Is now a good time to go Dual Core? Thoughts?

[BIG D]

hi all,

with my current ASUS A8V board I can throw an X2 or the like in there to give me a bit more dual core grunt. But my biggest problem is really the old not enough RAM in XP to run all the Virtual stuff I need. My HD4 is great with everything else.

So the question is, should I upgrade the Processor now or may as well wait until the glory days to come with True 64bit Windows (VISTA)- whenever that happens?

Thoughts Nikki...anyone?

Big D

[Przemek]

I have "only" HD2accel so I decided to get 64X2. Computer is fast and I can use native processing almost without limit - especially Waves IR. I wouldn't say it's twice as fast, but definetely faster than single processor ;-)

Przemek.

[nikki-k]

Big hmmm...

Personally, I am waiting. So many boards now are mixing PCI types, and RAM is what I am looking at being a nice benefit as well.

With an HD4, the big problem is a board with enough valid slots...and a chipset that will work as well. Opting for an HD Chassis from Digi slaughters the benefit of the single or dual dual-core setup with all that extra RAM and a 64-bit OS to address it due to the inherent, added latency it introduces. A comprimise will have to be made somewhere, I'm afraid. And that plain sucks.

I can get by with an HD3 Accel for most things, but that extra card provides that "comfort cushion." But, fitting that on a modern board is rough.

I am waiting for a board that has PCI & PCI-X slots, does dual dual-cores (preferrably Opterons), 64-bit, and can do a nice amount of RAM. The Tyan 2895 is one I really like base don others' experiences, but no one has done Digi HD on it yet that i know of. But, it could only do HD3 Accel I believe. With dual dual-core Opterons on it doing 64-bit, and stuffing like 16G per CPU in for RAM (shared!), a nice 64-bit OS would make it a dream for the HD Accel + Virtual Instrument + Virtual Sampler junkie (especially a GigaStudio via rewire setup!).

I really wish Digi would get off their dumpers and make a damn sticky for us HD XP users. We have been treated like red-headed step children for far too long, the bastard sons and daughters of a Mac bred world. XP LE have a sticky for system builds...why are we not afforded this luxury? I have tried to get it started, but have been shot down every time. And I just dont have the time to maintain my own site at a good enough level to convey this info. Besides, THIS is where users come most often and consistently...would be nice if the info was easy to find, with REAL WORLD user experience to boot. <sigh>

[DigiTechSupt]

Nikki-k - if you want to start a HD XP thread, I'll make it a sticky.

[dods]

I recently built two system based on the Tyan 2895 board, one is running PT HD2 and the other one running PT LE. Both system running well. Running HD4 on this board is possible but it's a very tight fit for the 32MHz slot which is beetwen the two PCI-E slot.

[BIG D]

Thanks for the thoughts all,

I will continue to read and ponder my timing for update. The chasis was a thought but I do use a fair amount of Virtual plugs such as BFD, Essential strings etc.

Thanks again everyone,

Big D