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Dual Core vs. Quad Core

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:29 am
by aburgener
I'm going to build a custom PC to run Live 6, something I've wanted to do for a while, and my question is on processors.

I know that one of Live 6's selling points is that it can utilize multiprocessor/multicore systems. My question is - is 4 really better than 2? I don't think I'm even pushing Ableton hard enough to justify needing that much power.

I'm most likely going to put an Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 Ghz in this box - so if anyone has experience with that CPU and Live 6 and would like to share - I'd appreciate that too.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:55 am
by sweetjesus
the difference between dual and quad core for me was like day and night.

i highly recommend it

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:25 am
by donnydonny
As unnecessary as I think having a quad-core machine is, by looking at the price difference... I don't understand why anyone WOULDN'T take the quad. You can get the 2.4ghz E6600 (c2d) for $225 US or the 2.4ghz Q6600 (c2q) for $60 more. Tough choice. IMO, it'd be stupid to "be on a tight budget" for the cpu.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:10 am
by Landser
I finished setting up my new quadcore system yesterday (replacing an old Athlon 1.4GHz system). What can i say? 8O
Live uses all 4 cores equally. The power is incredible.
While there are discussions everywhere, that quads were not that good for highend gamers at the moment and that people don't need the 4 cores, things in music-production are totally different.
There is nothing to think about - you want a QUAD, believe me.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:18 am
by Jan Holm
Looking into a quad system myself - what motherboard's are
you all using. Would like to hear from someone running a
PCI soundcard.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:57 am
by Landser
I decided for a Gigabyte with the new P35 Intel-chipset (DS3) (after the initial nightmares with the non-Intel VIA KT133 chipset i decided to go back to Intel, still being famous for it's stability). It is the cheapest of Gigabyte's P35 mainboards, uses extra durable components, has 3 PCI slots (and even TOSLINK and SPDIF outputs).
It has 6 SATA connectors, is RAID capable and offers one IDE-channel for two IDE components (master & slave).
I use the staudio DSP2000 PCI-audiocard on WinXP without any problems.
No hw-configuration problems.
And, what is very important for me, absolutely all stable in the actual project (Battery, VStation, 6x Kontakt, 2x Zeta+ (2x oversampling), Sampler, 24x EQs {Waves SSL, URS}, 9x dynamics {SSL, L2, TransX, Marquis, Elephant2, Sonalksis 315}, 6x reverb {Princeton, ArtsAcoustic}, 2x MultiTap2, 3x Waves S1, 4x MS-Matrix, RBass, PSP MixTreble, BBE), PAZ.
A dream.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:25 am
by Jan Holm
Landser wrote:I decided for a Gigabyte with the new P35 Intel-chipset (DS3)
Thank you - just what I wanted to hear. I actually had my
eyes on that specific mobo. Do you use the Q6600 ?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:38 am
by Landser
Yes.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:48 am
by SubQ
When we'll see quadcore on notebooks?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:15 pm
by tacvbo83
SubQ wrote:When we'll see quadcore on notebooks?
Whenever it becomes affordable.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:31 pm
by sweetjesus
end of the year notebooks will start to have quads

the qx6600 rocks

mobo = ASUS P5K

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:51 pm
by jamester
I got the Q6600 last week (to upgrade my E6600), but haven't had the time to install it yet. :(

As was mentioned, right now it's only a $60 difference between Dual and Quad cores! amazing....

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:58 pm
by nebulae
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/08/extreme_fsb_2/

Also Quads dropped another $9 to $281 on pricewatch.com

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:17 pm
by sweetjesus
jamester wrote:I got the Q6600 last week (to upgrade my E6600), but haven't had the time to install it yet. :(

As was mentioned, right now it's only a $60 difference between Dual and Quad cores! amazing....
hurry the hell up!

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:39 pm
by aburgener
Awesome, I've ordered my quad and now this makes me feel even better. I went with an MSI board because i didn't like some of the asus and gigabyte ones i were looking out as far as layout and having a giant northbridge heatsink right next to the cpu. i'll be using a pci sound card as well - i'll post here when i get the rest of my components...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130081

customer choice winner at newegg - great price too