How much processor speed and cores do I need for these tasks? [closed]

Question

I am planning to buy a new laptop as I find my current one very slow. My question here is specifically related to RAM size and CPU power.

I will mostly be doing development (not much games). I would be dabbling in distributed computing, multithreaded and data intensive parallelizable tasks on multi-cores. For e.g. I would want to be able to Concurrent programming in Scala/Java/Clojure etc. and be able to see parallelization. Furthermore, I would want the RAM to be enough.

But from a developer machine standpoint, do you think 4GB RAM and 2.53GHz Dual Core processor would be enough.

I'm basically looking at this model:
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC118LL/A?mco=MTM3NDcyODk (link dead)

Answer 1

I would be dabbling in distributed computing, multithreaded and data intensive parallelizable tasks on multi-cores.

very CPU intensive tasks? maybe stepping up to a quad or i7 would be a bit more efficient.

I'm not trying to bash Macs or anything, they are great for what they're good at, but if I wanted more bang for the buck in CPU computing power, I wouldn't buy one. You can grab an i7 laptop with 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, and a GeForce GT 240M for $700 less. The i7 720QM simply dominates the P8700 (The chip that comes with the Macbook Pro). Want a P8700 and 4GB of memory? you can get it for half the price.

If you are used to the Mac environment though and it's what you've used all along, I'm not going to stop you. That's what's best for you and you'll be more used to it. However if you're looking for the most bang for your buck, and you're comfortable in multiple operating systems, a Mac wouldn't be my first thought.

Bottom line: Whatever route you end up choosing, an i7 would be your best bet.

Answer 2

Do you want the biggest bang for your bucks? I would say not.

Because then this would probably not be the best configuration you can get at that price point, since Apple charges a premium for more memory or faster CPUs.

But if you prefer/require OSX then yes, this is a good choice.

Answer 3

What you do need to look at is the size of the L2 and L3 cache for multi-threading. The inclusion of an integrated memory controller on the CPU die, and large pipes between cores.

Basically, you're looking for an offering that includes an Intel i7 chip. If you're looking for an offering from AMD, then look in the direction of the Phenom II X4 line.

Another thing to consider is if the CPU architecture supports dual channel memory configurations versus triple channel configurations.

At this point in time, cores and the FSB frequency aren't that big of a deal.

Answer 4

If I were you I'd buy myself a SSD hard disk. That is the biggest performance improvement in real work that you could see.

To make a comparation: I also have a dell XPS m1330, what can I do, I like small laptops:) and on paper Dell has better performance than x300 (faster CPU, more RAM), but in reality x300 with SSD kick a**.

Answer 5

The other question to ask yourself, if you're going to be doing a lot of development with CPU-intensive tasks, is whether a laptop even makes sense. You could get a similarly spec'd iMac for several hundred less, or a significantly faster Dell for an even better price. If you already have a monitor (this doesn't come with one) a Dell Precision workstation with 2 dual-core Nehalem Xeon processors is barely more expensive (you'd want to bump up the memory from 2 to at least 4 GB). There also Core-i7 machines with 4 cores and hyperthreading which cost less than that macbook. So the question is, do you really need a laptop? If you need to be able to move around a lot, then yes. But if you don't, you get a heck of a lot more bang for your buck with a desktop computer. Just something to think about.