Any AMD 64 X2 (Dual Core) users out there?

[a]

They both run but I am only getting a single cores prefromance of 2200mhz instead of 4400mhz. I would recommend then a fx55 (I think thats what there called) or a P4.

As far as I know cubase does support dual core but I don't actually know, also there's the sonar 64 version which I assume supports both cores but again im not sure.

ummm - the dual core is 2*4400 - so at worst you should be getting a single core performance of 1*4400. you should be using some of both cores methinks - as windoze should spread the load of the OS over both?

Yes - Sonar4 supports dual cores.

a

[TeeLangSun]

I have the X2 3800 and the performance has been pretty pittiful actually. I also have an Athlon 3200+ and the 3200 out performs the x2 3800 both in problem free low latency and overall performance. I'm using the very latest update of Cubase SX3, Reason 3 and FL Studio. The X2 handles Rewire better, but that's it. A couple of the FL Studio demo songs actually overload the x2 machine! I didn't actually do the research and choose a specific motherboard though. I bought an "over the counter" HP machine since the price was right and I expected that it would at least, easily outperform the machine that I currently had. To my shock, it doesn't even come close to matching it, let alone surpassing it. Any advice is totally welcome. Also, I get all kinds of cpu spikes. For now, I went back to primarily working on the 3200. Both machines have 1.5 Gigs of Ram by the way.

[fac]

They both run but I am only getting a single cores prefromance of 2200mhz instead of 4400mhz.

ummm - the dual core is 2*4400 - so at worst you should be getting a single core performance of 1*4400.

Actually, each core on the X2 4400+ runs at 2.2 Ghz. The "4400+" is only a performance comparision number.

[fac]

I have the X2 3800 and the performance has been pretty pittiful actually. I also have an Athlon 3200+ and the 3200 out performs the x2 3800 both in problem free low latency and overall performance. I'm using the very latest update of Cubase SX3, Reason 3 and FL Studio. The X2 handles Rewire better, but that's it. A couple of the FL Studio demo songs actually overload the x2 machine! I didn't actually do the research and choose a specific motherboard though. I bought an "over the counter" HP machine since the price was right and I expected that it would at least, easily outperform the machine that I currently had. To my shock, it doesn't even come close to matching it, let alone surpassing it. Any advice is totally welcome. Also, I get all kinds of cpu spikes. For now, I went back to primarily working on the 3200. Both machines have 1.5 Gigs of Ram by the way.

That is weird. Each core on the 3800+ runs at 2.0 Ghz with 512 Mb of L2 cache. The 3200+ also has 512 Mb L2 and runs at 2.0 Ghz so using a single core on the 3800+ should have a similar performance as the 3200+.

You probably have a configuration problem or a mobo that doesn't like dual core. Did you reset your BIOS after changing CPU's? Maybe there's some setting there that must be tweaked.

[CrownRoyal]

WOW! I chose the same board and proc! Did you buy it from Newegg? Mine is supposed to be here on Thursady, too.

CrownRoyal,

Got my parts locally here in Calgary. Pretty excited about the potential for this combo. I use Nuendo exclusively and judging by the gang that endorses this combo over the Nuendo forums...it should be killer!

There are, however, some initial got-ya's as far as updating the BIOS etc before the fun and games begin. Yours (and probably mine too) will arrive with a BIOS that may not recognize the dual-core right off the bat. You gotta get this board up to BIOS 1014 or higher to really get full benefit.

Also - if you plan to use a SATA drive for the OS...there is a bit of work to do there too...like ensuring you have the VIA Raid drivers handy during setup....

Cheers!

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I've got a couple of SATA drives coming as well. Wow! Nuendo is great DAW. That's out of my reach, for now. I've heard great things about it, though. I'm really excited about this new system. I haven't built a PC in years. I think the last one was a 486 system for a friend a LONG time ago. That's when they used coal to power the CPU.

Thanks again and best wishes! Are you close to Banff? I got in a bar fight in Banff a few years ago. There's a cowboy bar on the second floor of this place downtown. What a night that was! I KO'd a guy and then the bouncer threw me down the steps. It emptied the place. I was lucky I didn't get killed that night. You know how us Newfie's are after a few beer, eh?

[CrownRoyal]

I was just looking at my mobo spec. I've got the A8N5X and not the Deluxe SLI board. So, mine has the nForce4 chipset. I hope that's a good one. I think we use the Deluxe at work for our graphics computers and I got mixed up. I have my fingers crossed that this is a good combo! Yikes.

[el davo]

I have the X2 3800 and the performance has been pretty pittiful actually. I also have an Athlon 3200+ and the 3200 out performs the x2 3800 both in problem free low latency and overall performance. I'm using the very latest update of Cubase SX3, Reason 3 and FL Studio. The X2 handles Rewire better, but that's it. A couple of the FL Studio demo songs actually overload the x2 machine! I didn't actually do the research and choose a specific motherboard though. I bought an "over the counter" HP machine since the price was right and I expected that it would at least, easily outperform the machine that I currently had. To my shock, it doesn't even come close to matching it, let alone surpassing it. Any advice is totally welcome. Also, I get all kinds of cpu spikes. For now, I went back to primarily working on the 3200. Both machines have 1.5 Gigs of Ram by the way.

