My old HP Envy with a fairly nice Intel I7-6700 @3.4 GHZ desktop (paired with a really lousy GPU... and) 16 gb RAM...seems to have kicked the bucket so I am looking at a new desktop. I spend most of my time on the computer doing chess related items that are CPU intensive.
I also use CPU Intensive chess engines A LOT (they do not really benefit from multi-threading) - for evaluating many openings in Chessbase (largely a database program, but with many other nice repertoire maintenance features) where I run engines like Stockfish or Dragon. I also like to pit engine vs engine in large test suites. I would also like to be able to game a bit - in the sense of the word as most 'gamers' think of it and was thinking the minimal RTX 3060 ti would do the job....Chessbase 'can' also use retracing for diagram rendering.
My question has to do with the new 12th generation Intel CPU's and their "P" and "E" cores and how they might play with my chess engine usage needs.
I was at Costco yesterday and noticed a PC with the specs below. I was thinking that's about the max I really wanted to spend anyway (and am none to sure of my ability to 'build a PC'...) so I started considering it:
Dell XPS 8950: $1,849.99
Processor & Memory:
I had been considering the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12400 12-Core Processor based on a Tom's Hardware reviews and possibly the i5-12600 until noticing the Costco i7-27000 item. I have not really considered any overclockable CPU's...figure they all need water-cooling and...somehow that frightens me unless of course they required ZERO maintenance.
The clock speeds for these: Default - Turbo - Max TDP - Single Thread Rating
i7-27000: 2.1 - 4.9 - 65W - 3945
i5-12400: 2.5 - 4.4 - 65W - 3823
i5-12600: 3.3 - 4.8 - 65W - 3524
BUT...all these number can appear to be 'smoke and mirrors' to me sometimes...particularly with the new 'P' and 'E' cores. Also, I never really considered something like an AMD RYZEN 5900X. Despite having plenty of cores for similar reasons as I have mentioned.
Without more than the stock cooling that comes with each, won't these CPU's simply throttle down pretty quick if I tried to get the speed up for any period of time? I could let an engine run at full throttle all night long, crunching away on many different chess positions or games with my old i7-6700 at 3.4 ghz..
Also, I've never heard of DDR5 4400 MHZ RAM. Doesn't DDR5 START at 4800 MHZ??
Any thoughts...suggestions? I would just hate to spend all that $$ and find that even with the extra cores and newer generation...I am possibly getting less accomplished - or at least slower, than with that old 4 core CPU.
I also use CPU Intensive chess engines A LOT (they do not really benefit from multi-threading) - for evaluating many openings in Chessbase (largely a database program, but with many other nice repertoire maintenance features) where I run engines like Stockfish or Dragon. I also like to pit engine vs engine in large test suites. I would also like to be able to game a bit - in the sense of the word as most 'gamers' think of it and was thinking the minimal RTX 3060 ti would do the job....Chessbase 'can' also use retracing for diagram rendering.
My question has to do with the new 12th generation Intel CPU's and their "P" and "E" cores and how they might play with my chess engine usage needs.
I was at Costco yesterday and noticed a PC with the specs below. I was thinking that's about the max I really wanted to spend anyway (and am none to sure of my ability to 'build a PC'...) so I started considering it:
Dell XPS 8950: $1,849.99
Processor & Memory:
- 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700 12-Core Processor
- 32GB DDR5 4400MHz RAM
- 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive + 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
- Tray Load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
- Microsoft® Windows 11 Home (64-bit)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3060 Ti™, 8GB
- Monitor Not Included
- Killer™ WiFi 6 (2x2/160) Gig+ and Bluetooth® 5.2
- Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro
- Dell Wired Keyboard & Mouse
- 5x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
- 2x USB 2.0 Type-A
- 1x Headphone Jack
- 1x HDMI
- 3x Display Port 1.4a
- 1x SD Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC)
- 1x RJ-45
- Dimensions: 14.68" x 6.81" x 16.80"
I had been considering the 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12400 12-Core Processor based on a Tom's Hardware reviews and possibly the i5-12600 until noticing the Costco i7-27000 item. I have not really considered any overclockable CPU's...figure they all need water-cooling and...somehow that frightens me unless of course they required ZERO maintenance.
The clock speeds for these: Default - Turbo - Max TDP - Single Thread Rating
i7-27000: 2.1 - 4.9 - 65W - 3945
i5-12400: 2.5 - 4.4 - 65W - 3823
i5-12600: 3.3 - 4.8 - 65W - 3524
BUT...all these number can appear to be 'smoke and mirrors' to me sometimes...particularly with the new 'P' and 'E' cores. Also, I never really considered something like an AMD RYZEN 5900X. Despite having plenty of cores for similar reasons as I have mentioned.
Without more than the stock cooling that comes with each, won't these CPU's simply throttle down pretty quick if I tried to get the speed up for any period of time? I could let an engine run at full throttle all night long, crunching away on many different chess positions or games with my old i7-6700 at 3.4 ghz..
Also, I've never heard of DDR5 4400 MHZ RAM. Doesn't DDR5 START at 4800 MHZ??
Any thoughts...suggestions? I would just hate to spend all that $$ and find that even with the extra cores and newer generation...I am possibly getting less accomplished - or at least slower, than with that old 4 core CPU.