?? Athlon or Intel for musical applications ??

Hi people, I desperately need your help today. The thing is that I am looking to buy a brand new *reliable* PC. I have been going through a lot of reviews and websites over the past days and thought I had well-chosen but when I read the review AMD Athlon vs. P4 ; I freaked out. I wanted to get a 3.0 GHZ P4 775 using Asus P5RD1-V, Kingston 1024Mb DDR2 400 and Maxtor SATA 120 Gb. I am not a gamer and will mostly use my equipment for music editing, sequencing and basic mixing. Nothing professional here, just someone who plays music and wants to customize his own sounds and beats. I’ve had a look at reviews about sound cards and chose Creative Audigy 4. I’ll play my MP3s using my home stereo. I would like my motherboard to have an S-video out to use XP Media Center and play movies from my PC to TV. I will probably buy a decent video card later but will focus on sound for now.

Just like anyone, I am concerned about the upgradeability and would like to get something that won’t run out of date tomorrow morning. From what I know and have heard over the years, I thought Intel processors were the best choice but am not convinced anymore. If I choose Athlon, what socket would suit me best? Anything particular I gotta be aware of? I don’t wanna spend my $ on something that isn’t the best pick. I have read about dual core processor and would like to know if they may be useful for my needs (though I guess they are more expensive). Also, I wonder if it’s really worth having a CPU fan or should I simply get a better main one.

So, if anyone has a comment or an advice to share, I’d really appreciate. Please send me a load of replies so that I’ll be able to make the best choice.

“The more I know, the more I know I don’t know”

 

Very true. Anyway for you're needs both processors will do good. I always like pentium so i say go for pentium 4 with hyper threading technology and maybe a little faster processor.

 

I would also go with intel for compiling and music editing. Hyperthread chips are good for this purpose.

 

thanx for the replies.
I thought that COU Idel Extreme with a powerful main fan would be sufficient. Is a CPu fan mandatory??

 

Although MOST people choose the Intel how many of you actually use one for music recording? My dads music comp in our garage has an AMD Athlon XP 1800+,1GB PC2100, an MSI mobo (dont know which one, its 2-3 years old) and CD brners etc...

His comp is for pro recording though, bands pay him to come over and make demo cds or record their albums... His comp is fast too (its not connected to the internet, no viruses/spyware). He uses programs like Cubase SX/2/3, Adobe Audition, T-Racks and some other stuff, i dont remember off hand. He uses an M-Audio Delta 1010 Rack and Soundcard combo too.. Theres nothing wrong with it either... Although, If you do want to spend more money on a faster processor you can... Although a mid range-high range AMD Athlon XP or Sempron doesnt cost much and it gets the job done quite nicely... of course this is all from personal experience.

 

You may find this thread of interest

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=68942&page=2&pp=20&highlight=processor+music

Intel is better chip for applications,especially when you have about 10 open programs all working away,as I mentioned in that thread also intel is faster at encoding your music into mp3 ect

 

Not sure what specific product you're talking about. Have you identified it accurately?

And yes -- a CPU fan is absolutely essential unless you're using water cooling for it. A 3GHz CPU is going to throw off something like 70-80 watts of heat, and can't survive temps much above 80 or 90C. Your ordinary 60-watt light bulb operates at white-hot temperatures, like around 2400C. If the CPU didn't shut itself down, it would fry -- quickly -- without something to cool it.

The heatsink isn't enough. You'll need to move at least 20-30 CFM (and maybe more) of cool air directly through it to suck off enough heat. A powerful main fan will move air through your case but most of it will go around your heatsink, not through it.

 

That is from the thread you posted Rikky. Again, Everyone says "oh intel is better for multi program use." When recording, only 1-2 programs are usually used at a time... not 10 or more... Also, you can save your files as an MP3 or save it as whatever you want, basically. Again, from personal experience our AMD recording system worked WAY, better than our P4 2.6 GHz recording system..... The Intel began slowing down, way down... We had to trash it because it was so bad. The AMD is still good... Neither were connected to the internet.

Basically AMD and Intel are the same (kinda) AMDs cost a lot less, and arent as "fast" as Intels... But ive never noticed the difference between my 1.9GHz system and my neighbors 3.1GHz comp...

