Will I notice a difference if I upgrade?

Hello everyone! I like to edit photos and videos using Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Premiere Pro. I do not do crazy edits. I just retouch pictures and videos and put them together. I want to improve the loading and rendering time of these applications and enhance the performance speed because they are slow and kind of "laggy" for me. My budget does not allow me to buy a new computer so I want to upgrade some computer parts instead. My laptop is Lenovo Ideapad Y550 and here are my specifications:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 (2M Cache, 2.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Graphics: Nvidia GT240M, 1GB Memory
Hard Drive: Western Digital 320GB, 5400 RPM


I found out that my motherboard supports Intel GM45 Chipset. I narrowed down my processor choices to:

1. Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P9700
(6M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) ~ $100

2. Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9800
(6M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) ~ $100

3. Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9900
(6M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) ~ $200

My question is if I upgrade my CPU to any of the above, will I notice an improvement in performance compared to my current T6600? If so, how much of a difference do you think it will make for my purpose?

Also, is the T9900 that much better than the T9800 or P9700? I noticed it's about $100 more on Ebay. I'm not worried at all about the battery consumption, so the 10 Watts difference from the P9700(25W) and T9800(35W) does not bother me.

Should I consider getting 8GB RAM or upgrading my hard drive to 7200 RPM?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.


p.s. My total budget is about $180 so if I can't find a better deal for the T9900, I will just forget about it.

 

Greetings fellow photographer,

I had the same problem when I was doing edits on my Dell 1537, I did upgrade to the T9900 and 8 GBs of RAM and saw a nice improvement across the board. I would suggest for you to get the T9800 as the price vs performance of the T9900 will not be worth it. If you can I would get the T9800 and than the RAM.

 

if you want to see an improvement i'd get the fasest cpu, the T9900,

 

Considering that even the 'best' upgrade will only increase your computing power by half - I would say save your money and don't consider the cpu upgrade at all at this time.

If you're running Win7x64 Home Basic (or above), then get 8GB RAM minimum for your LR/PS work.

See:
Memory Limits for Windows Releases


Look under the 'Physical Memory Limits: Windows 7' heading.


If you are running Win7x64 Home Premium or above; I would recommend 16GB RAM if your system supports it and you want to run LR and PS side by side.


As for your storage subsystem - how full is your drive and how often do you optimize it (using a utility like PerfectDisk Professional 12.5, for example)?

Although an SSD won't make your system faster for LR use - it will make browsing, loading and reduce the lagginess when you're editing your images (especially with 8GB RAM or more) because as noted in the following link, LR is based on an SQL database that is enhanced greatly when those bits are used.

See:
Will an SSD Improve Adobe Lightroom Performance? | Computer Darkroom


Also noted in the article above - making a jump to a current generation platform will make more of a difference than the O/S (x64), RAM and storage subsystem combined.

Unless you're 'stuck' with this system for the next couple of years or more - I would not be spending money side-grading to a slightly 'better' cpu - I would be saving for a new system that will bring improvements in the 2-3x range and not in the 20-40% range of what you are considering now.

And for a small (in absolute terms) additional cost of what you want to spend now.

I would say the most bang for your buck (assuming you want to work as efficiently as possible while still saving for a new system...) is to buy 8GB RAM, free as much space as you can on your HDD and optimize your storage subsystem (with a product like PerfectDisk) on a regular basis (at least monthly).

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

Thanks everybody! You were all a big help! As far as RAM compatibility goes, as long as I match the number of pins in the socket then I should be fine correct?

 

Try to sell your old processor and hard drive. Put that cost toward your upgrade budget. Maybe you get a bigger hard drive in the process.

I would stick with the t9800, I once had the t9900 on a 8540p elitebook. I used RMclock to downclock it to t9800 speeds and I did not see much if any performance loss.

And a big advanage for you is, you can still use RMclock to undervolt the processor. You will gain some more battery time and lose some heat. It wont affect the performance of the laptop any bit .

 

Thanks for the advice.

How do you think a laptop with:

- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9800 (6M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
- 8 GB RAM
- 500 GB @ 7200 RPM
- Nvidia GT 240M

will handle 1080p video edits and 18 megapixel pictures? With my current specs at the moment, I can edit them but I experience sluggishness.

 

As already mentioned; the Core 2 Duo platform is simply a side grade - not an upgrade vs. what can be achieved by changing to a current platform (IB or even SNB).

Sure, it will be better than your current setup, but all that will mean in the end is that you will have slightly less sluggishness (never 'none').

Good luck.

 

Thanks a lot! I think for now I will upgrade the memory to 8GB and replace my optical drive with an SSD caddy.

 

These would be the first things you should consider. But to be frank, editing programs are more GPU dependent these days than they are CPU dependent. If you really want to make drastic improvement, in your system's performance, you will eventually need to keep that in mind.

 

Krane... Krane. Krane!

What are you talking about?

Image editing programs are all about CPU + RAM!!! Sure, there are some highly parallel compute scenarios (mostly filter 'toys') that show what a gpu is capable of, but the real work is still handled by the CPU and RAM combo.

Maybe when we see CS12 and LR10 in a decade the gpu may be as important as you think - but by then, I'm sure we'll be running multi-core (50+) CPU's and discreet GPU's will be few and far between.

Sorry, just had to set this right!

 

You are a paragon of useful and up-to-date, computer information who's advice I value. However, you haven't been keeping up with the latest edition software innovations.

Adobe, as well as the other major editing software manufacturers have become heavily dependent on leveraging the GPU to make their edition performance really shine. That applies to Photoshop (especially in CS6) as well as in other video application.

Of course, you need a good CPU in the mix, but it pales in comparison to the boost you get from a dedicated discrete GPU application. There just no substitute for it.