Me no know computer no more
October 24, 2022 8:45 AM Subscribe
Please explain this to me like I'm five years old - between these computer options, which make more sense?
* 12 Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700
(25 MB cache, 12 cores, 20 threads, 2.10 GHz to 4.90 GHz Turbo)
* 12 Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900
(30 MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)
Does it still make sense, in 2022, to get the highest "i-whatever" processor?
And then for drives, what would be the difference in a 2 TB drive, and having 1 TB be the boot drive and 1 TB be a storage drive, like below?
* 2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
* 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)
Thank you, I used to be able to parse this kind of info but not any more.
* 12 Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700
(25 MB cache, 12 cores, 20 threads, 2.10 GHz to 4.90 GHz Turbo)
* 12 Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900
(30 MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)
Does it still make sense, in 2022, to get the highest "i-whatever" processor?
And then for drives, what would be the difference in a 2 TB drive, and having 1 TB be the boot drive and 1 TB be a storage drive, like below?
* 2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
* 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)
Thank you, I used to be able to parse this kind of info but not any more.
Best answer: Between the two of those, you're correct that the higher i-whatever is a more powerful CPU.
(both of those are fairly powerful, so if you don't need the extra power the i7 will probably be more than enough)
I'd go with the 2TB one, agreed. Splitting boot vs. storage used to make more sense when solid-state/flash drives were much more expensive, but between the options presented there's no benefit. (If it were 1TB SSD & 4TB storage, that would be a different comparison)
posted by CrystalDave at 8:52 AM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
(both of those are fairly powerful, so if you don't need the extra power the i7 will probably be more than enough)
I'd go with the 2TB one, agreed. Splitting boot vs. storage used to make more sense when solid-state/flash drives were much more expensive, but between the options presented there's no benefit. (If it were 1TB SSD & 4TB storage, that would be a different comparison)
posted by CrystalDave at 8:52 AM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Unless you are doing really intensive video games or processing, I don't find that it makes that much difference any more towards getting the latest stuff. IMO it still does make sense to judge based on RAM. 8GB and up is still good. 16 is really good. Anything above that is amazing. I don't see you listed it there.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:19 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:19 AM on October 24, 2022
Best answer: The 12900 is a high-end CPU targeted at enthusiasts, and it’s not great value for that reason. I chose it because I do a lot of CPU-intensive code compiling, but most people would be better off with the 12700.
It would help to know how you intend to use this computer.
posted by ripley_ at 9:21 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
It would help to know how you intend to use this computer.
posted by ripley_ at 9:21 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The highest intensity would be some Steam games and music processing (Audacity, nothing fancy). I need the storage because I have a HUGE music library. Still nervous about running rickety iTunes on Windows 11 but hopefully I can make it work.
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:25 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:25 AM on October 24, 2022
Best answer: Gotcha. The 12700 will serve you well. iTunes should be fine too.
posted by ripley_ at 10:05 AM on October 24, 2022
posted by ripley_ at 10:05 AM on October 24, 2022
Best answer: Very few people can use the full power on an i9 alone. i7 would be plenty.
The difference between the two storage is 1 is a 2TB SSD which would cost a bit more vs 1 TB SSD vs 1 TB regular spinning hard drive. 2TB SSD goes for about $200 on Amazon nowadays, unless you go with some really cheap brands. 1TB SSD is between 60 to 90 for a name brand. 1TB spinning disk is about 40 to 50. Just get the 2TB SSD since the difference in cost is rather minimal.
When SSD was like 2-10x the cost of spinning drives it makes sense to have a small SSD as the boot drive for OS and OS cache, and a larger spinning drive as the "main" storage so you sort of enjoy both. But nowadays, with SSD prices falling due to better manufacturing, and the SSD "premium" is at less than 50%, it makes more sense to opt for the 2 TB SSD.
posted by kschang at 12:16 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
The difference between the two storage is 1 is a 2TB SSD which would cost a bit more vs 1 TB SSD vs 1 TB regular spinning hard drive. 2TB SSD goes for about $200 on Amazon nowadays, unless you go with some really cheap brands. 1TB SSD is between 60 to 90 for a name brand. 1TB spinning disk is about 40 to 50. Just get the 2TB SSD since the difference in cost is rather minimal.
