a Statistics based computer

lca806

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I know that most people here use their computers for primarily gaming or 3d graphic applications. I do like to game, but I was wondering if the same rig that would perform well with 3d rendering would perform equally well with statistics programs such as mplus, Amos, and SPSS. The major functions that bog down my current computer are things like bootstrapping that perform a plethora of mathematic calculations, which sometimes lead to me waiting for an hour for my computer to complete the task.

My current rig is a p4 3.0 ghz with 1 gig of ram on an old 95ld2 asus mobo. My understanding is that the c2d's are great overall, but with the lower speeds, will this perform my particular function slower than even my current 3 ghz processor? I would assume that it would perform better, but before dropping 1500 on a new setup, I would like to have a little reassurance,

Paul
 

CaesarCZ

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from what I know:

dual core is not going to outperform your single core processor (for example: 2x 1.5 GHz slower or equal to 1x 3.0 GHz). But if your computer seems too busy to work with during the calculations, you could probably very well make use of a dual core, since one processor would run the calculations while the other would take care of the rest of the computing (OS, mp3 playback, whatever), thus making your computer more responsive. I also guess your OS needs to be able to make use of a dual core processor.

A little background: one of the main reasons for dual cores to exist is that power consumtion grows faster than processor speed (I guess it's quadratic and linear, but really not sure). So they instead give you two cores, each running at half the speed. The problem is that not many applications can make us of it. Imagine you calculate something by iteration. For each step, you need to wait until the previous step is calculated. But of course, some calculations could very well make use of two separate cores, calculating each part of the problem on a separate core.

everybody correct me if I'm wrong.
 

asusman

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The new cpu are just faster overall and u will notice.

You don't need to spend $1500.

All u need is a new mobo, RAM and cpu.

E6600 C2D, 2 gig DDR2, mobo.


1 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 -


1 ASUS P5L-VM 1394 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail

Subtotal: $680.99

Maybe even get a modern sataII harddrive.
 

kitchenshark

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I would say that the Core 2 Duo will drive your applications faster even at lower clock speeds due to the architecture of the processor. Much like AMD processor architecture at lower clock speeds was able to outperform the P4 architeture.

I don't have any experience with your applications but from all the benchmarks I've seen, I'm certain by a fair margin that the C2D will do much better than your P4.
 

crazypyro

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As these other guys said you will see a huge improvement in calculations with a dual-core over single core. I'm not too familiar with your programs listed as i don't do that stuff, but you should look to see if they support "stream" processing or anything like that. If you're familiar with Folding@Home, then you know that program can use an ATi X1900 series graphics card to process protein calculations, because the X1900 is upwards of 40x as powerful as most modern processors. So just something to look into, but you can't go wrong with a Dual Core
 

lca806

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The programs I use are not yet optimized for stream processing, but I hear rumors in the upper echelons that it will be supported in the next series of software.

(an edit from above, it is an Asus P5ld2 mobo, not 9, I don't know how i typed that.)

thanks for the folding@home project, I did not know about that before, but I will load that up on my computer.

The bulk of that 1500 is coming from a new monitor (24" wide screen) to replace the 17" that I have been using. I also would like to use it for some gaming - even stats nerds have to shoot things every once in a while, so there is a halfway decent video card in there as well. I am going to wait for some more DX10 cards to come out before I purchase though.

Thanks for the input, it is appreciated.

Paul
 
The C2D has a newer architecture that will out perform the P4 even at lower clocks.
You could check the cpu charts for some comparisons.

Unless the programs you are running support more than 2 cores I would recomend a E6600 with a minor overclock.
If you put the FSB at 333MHz you will match the clock speed of your old P4.

Asusman's setup looks like it will work good for you, but I would recoment the ASUS P5B Delux MB.
It will let you overclock your system better and set you up for quad core processing nicely.
Don't forget that the Q6600 is suposed to be ~$520 by Q2 next year!
 

amnotanoobie

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I'm not really sure about what kind of calculations you do, but from what I remember floating-point calculations is what amd is good at. Though a Core 2 Duo would help you out quite nicely and is a faster processor overall than any of amd's offerings.