help with processor type

My 6-7 year old PC is beginning to show one or two quirks - eg things like a dreaded blue screen on power down etc!

So - have started to look at a possible replacement. The question I have is, will I noteice much difference in speed between the i3 and i5 Intel processors for using programmes like Lightroom/ ACDSee/ Elements, and possibly a video editing programme?

Any help appreciated

Andy

I've been in the IT/computer business since the early 80's and the best advice I can give, and always have, is, buy the best you can afford. If your budget limits you to an i3, then buy it. Otherwise buy an i5 or i7.

Even if there isn't much difference now, when newer versions of software are available, they are almost always more resource hungry than previous versions.

Thanks Peter - that sounds reasonable to me. I am trying to keep the cost down! I guess I should try and go for the i5

Andy

I just bought a laptop with a i5 M560 and it is more than happy running Lightroom 3.4/Elements 9. My last one (T7300) was really starting to struggle and the size of the K-5 files didn't help either.

You're welcome.

If you buy or build a computer with the right components to do a job efficiently, with the right maintenance (defragging, registry cleaning, etc) it will continue to do that job for as long as you use it, just as efficiently as the day you bought/built it. Hardware/software failures excepted of course.

The problem is, we continually load our PC's with extra jobs, extra software, updated software, trial software, etc. It is this increasing workload that causes a PC to eventually become unsuitable for the tasks we now ask of it.

So buy what's right for your needs now, but with extra power & expansion capabilities for the near future.

Intel Core range is definately the class of the field at present. Finished building my Core i7 system about six weeks ago, it has enough muscle to laugh at K5 files... shame I can't afford a 645D to stress test it

Coming from a 6-7 year old machine as you are, even a Core i3 with lots of RAM will feel like a massive step forward. I've been testing a new 'Sandy Bridge' Core i3 laptop at work this week and that is a pleasure to edit photos on - shame it has to go out to a user soon

And here i went for AMD.
I'm actually very curious how their upcoming bulldozer processors will be.

If you're using Adobe products then get decent amount of RAM because they run a lot better the more you've.
4GB if doing photo's but if you plan to do video more will be better.

Thank you again for input guys - much appreciated.
Stefan - any idea how well the AMD compares to the intel for phot editing speed etc?
Andy

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-2010/Image-Processing-Ad...,2426.html
2010 but It'll give you the idea...

If you're using a 32bit OS then don't forget to implement the 3GB switch.

after running a Dual Xeon 2.4 Hhz machine for nearly 10 years I finally built a new one last year.

A Core i7 930 machine which I've overclocked to 3.9Ghz. it has 6GB of Ram.

I've multibooted it and run both 64bit Win 7 and 32bit Win 7.

For some odd reason Adobe Lightroom runs better in the 32bit OS. However 32bit means less RAM. So after implementing the 3GB Switch

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=9583842&linkID=...


it all works much better.

Thanks for the link Jules. Looks as though an AMD 6 core might be ok (and cheaper!)

Also thanks for the tip smeggy. When I do get round to making the purcahes, will probably go for 64-bit anyway.

At present the PC is behavinga bit better - so maybe can delay expenditure for a while longer!

Andy

But wait a month or 2 or 3 and you can get the newly designed bulldozer processors from AMD, they are different and might run quite a bit faster as well.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bulldozer-bobcat-hot-chips,2724.html

Sounds another possibility Stefan - hopefully my PC will last a bit longer!

Andy