How fast of a CPU do you need for Internet, and Word Processing?

I was wondering what was the minimum speed (& type) of CPU you would need to run Internet apps such as Firefox and also word processing apps like Microsoft Word and Open Office. I'm not interested in the minimum sytem requirements. I know I could run it with a 266MHz Pentium but it would be sluggish. I would like to know at what processor speed that it would run without noticable slowups.

Would it be a 1.7GHz Pentium M? 1.5GHz Celeron? 700 MHz Pentium III? or .....

Any opinions would be welcomed

 

From my experience, 1 Ghz any type of cpu will work for just basic stuffs.

JC

 

800 mhz works fine for internet and word processing. Most of the time, laptops run at 800 mhz to save on battery life. They speed up to the maximum speed only when needed.

My current lappy a 1.6 Turion operates at 800 mhz while I'm surfing. I also have a P3 900 that I still use for web browsing and games for the kids.

 

600-800mhz is enough

 

I just upgraded an Inspiron 7500 with a 5400RPM drive. It had a 600MHz PIII and 512MB of memory. It ran 2k, office, and Mozilla with no problemos. I even burned a disc I used in my car just fine though 8x was a bit slow. For some people thats all they need.

 

600Mhz is good enough with 512MB of memory. You're set to go....My iBook runs 533Mhz when its on battery mode and its pretty good for surfing , word processing and stuff like that. Celeron-M would do a pretty good job [So does AMD Sempron]....But beyond that you might want to get Pentium-M or Core Duo [AMD Turion 64/X2 64]

 

my old desktop was a P3 650 MHZ that ran on 128MB RAM! I used that for internet/office and it was fine! Used to run Win98 but XP still worked.

Ah the good old days of my Riva TNT2.........

 

On older notebooks the slower hard drive and small amount of memory is usually the bottleneck, not the CPU.

 

I personally wouldnt go below 1Ghz. Even though 600Mhz+ should to the job just fine.

 

It depends really on the OS you're using. Minimum requirements for the OS should be enough. I used to have a Toshiba with a 266Mhz Celeron processor and that with Windows 98 (that was 6 years ago) and gave me no problems with what was current back then. Now I have another lappy with a Pentium III 650Mhz and 256MB running XP Pro and works ok with basic stuff.

 

yeah i have a thinkpad with a 1.2ghz P-III 512mb ram and it's surprisingly fast. actually i think its just as fast as my roommates dell with a newer centrino but only 256 ram. it's probably moreso ram you need

i run a few widgets, objectdock, limewire, download torrents, use word/excel, listen to music, and browse the web with no lag whatsoever all at the same time

 

For the applications that you listed, almost anything you can purchase new will suffice. I would stay away from older used computers, this will limit upgrade paths are more prone to hardware failure and upkeep. A cheap entry level new laptop will be enough and give you customer service support. Good Luck

 

800 Mhz Pentium 3 with 512 MB RAM

 

Exactly, even more,

Internet is not the mark that determines what processor will be able to perform decently, - Windows does!

People have browsed the internet with AMD 350's as fast as you will browse now with any modern cpu. And you know why? Because the content of average website hasn't change much in terms of size of downloading or using of video resources since let's say 6 years ago. Yes, some websites have flash content, heavy animation or video streaming, but that is the issue of fast connection, not the CPU.

CPU is by far not the main thing that determines the overall performance of the computer, or particularly how responsive the browser is while surfing the web.

Very important things are:

-internet connection (the better, the faster! )
-the speed and condition of you hard drive!
-the performance of your windows, does it have an overloaded taskbar with dozens of applications running on the background?
amount of available system memory!
-whether you have visited this site before and whether the content is downloaded to temp folder for quick loading next time you are on this website.
- if the screen is required to change the images frequently, the video card will be important for performance.

Conclusion.... 700 Mhz Pentium II with the modern components and fast connection, will be identical to 2.0 Ghz pentium, because it's not the calculating that is required for surfing the internet, but all the other things i mentioned above.


P.S. This is my opinion, if some one has reasons to disagree, let's hear your ideas, perhaps we can all learn something new.

 

oh and word processing? what kind of calculations are needed to display the characters on the screen after pressing the button?

most ancient computers could type... hack, you can type on a cell phone...

Again, word processing will be quite fine with Pentium 166... if you can install word on Windows 95

 

I fully agree, Just a basic computer is needed for your needs. But if your looking at purchasing a computer, I would suggest a new one from a large OEM. This will give you customer service and support. We will try to help you as much as we can, but its always good to have a saftety net. Also the cost of a new basic Dell, less than $500 is a better deal than a used computer, that you dont know how long it will last, for half the amount.

 

One word: Linux - I'm currently running it on a desktop with a Pentium II from many years ago. For basic browsing, word processing, music listening, etc... this thing works great!

~ Brett