Is anyone using an i3 or i5 processor for development?
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
I have a 3ghz quad core cpu and 16gb of ram, and VS2010 is STILL a pig at times.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
I have a 3ghz quad core cpu and 16gb of ram, and VS2010 is STILL a pig at times.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997Yeah, that's pretty much my work rig, but I don't really have any performance complaints. I usually have 3-4 IDEs running with 3-8 projects in each solution and multiple DB connections open. At home it'll be one or two IDEs max, and likely no more than 3-4 projects in a solution. What kind of projects are you working on that makes VS whine like a cheap pile of old grapes? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
If I planned on upgrading (as I typically would with a desktop), I'd go for the better processor and upgrade the RAM later. If I didn't plan on upgrading (as I typically wouldn't with a laptop), I'd go for more RAM.
Chris Maunder wrote:
Fixign now.
But who's fixing the fixign?
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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Yeah, that's pretty much my work rig, but I don't really have any performance complaints. I usually have 3-4 IDEs running with 3-8 projects in each solution and multiple DB connections open. At home it'll be one or two IDEs max, and likely no more than 3-4 projects in a solution. What kind of projects are you working on that makes VS whine like a cheap pile of old grapes? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
Web apps mostly, but Silverlight sometimes brings VS2010 to its knees (I think it has something to do with IE8 because I use FF at home and it doesn't happen near as bad).
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
I have just finished reading a comparative review of the current mainstream processors and the winner by a mile on a price/performance basis is the i5-2500K but as that is a SandyBridge part I suspect that it would require you to get a new MB. It is overclockable to 4000 (that's more than 11) with the standard cooler. I too would go for the processor now, with 4GB memory and add more memory later. That's easier than an i3 with 6GB, only to find that it doesn't hit the spot.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
I use an i7 and I love it. I know it doesn't answer your question but I didn't see the price difference as large enough to justify considering a lesser chip.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
What's that... I'm still using a Core 2 Duo.... :(
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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What's that... I'm still using a Core 2 Duo.... :(
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
My main desktop at home is a Pentium 4, IIRC. Though I've been spending most my computer time at home on my laptop lately (Core 2 I think).
Chris Maunder wrote:
Fixign now.
But who's fixing the fixign?
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
I've just had another thought. I don't know if your current MoBo is DDR3 enabled (being 4yo and all), but if it is and you go for the 6GB option, that would use up 3 of the 4 slots. I don't think that DDR3 will operate if memory modules are not in matched pairs. So you wouldn't get DDR3 initially and if you later add a 4th module you won't get DDR3 then either because it won't be matched.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
The Desktop has Athlon 2600, the laptop has Athlon Dual Core. Both have 2GB RAM, the desktop is running Debian, the laptop is running XP. If you have money to burn, get i7. I don't think the price difference will be that much, the chip has been out for a while now.
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I've just had another thought. I don't know if your current MoBo is DDR3 enabled (being 4yo and all), but if it is and you go for the 6GB option, that would use up 3 of the 4 slots. I don't think that DDR3 will operate if memory modules are not in matched pairs. So you wouldn't get DDR3 initially and if you later add a 4th module you won't get DDR3 then either because it won't be matched.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
When I say 'upgrading' I'm actually meaning buying a new one, but you raise a really good point. If I'm burning slots on 1/2 capacity RAM then I'll be throwing it away when I try to really upgrade down the road.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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If I planned on upgrading (as I typically would with a desktop), I'd go for the better processor and upgrade the RAM later. If I didn't plan on upgrading (as I typically wouldn't with a laptop), I'd go for more RAM.
Chris Maunder wrote:
Fixign now.
But who's fixing the fixign?
Good points. Thanks sir.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I've just had another thought. I don't know if your current MoBo is DDR3 enabled (being 4yo and all), but if it is and you go for the 6GB option, that would use up 3 of the 4 slots. I don't think that DDR3 will operate if memory modules are not in matched pairs. So you wouldn't get DDR3 initially and if you later add a 4th module you won't get DDR3 then either because it won't be matched.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
Hi Henry, I believe some vendors are now selling 1156 motherboards with triple-channel memory, so using three two-gig simms you do get the performance boost. Is not DDR3 Ram specifically designed for triple-channel ? But, I have not researched this thoroughly, and I am sure other folks here can correct me if I have mis-stated the case. But the Wikipedia, article :[^], is flagged for "expert attention," and "verification." My reading of the article suggests only certain Intel i7 and Xeon chips support triple channel, and i3, i5, i7-800 chips do not, and 1156 and 1155 motherboards do not support this feature. One wonders why 1155 motherboards (the latest ?) do not support this feature, as stated clearly on many other techie sites, and why, then the Wikipedia article lists the Sandy Bridge 2600k as supporting triple-channel ? So: a practical question: what do I gain from building a Sandy Bridge i7-2600K system when it uses dual channel memory, or what do I "lose" ? Dual-channel memory perhaps cheaper now, and in the future, however, soon to come X58 chipsets do support triple-channel and Sandy Bridge, with quad-channel Intel 2100 chipset on the horizon somewhen. So wait for X58 ? best, Bill
