Pentium 4?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DaveO
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DaveO

DaveO

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Anyone try n-Track with a Pentium 4 yet? I'm buying a 2nd PC and will be recording on the new one. I did a somewhat dumb thing and already submitted the order to Dell. However, the order confirmation says you can request instructions for changing your order, so I made the request.

Anyway, I know I should have done more research but I "won" a new PC through a program at work (actually, I won an interest free PC loan through payroll deduction) and need to act FAST. Some of the original "winners" passed on this program and I was caught off guard by being selected in a later round.

Anyway, any advice on deciding between a 1.3 GHz P4 with 256 MB RAM and a 1 GHz P3 with 512 MB RAM would be greatly appreciated. Most of the articles I've read so far are making me lean to changing to the P3.
 
Of course, I should have first searched the "Computers and Soundcards Forum", which I will do now.

My apologies. I should have known better. Still, if you have any info ...
 
Yeah, you won't see much P4 optimizing for a while. Best to go with the PIII simply for the 512MB of RAM! 1Ghz is nothing to scoff at :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
Yeah that's what I'm thinking but it sucks that they shipped it so damn fast. I emailed Dell as soon as I got the order confirmation email and asked for instructions on changing the order. I didn't get a response back yesterday and I called last night. I found out it shipped already - about 14 hours after I placed the order!! The last one I bought from them took 8 or 9 days to build and ship.

My only option now is to return it and order a new one. That's not too big a deal I guess, but it means I have to arrange for UPS to pick it up. Plus I'll have two PCs on our credit card until they credit my account. Right now I'm leaning toward returning it. Hopefully I'll decide tonight.
 
I heard that the pentium 4 is toasting software, and lots of software doesn't work with it. Just what I heard.
 
I haven't heard anything too negative.

Dude, just keep the P4...what the heck. Do both machines ship with RDRAM or SDRAM? If the issue is over 512MB of RDRAM then maybe I'd consider shipping it back....but only if the shipping were free. I just saw 256MB of Simple Technology PC133 for $60. Cripes.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I ended up making the change

Well, for better or worse, I decided on returning the P4 and getting a P3 instead. For what it's worth, Dell was very helpful. They said I could just refuse the shipment and they gave me a Refusal Number. Then I ordered a new PC as a separate transaction. Very easy (execpt for having two PCs on the credit card next month).

If the issue was just the Pentium 4, I think I would have kept it. However, it was only available with RDRAM (at least from Dell) and the more I read about RDRAM and Rambus the more I questioned whether it was a good idea to go with it. I just felt safer with SDRAM at this point. I ended up with a 1 GHz P3, 512 RAM, and was able to get also get a better video card and a 250 MB zip drive for about the same price. That may not be cutting edge technology, but it's still a damn fine system and I'll probably sleep a little better buying that one.

Thanks for your input, guys.
 
Dude, that's pretty much cutting edge as far as the average joe is concerned!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Good move getting the upgraded video card. a factor often forgotten. :)

Sounds like a great puter setup.

cheers
John
 
Yeah, I realize this one is still a screamer so I'm definitely not complaining. It's far "better" than the one I bought last spring and that one has never broken a sweat playing back lots of tracks with effects.

Of course, if I hadn't won the interest free loan from work (see my first post in this thread) I wouldn't have even thought about buying a second PC. This was just too good a deal to pass up and I made sure I spec'd out a system that gave me the maximum loan they'd offer.

Now my only problem is finding enough time to play and record often enough (we won't discuss *playing* well enough :rolleyes: ) for this to be worthwhile. I've said this in other posts, but my wife really is supportive for a hobby I don't have much time to invest in these days. She was definitely a good find.
 
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