 

The AMD will perform just as well as the Intel. We are talking about a small amount of difference between them. If I were you, I'd go with the fastest processor you can for the least amount of money. And AMD always wins that battle.

i.e. For the price of a 3.0Ghz P4, you can probably get an Athlon 64 3500+. It will probably run faster in most any application. Music editing or not. And, it is 64-bit capable for the future, when Windows 64-bit gets all the bugs worked out and gets better driver support.

 

Should have written CPU Idle Extreme, which I found to be the best working CPU idle. It lowers the temp of about 12C on my laptop. As for other comments, I have been looking at the Athlon 64 X2 3800, which is probably the most affordable dual core processor in its category and the Asus A8N-SLI nforce 4 which include a CPU fan. There IS a gap in price but considering the fact that I don't want my PC to be obsolete tomorrow afternoon, I guess dual core is a wise investment. MAybe you guys aware of a better board that would suit my needs? I've always heard to stick to Asus, Abit and Gigabyte as motherboards to avoid leaking condensators. Asus would bring me peace of mind...
The thing that bugs me : AMD only supports DDR right? Is there a noticeable difference between DDR & DDR2 for the same capacity (1 Gb)

 

Its essential to stick with the name brands of motherboards also stick msi in there ,Theres no point of havning ddr 2,it will only run at 200mhz anyways,you want 1-2gig of quality low latency memory 2-2-2-5,we are at the stage now where I would say get a dual channel kit with 2 1gig sticks in to maximize your headroom when using productivity applications,kingston corsair crucial,ocz are all good brands to go for

 

Motherboard brands that are GOOD TO BUY :ASUS, ABIT, MSI, DFI, GigaByte, Epox. Chaintech, TYAN, and ECS are all ok too...

 

Except for ECS. They are on par with PCChips

 

With Epox pulling in behind them.

Yes, I am speaking from experience.

 

Mixing down from 128 tracks on Adobe Audition is extremely
cpu intensive. Very fast Intel with hyperthreading is better than
similar speed range from Amd (you're not going to spend the big bucks
on dual core, admit it), unless you use a dual proc Amd scsi
board like I use.

 

Seriously, I AM going to get AMD x2 3800, it is an investment. I am stuck though when it comes to the motherboard. So many models and companies. Someone recommended the MSI K8n Neo4 Platinum to use with the X2. I quickly checked Asus board supporting dual core with nforce 4 and chose the Asus A8N-SLI nforce 4. Like I said, I am not gamer (maybe I'll try something someday but I satisfy my rush by renting an x-box for a couple days a year) but I'll really use my PC as a jukebox and for music purposes. Not useful to mention that my girl will use it for her reports and Internet searches and all.
What would you choose??

 

I'm reluctant with MSI boards for various reasons. Have you thought about ASUS or Abit?
I'd say AMD in my opinion for music recording, that's what I have on this computer and I use it for the odd bit of recording and lot's of mixing and editing. The Creative Audigy is a good range, the Audigy 4 is a nice one too, lots of power I might get one soonish.
Can I ask what software you are going to be using on this machine - Cubase (including the VST range of course), Sibelius, Logic, Magix, Sony centre etc...

 

Most probably Cubase and Cakewalk HS which I heard very good comments about. I already use Guitar Pro 4 to tabs my riffs and as a beatbox. A friend of mine would sell his mama for Adobe Audition so I guess I'll just blend everything together and experience. It'll be the first time I record my things so I am very much a newbie. I'll just explore those programs and see what'll come out.

By the way, does anyone know how to split an ISO image that is about 1.2 Gig into 2 images that'll fit on CD-R??

 

SleepyGamer pointed out something that should bring everyone
back down to earth. The fact is that an Athlon XP 1800 will do
nicely for music mixing. This is reality. Everyone gets all caught up
in how fast, dual core, dual proc (me, lol), faster bigger stronger
blah blah blah. But the fact is, the absolute FACT is that a lowyl 3ghz
Celeron will smoke through any music app out there.
What's that you say? Multi-tasking? Nobody in there right mind
multi-tasks when they are mixing music. One crash is all it takes
to get that idea out of your head. Forever!