AMD Processors for recording?

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Signal 9 Studio

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I have a friend who builds computers. I am ready to make the jump from my Dell (one year old...needing updated already) and tascam ADATS to something with more muscle. I am starting to do more and more with my computer and need more of everything. Right now I am using Vegas 3.0 and Sound Forge I have a two trak L/R sound card but I'm looking to go maybe protools or something in that league. The question is how will an AMD processor work with recording. Is it comparible to a Pentium
 
IMO, an AMD does better than a Pentium. Any processor will do for recording, it's just some are better at doing it's job than others are. Look at the AMD 64s.
 
the age old question....

Well in my opinion, i think an AMD would crush an intel in audio processing performance, if you compared similarly priced chips. I doubt AMD or Intel's new dual cores would help out much until software is able to utilitze both cores. The venice or fx series of the AMD chips are awsome though. others may agree or disagree but i would go AMD for sure right now if i were buying a new CPU.
 
AMD for me, but neither will suck. :)

Either one you buy will be enough and shouldn't limit you one bit.
 
AMD is THE WAY to go.

I currently run the Athlon64 and love the crap out of it! :D
 
you want facts, read these (please)

Signal 9 Studio said:
I have a friend who builds computers. I am ready to make the jump from my Dell (one year old...needing updated already) and tascam ADATS to something with more muscle. I am starting to do more and more with my computer and need more of everything. Right now I am using Vegas 3.0 and Sound Forge I have a two trak L/R sound card but I'm looking to go maybe protools or something in that league. The question is how will an AMD processor work with recording. Is it comparible to a Pentium
Click to expand...

http://www.videoguys.com/DIY.html
 
not to metion AMD runs cooler. so there's less fan noise. The higher end Pentiums run very hot. Under stress My AMD 3700+ runs 127 degrees fahrenheit with the stock fan and its over clocked too. If you go with AMD Pick a mother board with at least a 939 or higher socket so you can upgrade. Im sure your friend will know this. also AMD metions audio recording on their site. I've searched for recording and PCs but not many metion it. Most forumes Iv'e asked about what would be the ideal processor for recording the nerds dont know. they just now for gaming.

heres what AMD says about it

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_7146_10985,00.html
 
I guess everybody has checked out this link and decided......

altiris said:
not to metion AMD runs cooler. so there's less fan noise. The higher end Pentiums run very hot. Under stress My AMD 3700+ runs 127 degrees fahrenheit with the stock fan and its over clocked too. If you go with AMD Pick a mother board with at least a 939 or higher socket so you can upgrade. Im sure your friend will know this. also AMD metions audio recording on their site. I've searched for recording and PCs but not many metion it. Most forumes Iv'e asked about what would be the ideal processor for recording the nerds dont know. they just now for gaming.

heres what AMD says about it

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_7146_10985,00.html
Click to expand...

rme does not know what they are talking about, but I think you should read it. honest, i do.

http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/nforce4_tests.htm

this is the problem with kneejerk intel baaaad, amd gooood. or vice versa for that matter. start with you audio hardware and software and work backwords.
 
Signal 9 Studio said:
I have a friend who builds computers. I am ready to make the jump from my Dell (one year old...needing updated already) and tascam ADATS to something with more muscle. I am starting to do more and more with my computer and need more of everything. Right now I am using Vegas 3.0 and Sound Forge I have a two trak L/R sound card but I'm looking to go maybe protools or something in that league. The question is how will an AMD processor work with recording. Is it comparible to a Pentium
Click to expand...

Intel still outperforms AMD when it comes to video editing software and video encoding tasks.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-18.html

...but AMD is better for audio

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-21.html
 
I went with AMD, LOTS of people over at Digidesign's (protools manufacturer) DUC forum use AMD and there's even a standard "Allen-stein" setup that kills for audio, especially protools. People are getting crazy track/plugin counts on these setups. Like a previous poster said, the athlon64's run really cool, with a zalman fan/heatsink, I barely break 50C under stress and the fan is pretty much dead quiet.
 
I was thinking of purchasing the AMD SEMPRON 2800 + COOLER BOXED. Anyone know if this is good?
 
The Sempron is basically last-generation technology...but it's certainly usable, and a fine way to get in if you demand a budget setup. Heck...I still use a Centrino 1 gig and an Athon XP 1800+ machine for a lot of work and I never feel the machine struggling.