Cubase:
1. Check the multi-processing box in Expert VST audio settings
2. To get rid of CPU-meter flakyness, install the AMD dual-core driver
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 18,00.html

According to a post somewhere on here, FL studio hasn't got support for dual-core. Don't know about Reason.. probably not?

Sounds like you've got something additional going on too.. the X2 3800+ should be equally fast to your other processor in single-processor apps. Tried removing some of the apps that HP presumably setup to start on boot? See www.musicxp.net for optimization tips.

- david

[TeeLangSun]

I have the X2 3800 and the performance has been pretty pittiful actually. I also have an Athlon 3200+ and the 3200 out performs the x2 3800 both in problem free low latency and overall performance. I'm using the very latest update of Cubase SX3, Reason 3 and FL Studio. The X2 handles Rewire better, but that's it. A couple of the FL Studio demo songs actually overload the x2 machine! I didn't actually do the research and choose a specific motherboard though. I bought an "over the counter" HP machine since the price was right and I expected that it would at least, easily outperform the machine that I currently had. To my shock, it doesn't even come close to matching it, let alone surpassing it. Any advice is totally welcome. Also, I get all kinds of cpu spikes. For now, I went back to primarily working on the 3200. Both machines have 1.5 Gigs of Ram by the way.

That is weird. Each core on the 3800+ runs at 2.0 Ghz with 512 Mb of L2 cache. The 3200+ also has 512 Mb L2 and runs at 2.0 Ghz so using a single core on the 3800+ should have a similar performance as the 3200+.

You probably have a configuration problem or a mobo that doesn't like dual core. Did you reset your BIOS after changing CPU's? Maybe there's some setting there that must be tweaked.

I didn't change CPU's and the it's an off the shelf HP machine. The motherboard is the one they chose for it so I doubt if there's any kind of configuration problem since none of that has ever been touched. On the other hand, what I've been reading recently on some of those websites that test performance of machines and discuss this kind of stuff doesn't seem to support what a lot of people are saying around here. It doesn't support what I'm saying either, but it does seem to suggest that until the software and the OS catches up, the performance of one of these machines is not a great deal better than what I already have except where multi-tasking is concerned. In some situations, better performance can actually be had from a single processor machine compared against the dual core machine. I downloaded this little processor monitor from AMD and it shows what's going on with each processor when in use and it always shows that both processors are being taxed equally.

[Kingston]

TeeLangSun,

yesterday you whined about the same thing in some other Cubase related thread (and you were answered, go have a look). It's obvious you have some kind of driver/hardware/bios related issue as you should get equal single core performance out of the two machines.

[Kingston]

...I bought an "over the counter" HP machine...

Sorry for ever having concern for your problem at any point. I didn't realise what your setup was. You're beyond the range of anyone being able to help.

[legendCNCD]

el davo - ok ok, I'm working as an administrator and also still have to deal with some helpdesk shittyness.. and Via has given more than enough of those but I'll believe they've ironed most of the bugs out. Just that we have 30+ nForce2, 3 and 4 machines and they are just problem free (except you have to disable command queuing for sata-disks, it still corrupts data I believe).

And yes those amiga times were golden

[fac]

el davo - ok ok, I'm working as an administrator and also still have to deal with some helpdesk shittyness.. and Via has given more than enough of those but I'll believe they've ironed most of the bugs out. Just that we have 30+ nForce2, 3 and 4 machines and they are just problem free (except you have to disable command queuing for sata-disks, it still corrupts data I believe).

And yes those amiga times were golden

Hey legend. Nice to see you around KVR. "Inside" had a great impact on me (both as a programmer and a musician) and I still think it has one of the best soundtracks ever - and all with a 4-channel MOD.

[AndreasE]

Do I understand right? Having a dual core processor computer and

1. running one single application NOT supporting dual core processors, I only get the performance of a normal single core processor?

2. running parallel 2 different applications NOT supporting dual core processors, I get the (double)performance like having 2 single core processors?

[Kingston]

Do I understand right? Having a dual core processor computer and

1. running one single application NOT supporting dual core processors, I only get the performance of a normal single core processor?

2. running parallel 2 different applications NOT supporting dual core processors, I get the (double)performance like having 2 single core processors?

On a good day, yes. Unfortunately the part of windows (assuming we're talking about windows) that controls how the applications are spread to different cores isn't as good as it could be. And things can get tricky and/or annoying.

[musiclinks]

"

On a good day, yes. Unfortunately the part of windows (assuming we're talking about windows) that controls how the applications are spread to different cores isn't as good as it could be. And things can get tricky and/or annoying."

please expand on this, I'm planning an upgrade and considering the x2 or the athlon...