Re: Any recommendations for new hardware (quadcore/GPUs)?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg116998] Re: Any recommendations for new hardware (quadcore/GPUs)?
- From: telefunkenvf14 <rgorka at gmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 05:47:24 -0500 (EST)
- References: <iknsc6$k98$1@smc.vnet.net>
On Mar 3, 5:00 am, Yves Klett <yves.kl... at googlemail.com> wrote: > Hi, > > there are not too many benchmarks for current (especially mobile) > hardware to be found, so perhaps someone can give some information on > their preferred hardware? > > Two things interest me in particular: > a) will a quadcore (i7) offer significantly more performance than a dual > core? Of course this depends on the nature of the task... > > b) Is there any difference between cheaper gaming cards (e.g. NVidia > GTX) versus expensive professional cards (e.g. NVidia Quadro), > especially concerning CUDA/OpenCL? > > Any impressions are welcome. > > Yves Beware of laptops with switchable graphics. My Sony Z is awesome... EXCEPT for the fact that the switchable graphics mechanism makes it impossible to update the NVidia drivers (without either hacking together a custom driver package or hacking the bios to force the machine to use only the NVidia graphics). I'm beginning to wonder if Sony will ever update the graphics drivers for my machine. (very irritating to have Sony blathering on about supporting CUDA... and then failing to support CUDA). Laptops I'd consider if I had to do it all over again (by order of preference): Lenovo w510 Dell Precision Mobile Workstations (4500 and 6500) Lenovo T410 (uses Optimus -- software switching between internal and NVidia graphics. Confirm driver upgradability before you leap!) As for the quad vs dual-core... i7's do come in dual-core as well as quad-core. You'll probably want to go with a dual-core i7 if you're going with a laptop, so worry less about CPU and more about screen quality, video card, memory and hard-drive. IMO, solid state drives are a must---but you should probably upgrade the drive yourself as Lenovo and Dell were waaaay overcharging for these components. The Intel x25-M is a good choice (although appears to be currently phasing out due to Intel releasing it's new 510 series). -RG
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- Re: Any recommendations for new hardware (quadcore/GPUs)?
- From: "Emilio Martin-Serrano Sobrino" <emartinserrano@telefonica.net>
- Re: Any recommendations for new hardware (quadcore/GPUs)?