Which is better for Pro Tools LE - Intel Duo or Quad?

[digirocks]

Which one of these processors works better with Pro Tools LE?

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz

[spkguitar]

Read the benchmarks in the first post of the Best Core 2 Series Desktops-Results and Specs thread and judge for yourself.

[digirocks]

Thanks, but I already tried trudging through pages of that stuff. It makes no sense to me. Does anyone have a cut and dry answer?

Thanks!!!

[brandymania1]

Can I say this much,that I have tried manys a combination and the one thats most reliable and rock solid in every way with protools especially 7.4 is the AMD 5200+dual core with an nforce4 chipset sli motherboard and 2 gig of ram.
Thrust me on this one,that is if you dont want to be tweeking all your life.

Hope that helps.


Brandy

[spkguitar]

Thanks, but I already tried trudging through pages of that stuff.

I did mention that the information you need is in the very first post.

Here's a summary:

SeanDerMan 132 Dverbs 24 48 1024 on a E6700 - Asus P5B Deluxe (P965) 2GB DDR2

howlead 230 Dverbs 24 48 1024 on a Q6600 Quad - Intel DG965 OT (P965)

JamTime 250 Dverbs 24 48 1024 on a Q6600 Quad - ASUS P5B Deluxe WI-FI (P965) 2GB DDR2 1066. ASUS 1650, Mbox2, LE 7.3

NickH 259 Dverbs 24 48 1024 on a Q6600 Quad - ASUS P5B Deluxe (P965) 2 GB DDR2 1066. ASUS 7600 GS, 002R


auxsend1 252 Dverbs 24 48 1024 on a Q6600 Quad - Intel BOXDP35DPM (P35) 2 GB DDR2 667, ASUS 8600GT, MBox2 Pro LE 7.3.1 cs3


Is that cut and dry enough for you? Looks pretty clear to me which one is the winner.

[brandymania1]

Spkguitar ,that is if your still talking to ME,Been realistic 259 dverbs might be appropriate if your doing some heavy video editing but with audio nobody is ever going to use 259 dverbs in a protools session,are they? My point to yhis gentleman was that he doesnt have to spend his hard earned money on a quad when something else is a lot cheaper and guaranteed to be stable with heaps of power.
Further more at the moment you have an issue with procs but on mine I dont nor do I have any other issues eighter.
All im saying to this gentleman is to think about it more before he buys.

brandy

[sunburst79]

Running a Core 2 Quad will double the power its really that simple.

The price difference is around 79.00.

It's the single most cost effective improvement that PTLE has ever seen.

[Shan]

Spkguitar ,that is if your still talking to ME,Been realistic 259 dverbs might be appropriate if your doing some heavy video editing but with audio nobody is ever going to use 259 dverbs in a protools session,are they? ...All im saying to this gentleman is to think about it more before he buys.

brandy

But, things change very quickly when you start doing Midi productions. The Dverb test is a benchmark of available DSP one has to work with, of which, virtual instruments are a big part of the equation. Softsynths and Samplers during Midi productions at low buffer settings(which you need to use to keep your sanity when recording Midi) will eat into this before you know it. I agree, he needs to think about and asses what he does before he buys. But, if he does Midi based productions, he'll quickly find himself running out of power before he knows it. Midi productions can easily eat up all the DSP power on a Duo in no time, and yes, even a Quad.

Now add Audio AND Midi into the equation, and the assessment will change even further.

My cut and dry answer to the original poster is to build the Intel Q6600 Quad.

Shane

[digirocks]

Okay, I went ahead with a Core 2 Quad system. What are you guys referring to "tweaking" about? Are there some kind of special adjustments that are required to make Pro Tools LE work with a Core 2 Quad system?

Here's what I bought a few minutes ago on the Dell Outlet website for $709 (below). I realize it needs more memory and a few big hard drives, but I couldn't pass up this deal:

1 Precision Workstation 390 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz/1066MHz/2X4MB L2/Quad-core/VT
1 Certified Refurbished
1 No Speakers
1 128MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro NVS 285, Dual VGA Capable
1 USB 2 Button Mouse
1 USB Keyboard
1 C1 All SATA drives, Non-RAID
1 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 Techsheet
1 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
1 Operating System Software CD
1 Processor Label
1 Operating System Label
1 AOL Software Documentation
1 AOL ISP Software
1 Hardware is Microsoft Vista Capable
1 No Resource CD
1 Shipping Material
1 Genuine Windows XP Pro
1 80 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
1 Google Software
1 48X Max Variable CD ROM Drive
1 Documentation
1 Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration
1 Precision WS 390 STD: 3Yr Parts + Onsite Labor (Next Business Day)

All for $709. Not bad, eh?

[sunburst79]

Okay, I went ahead with a Core 2 Quad system. What are you guys referring to "tweaking" about? Are there some kind of special adjustments that are required to make Pro Tools LE work with a Core 2 Quad system?

Here's what I bought a few minutes ago on the Dell Outlet website for $709 (below). I realize it needs more memory and a few big hard drives, but I couldn't pass up this deal:

1 Precision Workstation 390 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz/1066MHz/2X4MB L2/Quad-core/VT
1 Certified Refurbished
1 No Speakers
1 128MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro NVS 285, Dual VGA Capable
1 USB 2 Button Mouse
1 USB Keyboard
1 USB Keyboard
1 C1 All SATA drives, Non-RAID
1 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 Techsheet
1 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
1 Operating System Software CD
1 Processor Label
1 Operating System Label
1 AOL Software Documentation
1 AOL ISP Software
1 Hardware is Microsoft Vista Capable
1 No Resource CD
1 Shipping Material
1 Genuine Windows XP Pro
1 80 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
1 Google Software
1 48X Max Variable CD ROM Drive
1 Documentation
1 Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration
1 Precision WS 390 STD: 3Yr Parts + Onsite Labor (Next Business Day)

All for $709. Not bad, eh?

The single most important question is what Chipset is on the board? Thats the most important thing but DELL never lists it. Things like the FW chipset are just as Important. iIts a great deal though if it works with PT