New Dell computer....

LMAO...WoW...LMAO

Hi

It all depends on what you are going to use your computer for.
I can never get a computer fast enough to suit me.

When I have to wait for an hour to output a 3D video file, it drives me crazy, so anything that will do it faster is what I want.
I used to have to wait many hours for the same thing but I still want to measure it in minutes or better yet seconds.

I know people who are spending 24 hours rendering one image.
I don't have the patience for that, I want results now! LOL

But there is no need for everyone to have the kind of computer that I use.
If you only browse and do work processing and email you can get by on a fairly low level computer.

But you don't want to decide a few months later the you want to play games on it.

My computer is 2 years old and I'm getting the itch. some time in 2013 I'll replace it with a faster one.
My friends new computer is faster them mine and that makes me grind my teeth.

I don't want to have to get new teeth, so I'll buy a new computer instead.
That will save me money.

Mike

Mike, LoL, yes please donot ruin your teeth. That would make it very dificult to get a good conversation out of you LoL.

Do you get my point that if you speen a little more and look forward then the cost of upgradeing is less than the cost of buying new? Thus that makes more since then buying bargon basement computers all the time. Did I make taht clear?

Well I rarely work with video files, I'm mostly an audio guy, I don't play games with my computer, so I don't need a specialized graphics card, the last graphics card I had just generated a lot of heat for no reason.....My sound programs do use some resources but not as much as you'd think. My i3 has been fully capable of running my programs without a glitch. I wasn't sure it would but now that I've worked with it I know it is. Sure an i5 or i7 would have been better, but I've found it's not needed for the stuff I do. I have no burning desire to upgrade to i5 at all.

To give you an idea on how well the i3 is working...I did a test recording with my most powerful recording program, playing three guitar audio tracks, a drum machine, and recording audio on another track....cpu usage was between 4-10% mostly around 5-7%, it peaked for a second at 21% then went right back down....this tells me the i3 is very capable of handling what my needs are. I would rarely do more than this with the recording program.

LoL, OMG you are using some of the bigest newbie lines ever. I'm just haveing fun sitting here listening to the next newbie line you come up with. Hurry post again, i can barley wait.

Originally Posted by djwayne

To give you an idea on how well the i3 is working...I did a test recording with my most powerful recording program, playing three guitar audio tracks, a drum machine, and recording audio on another track....cpu usage was between 4-10% mostly around 5-7%, it peaked for a second at 21% then went right back down....this tells me the i3 is very capable of handling what my needs are. I would rarely do more than this with the recording program.

An i3 w/o hyperthreading? Peaking at 21% while doing all of the things that you stated concurrently....get real man!!!

What program are you keeping track of your CPU usage with? Have you tried the one that ships with Windows 7? It's there in the task manager. Or try Rainmeter, both are free.

Cat

My i5 with dual cores & four threads (hyperthreading) would break that barrier with the programs that you're describing.

I second that esspecialy when the system requrements are looking like this

Symphonic Orchestral

Minimum Requirements for PC

• Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 2GB of free RAM, Windows XP SP2 or Vista, sound card with ASIO drivers

Recommended PC System

• Intel or AMD Quad Core 2.0GHz, 8GB RAM, 64-bit OS and host

Sonar X1

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32-bit)/Vista Service Pack 2 (32- or 64-bit)/Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit)*
Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.67 GHz/AMD Phenom Quad Core 9750 2.4 Ghz
2 GB RAM
1280x800 minimum screen resolution
4.5GB for minimal installation, 15GB for complete installation
SONAR on DVD: DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R or DVD+/-RW Drive
SONAR download: Broadband or better internet connection for download
Cakewalk Publisher requires available web server space with FTP access




LoL

Here are my CPU specs. While it won't blow the roof off of the house, it would break the 21% mark running all of those programs concurrently.

Intel® Core

Being that the Dell 620 has a few different i3 configurations, I don't know which he has, still the i3 is the lowest of the "i" series, which is why I never wanted one to begin with.

Core i3

The Core i3 was intended to be the new low end of the performance processor line from Intel, following the retirement of the Core 2 brand.^[18][19]
The first Core i3 processors were launched on January 7, 2010.^[20]
The first Nehalem based Core i3 was Clarkdale-based, with an integrated GPU and two cores.^[21] The same processor is also available as Core i5 and Pentium, with slightly different configurations.
The Core i3-3xxM processors are based on Arrandale, the mobile version of the Clarkdale desktop processor. They are similar to the Core i5-4xx series but running at lower clock speeds and without Turbo Boost.^[22] According to an Intel FAQ they do not support Error Correction Code (ECC) memory.^[23] According to motherboard manufacturer Supermicro, if a Core i3 processor is used with a server chipset platform such as Intel 3400/3420/3450, the CPU will support ECC with UDIMM.^[24] When asked, Intel confirmed that, although the Intel 5 series chipset supports non-ECC memory only with the Core i5 or i3 processors, using those processors on a motherboard with 3400 series chipsets it will support the ECC function of ECC memory.^[25] A limited number of motherboards by other companies also support ECC with Intel Core iX processors; the Asus P8B WS is an example, but it does not support ECC memory under Windows non-server operating systems.^[26]


Core i3

Released on January 20, 2011, the Core i3-2xxx line of desktop and mobile processors is a direct replacement of the 2010 "Clarkdale" Core i3-5xx and "Arrandale" Core i3-3xxM models, based on the new microarchitecture. While they require new sockets and chipsets, the user-visible features of the Core i3 are largely unchanged, including the lack of support for Turbo Boost and AES-NI. Unlike the Sandy Bridge based Celeron and Pentium processors, the Core i3 line does support the new Advanced Vector Extensions.

Codename (main article)	Brand name (list)	Cores	L3 Cache	Socket	TDP	I/O Bus
Sandy Bridge (Desktop)	Core i3-21xx	2	3 MB	LGA 1155	65 W	Direct Media Interface, Integrated GPU
Core i3-21xxT	35 W
Sandy Bridge (Mobile)	Core i3-2xx0M	rPGA-988B BGA-1023
Core i3-2xx7M	BGA-1023	17 W

One of these is his CPU, none supports Turbo Boost, the i5 does, there is plenty of evidence that the i3 is the lesser of all of Intel's "i' series.

Cat

2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i3-2120 processor (3.30GHz with 3MB Cache)

Thats whta i pulled off the Dell site. I could be wrong and this be a newer modle then the one DJ got. But for teh sake of the discussion lets say this is the processor.

This is what Intel has to say about it

Intel® Core

I wouldn't that is a horable processor, but I wouldn't say it was grat either. This would be what I would be suggesting for terminals, and work stations, not digital media production systems.