Best Core 2 Series Desktops-Results and Specs

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by arnobg

It appears my case will support an ATX motherboard so i'm in the game without getting a new case.

My power supply however is only 350w so I have a feeling i'll be needing a bigger one. Any recomendations since i'll be having to use a video card?

excellent. i'll refer you to page 1 again. lotsa PSUs listed. i went with the CORSAIR 520 and am very pleased. of course case dimensions matter...again

[arnobg]

I haven't really been able to find a thread talking much on AMD dual core processors and PT 8. Are they not as popular because I know they seem to be cheaper, and i'm all about that right now as I spent all of my money on my protools upgrade, so i'm using the credit card

And to add to the questions about chipsets, I am choosing from a mobo with a P45 northbridge but does the southbridge matter as well?

[eviani]

Originally Posted by arnobg

I haven't really been able to find a thread talking much on AMD dual core processors and PT 8. Are they not as popular because I know they seem to be cheaper, and i'm all about that right now as I spent all of my money on my protools upgrade, so i'm using the credit card

And to add to the questions about chipsets, I am choosing from a mobo with a P45 northbridge but does the southbridge matter as well?

I was wondering this as well the other day when I was looking at some AMD stuff. I've never used anything by AMD but their new Phenom II Processors came out and the high end Phenom II Quad costs as much as the Intel Q9400 (maybe like 10 dollars more), and has been trouncing everything but the i7 processors in benchmark tests.

I wouldn't think there'd be any reason for any program to have a problem between using Intel or AMD but I know how finnicky Pro Tools can be....as does the rest of the DUC I'm sure.

What is the real difference between how AMDs and Intels run anyways?

[mykhal c]

check out Shane's AMD Quadzilla thread . not sure how much the new AMD stuff is listed. and of course it would be in the most recent pages of the thread

[netnoggin]

I noticed the recommendation in an earlier post on this thread that said when looking at ATI video cards, try to steer clear of those using Hypermemory. Searching for more info on the subject turned this up:

ATI Tray Tools http://www.guru3d.com/article/ati-tray-tools-/

Among the many things it does, one can disable hypermemory (it's called ATI Shared Memory in the general options). Might be handy, just wondering if anyone had tried it yet. A downside would be running another background program. It shows in the task manager at a reasonable 1 meg footprint, but can't really say about whether or not it would otherwise interfere with Pro Tools at this point. So far I've just loaded it on my normal PC to take a peek, not the studio PC.

I'm seeing two possible upsides - freeing up more memory, and maybe solving any potential issues related to hypermemory usage. Again, I was just wondering if this had been tried before.

N

[Transputer]

Originally Posted by eviani

I was wondering this as well the other day when I was looking at some AMD stuff. I've never used anything by AMD but their new Phenom II Processors came out and the high end Phenom II Quad costs as much as the Intel Q9400 (maybe like 10 dollars more), and has been trouncing everything but the i7 processors in benchmark tests.

Clock for clock Phenom II is slightly slower than core 2 - suggest hardocp for some facts. Phenom II is a disappointment - and calling them 920, 940 to get the average punter to confuse their standing with i7 nomenclature is frankly well off

[markblasco]

OK, after 6 years with my old allenstein, it is time to upgrade. Here is my plan, please let me know if I should change anything. Also, I don't know what I should get for a firewire card, so if you have a link to an approved one that would be very helpful.


ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066

ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2 Radeon HD

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Arctic Silver AA-1.75G Thermal Compound

Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2

(2X) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA

LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW


For those of you thinking of putting together a similar system, the total cost from newegg with shipping to Seattle is $1,013.77.

Any changes I should make? Is this case/power supply combo going to be quiet enough (I have an antec sonata for my computer now, and find the power supply to be a little too loud when the system is going, but it was built about 6 years ago, so power supplies may not have been as quiet back then).

[CrAkD]

that system seems pricey to me for a non i7 system

[CrAkD]

anyone know if it would be worth it to get a core 2 quad but get a mobo that supports ddr3 1600? would it be that much of an increase in performance over the ddr2

[mano111]

Originally Posted by markblasco

OK, after 6 years with my old allenstein, it is time to upgrade. Here is my plan, please let me know if I should change anything. Also, I don't know what I should get for a firewire card, so if you have a link to an approved one that would be very helpful.


ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066

ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2 Radeon HD

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Arctic Silver AA-1.75G Thermal Compound

Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2

(2X) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA

LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW


For those of you thinking of putting together a similar system, the total cost from newegg with shipping to Seattle is $1,013.77.

Any changes I should make? Is this case/power supply combo going to be quiet enough (I have an antec sonata for my computer now, and find the power supply to be a little too loud when the system is going, but it was built about 6 years ago, so power supplies may not have been as quiet back then).

System is very well put together. Arctic silver is not really needed as you get some with the Freezer 7 pro.
Another thing to consider is a smaller system drive, perhaps an additional one. so its 320+2x750 or 320+1TB. If you partition the 750 it will be slower, and if you don't it would be a waste of valuable space.
You will need a FW card with TI chipset. (sorry no link)