ClientAlive
New Member
I see so many posts like this I wasn't sure I should make another one. I did check out some of the other posts but came to the conslusion => I have my own unique needs. So I figure I'll take my chances and see what people think.
First things first - I'm a Linux user and love it. Now that that's out of the way...
On to the second, so called, sacrelidge - No, I don't get into gaming, at all.
I'd be using the computer mostly for software develpment and networking. I do like to watch movies on my computer and would like to have decent performance on that end of things. I also tend to run several large downloads simultaneously from time to time and that tends to eat a lot of resources. I do tend to multitask a lot and I very frequently have half a dozen apps open at the same time. This old, 6 yr old, laptop I have now just doesn't cut it anymore. She was nice while she lasted but I think it's time to retire 'er.
I'd like to find something in the neighborhood of $600 - 650 but I'm not sure I could get what I need at that price so I'd be willing to go as far as, say, $900 max w/ tax, shipping, the works. If I spent the extra though I'd really want to be getting a hell of a deal.
That being said, here's a rough sketch of what I know I would want included. Really, it's what the best processor is that that confuses me.
So I'm thinking:
~ Brand: I'm open but I have had a lot of luck with HP (I don't mind them)
~ Size: Neighborhood of a 15" screen
~ RAM: (sure about this one) Minimum 6 GB DDR3 (FAST! 2100 if you can get it in a lap top)
~ Hard Drive: (sure about this one) Neighborhood of 750 GB and 7200 rpm
not less than 7200 rpm)
~ CPU: (??) Questions here but I do lean heavily toward AMD and like the
sound of a Quad core for some reason (though it's not based on
much knowledge).
Graphics: (??) Questions here. The gist of it is I'd like to have high def for
the movies I watch but it doesn't need to be top of the line in this
area. Something upper side of mid way is fine.
It'll probably be a dual boot system with Linux and Windows btw. One concern would be that there's no peice of hardware that's known for being too big a pain with Linux - but I can ask about those things in other places too.
I was looking at a particular model (with a couple custom tweaks to the order) but the processor has me a little confused. I did some checking into it on the web and what I learned about it just seems odd to me.
The one I was looking at is the Pavilion dv6z Quad Editio. It lists the AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4MB L2 Cache) as the processor. I was a little confused by the way the processor speed is listed "2.4/1.5" so I googled a little and found a review that talks a little more in depth about it Its $900 for the configuration I'm looking at and don't want to cut loose with that kind of cash without having a good grasp on the merits (or lack thereof) of this processor. The review I looked at is here: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-...-965258/review and even lists some bechmarks (which I don't really understand) on about the third page.
What I'm wondering is what this deal is with it having different processor speeds for the different cores. Apparently two of the cores can go up to 2.4 GHz but it's a 4 core processor. What about the other two? I suppose those are the ones that run at 1.5 GHz? And this thing about some kind of integrated video graphics. How does that impact things? Honestly, the whole thing souds kind of hoakey to me. As far as I knew (or thought I knew) processors, however many cores they have, were supposed to run at the same speed for all the cores - and that being the max speed. In other words, what happened to tapping these things out - peddal to the metal?
What it makes me think of is something I heard about the processor market and how they do things. I've heard it said that they make processors of differing cores from the same die. That they are all whatever the highest number of cores for that series. What they say happens is not all of them that come off the line are at the highest standard/ performance. They test them and if, say, a six core processor tests deficient in a couple of it's cores they just lock those cores and sell it as a 4 core processor. So what I'm thinking is maybe this 3500m is something like that only even below the normal standard, where all the cores would run at the same speed. I mean, perhaps its not like they did that 3500m on purpose. Maybe it just tested as having a couple cores at one speed and a couple at another, so they marketed it that way.
Specs as I would tweak them=>
~ Color: dark umber
~ Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
~ Processor: AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
~ Graphics card: 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6750M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
~ Memory: 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) [One thing I changed]
~ Hard drive: 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
~ Office software: No Additional Office Software
~ Security software:No additional security software
~ Primary battery: 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery [The other thing I changed]
~ Display: 15.6" High Def LED HP Brightview (1366x768)
~ Primary optical drive: FREE UPGRADE to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
~ Personalization: HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
~ Networking: 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
~ Keyboard: Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
Anyone here with a little more experience could help me get my bearings straight? I'd sure appreciate it.
