Low-end dual Core or High End Single Core?

[SwanseaJack]

Hello,

I have a choice of 2 machines to buy to run PTLE or PTMP on, and I'm hoping you guys can help me make a decision. Both systems have been overclocked professionally and are being sold as "stable"

- AMD Athlon X2 3800+ CPU running at X2 4600 speeds (2.4GHz)
- AMD Freezer 64 Pro approved AMD Cooler (Silent)
- Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 PCI-Express Motherboard
- Mushkin 2GB Extreme (2x1GB) DDR PC4000 Dual Channel Kit
- 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 16MB cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
- BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- NEC 4570 DVD-RW Black DVD Writer
- Onboard 6 Channel Audio
- Black Floppy Drive
- Antec NSK4400-UK Black Quiet Midi Tower Case
- Antec 380W SmartPower ATX Power Supply
- Cost about £800 ($1400)

And the other is about £100 ($180) cheaper at about £700 ($1200)

- AMD Athlon 64 4000+ running at FX57 Speeds (2.8GHz)
- AMD Freezer 64 Pro approved cooler
- Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra PCI-Express Motherboard
- G.Skill 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC4000 Dual Channel Kit
- 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 16mb Cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
- ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
- Onboard 6 Channel Audio
- Floppy Drive
- Antec NSK4400-UK Silent Midi Tower Case
- Antec 380W Silent ATX Power Supply

Firstly, will the X2 3800+ vastly outperform the higher speed single core? Does PT make much use of the two cores? If so, is it worth the extra £100

Secondly, is there a weak spot in any of these specs? They are designed for gaming, so I guess the graphics cards are overkill, but I do run 2 24inch LCD's at 1920x1200 each so I guess the graphics cards will help with that.

Thirdly, as the chips are overclocked, does that make any difference with running the dual core patch that everyone seems so dependant on?

Great Forum. Thanks for your help!

Richard

[Larry Younkins]

I don't have a direct answer to your question, but I do have some overclocking
experience that may be of interest.
I own an ASUS A8V Deluxe motherboard and recently 'upgraded' from a Athlon 64 3700+ (2.2 GHz, 1MB L2 cache) to a Athlon 64 x2 4000+ (2.2 GHz, 1MB L2 cache per core). I see little performance improvement with Pro Tools LE 7.1. I was able to overclock the Athlon 64 3700+ to 2.42 GHz successfully with Pro Tools. However, my experience with higher overclocking was not successful.
Pro Tools generated numerous buffer errors in spite of the fact that Windows XP was stable.
The salient point here is that a system that is highly overclocked for gaming may or may not work reliably with Pro Tools.
I would only consider buying such a system with a liberal return policy.
My 2 cents...
Larry

AMD Athlon 64 3700+
ASUS A8V Deluxe
2 Gbyte Crucial RAM
Windows XP (w/SP2)
Digidesign 002R
Pro Tools LE 7.1

[technician]

The dualcore will be a much better cpu for Pt. Because PT is multi-core capable, your basically using two cpu's. Even a low end dualcore will beat a high end single.

Go dualcore.

[guitardom]

dude, just go to the first page of the "best desktops" thread on this page. near the bottom allen has a $600 spec'd computer that is faster than either you have posted. this is a tried and true computer for pro tools, and you can upgrade the processor, he has a x2 4400 on their and more hard drives, cd roms,ram whatever. the proce does not include xp either, but this is by far the way to go in your price range.