Chucker's specs for his fast desktop read as follows:

Core™ i7 980X Extreme 3.33 GHz overclocked to 4.20 GHz 6 cores/12 threads 12 MB L3 cache 24 GB DDR3 RAM (1866 MHz) Corsair 256 GB SSD SATA III 6.0Gb/s DNS 11.5 Professional with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

I priced this computer on MTech as close as I could and the price was about $2,500, a bit rich for my blood by maybe $1,000.  I think a lot of it was the top-end processor.  I have a great local computer maker business that can

So I'm asking what processor and motherboard (read in another thread about the LGA2011) combo would give good to excellent performance for DNS 11.5 without being an expensive screamer? 

I'm considering upgrading from Win XP SP3 running Core2Duo Processor  - x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2399 Mhz - with 4 GB RAM.

Any suggestions for the specs for the local builder would be gratefully received.

 

 

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DNS 12.5 Pro, Win7, i7-3770K @ 3.7GHz, 16 Gb, 256 Gb SSD Boot drive, 3-in-1 TableMike - KnowBrainer 12 - Thanks so much, Lunis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just struggled for months in deciding how to build two new desktops. I also observed the big price jump. I ended up buying systems with Intel i7-3770K (quad core) and 16BG of memory. I've had one system running only a couple of daya. DNS runs very fast with virtually no delay in appearing on the monitor with multiple applications open simultaneously.

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DNS Pro 12 (32-bit), KnowBrainer 2012, VoicePower, Intel i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge) 8MB L3 cache 3.5-3.9GHz, 16 GB RAM DDR3 1600MHz, 240 GB SSD and 1TB HD, Windows 7 (64-bit), Airline 77 mic (Laptop: Lenovo X61t, Intel L7700 @ 1.80 GHz 4 MB L2 cache, 3 GB RAM, Windows 7)

that is an excellent choice in  configuration. I had my local computer guy build four Windows 7 machines with that same processor and motherboard last December as my company's standard office desktop. 16 gigs of memory is more than sufficient if you don't do video but memory is cheap. We also built more super performance workstations with overclocked hex core 17-3960x processors.

For straight  dictation into a word processor or email program you will not see any practical difference in speed between the quadcore and the hex core machine configurations.

If you have very heavy and unusual workloads you could detect a difference in dictation speed but these workloads are not found in law offices.

BTW accuracy is not impacted by the motherboard, processor, memory and disk combination. Only your dictation style, microphone and sound card impact accuracy (plus of course environmental acoustic and electrical noise/interference)

We use solid-state drives because much of the work that we do involves developer tools that install enterprise class databases, application servers and middleware ESBs as part of the desktop environment.

Phil Schaadt

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DNS12 Pro BM V Large Vocabulary plus KB or Voice Computer running Win7 64 bit machines with i7-2640M to i7-3960x and i7-3770K processors plus a Sony VAIO Windows 8 machine. DBX Audio Gate with Allen&Heath mixer/USB Audio; Andrea PureAudio USB  usually with Airline 77 or Audio-Technica but also Sennheiser MD431 II, theBoom, et. al.

I'm back answering my own post after I've done a lot of reading through some of the older threads about processor options for DNS back into late 2011. Thanks to Chuck and others I've learned a lot. But I still need some help please.

So now I'm looking at the following configuration for my upgrade. And my local builder can build this for about $1,700. (I won't buy from the net because these fellows will service my office computers they've built on a top priority basis as soon as I walk in - this keeps my law firm running - an incredibly valuable bonus.)

Antec High Efficiency 900 w PSU
Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3 LGA 1155 Motherboard
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4 Ghz 1155
32 GB DDR3 1600 Memory
WD 1 TB 6GB/sec
22X DVDRW/CD-RW /SATA

I'd appreciate any comments and suggestions so I might tweak this configuration if DNS performance - speed and accuracy - would be improved on a cost/benefit basis.

I don't think I'll go to the LGA 2011 MB and Ivy Bridge processors because of the increased cost - and the builder has not yet built a computer with these so I'd be a guinea pig.

32GB RAM may be too much - 16 GB might be enough as I don't do video creation or gaming, etc. I noticed Chucker uses 24 and Lunis 32, IIRC. But at just $83 for 8 GB ... What do you think?

Thanks for taking time to read this and offer any insightful comments and suggestions.

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DNS 12.5 Pro, Win7, i7-3770K @ 3.7GHz, 16 Gb, 256 Gb SSD Boot drive, 3-in-1 TableMike - KnowBrainer 12 - Thanks so much, Lunis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a brief update on my final configuration on the computer built by my local computer builder for about $2,400 including taxes. 

