AMD K6-2 380 or Pentium 233 (socket 7)?

[Joel]

I am about to spend some money in a PC-based recording system. I am looking at the Aark direct pro as a soundcard and Logic Gold software (most likely, anyway). I currently have an AMD K6-2 380 computer with plenty of ram and the like. The Echo reporter tells me I could record 13 and play back 12 tracks simultaneously if I wanted (more than enough at this point).

The question: I here bad things about K6's floting point operations so is it worth my while to go with a Pentium 233? Why 233? It's the fastest pentium that will fit in a socket 7 (or at least my board). Will the pure speed of the K6-2 380 make up for any lack in the FP department?

Thanks in advance. Joel

 

[Emeric]

That's a tough one.

I would think that possibly the MHz would help considerably, but then again the FPU of the AMD processors is not that bad, in many ways it's superior to intels. All I can say is try it with K6-2 first, and if you don't get the required results... I guess you could try a 233 intel, but I would be more tempted to upgrade the rest of your system.

If you already have an ATX case, all you need is a mainboard, and a processor (assume your using SDRAM)

So, for $200 you could get a celeron 400 and a mainboard (Abit BH6, Microstar, ASUS)

A P233 will cost you $50 anyway.

Good luck

Emeric

 

[Dragon]

I agree. Based on my son's K6/2-300 that can barely get out of its own way, I suspect you'd be quite lucky to get 12 tracks (my guess is 8, but I use Cakewalk, which eats CPU anyway). But it won't cost you to find out...and if anything it will break your hardware outlay into 2 parts, and computers always get cheaper But yes, if the K2 can't handle it, move up to a new mobo and PC100 RAM and an overclocked Celeron or PII and you'll be quite happy for not a lot more money.