-end personal computer in the near future. I want
>to acquire the best personal computer for playing chess seriously, but I have
>been having a hard time deciding which one is the best to buy. Buying a very
>good personal computer is no easy task. Besides, I already own Fritz6, Junior6,
>and Hiarcs7.32. Also, I consider about Deep Shredder5.
>
>I consider several brands of personal computer - IBM Compatible - as follows
>below:
>
>1. Compaq (Is CPU very fast?)
>
>2. Packard Bell
>
>3. Dell
>
>Should I buy only Pentium III 1000 MHz or faster? If yes, why?
>
>Is Pentium 4 not worth for the strongest chess software?
>
>Do Deep Fritz, Fritz6, Junior6, and other ChessBase friends always run on
>Pentium III faster than on Pentium 4?
>
>I will use a new PC for both playing and analyzing in chess, of course.
>
>Please advice me.
>
>I would appreciate your help a great deal. :-)
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Eran

If all you were going to be doing was PLAYING, and you were anything less than a
master, then I would say that any Pentium III would be fine (or even a high-end
Pentium II).

But, since you said you were going to be ANALYZING also, I would say, without
question, that you want the fastest CPU you can afford, with at least 128MB of
RAM so you can increase the hash table to be large enough to handle overnight
analysis. Check integer and floating point math benchmarks. Also, try to get a
chip that uses a 133 FSB, rather than a 100, as this makes RAM access faster.
Additionally, the primary cache should be at least 64K (which I suspect all CPUs
have these days, at least).

jm



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