How do dual-cores stack up?

[jfee]

In the world of audio how do dual-core computers stack up?
Does a dual 2Ghz machine perform sorta like a single 4Ghz machine? I'm guessing probably not because one cpu has a little bit of overhead on it just deciding which cpu is gonna do the work on the threads.

Just curious what kind of improvement you guys have witnessed that have switched from single core to multicore chips in terms of dsp power.

Cheers,
j

[pounce]

i'm still on a dual g5 right now, but of course my next mac will be quad core at least. should be a fun ride with all of the plug ins i'd want with audio and video happily chugging along.

thing is, right now my computer still is adequately powerful for what i'm doing, so i won't have first hand knowledge for a while.

[Skwaidu]

My Quad G5 seems to have a lot more power than my HD Accell 3 PCIe...

A max of 90(!) stereo Rennaissance Reverbs versus 54, if I remember correctly.

Though the comparison is unfair as the Digi hardware is running all my I/O's and mixer etc.

I don't mind the combined power, though. The RTAS well seems almost bottomless.

[malice]

Mono proc should be a little more powerful than a dual proc at half speed wich is a little more powerful that 2 X a single processor at half speed. (that means a single 4Gherz is quicker than 2 X 2Gherz, in theory)


That said, this is for blunt power.

A DAW is a sorta multi tasking application. Lemme explain: graphic is a task, disc access is a task, pluggin processing is a task, MIDI is a task... So basically, multi proc makes a lot off sense in term of stability. Graphic will always be smoother in a multi proc than in a single.

malice

[Pimp-X]

I have found multiprocessing to be a vast improvement over single cored stuff.

Caveat: Make sure your DAW software is actually capable of spreading it's duties across processors.

[Spock]

Caveat: Make sure your DAW software is actually capable of spreading it's duties across processors.

Well this is the problem. While it seems like a very simple thing to do, you would be surprised at the number of applications that are not multi threaded

[nobby]

My Quad G5 seems to have a lot more power than my HD Accell 3 PCIe...

A max of 90(!) stereo Rennaissance Reverbs versus 54, if I remember correctly.



If you don't mind my asking, what are you going to use 90 stereo reverbs for? :Wink:

[Skwaidu]

If you don't mind my asking, what are you going to use 90 stereo reverbs for? :Wink:

Ahem. It's 144 according to my numbers there.

...But I actually oftentimes do utilize the full power of the system and constantly run in to scenarios where the TDM rig couldn't handle it all by itself... It should be Accel5-6 to do it. I see some crazy productions! :Wink:

[nobby]

I have found multiprocessing to be a vast improvement over single cored stuff.

Caveat: Make sure your DAW software is actually capable of spreading it's duties across processors.

What about shared cache dual core? Would that still give you an advantage over single core?

[nobby]

Nevermind.

YEAH BABY! :Thumbsup:

Steinberg:

AMD category* Single/Dual Core 64 Bit Perfor- mance Recom- mended
Athlon XP D S o
Sempron D S --
Sempron 64 D S yes o
Athlon 64 D S yes +
Athlon 64 X2 D D yes ++ yes
Athlon 64 FX D S/D yes ++
Mobile Sempron M S --
Mobile Athlon 64 M S yes +
Turion 64 M S yes + yes
Turion 64 X2 M D yes ++ yes
Opteron S S/D yes ++ yes

*Categories: D = Desktop, M = Mobile, S = Server


INTEL Category* Single/Dual Core 64 Bit HT** Perfor- mance Recom- mended
Celeron D S --
Celeron D D S yes -
Pentium 4 D S yes o
Pentium D D D yes +
Pentium Extreme Edition D D yes yes*** +
Intel Core 2 Duo D D yes ++ yes
Intel Core 2 Extreme D D yes ++
Pentium 4 M S yes o
Celeron M M S -
Pentium M Centrino M S o
Intel Core Solo/Duo M S/D + yes
Intel Core 2 Duo M D yes ++ yes
Intel Xeon S D yes ++ yes

*Categories: D = Desktop, M = Mobile, S = Server
** HT = Hyperthreading
*** Hyperthreading should be deactivated on multiprocessor/multicore systems. as the combination can lead to lower performance.


APPLE Category* Single/Dual Core 64 Bit Perfor- mance Recom-mended
eMac D S --
iMac G4 D S --
Mac mini G4 D S --
Power Mac G4 D S -
iMac G5 D S yes o
Power Mac G5 D S yes o
iBook G4 M S -
PowerBook G4 M S -
iMac Core Duo** D D +
iMac Core 2 Duo** D D yes ++ yes
MacBook** M D + yes
MacBook Pro** M D + yes
Mac mini** D S/D + yes
Mac Pro** D Q yes ++ yes

http://www.steinberg.de/547_1.html



And I'm assuming the latter versions of Sonar are likewise compatible, eh, Pimp?

[Pimp-X]

Absolutely.