Coolmaster 900 w PSU - Coolmaster Chassis - Asus P8Z68-V/Gen3 LGA 1155 Motherboard Intel - Core i7-2600K 3.4 Ghz 1155 - 24 GB DDR3 1600 Memory - 256 GB SSD as boot drive - 2 WD 500GB 6GB/sec drives - 22X DVDRW/CD-RW /SATA

Now I'm running DNS v. 11.5 Professional with KnowBrainer with SpeechWare 3-in-1 TableMike with outstanding speed and accuracy.  I'm so glad I've ungraded to this screamer and that I've got the SSD boot drive with all my programs.  I've added VoicePower and trying to increase my use of both KB and VP for both dictation and computer control in my law practice - but I have a lot to learn.

My sincere thanks each of you who took time to read my prior posts and offered insightful comments and suggestions - or did so by your prior posts to others that I studied.  You contributed so much to my successful upgrade. "Much obliged, pardna!"

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DNS 12.5 Pro, Win7, i7-3770K @ 3.7GHz, 16 Gb, 256 Gb SSD Boot drive, 3-in-1 TableMike - KnowBrainer 12 - Thanks so much, Lunis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the responses by Phils and Mac - and some other hints like R. Wilke's statement elsewhere that he runs an i7-2600 on his desktop, I am ready to place the order for this computer. I am eager to get this big upgrade from my old Core2Duo and to Win 7 for improved productivity with DNS and KnowBrainer. I'm probably going to add Voice Power too with the extra computing power I'll have. (My fingers do not fly over the keys and my mouse does not move as quickly as in the past due to aging. So maybe VP will make commands more responsive.) I think it will also benefit me with other software I'm using. So thanks for the help, fellows.

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DNS 12.5 Pro, Win7, i7-3770K @ 3.7GHz, 16 Gb, 256 Gb SSD Boot drive, 3-in-1 TableMike - KnowBrainer 12 - Thanks so much, Lunis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark,

Are you absolutely sure of your specs? The reason that I ask is that the motherboard you're using uses and LGA 1155 socket which supports either second or third generation Intel Coretm i processors (i.e., either Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge), but it's dual channel memory, which means that you only have four memory slots. I'm not aware of any memory manufacturers that currently support 8 GB RAM chips at 1600 MHz. The only manufacture that I know of is Corsair and they only support 8 GB RAM chips at 1866 MHz (XMP). All the rest support no more than 1 x 4 GB RAM chips, which simply means that the maximum that you could have installed on that board is 16 GB. Now, that being said, I could be wrong, but I just built a new system with the Coretm i7 3770K IVY Bridge third-generation processor using the LGA 1155 socket motherboard (ASUS Sabertooth Z77) with 32 GB of RAM (4 x 8 GB Corsair 1866 MHz). In your case you would have to have 2 x 8 GB and 2 x 4 GB RAM chips in order to get 24 GB. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I couldn't find any RAM manufacturer who supports 8 GB RAM chips at less than 1866 GHz, and you can't mix and match speeds on RAM chips. So, check your specs and let me know which manufacturer your local computer guru that your RAM from. I'd like to check it.

Otherwise, you can't go wrong with the system that you have.

PS, I built my system with a 512 GB 6GB/sec Crucial SSD (boot drive-drive C Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit), one 3 TB 6GB/sec Seagate black, one 2 TB 6GB/sec Seagate black, one 256 GB 6GB/sec Crucial SSD (Windows 8 Preview release), one 1.5 GB 3GB/sec standard HDD drive, 2 x 1 TB 3GB/sec Western Digital green 3GB/sec standard HDD drives, 2 SATA LightScribe DVD RW 24x optical drives, and Intel Thermal Solution RTS 2011 LC liquid cooled CPU fan, and EVGA GeForce GTX 550TI video card (display adapter), 32 GB (4 x 8 GB 1866 MHz XMP) Corsair DDR3 RAM, Cool Master SilentPro 1000 W power supply, and installed it all in LIANLI PC-1100A Plus case with silencing installation, and all for the total cost of $2558. Of course, I have the distinct advantage of being able to buy my components wholesale, but this system runs circles around the 2600K with DNS 11.5 Professional. Yes, I'm bragging, but it's an amazing system.

Chuck

"What you are aware of you are in control of; what you are not aware of is in control of you." - Anthony de Mello

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Chuck,

 

Your system is so hot I bet you also have to have a fire extinguisher nearby! :-)

If you were building a laptop “equivalent” (e.g., the closest you could come to your desktop system with the limitations that a laptop imposes) what would you build? (The reason I ask is because I have to be mobile (and I suspect that others may be in my situation as well) and a laptop is probably the best I’m going to be able to do.)

