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Christopher

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One question about a mobil workstation
« on: July 24, 2009, 03:08:39 am »

I know the question between a quad and dual core has been discussed before. On a desktop system it doesn't matter so much, because both CPUs can be bought with the same clock speed. With notebooks it is not exactly the same. the main choice would be between a Dual core with 2,93 or even 3,16Ghz  OR a Quad core with 2,0 or 2,26. So as one can see there is quite a clock speed difference.

I mainly need it for Lightroom and C1. So what in the end is really faster and the better choice ? A quad core or a dual core with around 600 more clock speed ?


Thanks for any insight and help.


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Christopher Hauser
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dfarkas

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2009, 12:51:38 pm »

Quote from: Christopher
I know the question between a quad and dual core has been discussed before. On a desktop system it doesn't matter so much, because both CPUs can be bought with the same clock speed. With notebooks it is not exactly the same. the main choice would be between a Dual core with 2,93 or even 3,16Ghz  OR a Quad core with 2,0 or 2,26. So as one can see there is quite a clock speed difference.

I mainly need it for Lightroom and C1. So what in the end is really faster and the better choice ? A quad core or a dual core with around 600 more clock speed ?


Thanks for any insight and help.

Christopher,

I just got a new mobile workstation (Dell Precision M6400) and opted for the quad core QX9300 Extreme running at 2.53Ghz. I ran some quick testing with a P30+ raw file. Through C1 v4.8, I was able to process the file in 11 seconds to a 16-bit TIFF. In Lightroom, I was able to process the same file in 4.5 seconds.

Others here reported times of about 18 seconds running a dual core 3Ghz. So, the slower-clocked quad is a fari amount faster for well-threaded apps like LR and C1.

David


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David Farkas
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Craig Lamson

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2009, 01:48:14 pm »

Quote from: dfarkas
Christopher,

I just got a new mobile workstation (Dell Precision M6400) and opted for the quad core QX9300 Extreme running at 2.53Ghz. I ran some quick testing with a P30+ raw file. Through C1 v4.8, I was able to process the file in 11 seconds to a 16-bit TIFF. In Lightroom, I was able to process the same file in 4.5 seconds.

Others here reported times of about 18 seconds running a dual core 3Ghz. So, the slower-clocked quad is a fari amount faster for well-threaded apps like LR and C1.

David

I just bought a cheap Toshiba for a location tethering machine, $750 bucks at a big box store.  Core2duo P7350 at 2.00 per core.  

PS4 open, C1 4.8, Canon 1DSMKIII file, processd to 16bit tiff, fully open in PS4 in 18 seconds.

Pretty fast for $750 and right out of the box.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2009, 01:56:57 pm by infocusinc »
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sergio

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2009, 09:10:44 pm »

There is some good info on http://macperformanceguide.com/ about multi processors and LR. Though it is a mac site, maybe it applies for pcs as well.
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BFoto

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« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2009, 02:17:45 am »

Quote from: dfarkas
Christopher,

I just got a new mobile workstation (Dell Precision M6400) and opted for the quad core QX9300 Extreme running at 2.53Ghz.
David

How do you like it?

Is the RGBled worth the extra?

I am just about to get one, and see very few review/reports by working photog's.

Christopher

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2009, 01:07:22 am »

Ok just ordered my new mobil workstation, will let you know what i think and perhaps write a small review as soon as I have it.
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Christopher Hauser
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dfarkas

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« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2009, 08:31:17 pm »

Quote from: BFoto
How do you like it?

Is the RGBled worth the extra?

I am just about to get one, and see very few review/reports by working photog's.

I love this computer! The Precision M6400 is the fastest machine (desktop or laptop) I have ever used. The Quad Core Extreme 2.53Ghz CPU is very quick, the Nvidia Quadro FX 3700M with 1GB is crazy fast for video rendering, and having up to 16GB DDR3 RAM makes multitasking easy.  Quad core is really nice for Lightroom exporting, Premier Pro video rendering, Capture One conversions, and anything else that is properly multithreaded. My other (travel) laptop is a Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz and I can really feel the speed advantage of the quad vs. the dual at the same clock speed.

If you can spring for it, I hightly recommend the dual RAID 0 SSD route. I'm getting more than 300MB/sec reads and writes with my two Samsung 256GB drives. This combined with the CPU and GPU horsepower make this the most responsive and highest performing system I've had the pleasure of using.... and I can take it with me.
 
And, to answer your question, the RGB LED screen is the closest I've seen to matching the color gamut and smoothness of my Eizo. Not quite as good, but much, much better than any other laptop screen. You do have to put the brightness at about 20% to get to 120cd/m2, but it still looks great. I opted for the anti-glare version, not the Edge-2-Edge glass screen, as I believe it to be better for photo work.

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit which works completely flawlessly.  I have the CS4 Master Collection, LR 2.4, and C1 4.8 and they all work perfectly in 64-bit.

