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Which CPU?

C

ChuckR

Member
Is there a place identifying the CPU relationship to the type of applications they work best with? I am looking to build or buy a system next year and looking at the ASUS P6X58D. The question, as is posted many times, What are you going to use the system for. I would like to find a reverse. I am retired and except for Video and Finance I would like to select what I may want to do and match that to the processor.
I hope I am clear.
Thanks
 
Could you be a little more specific on your budget and what you plan to do with your computer?

Do you mean that you are doing Video editing/re-encoding video along with your finances?
 
If you are buying the system next year, then I would wait until you are ready to buy it before getting your mind set on which CPU to choose.

The tech market fluctuates fairly rapidly. Good advice today is probably not good advice next year.

As for a way to catagorically figure out what CPU does what best. No, there isn't a really sure fire way to do that. You can look up reviews and benchmarks to get a feel for it, but ultimately how a CPU performs is very application specific.
 
To ChuckR,

To start out your mobo choice limits you to LGA 1366 series processors that tend to be very speedy. At $300+ its hardly a budget mobo. And while it may be nice to have super speedy USB3, you are playing a premium price for that and memory capacities.

As Zensal implies, doing heavy duty video editing can really tax the CPU and memory, and super speedy transfers to external storage is nice also, its also hard to conceive that personal finance software would require a super speedy system.

Then you may also have to buy a expensive aftermarket cooling system to keep the the CPU from overheating. And a video card and DDR3 memory that will not come cheap.

I am not sure at this writing if socket LGA1366 will support the upcoming 32NM processors or not, but if it does, you might be advised to wait until they come out.
 
The budget is in the 3K range. More specific on my current thoughts are:
Case ?? Lian Li PC-9 Aluminum PC Mid Tower Case
Cooling/Quiet are very important
CPU Intel Core I7 920(D0) Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 or Gulftown
Motherboard ASUS P6X58D
RAM OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000/2000MHz/Platinum XTC/Triple Channel
Video Saphire 5870(VaporX Cooling),
ASUS EAH5870(Dark Knight Cooling 5 x 11 inches)
Monitor HP LP2475w(1920 x 1200 @ 60,66,75,85 Hz)
Power Supply Seasonic X-750, Corsair HX750W
CPU Cooler ??
Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Hard Drive Intel X25-M 160GB with (1) WD Black 500 GB, Sata 3.0
Case Fans Scythe SY122512WH-VR (5v) if needed
DVD Drive LG GGC-H20LK 6X Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM, 16X DVD±RW

Yes I would like to do a lot of Video Work. A friend has a startup where I could help him.
Currently, I have
SuperMicro ATX Full Tower 750A (W/H/D) 8.5x26.5x17.5, Intel Pentium IIIE, 713 MHz (7 x 102), Asus CUSL2 , 512 MB (SDRAM), Matrox Graphics Millennium G400 AGP (32 MB), ViewSonic PF795(18”), (2) IBM-(30 GB, Ultra-ATA/100), Windows 2000 Pro

I live in Las Vegas where it is very dry and warm. Cool, Quiet and because of an eye problem I need a monitor with very good clarity.
 
Your system looks pretty good.

My suggestion, since you are going to be working with video, is to grab a couple of TB of HD space. Video can take up huge amounts of HD space if you let it.

With everything else, it looks like you have made some pretty good choices. For a CPU cooler, I've heard good things about the Megahelms coolers.

Also, make sure you load up on ram, Video stuff loves ram.

At 3K, your budget is pretty large. My suggestions on key areas to focus are
1. CPU, Video stuff loves a fast CPU
2. RAM, The more the merrier. Don't worry so much about ram speed, More ram is better then faster ram in most cases.
3. Large Hard drives, Video will eat through HD space like nothing else
4. A large monitor, It is much easier to edit videos with big screens.

After that, the other parts really aren't too important, A good video card is nice, but not needed.

BTW, you are going to love the new system, You're doing quite the performance jump here.
 
Maybe not my area of expertise, but in choosing a i7 920, you may have to over clock to get enough MHZ. All those cores and extra instructions sets potential is all well and fine, but if your video encoding software can't take proper advantage of them, it defaults to raw MHZ.

But I also have to agree with Cogman, you will have a very expensive and very fast computer. A king of the hill until something faster comes around in six months or a year.
 
Thanks COGMAN.
How about adding a Seagate Barracuda® 7200.12 1TB
Up the CPU to a 950/965
Ram up to 12mb
I am also cramped for space around the desk. The supermicro just fits in the computer space. I was hoping for a MidTower I could put on the desktop behind the monitor.
Would you have any ideas on a quality builder?
Thanks
 
ChuckR said:
Thanks COGMAN.
How about adding a Seagate Barracuda® 7200.12 1TB
Up the CPU to a 950/965
Ram up to 12mb
I am also cramped for space around the desk. The supermicro just fits in the computer space. I was hoping for a MidTower I could put on the desktop behind the monitor.
Would you have any ideas on a quality builder?
Thanks
Click to expand...

What do you mean by quality builder? If you mean have someone assemble it for you, then I don't really have any suggestions, I usually slap the parts together myself.

Quiet and small are hard things to pair together. The problem generally lies in the fact that small things struggle cooling off the components properly, thus, they have to rely on crappier coolers and louder fans to get the job done. A Mid tower should be big enough, Antec, Lian, and Coolmaster are some name brands that come to mind when thinking of a good computer case.

As for the HD, Seagate, WD, and Samsung are all good brands to go with. Hitachi is OK as far as I've heard, but I would stick with the top three if the choice was up to me.

You might want 12 GB of ram instead of 12 MB 😛..

As for the CPU, it is up to you. I have a hard time recommending a 950 over a 920. Yes, it is faster, but really not by much (0.4 GHZ faster...). The price premium, however, is huge, ~$200. IMO a 920 is "fast enough" and a good balance between price/performance. But if you are willing to pay for it, then the 950 will be slightly faster. I think you would be better off (in this case) investing the money in a couple of big hard drives rather then getting a faster CPU.

(Yes, I realize that I placed CPU speed as top priority, however, the 920 is really about the best you can do without breaking the bank. My suggestion for a fast CPU basically means that I suggest a core-i7 processor, and not a Phenom II or Core 2 quad. Diminishing returns and all.)
 
I guess I will now wait to see if anyone reviews the ASUS P6X58D and the Gulftown. It should be interesting to see what comes out of CES in January. I may even try to get into the action as I am in Vegas.
Thanks again for the input to COGMAN and LemonLaw
 
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