New PC

chris954

chris954

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Im looking for a new pc as the one I am using at the moment is struggling to run elements 11. I dont really know that much about proccessors/gigahertz or whatever you call them but saw this and would like somebody who knows a bit about computers to tell me if its a good buy.http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compaq-cq2940ea-desktop-pc-17392839-pdt.html#longDesc I dont need a monitor the one i already have is fine also Ive heard a lot of bad things about windows 8 and dont know if its justified or not but it set alarm bells ringing.
 
By the time I've added an os that's probably a bit out of reach what with the time of year and accidentally loading my credit card up with a new 24-105 earlier this month. Might wait and see what crops up on the sales.
 
What have you heard about Windows 8? I'm using it... seems fine to me.
 
Nah.. windows 8 is fine.

The i3 2120T is a better processor, as it supports hyper threading, to give 4 working threads, whereas the G645T is just a dual core chip with no HT.
 
There are lots of smaller companies that will customise a basic spec to suit your needs e.g.
http://www.palicomp.co.uk/cheap-pcs-from-a-229/intel-home/office-pcs/phoenix-i3-starter/prod_318.html so that you can have a built in card reader etc. and will talk you through the right machine for you
(I've no connection with the above) and a search for custom build PC should find several others

They will usually give a choice of windows 7 or 8 as well. If your printer and other peripherals are the same age as your existing machine and you go for w8, be sure to check that drivers are available.

David
http://vintageman.zenfolio.com/
 
having recently had my son build a computer for me I realised very soon how much shops add on to the price on pre built models. I am not going to recommend any particular shop or product but it is well worth looking at ebay to see what you can get for your money. My betting is you can find a much higher spec than PC world is offering for the same price ( I have just checked).

Pref. a 1TB hard drive and think about one with USB3 ports for faster downloads of your photos also Intel i5 processor.

Realspeed
 
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Pookeyhead said:
Nah.. windows 8 is fine.

The i3 2120T is a better processor, as it supports hyper threading, to give 4 working threads, whereas the G645T is just a dual core chip with no HT.
Click to expand...

You may be correct about the hyper-threading feature, but the overall statement is incorrect.

The i5 sounds beats the i3 in all scenarios, it's the faster CPU by some margin. I would not go for less than an i5 for a PC that is going to be used for some image editing.
 
mid-gen, you're not wrong but the op asked what the difference was between two specific processors. He didn't ask for a processor recommendation.
 
Hi

1st off the original pc you linked probably will work ok with Elements you do say a new pc which may mean you have a tower and power supply you could re use in a new build perhaps even some other parts ram or graphics card so a local builder may be able to do you a good re build deal. Windows 8 working ok for me no issues yet.

8gb ram should be fine any extra money i had i would run in the CPU or if really tight on budget the graphics card. Make sure its 64 bit or the ram will be largely wasted :thumbs:

Good luck

Allan
 
mid_gen said:
You may be correct about the hyper-threading feature, but the overall statement is incorrect.

The i5 sounds beats the i3 in all scenarios, it's the faster CPU by some margin. I would not go for less than an i5 for a PC that is going to be used for some image editing.
Click to expand...

You got a source for that? The 2 CPUs are very similar in all respects, and Photoshop responds very well to HT. They both use teh same architecture, same L1, 2 and 3 cache, same everything almost, except the i3 has HT. The i3 is also a Socket 1155 chip, and the G645 is 1156... which is essentially a dead end upgrade wise. the 1155 platform has still got an upgrade path, and supports faster memory (depending on exact chip set chosen).

I'd be interested to see real world benchmarks that support what you say.. and I'll happily admit I was wrong :)
 
Pookeyhead said:
and Photoshop responds very well to HT.
Click to expand...
I've become a bit meh about HT recently. Both my main desktop and laptop are i7s and I recently did some experiments when I switched HT off in the BIOS and ran some benchmarks. Whilst I don't have the figures to hand, I found PS on the 1 general benchmark ran 15% quicker on the i7, a first pass vide encode (which never uses all CPU) was actually quicker using 4 rather than 8 threads and a second pass encode (which does use all the CPU) was about 10% quicker on the hyperthreaded i7 than the non-hyperthreaded. All the benchmarks I've seen show the hex core I7s to be 50% faster than the quad core ones, so it's an effect of hyperthreading vs number of cores.

You might like to try some experiments and prove it to yourself, but for most people and for most code, hyperthreading isn't a good value investment (i.e. it costs proportionately more for a small increase).
 
well after looking into it a bit more perhaps I should ask for a reccomendation for a new PC,I like the look of the novatech but I could do with a HDMI output. What I think I need is at least an i5 processor,8gb ram,hard drive size is unimportant as I store images on external hard drives,software wise Microsoft works is a must have,windows 7 or 8 Im not bothered which now,cd/dvd recorder,and I dont know if I would need a 5.1 sound card to download movies from sites such as net flix with the dolby digital/DTS soundtrack. I found a Dell in Argos that looks like it might tick most of the boxes but if theres something out there thats better/same or similar price and comes with support then I would seriously consider it.
 
Built my own for £380:

AMD A10 Trinity Quad Core 3.8
Gigabyte A85X
16gb RAM 1600mhz
Antec 300 case
Coolermaster 600w PSU
Sandisk 128gb SSD
Windows 8
(I already have a 500gb HD but + £50 for a WD 500gb HD)

OS boots from power button to desktop in 14 seconds. PS boots to fully open in 3 seconds. Yet to experience a single moment of lag, freezing, or anything hesitant. It's absolutely and utterly amazing.

As a test, I had PS, Lightroom, music, internet and a HD video running at the same = no lag, freezing, nothing! Had the PC on for five days straight with no hesitation. The most RAM it used at any one time was 15% max (I think.)

You could probably save £30 and have the same system with 8gb RAM instead of 16. Not sure I'd want to have any less of a spec, though.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
You got a source for that? The 2 CPUs are very similar in all respects, and Photoshop responds very well to HT. They both use teh same architecture, same L1, 2 and 3 cache, same everything almost, except the i3 has HT. The i3 is also a Socket 1155 chip, and the G645 is 1156... which is essentially a dead end upgrade wise. the 1155 platform has still got an upgrade path, and supports faster memory (depending on exact chip set chosen).

I'd be interested to see real world benchmarks that support what you say.. and I'll happily admit I was wrong :)
Click to expand...

I was comparing the I5 3330 in the novatech actually! But as another poster has said, HT has only ever really been a ~10% gain in specific parallel processing operations.

I wouldn't go for the G645 or the I3 for image processing, definitely I5 or above, 8GB RAM and a 7200RPM+ HDD or preferably SSD and you're pretty sorted for image processing...it's pretty incredible the horsepower you get for your money these days!
 
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