Eric Wachsmann - FlexRadio wrote: >Ed, > >The bare minimum CPU speed is 800MHz according to our spec. If you want >to be able to multitask and turn on all of the bells and whistles, I >would recommend 2GHz+. This really is not an issue if you are buying a >new machine today. You can buy the $299 special from Dell and it will >do the job. Upgrading to 1GB of ram will do you some good if you plan >on multitasking. > > >Eric Wachsmann >FlexRadio Systems > >
Speaking as someone who operates a lot, I can agree with this. A couple of added observations: 1. Speed sure helps. The 800 MHz is a worthy goal on our software designers' part, but we don't have to follow it. Get as much speed as you can. With newer models, this is a more complicated discussion than it once was, but a high clock rate doesn't hurt. 2. If you can figure out which CPU types are the "entry" models of the Intel line especially, you can avoid them. I have a Celeron laptop that I use. I did not buy it with the SDR in mind. It works, but not flawlessly. I attribute this not to its clock rate, which is ample, but to its economy features such as reduced cache size. If you're going to get a machine just for the SDR (or, primarily, for the SDR) you can probably find something that leans in our direction a little bit. Spend your money on the CPU and the memory and avoid bells and whistles and your SDR experience might improve a bit. In other words, two machines at the same price, one using a fancy (expensive) graphics card and the other with moderate graphics and better CPU specs, pick the second one. In other words, just don't spend more money -- make sure any money you spend above the minimum is for a better CPU and, perhaps, more memory. In the end, though, just about any recent machine is going to do the job. Larry WO0Z _______________________________________________ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
