Upgrade current machine, need more HP

[Davidh373]

Well, he can't use the 4 GB ram..., so if he exceeds 3 GB, that is when he should switch. What is the point of buying ram he can't use?

 

[bob4432]

Well, he can't use the 4 GB ram..., so if he exceeds 3 GB, that is when he should switch. What is the point of buying ram he can't use?

well, he can use a bit over 3GB, and also we don't even know if he is ram starved or if his software is even multi-threaded. so he could use more than 3GB if he needs that.

you guys are making all these suggestions to have him spend a decent amount of $$$ not knowing where the weak point is or if your suggestions will even help. ram is a pretty safe bet but suggesting a whole new os, again, issues w/ software and all, is a bit reckless and could possibly be a waste of $$$ for the op.

 

[Davidh373]

Notice I told him IF he exceeds 3 GB. 3 GB and 3GB 256 MB are very close to the same. 256 MB doesn't make much of a difference. You seem to like to tell people ways to save money that waste a lot of hardware... funny..
Anyway, He says nothing about having software difficulties... I have 7 and I have only run into fixable difficulty with BF2142, and Steam.
If you are talking about difficulty with software, I use a TON of design apps. Photoshop (32 and 64), Gimp, Paint, Premiere Pro, After Effects, 3DS Max (I've used 32 and 64), ZBrush, Illustrator, Softimage, they all work flawlessly AND are more stable because a lot of software developers had to straighten out their sloppy programming from 32 bit. There are a lot less memory leaks, the apps launch faster, and I experience less start up time for the os.

By the way, I don't just use them... I get paid to use them.

Multi-threading has to do with one app using multiple cores, if he likes his computer to multitask it will still make his computer a ton faster to do so. I don't exactly know if you have some sort of beef with intel, or multi core processors, but no one else seems to deny the benefits...
I personally don't think he needs a new processor, but he originally asked about upgrading his system, not IF he should. He wants to. People here are just giving him ways. He asked questions about items, we answered them. He never asked if he needed to, his mind was already set on wanting an upgrade. He also set fourth a budget for people to recommend a build on a new computer, or an extreme upgrade on his old one. Since gutting an entire comp is quite pointless, we recommended a new one since his budget was substantial enough.

 

[bob4432]

Notice I told him IF he exceeds 3 GB. 3 GB and 3GB 256 MB are very close to the same. 256 MB doesn't make much of a difference. You seem to like to tell people ways to save money that waste a lot of hardware... funny..
Anyway, He says nothing about having software difficulties... I have 7 and I have only run into fixable difficulty with BF2142, and Steam.
If you are talking about difficulty with software, I use a TON of design apps. Photoshop (32 and 64), Gimp, Paint, Premiere Pro, After Effects, 3DS Max (I've used 32 and 64), ZBrush, Illustrator, Softimage, they all work flawlessly AND are more stable because a lot of software developers had to straighten out their sloppy programming from 32 bit. There are a lot less memory leaks, the apps launch faster, and I experience less start up time for the os.

By the way, I don't just use them... I get paid to use them.

Multi-threading has to do with one app using multiple cores, if he likes his computer to multitask it will still make his computer a ton faster to do so. I don't exactly know if you have some sort of beef with intel, or multi core processors, but no one else seems to deny the benefits...
I personally don't think he needs a new processor, but he originally asked about upgrading his system, not IF he should. He wants to. People here are just giving him ways. He asked questions about items, we answered them. He never asked if he needed to, his mind was already set on wanting an upgrade. He also set fourth a budget for people to recommend a build on a new computer, or an extreme upgrade on his old one. Since gutting an entire comp is quite pointless, we recommended a new one since his budget was substantial enough.

there is one thing to do an upgrade knowing what you need and therefore make the upgrade and get a good roi, there is another when you are just throwing money away - sure he could spend a grand and not notice it. sorry, i just don't see the benefit of upgrading unless i get something out of it, and i would like to make the best upgrade that will benefit me the most for x amount of money. computer equipment loses its value faster than just about anything else out there, so why waste it if you don't get a benefit?

and no, i have nothing against multi-cores, have been using them for 7+yrs, but sometimes given certain apps cpu speed is better than additional cores.

 

[Davidh373]

Good Point, on the CPU. As for computing, i'm sure your focus on just the photo editing software is a bit extreme. I would bet money he uses it for media, web browsing, and word processing as well. All of which aren't very heavy on hardware, but better hardware and more ram will definitely benefit speed. I know I don't like to get something that isn't going to benefit me, but something that would be an investment for the future would get my attention rather than something I would save money on now. As long as I have the money for it now, I may as well take care of that investment. If my computer is not quite outdated yet, but will be soon, I may jump the gun to avoid lag, or my computer going bad.

 

[dbcooper1]

For photo editing, you're often better off going for additional RAM and top speed before additional cores, at least through CS3. If you have a32 bit version of Photoshop, it won't use anything over 3GB even if the OS does.

 

[Davidh373]

Yes, but the os and other programs use the additional ram.