i7 vs i5 processor advice

[gerry]

A Solid State Drive is what I would think and get first before everything else - like Arthur said your HDD will be a bottleneck to all those power if its a slow one.

even an SSD RAID array is affordable these days for either more speed/processing power or data redundancy

13 months of using an SSD, I can never go back to any HDD anymore

very good advice and Darren, from memory you use CNX2? that is one program that really benefits from a fast HDD..

As your son's games are online, the speed of the machine isn't going to make all that much of a difference in the end, as the connection speed(cable max'es out at approx 1Mb/s) so to have a PC system spec that allows data throughput of 6Gb/s ultimately is a wasted effort.

tsk tsk tsk...

to keep up with a ping of 20 ya gonna need the 250 fps CSS ftw.

[arthurking83]

^^ Darren: = + CNX2 ... no need for fast hard drives.


Fast drives advice is good.. but in reality only up to a specific point.

anyone using CNX will only really benefit with a fast drive, but really only if the fast drive is the on used for image storage, more so than program location.
I've never really noticed any increase in speed in CNX(and it's my main program, along with VNX), when I used the faster drive for installing Windows and programs.
But there was a massive difference in operational speed.. loading images, screen refreshes and so on when the images were stored on a fast hard drive.
The difference in transfer rates between my faster drives and slower drives is 100Mb/s compared to 40-ish Mb/s.

Editing jpgs in CNX is a different kettle of chips tho. I've never noticed any difference in performance in CNX when using a faster drive. CNX is fast enough when editing a jpg image off a slow drive.
But the cost in getting an SSD drive large enough to store Gigabytes(Terabytes) of images, is impractical.
The SSD idea was only for OS and programs so as to speed up Windows loading up, and also for the possible benefit of loading other programs quicker.

Anyhow .. Darren hates CNX, so there is no matter that needs to be resolved here. It's simply about channelling the available funds into the appropriate areas to get the best benefit.
(I too forgot about the store credit aspect!)

[kiwi]

Lol, I dont hate cnx, I just don't uses it, I actually like it's raw conversion but decided long ago to stick to adobe editing tools

[ricktas]

You lot are nerds ;-)

You say that like it is a bad thing!

[deef]

Hi Kiwi. Going by the specs on *removed, members with less than 50 posts and/or 30 days membership cannot promote commercial companies. Please read the site rules* it is using an i5 650 processor which is only dual core not quad core, and is a socket 1156 cpu which is now obselete, having been replaced by socket 1155.

If you have no intention to upgrade in the future it may be ok but I'm sure you would get far better value elsewhere. Have a look at Computer Alliance's website, for example, to see what that sort of money can get you.

[lay-z]

Darren I have a similar setup to that you mentioned with the i5 2.66ghz quadcore and it will do everything you listed just fine. I do find it however that it has been on the "slow" side when I'm exporting fullsized photos since I upgraded to lightroom 3. But with that said, I usually also have PS CS4 open, running multiple browsers, running multiple monitors, playing movies/music simultaneously When I built my pc, I was advised that spending the extra $$$ on the i7 equivelant couldn't really be justified for cost vs performance

[bricat]

Just come back from swap meet and i7 unlocked with 1gig graphics blah blah $1100. No monitor though just case and internals. Perhaps you could buy something else at HN or bargain a bit harder for an upgrade for a little more cost. I am lucky my son knows more about computers than me. I know enough to be dangerous cheers Brian

[Ganzer]

Can i throw one in the mix as i Iam currently looking for a new PC or laptop.
which is better to go with a laptop, full board pc or a mini board pc?
i current pc is a hp and is about 8 year old running xp, 4 gig ram, 512mb graphic card. but it has come to the stage of not want to run CS5 or lightroom.
does brand pay a factor into people choice, because i have always wanted a alienware brand. now i know you pay for the name brand.
as i am looking alienware laptop M18 r3x or their Area 51 base model pc both are going to be over the top.

[Colinc1]

The i5 is plenty good enough,and you can build one better & cheaper than that hardley normal one you are looking at(its would cost about $450 tops to build that one),you would live to regret
purchasing that..
Get a custom built one, and be happy ever after

Ganzer, you would be better with a desk top price wise, and go the way just about everyone else on this thread is recommending

[Kym]

This is a great resource for specifying a system...

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_...asking_configs

[ricktas]

Ganzer, agree with Colin. Also look at the specs of the Alienware series and then compare to some of the other brands, Dell are very expensive in the premium range. I got all the parts for my recent system for well under what the equivelant Alienware one cost, with better components.

Have a look at what AP site advertiser www.scorptec.com.au have in their custom range, and you can customise the components to suit your needs