Single vs. multiple CPU upgrades

[guitarmongoose]

Hey guys and gals,
I've searched the forums and haven't found anything that totally answers my questions so please forgive me if this is a repeat.

I've been looking into purchasing a CPU upgrade for my Quicksilver 2001 733mhz. I've really been interested in the Powerlogix dual G4 1.2ghz processor. I've read a lot of reviews on xlr8yourmac.com and it seems that it is very good as long as you get the cooler 7457 chip. What I want to know is if it really makes that much difference to have a dual CPU computer for PT. The single CPU's are so much cheaper and I can get a higher clock rate with them. I know Pro Tools can pretty much take over an entire processor with a dual machine, but is this a $300 difference?

Thanks for all of your help!

BTW
Quicksilver 2001 733mhz
1 GB RAM
OS 10.3
PT 6.2.2
002R

[Mikeren]

I think so. I have that upgrade. If you enjoy lots of tracks and/or CPU hog plugins get the dual. Protools clearly benefits from two processors. As do other MP aware apps. Your call on the $ value. I was on the stock DP450 when I went from PT5/OS9 to OSX and PT6. It was like a new machine. That convinced me, as far as dual utilization goes. For PT specifically, figure for a given speed 80% usage for a single, 99% for a dual. Almost 20% increase in utilization.

Sounds like your checking your facts, how are the new GigaDesign duals doing? They use the earlier chip, but have nicely done cooling and are OSX/OS9 aware. The newer 7457's require a firmware/NVRAM update and patch respectively to get to the same point, but they are cool and stable. Unless you get like me and try to click, push, grab too many things at once. That brings up a polite "so-and-so program has unexpectedly quit" message. Don't do that and save often.

MR

[guitarmongoose]

The Gigadesigns seem to get really good reviews over at xlr8. The thing that gets me is that they run on the hotter 7455 chip. Some of the review said that they had to install more powerfull fans which would make a lot more noise. I'm also paranoid and don't want to have to install anything else which increases my chances of blowing up my computer.

Hey thanks for responding so fast.

[Firewire]

I've got the Gigadesigns dp1.25. Easy to install. It does have a fan on the heatsink, but it's not much louder than the original fan. The upgrade is very stable! I don't get any 'unexpectedly quits'. The only concern was powersupply. I have protools as well as GeForce 4 Titanium (big voltage draw from this card) and 4 internal hd's. I had to remove two of the hard disks from the case (now in firewire cases), because with the upgrade I was drawing too much voltage for the powersupply. Once I did that everything has been smooooth. I have to say Giga service was EXCELLENT. Tim (the owner, I beleive) talked me through jumper combinations to get the peak voltage/cpu multiplier settings for my system. I highly recommend this upgrade. I'm running PT LE 6.2.2 and Panther 10.3.2 and haven't been happier! My track/plugin count increased by 80% over my old dual 533 cpu!

[jeronimo]

Hey Firewire,
I have a Dual 533 and I'm seriously thinking about going dual 1.2.
How hard is to switch boards? How much did you pay for the upgrade?

[Firewire]

I got it from OWC $749.99. The installation is really simple, even for me--a mechanical idiot!. Took about 10 minutes beacause I was extra carefull double checking every move. You remove the plastic shroud by unclipping a couple of clips and unscrew the fan from the outside back. Pull it out. Then unclip the two heatsink clips, pull off heatsink. Then its just three phillips screws to pull off the dual 533 module. Put new module inplace. Rescrew. Place heatsink on and close clips. Done! Just follow the instructions that Giga includes (I might have missed something-just recounting from memory)

One thing to check: be sure the nuts that hold the heat sink carriage are tight. One of mine was loose. I tightened them all up, not too tight!-- and put a drop of nail polish on the bolt and nut so that it will never vibrate loose.

Otherwise its easy and fun and has been running for a month 24/7 and no problems or kernal panics etc!

[jeronimo]

That's nice Firewire...
What kind of plugins do you have on a "regular" session?
Most of the time I'm done w/ lets say, 4 renn compressors, 5 ren eq, a couple of MC2000, some vintage warmer, 2 verbs and that's pretty much a regular session, and like this, my CPU meter is almost on RED.

[Firewire]

I am only involved in post audio for television, so my plugin needs are minimal: Digirack (obviously), DVToolkit, Waves Restoration bundle, and Waves Native Powerpack. I will typically use 4 plugins per track except for sfx tracks (usually none). I mix into 3 stereo Auxes and two mono and one Master. Each aux will have C1's, and L1's. Usually run near 30 tracks excluding Auxes and Master. I did a personal test--couldn't be bothered with the DAVE C test. I created a track with 1band, 4band, Waves C1 and L1. I duplicated track until cpu hit red and stayed red. DP 533=15 tracks. Giga 1.2= 27 tracks. [email protected]=29 tracks. I'm running at 1.2 for a 'safety margin'. If I got rid of my GeForece 4 Titanium I could definitely hit 1.33ghz, but I don't need the extra speed.

[jeronimo]

Well, I guess I'm sold on the upgrade...
Just gotta work out my list of priorities