"Many : not conversant with mathematical studies, imagine that because it [the Analytical Engine] is to give results in numerical notation, its processes must consequently be arithmetical, numerical, rather than algebraical and analytical. This is an error. The engine can arrange and combine numerical quantities as if they were letters or any other general symbols; and it fact it might bring out its results in algebraical notation, were provisions made accordingly." Ada, Countess Lovelace, 1844
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Hi Henry, I believe some vendors are now selling 1156 motherboards with triple-channel memory, so using three two-gig simms you do get the performance boost. Is not DDR3 Ram specifically designed for triple-channel ? But, I have not researched this thoroughly, and I am sure other folks here can correct me if I have mis-stated the case. But the Wikipedia, article :[^], is flagged for "expert attention," and "verification." My reading of the article suggests only certain Intel i7 and Xeon chips support triple channel, and i3, i5, i7-800 chips do not, and 1156 and 1155 motherboards do not support this feature. One wonders why 1155 motherboards (the latest ?) do not support this feature, as stated clearly on many other techie sites, and why, then the Wikipedia article lists the Sandy Bridge 2600k as supporting triple-channel ? So: a practical question: what do I gain from building a Sandy Bridge i7-2600K system when it uses dual channel memory, or what do I "lose" ? Dual-channel memory perhaps cheaper now, and in the future, however, soon to come X58 chipsets do support triple-channel and Sandy Bridge, with quad-channel Intel 2100 chipset on the horizon somewhen. So wait for X58 ? best, Bill
"Many : not conversant with mathematical studies, imagine that because it [the Analytical Engine] is to give results in numerical notation, its processes must consequently be arithmetical, numerical, rather than algebraical and analytical. This is an error. The engine can arrange and combine numerical quantities as if they were letters or any other general symbols; and it fact it might bring out its results in algebraical notation, were provisions made accordingly." Ada, Countess Lovelace, 1844
Hi Bill, I think that you are generally correct, although the situation, regarding triple channel, is certainly muddy. At the time I wrote I was under the impression that Mr. James (as they call him :) ) was 'upgrading' and with a 4yo MoBo would be unlikely to have triple channel slots. With that age I couldn't actually remember if it would even accept DDR3. I know that Asus, and I believe FocConn and maybe others, do a triple channel MoBo. I have not seen any of the latest Intel boards with it though, although they did have some previous ones that did triple channel via only 4 slots (some weird arrangement where 1 slot could only be used for TC with two of the others, otherwise just the other 3 in DDR3 double channel mode). I have not yet seen a ready built system that uses a 6 slot Mobo though. May of course be different outside the UK.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
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Hi Bill, I think that you are generally correct, although the situation, regarding triple channel, is certainly muddy. At the time I wrote I was under the impression that Mr. James (as they call him :) ) was 'upgrading' and with a 4yo MoBo would be unlikely to have triple channel slots. With that age I couldn't actually remember if it would even accept DDR3. I know that Asus, and I believe FocConn and maybe others, do a triple channel MoBo. I have not seen any of the latest Intel boards with it though, although they did have some previous ones that did triple channel via only 4 slots (some weird arrangement where 1 slot could only be used for TC with two of the others, otherwise just the other 3 in DDR3 double channel mode). I have not yet seen a ready built system that uses a 6 slot Mobo though. May of course be different outside the UK.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
Henry Minute wrote:
I know that Asus, and I believe FocConn and maybe others, do a triple channel MoBo. I have not seen any of the latest Intel boards with it though, although they did have some previous ones that did triple channel via only 4 slots (some weird arrangement where 1 slot could only be used for TC with two of the others, otherwise just the other 3 in DDR3 double channel mode).
GA-X58A-UD5 This motherboard provides 6 DDR3 memory sockets...The six DDR3 memory sockets are divided into three channels: Channel 0: DDR3_1, DDR3_2 Channel 1: DDR3_3, DDR3_4 Channel 2: DDR3_5, DDR3_6 Dual Channel:
1. Dual Chennel mode cannot be enabled if only one DDR3 module is installed
2. When enabling Dual Chammel mode with two or four modules, it is recommended that memory of the same capacity, brand, speed, and chips is used.When enabling Dual Channel mode with two memory modules, be sure to instal them in the DDR3_1 and DDR3_3 sockets.
Triple Channel:
1. 3 Channel mode cannot be enabled if only one ot two DDR3 memory modules is installed.
2. When enabling 3 Channel mode with 3, 4, or 6 modules, it is recommended that memory of the same capacity, brand, speed, and chips is used.When enabling 3 Channel mode with 3 memory modules, be sure to install them in the DDR3_1, DDR3_3, and DDR3_5 sockets.
When enabling 3 Channel mode with 4 memory modules, be sure to install them in the DDR3_2, DDR3_2, DDR3_3, and DDR3_5 sockets.I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly 'This space for rent' Driven to the arms of Heineken by the wife
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I'm going to do a refresh on the home PC and want to be able to do some software hobby development on it. After trying to run the WP7 emulator on my 4 year old desktop at home, it occurred to me that I had a 4 year old desktop at home. I installed VS2010 on my buddy's i3 laptop with 2Gb of RAM and it seemed to be fairly responsive, quick to build/deploy and it seemed to run the WP7 emulator fairly well (though I didn't really give it a good push). From a price/performance perspective, I'm considering an i5 with 4Gb RAM or an i3 with 6Gb RAM. Both can be had for about the same price...I'm leaning towards the higher RAM config. Any suggestions? Cheers.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
I'm using a Dell Inspiron 1764 with an i5 proc and 4 GB of RAM mainly for VS 2008 development. It works well for my purposes. I do have WP7 dev tools installed as well and went through some tutorials without any pain. I would get a better proc instead of more RAM. On 32 bit Windows 7 you can only use 3 GB of RAM anyway.