When SSD was like 2-10x the cost of spinning drives it makes sense to have a small SSD as the boot drive for OS and OS cache, and a larger spinning drive as the "main" storage so you sort of enjoy both. But nowadays, with SSD prices falling due to better manufacturing, and the SSD "premium" is at less than 50%, it makes more sense to opt for the 2 TB SSD.
posted by kschang at 12:16 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
While it looks like the spinning rust has been thoroughly refused, note that 7200 rpm drives can be incredibly loud. We have one external to a Mac mini, and you can hear it spin up in other rooms
posted by scruss at 12:42 PM on October 24, 2022
posted by scruss at 12:42 PM on October 24, 2022
Nthing that the i7-12700 and 2 TB NVMe SSD is the way to go. The main reason to go for spinning rust these days is raw mass storage capacities, where you need a drive that's about 4 TB or bigger to fit all your stuff.
posted by Aleyn at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2022
posted by Aleyn at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2022
Either processor will be good. I would recommend _two_ 1TB SSDs, with one being for OS and software, and one being for 'data'. When migrating from your old machine: Temporarily put the data SSD in the old machine and copy your Downloads, Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos (there may be a few others) folders to that SSD, then remove it from the old machine for installation in the new one. Boot up the new one, install any software you need of course.
In Windows you can reassign the libraries/folders to the 'D:' drive (the data SSD). I don't remember the exact sequence but it was pretty simple top find. You may have to, in various applications, change the default location for finding files to the new 'D:' location.
Rationale for doing it this way: In the future you will be able to migrate your data to a new machine simply - just move the data SSD and make sure Windows has the correct assignment for those folders. You can also migrate your data to a larger SSD when the price and time are right without moving the software.
As a retired mainframe tech, I have never understood (except for cost) why PCs aren't shipped with separate drives for software and data.
posted by TimHare at 1:15 PM on October 24, 2022
In Windows you can reassign the libraries/folders to the 'D:' drive (the data SSD). I don't remember the exact sequence but it was pretty simple top find. You may have to, in various applications, change the default location for finding files to the new 'D:' location.
Rationale for doing it this way: In the future you will be able to migrate your data to a new machine simply - just move the data SSD and make sure Windows has the correct assignment for those folders. You can also migrate your data to a larger SSD when the price and time are right without moving the software.
As a retired mainframe tech, I have never understood (except for cost) why PCs aren't shipped with separate drives for software and data.
posted by TimHare at 1:15 PM on October 24, 2022
The backup of two drives is way more bother than the backup of one drive.
posted by SemiSalt at 3:53 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SemiSalt at 3:53 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Plus, if you have two drives of any variety, only one has to be full for your world to turn to shit.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:40 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:40 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hah, I actually like having two drives because multiple backups of stuff is so easy and if I run out of room on the small drive there's a big drive just waiting to help out. Personally I'd go for the 1tb ssd for OS, frequently-accessed files, and anything that needs speed, and then a 4+ tb spinning drive because why not. (This is on the assumption that we're talking about 3.5 inch drives for a desktop - laptop-sized drive prices are a different story.)
Not that you shouldn't also have separate backups elsewhere, but I really like having backup space built in too.
posted by trig at 2:58 AM on October 25, 2022
Not that you shouldn't also have separate backups elsewhere, but I really like having backup space built in too.
posted by trig at 2:58 AM on October 25, 2022
I typically run/ran the two drive set up and for me the promise of quickly moving data over never really panned out. Usually by the time I'm upgrading to a new PC I'm also upgrading my storage to something faster and/or bigger, so I'm copying it over anyway. If you don't want to think about your storage beyond "here's where all the files go", and 2TB is enough for your needs, I'd go with the single drive. You can always slap on another drive later if you need more space anyway.
posted by Aleyn at 3:12 PM on October 25, 2022
posted by Aleyn at 3:12 PM on October 25, 2022
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The second processor is slightly faster, but if you're not doing processor-intensive stuff like playing modern games, video production, etc., you'll probably be just fine with either one of them.
I'd go for the 2TB drive rather than the 1TB boot drive and 1TB storage drive, primarily because the storage drive is an old-style spinning-disk hard drive (7200RPM), but also because PCIe is a higher-bandwidth connection than SATA.
posted by box at 8:49 AM on October 24, 2022 [6 favorites]