On August 31, 2009 03:37:35 pm Gustin Johnson wrote: > 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
The output is: processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 15 model : 4 model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz stepping : 7 cpu MHz : 2799.860 cache size : 1024 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 2 core id : 0 cpu cores : 2 apicid : 0 initial apicid : 0 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 5 wp : yes There is more, but I thought that was enough. I think my biggest problem is the motherboard. It's old, small (memory capacity), and slow. I'll take a look at the i5 and i7. Maybe just a new motherboard with new memory and my old chip? I could also add a faster hard drive. > > > 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, -- An old mainframer getting current.
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