Processor Choice For Use With DPP

[samkiki]

Hi,

I am building a new PC and have already bought the following components.

ASUS P5KPL-1600 M/B
4 GiG 1066Mhz Ram
500 GiG HDD
Asus 512MB Graphics
Antec 300 case
64 Bit Vista

Now I need some advice on choice of processor, E8400 dual core or Q8400 quad for raw processing in DPP. I know there are better choices but please only provide feedback on these two processors.

This PC will not be used for any task other than processing raw files in DPP.

[Moppie]

They cost roughly the same amount, but the quad has twice as many cores so can literally process more files at once.


I did some tests with my Q6600.
I disabled 2 of the cores, then processed a bunch of RAW files.
I then enabled 3 cores, and all 4 cores and saw a noticable improvment in performance for converting RAW files with 4 vs 2 cores: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=461635&highlight=disable+core

This was with Photoshop, however Vista and windows 7 will farm out the tasts quite happily regardless of the program.

[tim]

I did an experiment the other day. I put four apples on the table, wondering how fast I could eat them. In my first experiment I picked up an apple and munched on it until it was gone, then I moved on to the next apple. In my second experiment I took a bite out of each apple in turn, one after another until they were all gone. Overall I found it took a little longer on the 2nd experiment, as I had to keep picking up and putting down apples. I found that after eating 24 apples I was pretty sick of apples, and that no matter what order I ate the apples it took about the same amount of time. I'm a big fan of pizza now.

I had some friends over recently, and I did the experiment again. Four of us ate apples at the same time, and it took about 1/4 the time it took me to eat apples by myself.

This is how computers break down tasks. If the task can be split into many parts a quad core processor can work on all four at once, like how long it takes to eat a bucket of chilli - each core does its part. If things need to be done one after another, like a chilli eating contest where one person has to eat all the chilli, it doesn't matter how many people are around, that one person has to do the whole job. As software gets better at spreading tasks amongst the cores software will get faster. As a software developer I know that this MUCH easier said that done.

In conclusion: apples are good for you. Eat apples.