Help: ChessBase 10 or ChessBase Light 2009 Premium?

Hi PerfectGent,

That's good advice on the RAM - here is what I'm thinking now. I need to get a 64-bit windows 7 OS, because the 32 bit has a RAM limitation of 4 GB. It seems that I don't care much at all about disk space (so I can live with something "small" like 320 GB). But for RAM I'm looking to upgrade to 8 GB.

My current choices:

Rybka 4 option: 64 bit windows 7, 8 GB RAM, separate video card, separate sound card optional, Intel i5 (dual), ChessBase 10 w Mega, Opening Encyclopedia, Rybka 4.

Deep Rybka 4 option: Same as above; upgrade to Intel i7 (quad), upgrade to Deep Rybka 4.

@philidor: I have heard the opposite about RAM - this is why I'm looking to double from 4 GB to 8 GB. It costs about 200$ for that. But to upgrade to the top-of-the-line CPU costs an extra 350$ which I don't consider to be cost-effective. (I never think you should pay up for top-of-the-line CPU).

The reason for the video card requirement, in my opinion, is so that the main CPU doesn't have to do the video computations (save CPU for Rybka!), and so that the video card RAM can be used instead of the main RAM.

The difference of analysis quality between 4 GB and 8 GB is negligble, if it exists. You can think of hashtable like a "depot for previous analysis." For example, you analyze a position and reach depth 19 on it. Then you move around. When you come back to that older position, it doesn't start analyzing from stratch, but gets help from the data stored on hash.

For a 8 GB RAM to make any difference from a 4 GB RAM, you need to store up huge amounts of analysis. Hash doesn't limit analysis quality unless it fills up. I have 4GBs of ram and have never used a hash table larger than 512 MB, and I do analyze a lot (used to). You can get more info on hash in the rybkaforum.net site and talkchess.com forums.

Interesting - if upgrading from 4GB to 8GB is negligible, then I can save some $$ - thanks, I'll look it up on those sites. I can even report back here :-).

Interesting - on Dell.com, I have these two systems quoted.

Option 1: Intel Core i7-720QM Quad Core Processor, 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode), Windows 7, 500GB disk, 8GB RAM, 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Option 2: Intel Core i5-520M 2.40GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode), Windows 7, 500GB, 8GB, 1GB ATI 5650

They cost about the same. Will I get better results with Option 1 w/ Deep Rybka 4, or with Option 2 w/ Rybka 4.

Deep Rybka will almost always be stronger than rybka.

http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=17709

Read Vasik's comments there, he is the author of Rybka.

Maybe Fritz Benchmark could also help. Things might be different with Rybka though, so use at your own risk: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/Fritz-11,1406.html

You'll find much more informed comments about hardware selection in the rybka forums.

BTW, if you're only after the engine, Fire and Stockfish are very strong free alternatives to Rybka 4.

I'm going to buy Deep Rybka 4, for sure, and I think ChessBase comes with Fritz 11; beyond that I'll probably pick up some of the free engines as well.

I actually bought 2 notebooks today; gotta decide which to return now. Both are quad core i7's. One is more expensive by 50$, and for that 50$ I get 1TB instead of 500GB, plus a more recent graphics card. Also, it has a cool fingerprint reader (it's an HP).

Hey any of you:

I've bought the laptop (I'm posting from there). I've ordered Chessbase 10, but it will take a little time to get here. What's a good quick way to get my games into PGN format? I found a nice website at http://www.caissa.com/chess-tools/pgn-editor.php, but what else do you suggest? Also, is it easy to import raw PGN files into Chessbase (I'm guessing that it is, but I wouldn't want to do the manual work twice).

Thanks again,

Once Chessbase arrives, you will be able to input PGN by moving the pieces with your touchpad or mouse on the board on the screen, or typing them in (eg. e2e4).  Alternatively, you could buy a peripheral device called a DGT electronic chess board which you plug into your computer.  It looks like a regular chessboard.  You install a driver to connect it to Chessbase, and then when you play moves on the board, they will pop up in the game window on the screen.  Typing or using a DGT board may be easier on your fingers and wrists than using a touchpad or mouse if you have a lot of games to input.

Chessbase reads PGN natively, and you can convert from PGN to Chessbase's cbh format by right clicking on a database icon and choosing Convert from the pop-up menu.

My whole point is that I want to get a head start on inputting the moves, so it's good to know that Chessbase can convert from pgn to cbh. Also, it'll help that I've got all the games in "raw" pgn format.

You could use free programs like WinBoard or Arena to input games while you are waiting.

Thanks for all the help. I entered all 145 games I had on paper using the caissa.com link I posted above, and downloaded all 158 chess.com turn-based games. CB10 and all the other stuff I ordered arrived, and right at this moment I'm analyzing a game of mine using Deep Rybka 4. When I looked at it using ChessBase I played pretty well. But I couldn't find a way to get it to "analyze" the game, and output the result to a file or something.

I think I've found out how to do it though, you have to open Deep Rybka 4 separately, and then open the DB from within there. The full analysis really takes awhile.

And it analyzes _backwards_.

   I have one question concerning game databases .

   On tournaments (classical chess OFC) , my opponnents normally range from 2000 to 2400 Elo (I am 2159 , living and playing in Serbia ). I would like to be prepared openings-wise(at least for FMs and IMs) , so I need database which will contain as many games as possible of my , lessay , tomorrows oponnent. No statistics or analysis or any additional tools , just bare games would be enough.

  I was thinking , based on what I have read here , of bying chessbase`s cheapest database since , for what I need , I see no difference anyway. And no, I dont want to keep on downloading every month or every 7 days some TWIC free stuff , the money is not that big of a problem.

   Any opinnions / advices would be appreciated , TY in advance.