Recommend Processor for Image Editing and DAW

[zainalu]

Hello friends

I need to buy a Processor. I will use it mainly for daily computing like browsing, office, playing casual games only (no hardcore gaming) and watching multimedia content. I have started to indulge in Image Editing (Photoshop and others) and DAW (Cubase etc) twice a week on my Dual Core E5200 2.5 GHz Processor and its awfully slow. I will be upgrading the whole system, so I'm starting out with the Processor. I'm leaning towards i5 2400. Is it good enough for what I explained above, or should I go with i5 2500K or one step further with i7 2600K? What is the difference between all these processors in terms of performance? Is there way too much difference? Please help me. Remember price does matter. I can go up to 2600K only if needed, I don't want to waste too much money or bottleneck processor unless truly required.

Thanks in advance

 

[Cerb]

Anything serious will be awfully slow on a E5200. It was affordable, not speedy, when it was new.

The i5-3550 is the one to look at, IMO (it basically replaces the i5-2500). HT can get you some gains in Photoshop, but even without it either newer CPU would blow your current one out of the water, and it seems to vary with Cubase as to whether HT is good or bad. IMO, putting more into a bigger SSD, more RAM, etc., would give you more than the slightly faster i7 CPU.

What is the difference all of these speakers in terms of performance?

Less mental multistasking, please 😛

 

[buklau]

Any i5 or i7 with extra K behind means unlocked multiplier so you can overclock. If you plan to overclock, then I'd go with either 2500k or 3570k. It's true that photoshop benefit with HT, but for extra $75-100, I'd use that on a ssd. Otherwise, you can stick with a 2400 or 3550.

If you are severely limited with your budget, I would look for a used Q6600 on ebay and try to clock it up to 3ghz+.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Any i5 or i7 with extra K behind means unlocked multiplier so you can overclock. If you plan to overclock, then I'd go with either 2500k or 3570k. It's true that photoshop benefit with HT, but for extra $75-100, I'd use that on a ssd. Otherwise, you can stick with a 2400 or 3550.

If you are severely limited with your budget, I would look for a used Q6600 on ebay and try to clock it up to 3ghz+.

Yeah . . . He could probably just plug it into his old motherboard, and it would be sufficient for what he wants to do.

But the first challenge is finding one, and the second is to find one in best condition. He'll pay something for it. The alternative is a decent gen 2 or 3 motherboard, RAM and the processor -- which by itself would exceed the cost of a used C2Q LGA_775.

I had a nice Q6600 system @ 3.0 Ghz until last year, when I gave it to my brother after building an i7-2600K project. To fulfill Bro's OS request, I was surprised how Windows 7 64-bit gave new performance to it over the longstanding VISTA I had used, there's still little comparison with the gen 2 (and ergo gen 3) i5 or i7 "K" processors.

Of course, I've tweaked my Sandy Bridger's RAM for a stellar latency benchmark, and I've overclocked the CPU to 4.6 Ghz. It's been a helluva leap forward . . .

 

[Cerb]

Really, a Core i3 will give around the performance of a fast C2Q, worst case (cache-limited), and generally be much faster. Assuming the OP is up for a new computer, the benefits would definitely be greater than just upgrading to a C2Q, as they are still pricey, and he'd surely need a new HSF for it.

With <3 threads, the slowest i3 will blow away any Core 2, and with 3-4, any i5 will. If a fast C2Q could be had cheap enough, sure, but finding one, and an HSF, for too much under $125 is going to be a challenge (or, the OP will get a slower one and have to gamble with OCing it), and all new components would make for a system that should last several years with the OP's proposed usage, rather than just being enough for now.

 

[Z15CAM]

I would choose the Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge, runs at 69W, 3.3GHz 4x256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache, 4 cores + hyper-threading = 8 threads and uses either ECC or None ECC Ram. It's somewhat like an i7 2600 for $100 less. You can't really OC an Xeon but Sish! for about $240 nothing much will touch it for encoding plus with a Descent Video Card it will also be a very good Gamer. It should run on any cheap 1155 Mainboard with out OC's options as long as the Bios UpDate supports it.

As far as I'm concerned the E3-1230 Xeon whether a SB or IB is one H*ll of a Processor for the price.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

if youre going to get the 2400 you might as well get the 2500 or even the 2600. you know for sure those will be adequate for anything