First things first - I'm a Linux user and love it. Now that that's out of the way...
On to the second, so called, sacrelidge - No, I don't get into gaming, at all.
I'd be using the computer mostly for software develpment and networking. I do like to watch movies on my computer and would like to have decent performance on that end of things. I also tend to run several large downloads simultaneously from time to time and that tends to eat a lot of resources. I do tend to multitask a lot and I very frequently have half a dozen apps open at the same time. This old, 6 yr old, laptop I have now just doesn't cut it anymore. She was nice while she lasted but I think it's time to retire 'er.
I'd like to find something in the neighborhood of $600 - 650 but I'm not sure I could get what I need at that price so I'd be willing to go as far as, say, $900 max w/ tax, shipping, the works. If I spent the extra though I'd really want to be getting a hell of a deal.
That being said, here's a rough sketch of what I know I would want included. Really, it's what the best processor is that that confuses me.
So I'm thinking:
~ Brand: I'm open but I have had a lot of luck with HP (I don't mind them)
~ Size: Neighborhood of a 15" screen
~ RAM: (sure about this one) Minimum 6 GB DDR3 (FAST! 2100 if you can get it in a lap top)
~ Hard Drive: (sure about this one) Neighborhood of 750 GB and 7200 rpm
not less than 7200 rpm)
~ CPU: (??) Questions here but I do lean heavily toward AMD and like the
sound of a Quad core for some reason (though it's not based on
much knowledge).
Graphics: (??) Questions here. The gist of it is I'd like to have high def for
the movies I watch but it doesn't need to be top of the line in this
area. Something upper side of mid way is fine.
It'll probably be a dual boot system with Linux and Windows btw. One concern would be that there's no peice of hardware that's known for being too big a pain with Linux - but I can ask about those things in other places too.
I was looking at a particular model (with a couple custom tweaks to the order) but the processor has me a little confused. I did some checking into it on the web and what I learned about it just seems odd to me.
The one I was looking at is the Pavilion dv6z Quad Editio. It lists the AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4MB L2 Cache) as the processor. I was a little confused by the way the processor speed is listed "2.4/1.5" so I googled a little and found a review that talks a little more in depth about it Its $900 for the configuration I'm looking at and don't want to cut loose with that kind of cash without having a good grasp on the merits (or lack thereof) of this processor. The review I looked at is here: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-...-965258/review and even lists some bechmarks (which I don't really understand) on about the third page.
What I'm wondering is what this deal is with it having different processor speeds for the different cores. Apparently two of the cores can go up to 2.4 GHz but it's a 4 core processor. What about the other two? I suppose those are the ones that run at 1.5 GHz? And this thing about some kind of integrated video graphics. How does that impact things? Honestly, the whole thing souds kind of hoakey to me. As far as I knew (or thought I knew) processors, however many cores they have, were supposed to run at the same speed for all the cores - and that being the max speed. In other words, what happened to tapping these things out - peddal to the metal?
What it makes me think of is something I heard about the processor market and how they do things. I've heard it said that they make processors of differing cores from the same die. That they are all whatever the highest number of cores for that series. What they say happens is not all of them that come off the line are at the highest standard/ performance. They test them and if, say, a six core processor tests deficient in a couple of it's cores they just lock those cores and sell it as a 4 core processor. So what I'm thinking is maybe this 3500m is something like that only even below the normal standard, where all the cores would run at the same speed. I mean, perhaps its not like they did that 3500m on purpose. Maybe it just tested as having a couple cores at one speed and a couple at another, so they marketed it that way.
Specs as I would tweak them=>
~ Color: dark umber
~ Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
~ Processor: AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor (2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
~ Graphics card: 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6750M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
~ Memory: 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) [One thing I changed]
~ Hard drive: 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
~ Office software: No Additional Office Software
~ Security software:No additional security software
~ Primary battery: 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery [The other thing I changed]
~ Display: 15.6" High Def LED HP Brightview (1366x768)
~ Primary optical drive: FREE UPGRADE to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
~ Personalization: HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
~ Networking: 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
~ Keyboard: Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
Anyone here with a little more experience could help me get my bearings straight? I'd sure appreciate it.
And Misubishi is an extremely large company too.