As always, thanks!

Alan

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DNS 12.0 Pro (KnowBrainer + VoiceComputer  - latest versions) Buddy 7G (2nd gen) USB + Sennheiser MD 431 II - Toshiba Satellite Core™ i7 2670QM laptop 4 cores/8 threads 6 MB L3 cache 6 GB DDR3 RAM (1333 MHz) + MacBook Pro with Retina display (i7 2.7 Ghz); 16 GB RAM; 8 MB of L3 chache; 751 GB Solid State Drive (using Parallels 8 with Boot Camp).

Chuck, what a nice system!  I'd bet it was about as fun to plan and build as it is 'sweet' to operate.  Lots of disk space; I assume that is for dedicated business tasks.  

(I tend to install lots of hard disk overhead space in the system and network as well, in my case for redundant backups.  The backps are so rarely used it comes close to never, but the couple times they were needed, it was worth all the expense and then some.  A brief annoyance and is much preferrable to a huge hit with data loss.  Digressing here...)

Very nice system, and your are correct that the price is good as well.  Purchasing retail parts might push that up 30-40%, but even then a cost consistent with the product.

John K

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John K

any recommendations for what i can buy from Best Buy that will be close to your specs or the specs of the MT8650?

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Trope

Trope,

In order to answer your question, I would need to know whether you're looking for a desktop or laptop. One of the things you should take into consideration is that many of the newer Ivy Bridge CPU laptops, while hefty in terms of weight, are pretty much equivalent to any desktop that you can buy in terms of overall performance and performance/accuracy with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I can help you with either one, but I would suggest taking a look at laptops because there is very little difference today between laptops and desktops, with the only notable exception being the number of hard drives that you can install. However, unless you're going to be doing the kind of work that Phil and myself are doing, you really don't need that kind of capability and you can always add a pretty significant external drive through your laptop system if you need to do backups or have additional data storage.

Bottom line, let us know what you want. The only thing that I normally buy from Best Buy is a laptop. Otherwise, my purchases at Best Buy are basically accessories and/or storage. Occasionally I'll buy a printer. However, I won't buy a desktop system from Best Buy. Still, I can make a recommendation based on what Best Buy offers.

Chuck

Be careful what you wish for. You might get it and it might not be what you want or what you expect. - Aesop

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Thank you for your quick reply, Chucker.

Yes, I'm looking for a Laptop with specs as close as i can get to your specs or MTechs specs. I am disabled, and I am a writer who wants to write my next book(s) using DNS.

I want to buy a computer that can hold up over time and run DNS as proficiently as possible. I am tempted by MTech but the price is out of my range right now, and if I have trouble with the computer it is easier to go back to Best Buy or Staples than to stay in touch over the internet.

In short, there are lots of computers on the Best Buy website with the basic specs of i7, L3 and 8-16GB. But which one(s) is the one for running DNS?

Thanks Chucker!

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Trope

The bang-for-the-buck high performance system:

CPU: amd 8core 8350 fx : $210. at newegg.

Motherboard: Asus sabertooth 990 fx: $179 "

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR1600: $37 each: buy 2 or 4

Power supply: SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $90

Graphics card:ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $180

case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case: $60

You can go lower for the graphics card if you want to save more. THe total for the system is ~$750, and it's excellent for DNS.

 

Matthew,

Good idea, but you can't get that system from Best Buy, which is what Trope asked for.

If Trope is interested in building his own system, then I would concur with your recommendations. However, if not, well...

Chuck

"Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count." Albert Einstein

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As far as I could tell, they don't have a 15.6" option with that CPU. These are probably your best options (though prices aren't exactly good right now)

Do you really need it to be BB, or just a B&M store?

Staples has this for $580; you could upgrade the RAM to 16GB for <$70 and swap out the HDD for an SSD for ~$150 and have a lot of machine for not a lot of money.

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Tony Fiset
Speech Recognition Solutions 

Trope,

There is a large variety of laptops at Best Buy, some of which are on sale right now and available for store pickup if you have a store close to you.