One other nice thing is the amount of port options. I have Firewire, 4x USB, eSATA, Display Port, PCMCIA, and ExpressCard 54. In my ExpressCard slot, I'm using a Delkin CF reader which uses the PCI-Express bus for about 50MB/sec throughput. So, along with the built-in SD reader, I also have an internal CF reader as well. Very convenient.

If you can live with the 8.5 lb weight and limited battery life (only 2.5 hrs), you will be rewarded with a blazingly fast workstation that can go on location with you.

David
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BFoto

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« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2009, 09:31:21 pm »

Quote from: dfarkas
I love this computer! The Precision M6400 is the fastest machine (desktop or laptop) I have ever used. The Quad Core Extreme 2.53Ghz CPU is very quick, the Nvidia Quadro FX 3700M with 1GB is crazy fast for video rendering, and having up to 16GB DDR3 RAM makes multitasking easy.  Quad core is really nice for Lightroom exporting, Premier Pro video rendering, Capture One conversions, and anything else that is properly multithreaded. My other (travel) laptop is a Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz and I can really feel the speed advantage of the quad vs. the dual at the same clock speed.

If you can spring for it, I hightly recommend the dual RAID 0 SSD route. I'm getting more than 300MB/sec reads and writes with my two Samsung 256GB drives. This combined with the CPU and GPU horsepower make this the most responsive and highest performing system I've had the pleasure of using.... and I can take it with me.
 
And, to answer your question, the RGB LED screen is the closest I've seen to matching the color gamut and smoothness of my Eizo. Not quite as good, but much, much better than any other laptop screen. You do have to put the brightness at about 20% to get to 120cd/m2, but it still looks great. I opted for the anti-glare version, not the Edge-2-Edge glass screen, as I believe it to be better for photo work.

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit which works completely flawlessly.  I have the CS4 Master Collection, LR 2.4, and C1 4.8 and they all work perfectly in 64-bit.

One other nice thing is the amount of port options. I have Firewire, 4x USB, eSATA, Display Port, PCMCIA, and ExpressCard 54. In my ExpressCard slot, I'm using a Delkin CF reader which uses the PCI-Express bus for about 50MB/sec throughput. So, along with the built-in SD reader, I also have an internal CF reader as well. Very convenient.

If you can live with the 8.5 lb weight and limited battery life (only 2.5 hrs), you will be rewarded with a blazingly fast workstation that can go on location with you.

David


Thanks for that.

I only use a laptop, as i am always on the road, so I have been eying off this machine for months. I will get it, just holding off a bit longer. Quad CPU, 8gig Ram and 1gig GPU is what i am getting.

I already have a 9lb monster, so no issue.

Interested to here any other opinion on the anti glare?

andyptak

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #8 on: August 08, 2009, 09:20:51 am »

David - I'm thinking of upgrading to 64 bit from 32 bit myself, but neither DxO or Nik plug-ins for PS support 64 bit. I'm using XP Pro on a dual core at the moment, but my new Sony a900 is 24mpx and the large files are just choking my machine. Upgrading to quad core and 64 bit makes sense, but I don't know what to do about my apps that don't support it. Will they just not work, or do they just work slower?
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dfarkas

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« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2009, 09:36:46 am »

Quote from: andyptak
David - I'm thinking of upgrading to 64 bit from 32 bit myself, but neither DxO or Nik plug-ins for PS support 64 bit. I'm using XP Pro on a dual core at the moment, but my new Sony a900 is 24mpx and the large files are just choking my machine. Upgrading to quad core and 64 bit makes sense, but I don't know what to do about my apps that don't support it. Will they just not work, or do they just work slower?

You can run the Nik plug-ins with the 32-bit version of CS4 (both 32 and 64-bit versions get installed). I'm not sure about DxO. Kind of defeats the point of 64-bit memory support if you can't fully use it.

I'm anxious for Nik to release 64-bit versions of their s/w, especially Viveza. Better than the Mac camp, though. They are still waiting for a 64-bit version of Photoshop!

David
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Pete_G

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One question about a mobil workstation
« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2009, 10:14:52 am »

Regarding XP v Windows 7, one interesting fact I've discovered is that MS will release a version of software for Windows 7 called XP Mode, it consists of a downloadable package, free, containing Microsoft Virtual PC and a free image of XP. You will be able to run XP in a virtual machine. While not suitable for most graphics applications it may mean that funny little legacy apps that don't like W7 will be able to run under such a scheme.
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mmurph

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« Reply #11 on: August 11, 2009, 01:52:21 am »

Quote from: Christopher
Ok just ordered my new mobil workstation, will let you know what i think and perhaps write a small review as soon as I have it.


Umm, and ... what in the **blank** did you decide to buy?  

Geez, what a cliff hanger ...

Congrats on the new machine!  Let us know what you think once it arrives.

For PS4 that only uses 1 core, seems like the Ghz rating trumps everything else.  Obviously we hope that is not true for long, and it is not true for other apps, so the quad seems a better long term investment.

Best,
Michael
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