Dual CPU Now - What About Quad Core

[mn072065]

ok I need some help because I don't understand. I have 3.20 Dual Processor now. Can I add to this a Quad Core Chip? Do I need another motherboard. I have a Dell XPS 600 system. Running Vista Ultimate 64 bit because of 4GB memory. