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Is this laptop good enough for someone entering MS in CS?

C

college_student

Member
Hello all,

A very close relative is entering a master's program this fall in computer science. He will focus on image analysis. It's a course-based master's program; he takes 10 classes I think in computer science, etc. He has a macbook pro from back in the day which I can beef-up with an SSD and some RAM that I have lying around. My question is whether this is good enough for the duration of his program.

Specs (after I beef it up):

CPU: P8600 (2.4GHz dual-core, no hyperthreading)
GPU: 9600M GT
RAM: 8GB DDR3
HDD: 256GB SSD
OS: Mac OS X (he'll upgrade to the newest one when it's released this fall)
Screen: 15'', 1440x900, and he has a U2412M at home he currently uses with the mac

Total cost to him: Simply the cost of the new OS X when it comes out (I think it's like $30 to upgrade)? So basically a benign cost..

Will this suffice for him, or should we look at getting him a brand new laptop? If the latter, what do you suggest?

Thanks!
 
Here's the thing about Computer Science, it doesn't really have much to do with having a fast computer. Nearly all the work you will be doing for class is theoretical or small toy problems. The MBP should be fine, especially since it has an SSD upgrade.
 
Well, image analysis might need some cpu power.

That saying, most cs depts have servers you can use to run any cpuintensive stuff... I would say wait and see... You already have a laptop available, use it and see if it's enough
 
Well, image analysis might need some cpu power.

That saying, most cs depts have servers you can use to run any cpuintensive stuff... I would say wait and see... You already have a laptop available, use it and see if it's enough
 
Unless he's frequently doing multithreading with a lot of threads (less than 10 is still manageable), then you're perfectly fine

It's just what kind of projects he's doing
 
Thanks for all the responses!
I think he will be focusing on computer science applications. For example he said that he uses OpenCV and Matlab a lot (for computer vision/image analysis). As such, RAM is important so that he can load in and analyze a bunch of images. Therefore I got him 8GB. I don't think he will be really taking advantage of multi-threaded things. From my own limited experience with OpenCV, a lot of the algorithms are heavily single-threaded. Of course I know that Matlab does use multi-threaded-ness when it can for matrix operations, but idk how much that really matter for stuff that takes <10 mins to run anyway.

Thanks!
 
Make sure that the RAM you have lying around works in that laptop, and make sure said relative knows to enable TRIM for the SSD. Also, it might be worth looking into making sure it can upgrade to the latest OSX version if that's important:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5444

Other than that, that sounds like a pretty sexy gift, and should def get someone through a couple more years!
 
A mac might prove difficult. Most universities run a variant of Unix, either Linux or something else. There might be software compatibility issues with a Mac and the software that will be used in a CS course. Does the course have a recommended hardware/software setup? If its required they almost certainly will tell you what to bring. If they don't then they will have labs that provide the full capabilities necessary for the course and the laptop will thus often wont be used.

Speak to someone at the university in the CS department if there isn't any external information and see what they recommend you do. Its not really about CPU performance, most of the course wont require much speed (that is assuming its really CS and not an graphics course or something) but software compatibility is going to be a big deal if the intention is to use the laptop to keep out of the labs as much as possible.
 
Essence_of_War said:
Make sure that the RAM you have lying around works in that laptop, and make sure said relative knows to enable TRIM for the SSD. Also, it might be worth looking into making sure it can upgrade to the latest OSX version if that's important:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5444

Other than that, that sounds like a pretty sexy gift, and should def get someone through a couple more years!
Click to expand...

Yes, I already put in the RAM and it works. Yes, his is "Late 2008 Macbook Pro." I haven't put in the SSD yet. How do you enable TRIM on mac?

BrightCandle said:
A mac might prove difficult. Most universities run a variant of Unix, either Linux or something else. There might be software compatibility issues with a Mac and the software that will be used in a CS course. Does the course have a recommended hardware/software setup? If its required they almost certainly will tell you what to bring. If they don't then they will have labs that provide the full capabilities necessary for the course and the laptop will thus often wont be used.

Speak to someone at the university in the CS department if there isn't any external information and see what they recommend you do. Its not really about CPU performance, most of the course wont require much speed (that is assuming its really CS and not an graphics course or something) but software compatibility is going to be a big deal if the intention is to use the laptop to keep out of the labs as much as possible.
Click to expand...

Very good points! Yes, after speaking with him, he has informed me that he will mostly be needing to use OpenCV, Eclipse (Java IDE), Python (and associated software IDE) and Matlab. All of these are confirmed to work on mac (he used them when he did his bachelors degree).

Thanks!
 
the school should have labs available for him to work in. i found it more productive to do my programming there than at home, but that was when i lived on/near campus.
 
BrightCandle said:
A mac might prove difficult. Most universities run a variant of Unix, either Linux or something else.
Click to expand...

Good thing OS X is Unix. 😉 Once you've installed Xcode, you get GCC which means that you can build pretty much any software you need. Macports will even automate most of it for you.

Support does need to be confirmed for proprietary software. Matlab is supported.
 
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