Andy,
Probably the best we can do is try a specific configuration with a similar load and look at CPU benchmarks for comparisons. Applications currently running: DxLabs Launcher DXView Pathfinder SpotCollector Firefox with one window Internet Explorer with one window UI-View32 Weather Display HRD/Logbook/DM780 Superbrowser MultiPSK with SDR sampling rate 48KHz, panoramic display, RSID & CallID detection on MS Outlook The computer: Intel E2180 dual core cpu at 2.0 GHz (old) 2.5 GB RAM IDE HD (old) WinXP Display mode 1680x1050 The CPU usage average is around 45%. This spikes up to 100% briefly when changing windows or navigating the internet. The biggest user is MultiPSK/SDR at 35% with DM780 a distant 2nd at 5% or less. The rest of the aplications rarely show more than 1 or 2%. 45% total cpu usage doesn't leave much margin for doing things triggered by operator interaction. AVG (antivirus) also kicks the usage up to near 100% when it is scanning. I have used this web site for comparisons between CPUs. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ Of course there are many other factors that determine the capability of a PC but most dual core CPUs should handle this load with no problems. A quad core will give some room for growth - such as running 2 SDR radios. The advice to stay away from the fastest available is good. The performance/cost ratio gets very steep as the high end of performance is approached. Another thing that we can consider is that the high performance PCs are driven by video games that require high video speed. For ham radio applications video activity is usually relatively slow. The most important factor for digital mode and SDR applications is CPU calculation speed. Ed WB6YTE --- In [email protected], Andy obrien <k3uka...@...> wrote: > > I like to multitask, and I am greedy... I like to keep an eye on > several things at once. I am thinking about a better PC, one with > enough CPU capability to run many tasks at the same time. Is there a > way to calculate the total CPU demands of severall applications. Here > is a list of what I often run at the same time (or wish i could) > > Commander (or HRD) > Winwarbler (or Multipsk) > DX Keeper > Spotcollector > Pathfinder > DX View > Weather Watcher > Firefox > Spectravue or SDR-RADIO Console > Fldigi > WSJT/JT65-HF > Dimension 4 > > > Andy K3UK >