Nevertheless, if you're looking for specifications from which you can make a decision when you go to a Best Buy store, start with this one:

ASUS at Best Buy

Use the specifications for this laptop as a basis for looking around to see what you want and what's available. If you want to see the specifics, look at the Overview. This particular model will do you just fine for a number of years, or at least until the next release of DNS. Regardless, don't just go out and buy this laptop unless it meets your specific needs. Use it as a basis for searching others. Also, this laptop comes with 8 GB of memory out-of-the-box. Be sure that you ask a knowledgeable person at Best Buy, considering that most are not, above the maximum amount of memory that can be installed on the system. It comes with 8 GB but my guess is that you can support up to 16 GB. For the time being, 8 GB is more than enough. You can always increase in later. It also incorporates a Core™ i7 Ivy Bridge (4 cores/8 threads – hyperthreading) 3632QM, which will give you all the power that you need for DNS. Intel's specification for this CPU indicates that it will support up to 32 GB, but laptops typically only have two slots. That's why I high recommend that you ask somebody knowledgeable remembering that Best Buy's Geek Squad sometimes should be referred to as the Greek Squad because computers are sometimes Greek to them. Just be careful whom you ask. In other words, "Beware of Geeks bearing gifts." Just tell the Geek Squad that the specifications for this laptop are the minimum that you will accept.

Chuck

"Good enough never is." - Debbi Fields: founder of Mrs. Fields Bakeries

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Thanks, Chuck!

I just got two recommendations from MTech! 

The two quotes are pasted below. It looks like both are built from the M-TECH M6650 15.6" Laptop (M6650). They say:

 

 

"The first quote (see below) has an SSD and is hands down a better suited laptop for Dragon, however the lesser priced quote #2 can always be upgraded. It's hard to explain just how vital the L3 Cache, RAM and SSD all tied together is for the total package. Anyways, one is HDD and one is SSD, the SSD is $1,608.00 which is over your budget by about $150 but will pay for itself in lack of frustration. Another $50 and you can really have a much larger drive and not have to worry about space. The HDD is $1,363.00"

Do you agree?

This quote was submitted to M-Tech Laptops on 12/19/2012

Customizations:
Display:	156HD3000 - 15.6" HD/GT with Intel® HD Graphics Controller
LCD Display Pixel Warranty:	NoDead - Standard Pixel Policy
Microprocessors:	P-I73630-M - Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM 2.4Ghz Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
CPU Thermal Compound:	M-Tech Brand - M-Tech Brand CPU Thermal Compound (CPU and GPU)
Memory:	alt16gb-1600 - 16GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 8GB
Primary Hard Drive:	Prim120-520SSD - Primary Drive 180GB Intel 520 SERIES SATA III Solid State Drive
Optical Drive Unit:	8XSuper - 8X Super Multi DVD Drive
Wireless Ethernet:	ENWL802BT - Ethernet, 802.11 B+G+N Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo card
Web Cam:	WEB1.3MDVC - Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Digital Video Camera
Media Slot:	9IN1Reader - Built-in 9-in-1 Flash Memory Reader
Operating Systems:	WINDOWS7PRO64 - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 M-Tech recommended
Power / Battery:	M9800LiIon - Includes one Smart Lithium Ion Battery
Power Configuration:	USPower - Universal AC Power Adapter w/US Plug
Warranty:	1YearMailWithShip - One Year Warranty With UPS 3 Day Shipping
Support:	Free Laptop Hdwre Tech Supp - Free Laptop Hardware Technical Support

 

 

Quote #2 below is $1,363.00

This quote was submitted to M-Tech Laptops on 12/19/2012

Customizations:
Display:	156HD3000 - 15.6" HD/GT with Intel® HD Graphics Controller
LCD Display Pixel Warranty:	NoDead - Standard Pixel Policy
Microprocessors:	P-I73630-M - Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM 2.4Ghz Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
CPU Thermal Compound:	M-Tech Brand - M-Tech Brand CPU Thermal Compound (CPU and GPU)
Memory:	alt16gb-1600 - 16GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 8GB
Primary Hard Drive:	Prim750gb - Primary Drive 750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
Optical Drive Unit:	8XSuper - 8X Super Multi DVD Drive
Wireless Ethernet:	ENWL802BT - Ethernet, 802.11 B+G+N Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo card
Web Cam:	WEB1.3MDVC - Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Digital Video Camera
Media Slot:	9IN1Reader - Built-in 9-in-1 Flash Memory Reader
Operating Systems:	WINDOWS7PRO64 - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 M-Tech recommended
Power / Battery:	M9800LiIon - Includes one Smart Lithium Ion Battery
Power Configuration:	USPower - Universal AC Power Adapter w/US Plug
Warranty:	1YearMailWithShip - One Year Warranty With UPS 3 Day Shipping
Support:	Free Laptop Hdwre Tech Supp - Free Laptop Hardware Technical Support

 

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Trope

Chuck,
I was just looking at the components used in the system that you built in July 2012. If you were to build it today, what changes would you make?
Thanks,
Underdog