Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

[Bodie]

Shane,

Thanks for the great help last night, i've ordered my kit ;-) and will be building on Friday. it's soon to be an Opteron (270) dually with 4 gig in a nice roomy case ;-). My HD Card will be happy to find a home.

Did you have time to play with bench marks on the HD last night?

Bodie

[Shan]

Shane,

Thanks for the great help last night, i've ordered my kit ;-) and will be building on Friday. it's soon to be an Opteron (270) dually with 4 gig in a nice roomy case ;-). My HD Card will be happy to find a home.

Did you have time to play with bench marks on the HD last night?

Bodie

I've done quite a few benchmark tests with various combinations of parts etc and got very interesting results. For us HD 1 guys who rely on RTAS for our plug-ins we need all the CPU power we can get.

A Dverb test on my 265 with 4G of ram will give me 135 Dverbs. You will be very close to 150 Dverbs on your system with the Opteron 270. If I recall we got about 146 Dverbs with 3G of ram on the 270.

Keep in mind that Dverb is quite the CPU hog which is why I like to use it for benchmark tests. You'll have plug-in power for days on your system. Your system will smoke and at the same time cost effective into the world of HD.

Shane

[nikki-k]

Shan- I am very interested in the RAM thing. With 32-bit OS's having a limit of 4G, but XP (and apps running on it) having a supposed limit of 3G (if Registry switch set properly), have you done any testing with a single core single cpu system to check stability and such with 4G?

The ASUS board (P4C800-E) is supposed to support 4G, but no 1G sticks are approved for use, thus one is *stuck* with 2G.

I ask because I CAN see (easily) a benefit in a dual cpu system, and especially with a system with excellent memory sharing across cpu's. In this instance also, with the advnet of 64-bit sitting close(r), prepping now for the boon of mega-size RAM useability is an excellent idea (IMO at least )

[Shan]

Shan- I am very interested in the RAM thing. With 32-bit OS's having a limit of 4G, but XP (and apps running on it) having a supposed limit of 3G (if Registry switch set properly), have you done any testing with a single core single cpu system to check stability and such with 4G?

I've done no testing with a single core CPU with 4G. Even though the max in XP is 3G, all 4G in my system still gets utilized. I have posted further detail regarding this in the Quadzilla thread. Not only does the 4G get utilized, but it further increases RTAS plug-in count.

... In this instance also, with the advnet of 64-bit sitting close(r), prepping now for the boon of mega-size RAM useability is an excellent idea (IMO at least )

My board supports up to 25G of ram. Too bad XP wont allow this.

The 64bit band wagon has started. It will be interesting to see what Digis next major move will be.

Shane

[nikki-k]

Ahh- gotcha.

Yeah- for those following this, I will sum it up simply, and if any mistakes are present, somone please correct me, with refs to data.

OK- the reason Shan is seeing this si due to what I believe dual CPU's *allow*: communication and utilization of RAM PER processor, or maybe even core. For sure for multiple CPU's tho.

Basically, the OS is addressing RAM per CPU, thus each CPU could use up to 3G RAM with the proper settings and tweaks in XP (experts only guys, pls dont gamble and/or bugger your system unnecessarily!). So, yes- 4G and dual CPU's will add a very significant boost in capabilities for those native processes (namely, RTAS for us).

Single CPU users: BEWARE! This does NOT apply to you!!! Windows XP, despite being a "true 32-bit OS," has a practical 2.5G RAM limit. Those with the know-how, or $$ and hours to experiment, are capable of running 3G RAM. Personally, I am happy with 2G. Disk caching/streaming has proven to be moderately (ok, more than moderately ) successful; using care when working might prove more valuable than wasting effort trying to exceed 3G...or even 2.5G.

So, basic rule of thumb for now is: 2-2.5G per CPU. Experts: have a blast treading on the 3G per CPU bit of fun.

I am 100% sure of my statements on single CPU and RAM issues. 100%. Period. For dual CPU and dual Core- I am pretty sure of my statements, but may have erred slightly in theory or relating something- hopefully some kind soul will correct me!

[Bodie]

I think that's all contingent on 32 vs. 64 bit windows. (I retired from Microsoft back in December). My bet is using 64 bit windows, you've got little constraint other than what the app can address. i'll be deploying another partition on this system to bench 64 bit, but not in the next 30 days.

Bodie

[Bodie]

I've done quite a few benchmark tests with various combinations of parts etc and got very interesting results. For us HD 1 guys who rely on RTAS for our plug-ins we need all the CPU power we can get.

A Dverb test on my 265 with 4G of ram will give me 135 Dverbs. You will be very close to 150 Dverbs on your system with the Opteron 270. If I recall we got about 146 Dverbs with 3G of ram on the 270.

Shane

Would an APA32 make any sense with an HD rig? I've got a great price on one and own Waves Platinum.

[Shan]

Would an APA32 make any sense with an HD rig? I've got a great price on one and own Waves Platinum.

In my opinion, no. Your HD 1 and new Quad will give you plug-in power for days. Try a few mixes first then decide. Dont forget we can also use stuff like the UAD-1 and Powercore with our HD 1 systems. Lots of PCI slots to fill.

Your Quad Opteron 270 system will smoke. You'll have plenty of DSP power.

As a side note, PT wont run at this point under the current beta version of Vista. We have some DUC members here who are also beta Vista testers who have tried. Digi will have to right new drivers.

But I can tell that SAW studio sure works in Vista. And it smokes.

Shane

[nikki-k]

I think that's all contingent on 32 vs. 64 bit windows. (I retired from Microsoft back in December). My bet is using 64 bit windows, you've got little constraint other than what the app can address. i'll be deploying another partition on this system to bench 64 bit, but not in the next 30 days.

Bodie

Absolutely. And I apologize for not including this in the last post; I had done so in past posts concerning memory, and simply forgot as the current version of XP was being discussed...although not stated. My bad!

[Peterjk]

I am very serious considering a Tyan K8WE MB for my next "mac" for a PT HD 3 system. But I can see that the K8WE board comes in a least 4 different versions: The S2895 and the S2877. Those two again have "sisters"-versions.

I need some help on deciding wich board to get: With or wihtout onboard audio/video? and so fourth?

Anybody?


Peter