Upgrade Advice

[WoodenPupa]

I originally posted this as a comment to Anand's latest review on Intel's dual core stuff, then realized it really should go here, at least I think this is the right forum. Anyhoo, here it is...


Well, I'm not a tech whiz like everyone else here, but here's my 2 centavos...

I can attest to the fact that every machine I ever buy, I bring it to its knees. I usually wait several generations before I upgrade in order to get a more profound effect. Yet that strategy doesn't seem to matter because no matter how fast my computer is, I find that my NORMAL computing habits end up crushing the CPU and everything else.

I use Cool Edit Pro and some other audio programs, and I am also a chess player, and like to anyalyze games in the background with Fritz or Chessbase, both of which allow for gigantic hash tables. So as a typical case I like to do wave transforms and chess analysis as background items while I compose e-mails or use Word for more serious writing. Naturally I like to listen to music at the same time, but usually I have to give that up. Needless to say, all of this stuff cripples my computer---I'm due for an upgrade, I know---my box is a 2.53 GHz P4, 1 GB of Rambus 800 (no groaning, please), a GF4 ti 4600, 120 GB HD, I'm not even sure what the cache on that is, I don't think it's 8 or 5 MB---feels more like 2.

I usually end up quitting the Chess program or the Mp3 player---once in a while I can do all of this stuff concurrently if the wave transforms on cool edit aren't too complex, and I minimize the hash tables on the chess program.

Ideally I want everything to be instantaneous, but... Anyway, from what it sounds like, I need a dual or even quad processor setup. Because even with all the above mentioned programs running, I can think of more I would like to add. I'm a monster multitasker and really like to kick a computer right in the face, to show it who's boss. I'm tired of winning, though---I'd love it if one day the computer just scoffed at everything I threw at it. Sadly, I don't think it'll happen in my lifetime.

Should I upgrade to a dual core, or should I save and get a true multi-CPU Mobo like a quad Xeon??

 

[duragezic]

SMP (two separate CPUs) requires the OS and software to be written to take advantage of both processors. I doubt that is the route you would want to go. I don't think your current usage would seem much benefit.

I'm not too sure how intensive those Chess programs are, but I'm surprised your current system gets so crippled. Back when I had my P166 and just got into mp3s, yeah I had to close down Winamp when I went to game, but I've never had problems playing mp3s while doing anything else since I've had reasonably fast systems. I used to use Cool Edit Pro on older systems while doing other basic tasks and never had any system-wide slowdowns. Do you have everything else shut down? Some AV programs on real-time protection really slow things down, but I hear others barely take any cpu cycles.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: WoodenPupa
I originally posted this as a comment to Anand's latest review on Intel's dual core stuff, then realized it really should go here, at least I think this is the right forum. Anyhoo, here it is...


Well, I'm not a tech whiz like everyone else here, but here's my 2 centavos...

I can attest to the fact that every machine I ever buy, I bring it to its knees. I usually wait several generations before I upgrade in order to get a more profound effect. Yet that strategy doesn't seem to matter because no matter how fast my computer is, I find that my NORMAL computing habits end up crushing the CPU and everything else.

I use Cool Edit Pro and some other audio programs, and I am also a chess player, and like to anyalyze games in the background with Fritz or Chessbase, both of which allow for gigantic hash tables. So as a typical case I like to do wave transforms and chess analysis as background items while I compose e-mails or use Word for more serious writing. Naturally I like to listen to music at the same time, but usually I have to give that up. Needless to say, all of this stuff cripples my computer---I'm due for an upgrade, I know---my box is a 2.53 GHz P4, 1 GB of Rambus 800 (no groaning, please), a GF4 ti 4600, 120 GB HD, I'm not even sure what the cache on that is, I don't think it's 8 or 5 MB---feels more like 2.

I usually end up quitting the Chess program or the Mp3 player---once in a while I can do all of this stuff concurrently if the wave transforms on cool edit aren't too complex, and I minimize the hash tables on the chess program.

Ideally I want everything to be instantaneous, but... Anyway, from what it sounds like, I need a dual or even quad processor setup. Because even with all the above mentioned programs running, I can think of more I would like to add. I'm a monster multitasker and really like to kick a computer right in the face, to show it who's boss. I'm tired of winning, though---I'd love it if one day the computer just scoffed at everything I threw at it. Sadly, I don't think it'll happen in my lifetime.

Should I upgrade to a dual core, or should I save and get a true multi-CPU Mobo like a quad Xeon??

You may want to consider getting a dual-dually. You can start with one dual-core chip in the system and if that's not enough for your needs, add another later on and basically have the equivalent of a quad SMP system. If you're going the intel dual-core route instead of AMD, you can run HT as well and have the equivalent of an 8-way system (4 physical/4virtual procs) and have it considerably cheaper than forking out the cash for a quad-Xeon system. You'd still have money left over to feed the kids too.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: duragezic
SMP (two separate CPUs) requires the OS and software to be written to take advantage of both processors. I doubt that is the route you would want to go. I don't think your current usage would seem much benefit.

I'm not too sure how intensive those Chess programs are, but I'm surprised your current system gets so crippled. Back when I had my P166 and just got into mp3s, yeah I had to close down Winamp when I went to game, but I've never had problems playing mp3s while doing anything else since I've had reasonably fast systems. I used to use Cool Edit Pro on older systems while doing other basic tasks and never had any system-wide slowdowns. Do you have everything else shut down? Some AV programs on real-time protection really slow things down, but I hear others barely take any cpu cycles.

Chess is 100% CPU usage from my experience on an XP1900+ with a free, fairly basic chess program.
The program has to pretty much continually run mathematical computations to work out what the next sequence of moves might be, and adjust it's moves based on your moves, so it is constantly working out each possible course.

Dual core would probably be OK for you, as you would see a noticeable performance increase (both from going from 2.53GHz to 2.8~3.2) and from having 2 cores.

 

[necine]

I'd go intel dual core with hyper threading. Intels higher clock speed is beneficial for your usage. You also need 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: necine
I'd go intel dual core with hyper threading. Intels higher clock speed is beneficial for your usage. You also need 2 gigs of RAM.

Maybe even three or four gigs for the future.

 

[WoodenPupa]

I typed out a huge response which got lost when the fricken page couldn't be found. Great.

No way I'm retyping all that. Thanks for the responses everybody.

 

[footbal07]

how much are you looking at spending. i know i love to multitask and plan on getting an dual core opteron with a tyan thunder for my next system. with support for 2 dual core processors, 2 16x pci-e lanes, pci-x, and 16gigs registered ram it definately should allow some room to expand. if you are just looking for a modest upgrade, wait for the dual p4s to come out.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I think you should consider a dual Xeon. However, a dual 3.4 GHz system will probably cost a minimum of about $2000.