Will this make a good multimedia rig?

[JohnTheWanderer]

Hi everyone

I am a freelancer working with 3d and 2d multimedia applications such as Maya , Photoshop , Illustrator and After Effects.

I am planning to buy a new computer which is fast and reliable.

I will be using it mostly to run the above mentioned apps at full quality without getting interrupted.

Initially, I thought of taking an i5 - but since I read that its LGA1156 socket? will probably not support the newer 6 cores or SLI/Crossfire; although i'm not sure if Maya/Photoshop/After Effects etc can benefit from a dual-card setup? Any comments on that?

So, unless otherwise, I'd probably get an i7 processor. Am I making the right choice? Would like to hear your comments.

Thanks for your time

 

[Raidur]

The 1156 socket is capable of sli/crossfire 8x/8x, which is plenty of bandwidth for today's cards.

1156 will not support the current gen 6 cores, but it will support Sandy Bridge which is Intels next generation of CPUs. So it 'might' support over 4 cores when the time comes.

As far as your programs supporting dual cards, I can't help ya there. :/

I7 may help you if your programs see benefit from Hyper Threading (which is the only thing i7 has over i5), that could be something to look into.
Fyi you can get i7 for either socket (1156/1366), so if you're trying to save money on the mobo/ram the i7 860 (1156) may tickle your fancy.

The i5 is a powerful and top of the line (minus hyper threading) CPU and should do ya fine.

 

[JohnTheWanderer]

Hmmm ... i think i have the 6 cores also as a future option in my mind... for which the i7 platform seems a better option.

From what I read around, I get a feeling the 1156 platform might not last very long? And that scares me from buying an i5 at the moment.

 

[mojito_619]

Don't also forget the AMD Thuban CPUs that are coming out. I would advise to wait for some benchmarks, and if not satisfied then hopefully Intel would lower there prices due to competition.

 

[Raidur]

1156 is going to get Sandy Bridge, Intel's next CPU lineup (as I said). And Sandy Bridge is going to have 4+ cores, meaning 1156 could possibly get 6+ cores in the future. Meaning that 1156 is going to last. Don't worry.

Thuban might be better for your uses (compared to i5), but I'd wait for benches of it up against the i7.

 

[JohnTheWanderer]

Hmm .. waiting for the Thuban...when is it actually coming out?

The thing is .. I am from India and I'm not sure how long it will take for it to get here.. confused...

 

[JohnTheWanderer]

Okay ... I just read that the SandyBridge line is going to support LGA 1155?

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-9506-view-Sandy-bridge-will-obtain-the-design-concept-LGA-1155.html