dual core or new audio interface

altiris

altiris

New member
I cant decide weather to upgrade my AMD 3700+ to a AMD 3800 dual core or to upgrade my EMU-0404 audio card to a card with more in/out puts. Cubase 2 has dual processor support. I’ve seen the processor I have on eBay go for $200. I want to put it up for auction before its value goes down. I've also noticed that there’s more hype towards dual core than the 64 bit processor. I mean game makers are releasing dual core support patches for some of the latest games. I don’t hear as much of 64bit as I do dual core. I haven’t maxed out my processor yet but like I said I would like to auction it off before it looses its value. but still a new audio interface would be nice. see what I mean. I cant decide. :(
 
altiris said:
I cant decide weather to upgrade my AMD 3700+ to a AMD 3800 dual core or to upgrade my EMU-0404 audio card to a card with more in/out puts. Cubase 2 has dual processor support.
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First of all, you partly both raised and answered your questions


altiris said:
.I've also noticed that there’s more hype towards dual core than the 64 bit processor. I don’t hear as much of 64bit as
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They belong to the same AMD 64 family, while dual core simply extends as latest available offer from AMD. With sufficient HD power, adequate RAM capacity (1GB+) I seriously doubt you would be limited with your present 3700+ CPU.

You shaped the promise of this topic as owner of brand new system and now you path doubts
thinking you could/should/would purchased something stronger in the first place?

Or , already spent some working period with this setup and you believe you experienced limitations?

I strongly believe upgrade (provided you need one) to 1820m (for example) is more concrete and rational decision , then wasting you money away from your more then adequately powerful CPU.

If you would purchase your system from the scratch, then dual core would be rational choice, because one always secures as much time in technology (power) as he can afford and technology can deliver at the moment of purchase.

But in your case, that would be mistake as I repeat you have more then adequate CPU power.

It is ironic that Intel with whom AMD compared was always best buy, now with dual core actually present best buy compared to X2 ;)

Beside industry proven chipset stability and reliability, its dual core offer is more then marginally affordable compared to AMD X2, while offering the same power. ><
 
Well for $200, I would upgrade the CPU. The nice emu is $400 so bang for buck, the x2 will make a bigger difference. The X2 is a REALLY fast chip and based on the 5 towers benchmarks is on par with quad G5's (which is insane fast).

You can never have too much CPU :D Latency goes down, track count and plugin numbers go up.
 
see what I mean. One says CPU the other audio interface :) I like both ideas. however I do want more channels. but I dont know how well my CPU will handle recording a live gig with 10 channels at the same time. IM looking into the firepod or delta1010.
 
Remember, tracking the channels themselves isn't going to put hardly any strain on the cpu. That's more of a Hard-Drive Speed and RAM issue. Now, when you are doing the post tracking mixing and adding in plug-ins and such, that's when the CPU starts to feel the burn.
 
well I have 2 gigs of ram and a separate SATA HD for audio. My PC is not even a year old. I guess I spend too much time looking up all the latest gizmos and gear that I begin to unappreciate what I already have. Yea them catalogs that come in the mail just shout at me “buy me buy me”. I know I want the processor but Id like more channels. See there I go again. If I get the best of both worlds then I’ll have to whip out the plastic. I really don’t want to do that. I know Ill eventually have both. But Im like most people. I want them both now. But Im willing to wait that’s why im undecided weather to go with the processor or audio interface.
 
Hey,
Spoil yourself and get both. But seriously, if you need the extra channels get the soundcard first. CPUs only get faster and cheaper the longer you wait. Soundcards generally dont
 
If you NEED more channels, then your purchase is a no-brainer, get a new interface. If you're running an Athlon 64 3700+, 2gigs of RAM, and a SATA Audio drive, then you're probably in better shape then probably well over half the people on this board, and I've seen people get huge track counts with less, alot less!

Now, if you are having trouble with running out of CPU power, then we need to talk about configuring your computer for audio. Even if you use that computer for everyday tasks, there are still options (dual-booting or hardware profiles) to maintain a side that is completely dedicated for audio. Windows has a lot of default settings that are quite processor intensive, and if you don't mind scaling down the look of windows, then you can save yourself quite a bit of processing power right there.

It seems though, that you've answered your question. Sounds like your gear lusting after a dual core system (believe me, I understand!!) But your current setup sounds like it would blow away most people here, including me.
 
thanks I think the audio interface upgrade sounds like a good idea. and I will be researching to maximize the CPU I have.
 
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