Running on an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor?

I know the "whats the best computer for sl?!1111111" comes up a lot but I have a specific question. I tried searching and it said no matches, maybe I did it wrong. =\


Anyway, my laptop is seriously overheating/dying from all my graphic programs and Sl opened so it`s time for me to invest in a desktop.

I have decided on a Dell XPS 710 (black ) I think it will be able to handle my needs- I constantly have my laptop running, I have photoshop open all the time with a graphic tablet hooked up, and I often open and play /minimize Second Life.

The only thing im confused about is this new duo processor from intel.

Im not sure how it compares to that of the other processers in terms of the GHz.

Would a 2MB L2 Cache,2.13GHz,1066 FS be sufficient for running SL/graphic programs constantly. Or should I go higher? I must also note I have only chosen a 1 gig memory and figure I can add another gig if needed in the future. (Are there 2 slots for this on the XPS so I only have to buy another gig, or would I need to remove the 1 gig and buy a 2 gig?)




Here is all I have currently selected:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.13GHz,1066 FSB)

Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD

1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs

HARD DRIVE 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

MONITOR 20 inch UltraSharp™ 2007WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

VIDEO CARD 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS edit

SOUND CARD Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D) Sound Card





Thanks

Looks good. I would get the 2 gigs right now. With all you plan on doing it will really help you out.

Alright cool, thanks. I just want to be sure i dont skimp cos im not looking fwd to another burnt out system, but I also dont want to go over board


Ill wait to hopefully get a few more inputs then order the system.

"1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs"

I believe that says you have two dimm memory cards in the computer.........two at 512 megs each. The primary reason most computer people do that is expense.....two 512 meg cards are cheaper than one 1 gig card. You would be best to go to Dell and ask if you could get one 1 gig card instead or if you could at a later time replace on the 512's with a gig and get 1.5 gigs. The motherboard dictates how you can add memory. My guess it that you can replace one with a gig later.......but Dell would be the place to ask to make sure.

I have the same problem on my computer and it's custom built..........two slots total and up to 2 gig memory support. I have 1 gig now but to get to two I have to replace both with 1 gig cards.........pretty expensive. I can up it to 1.5 and then jump to 2 later.......but I haven't done that since SL runs fine on 1 gig for me. Only uses about 500 megs and with the other background stuff running a total of about 600 megs of the available 1 gig..........just not a need as far as I can see. I don't use PS but I do use GIMP. I've had both SL and GIMP running at the same time and I've only noticed very slight drop in performance in SL..............GIMP seems to be unaffected.

However, Windows being Windows when I run GIMP and SL at the same time for more than about 20 or 30 mins it takes forever for Windows to release that memory.........I usually reboot.

My CPU is a 3.06 gig Dual Core P-4. Don't know if that's the same as a Core 2 Duo but I have two cores Memory is the same as yours.....DDR2

Hope that helps.

Thanks!

Well I did upgrade to the 2 gig of memory.


I also do digital recording so I think that ill help me out there too...but hmm I know on my laptop with 512 memory I almost max it out so perhaps a 1 gig -would- be sufficient.


I think im just still a little concerned about the "2.13GHz".... with the hours on end im going to be having PS open and SL open a good amount of the time too.


How does a intel duo core 2.13GHz compare against an intel centrino 750? (What my laptop currently has)- does anyone know?

Get a good CPU fan and make sure you have plenty of case fans. Go for a bigger power supply to handle the extra power requirements. Keep it all cool and you shouldn't have much of a problem. I don't know anything at all about Centrenos........I don't use a laptop. But I do know laptops run hot, hot, hot.

Im not sure about the fan thing, this is a dell xps and its built for intense gaming so my thoughts are it must be built to cater to keeping it cool. Im really not knowledged about computer hardware so if ihad to add something myself im at a loss lol


I guess since i decided to keep the 2 gig ram ill stick with the current 2.13GHz and hope it does the job, the price is already insanely high to be adding more on.

Since am in the middle of switching to very similar setup, been reading some tests and articles on it and such, and it appears due to way Core2 processors are built and operate there's extremely small gain in performance when going from 533 Mhz memory to 667 MHz one (unless one is planning to overclock processor speeds and such) ... it gets silly to the point where computer with 533 Mhz memory with small latency (say, CL3) performs faster than the same computer with 667 Mhz memory with larger latency o.O;

Just something to keep on mind i guess, since it means one can save a bit of cash on the memory sticks at next to no performance hit whatsoever ^^;;

edit: and yes, 2 gb is definitely nicer to have than 1, both for SL and all other sort of work really ^^;

J- sorry that kind of went over my head

I must reiterate- im not too knowledged about computer hardware lol


So are you saying I dont really need the 677MHz, i can get away with a 533MHz

you say, though, "with small latency" - what exactly do you mean?

My DDR2 memory is at 533Mhz. I think it means you are not getting much a boost with the more expensive 667 Mhz. Something I've heard before..............so if you can get your 1 gig memory at 533 instead of 667 you might save a bit of money and not notice any drop in performance. But the cost difference may be so small it might not be worth the effort.

If you computer is billed as a gaming machine, I'm pretty sure it's cooled adequately.

Sorry ^^;; and yes, the 533 mhz one seems to be very similar in performance so it may be worth considering.

The latency thing, computer memory has aside from that base speed (533, 667, 800 mhz etc) also a handful of other attributes which basically determine how fast it can fetch and supply the data to processor(s). These extra numbers are sometimes listed as part of memory stick name and look either like: CL3 (or CL4 or CL5) or more complicated way like: 3-3-3-10 or 5-5-5-15 ... the smaller these numbers, the less delay (latency) the memory stick has when supplying the data, which means the whole system is bit faster to operate.

here's a nice article regarding it, though it goes in waaay more detail than probably needed... but at least has some nice graphs and conclusions page that sums it all up in less technical way ^^;;

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/core2duo-memory-guide.html

Ah okay,

well on the xps 710 it didnt go any lower than 677 lol so I was kind of confused as I didnt see the option you were talking about.


However someone was nice enough to IM me inworld and brought to me attention the xps410 , it doesnt look to be geared toward intense gaming like the 710 but its about 700$ cheaper in my case. Downfall is its not as nice looking as the 710 lol but I the price difference is too much to go for the 710 just for the looks. However, initially that I was just under the impression that since the 710 was built for intense gaming id certaintly be fine with it, and wasnt sure about anything else.

I think im going to go ahead with the xps 410, I can also afford some other add ons since i have the 700 to spare.