Dick Angus wrote: <snip> > > My budget is in the $700 range and lower if possible. I want 500Gb+ > disk, a DVD/RW, and a multi-card reader on it. Also, a good graphics > card for the type of work I do. I can't decide if I should go for a > 3.0Ghz quad chip and 4-6Gb DDR2 memory or a 2.33Ghz quad chip and > 4-6Gb DDR3 memory? I'm leaning towards the faster chip and the DDR2, > but I'm confused about the DDR3 being faster memory and would that be > noticeable given what I do with it?
I tend to go with as much RAM as I can afford. Having said that, I am pretty happy with a single core centrino (circa 2005 running 1.5 Ghz), 2 GiB RAM and integrated Intel video. I have another machine that has a newer Intel GPU and one of the newer Core2 Duos @ 2.66 Ghz. If all of this stuff is running locally (I keep all my data on the network, especially pictures and music) you may be better served by just upgrading to a newer and faster hard drive. The Western Digital "Black" edition drives are good price for the performance. To get faster you need to spend a lot more on a Velociraptor or even more on a decent SSD (most of them suck). The 500GB WD Black goes for less than $70 at Memory Express. Out of curiosity, what is the current CPU that you are using? Run the following to find out: cat /proc/cpuinfo > > Staples has an Acer box with an Intel 8200 chip, 6Gb DDR3, and an ATI > 4350 card with all the other stuff for $739. A DDR2 box appears to > be about $100+ cheaper. Do you think I Would notice the difference? > If you timed them while doing complex graphics processing you might notice a difference. One of my Photoshop loving friends recently upgraded to an Intel Core i7 and an ATI 4870 from a Pentium D @ 3 ghz. A batch job that used to take 10 minutes now takes 20-30 seconds. Depending on your usage, YMMV. For a GPU I would probably recommend an ATI 38xx, 48xx, 49xx. These are all supported by the open source radeonhd driver. > On top of all that I'm going on a road trip to Reno and San Francisco > in a few weeks and wonder if I'd be better buying it down there? I > did some searching on Google, but couldn't get much on local > companies (kept getting DELL, HP, Office Depot, and such). > I would actually wait for the new Intel Core i5 to hit the market. Buying anything other than an i7 or an i5 is investing in a technology that is dead (RIP Front Side Bus) IMO. If you can afford it a Core i7 with a newish ATI is a pretty smoking combination. The Core i5 is a more affordable variant and is what I am waiting for before I upgrade. AMD has announced a new Phenom that looks interesting, but since I have been very unhappy with the last few releases from AMD, I am taking a wait and see approach. Hth,
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