Oh my God my brain - it hurts. But I'll try.
Yes, Im narrowing down the post this much. Hi!
...hectic time, but technology and science go constantly ahead...
I've got some questions before I build my next computer.
I'll use it for recording and processing music, using Cubase SX3.
I'll be thankful for all the feedback.
You're welcome in advance.
ABOUT PROCESSORS:
I've opted to chose between these Intel models:
Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz
(Socket 775 - 3.0GHz - Bus 1333 MHz - 65 nm - 4MB L2 cache - Intel
Virtualization Technology)
or
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
(Socket 775 - 2.4GHz - Bus 1066 MHz - 65 nm - 8MB L2 cache - Intel
Virtualization Technology)?
Is there a big advantage of Quad over Dual cores, now that we're only few
months from the Quad core release ? (And how it comes the higher and newer
Quad Q6600 be slightly cheaper than the older and lower Duo E6850?)
A quad core can handle twice as many simultaneous operations as a dual core. Plain and simple. I'd say if you are looking at not huge a price difference, go for quad.
ABOUT SPEED AND CORES:
-Finally... does the dilemma 'more cores, or more clock speed' really exist?
In other words, does a Dual Core with 3.0GH clock speed work 2x3.0GH
for each core which will result in a double summary clock speed =6.0GH?
Or is it that each of the cores works in 3.0GH, thus working separately on
different tasks, which just augments the overall processing speed ?
Each core of a quad 3.0Ghz processor runs at 3.0Ghz. It is not 3.0 / 4 cores, or 3.0 * 4 cores - think of each as an independant processor, all mashed into one chip. It is obviously more complex than that, but that is the general idea. Multiple cores can process different things at the same time.
E.g. you can't break up a single multiplication over multiple processors/cores, but if you have 4 VST's chugging away on 4 different audio tracks, the thread that is created that runs the VST processing for each can be performed on different cores/processors. As such, there is less strain on each processor in terms of processing used.
ABOUT OS AND SOFTWARE:
-Will Windows XP Pro and my software, especially CUBASE SX3 (!)
support and function with the so called Thread-Level-Parallelism (TLP) or
Hyper-Thread technology, or Simultaneous Multi-threading Technology (SMT)
which is required by the Dual or Quad cores?
That you'll have to look up in terms of Windows itself, first and foremost - I know there is a separate XP available for 64-bit because the way the OS is compiled is different, but I'd imagine XP has multi-processor capability built in. Whether it will work with multi-core processors, I don't know.
ABOUT MOTHERBOARDS:
I must chose between the following:
=>Asus P5K
(Socket 775 - Intel® P35 chipset ICH9R - Intel® CoreT2 Quad / CoreT2
Extreme / CoreT2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4
Processors - Dual-channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz - 4*SATA/1*SATA
on the Go/ 1394 - Gigabit LAN - 8-channel HD Audio)
=>Asus P5KC
(Socket 775 - Intel® P35 chipset ICH9R - Intel® CoreT2 Quad / CoreT2 Extreme
/ CoreT2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 Processors -
Dual-channel
DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz or DDR3 1333/1066/800 - 2x1394 - 12xUSB 2.0 - Gigabit
LAN -8-channel HD Audio)
=>Asus P5W DH Deluxe (this one doesn't support the Quad Core or further)
=>Asus P5N32-E SLI
(Socket 775 - NVIDIA SLI Technology - NVIDIA Quad-SLIT Ready - NVIDIA
nForce® 680i SLIT - Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533 - Support Intel® next
generation 45nm Multi-core CPU - Intel® Quad-core CPU Ready - Intel®
CoreT2 Extreme/CoreT2 Duo Ready - 1333**/1066/800/533MHz - 8 Phase
Power Design SATA Raid - External SATA - Dual Gigabit Lan - Audio 8
channels - IEEE 1394 - Fanless Design)
Honestly, there's too much there for me to focus on at the moment
ABOUT MEMORY:
-Can I use my previous computer's stick of (1GB) DDR 400MH memory
together with new DDR2 1066/800/667MH memory sticks in the other slots,
or it's a crap idea?
-With Double channel architecture, can I leave one pair of slots with
only one stick, or I must always put two sticks?
Don't know about double-channel architecture, but don't mix RAM types. All memory available to the machine is expected to run at the same speed, and as such, the slowest memory is the guideline by which the machine runs all the memory - you will slow any new memory down to the speed of the old stuff, or at least that is how it used to work. Buy new, is unfortunately the easiest way to go.
According to someone above they aren't even compatible, so there ya go - the old types which all fit in the same slot would slow down to the slowest, but if they don't even sync to the slots, then problem solved!
ABOUT HDs:
I plan to make a RAID0 configuration for faster, fastest... at
7200 (or 10,000 rpm but they're more noisy and heat up).
Top brands are Western Digital and Seagate of what I hear.
But what about Maxtor which is manifactured by Seagate?
And is Samsung also ok, I heard they're silent ?
I've had good experience with Western Digital. Every Seagate I've ever had has died a quick but painful death. Just one man's experience though.
Huh.... lot of questions... anyway thanks a lot to those who'll have
the courage for feedback.
I took the challenge and survived!