Of course, my needs are pretty different from others on the board. Because I'm more about soft synths, bigger orchestral libraries than hard CPU hitting convolution reverbs, I max out my hard drive bandwidth and memory before my CPU feels the burn.

The sempron is a great little piece if you need to spend under 100 bucks. If you can spend a little more, I would recommend it, as to future-proof your computer setup, because moving from Sempron to Athlon 64 is a BIG difference in computing power.
 
reshp1 said:
I went with AMD, LOTS of people over at Digidesign's (protools manufacturer) DUC forum use AMD and there's even a standard "Allen-stein" setup that kills for audio, especially protools. People are getting crazy track/plugin counts on these setups.
Click to expand...

Hold on now....Track count for both LE and the current HD systems are FIXED. Plug in performance is loosely affected by the processors but is primarily affected by memory. If someone is attempting to convince you otherwise based on their personal choice of processors they are 1) more interested in the "mine is better than yours" black hole and 2) lost sight of the issues at hand..music production.

Climb in your car, turn the radio on and try to determine if the song was recorded with amd, Pentium, apple or otherwise.

As to the strict issue of performance as it pertains to the software-vs-processor....Software is tested by the individual companies and put on the supported or non-supported list. Adhere to those standards and you'll be fine
 
Signal 9 Studio said:
The question is how will an AMD processor work with recording. Is it comparible to a Pentium
Click to expand...


I have used both AMD and Intel processors for recording since 1998. Both are fine. I now only use AMD (currently AMD Athlon 64), but not because they are any better for recording than Intels. In performance tests they are both very close. Do some research on them, read some reviews, look at performance tests people have done and base your decision on that.

This may be a good place to start.

It is important to note that the numbers can be deceiving. An AMD Athlon 64 3200+ may only be a 2 GHz processor, but the 3200+ is supposed to represent that it has as much processing performance power as an Intel 3200 MHz processor. Most of the benchmarks I have seen, or run myself either confirm this is fairly accurate, very close, or show that 3200 is an understatement with some configurations.

You will be fine with either one.
 
Joseph Hanna said:
Hold on now....Track count for both LE and the current HD systems are FIXED. Plug in performance is loosely affected by the processors but is primarily affected by memory.
Click to expand...

Track count for audio tracks, yes. But you can add an unlimited amount of Aux tracks, all running more instances of plugins. The track/plugin count I was refering to is the "DaveC" test they do on Digi's forum, which has been kind of an arbitrary standard for forum members to benchmark their setups. Basically you start with one track, with 3 delays, eq, and compression, record one minute. Then keep adding tracks, each with 3 delay plugs, compression, and eq until you hit the track count limit. Then add Aux tracks, again with the same plugs, until you hit 100% CPU usage on the Protools system meter.
 
Rstiltskin said:
rme does not know what they are talking about, but I think you should read it. honest, i do.

http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/nforce4_tests.htm

this is the problem with kneejerk intel baaaad, amd gooood. or vice versa for that matter. start with you audio hardware and software and work backwords.
Click to expand...

That is a good article but speaks to the motherboard chipset, not the processor. Good for choosing a MB but not a processor.
 
You got it. The choice of chipset is more important than cpu.

Pentiums work well with Intel chipsets. AMDs work better with some chipsets than others
 
motherboards for AMD's are $20-$30 cheaper than the ones for Intel comparable boards acording to PCworld magazine. but ebay may say somethig else. another thing is if you want performace I'd rather not buy a Celeron or a Sempron. I guess first find a price range you want to pay for a processor. then ask for recomendations. The only reason I chose AMD was because of the reveiws that state AMD's ran cooler and therfore less fan noise. I was undecided for a long time. So the quieter one sounded more appealing to me and tipped my decision towards it.
 
altiris said:
The only reason I chose AMD was because of the reveiws that state AMD's ran cooler and therfore less fan noise. I was undecided for a long time. So the quieter one sounded more appealing to me and tipped my decision towards it.
Click to expand...

I had a CPU cooler (Thermaltake) on my old Athlon XP that sometimes sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Now I have a Socket 939 MB and tried several different coolers and none of them were nearly as loud as my old one (larger fans that can spin slower and still move a lot of air). I went with AMD because after reading every review I could find I just felt like I would be getting more for the money.
 
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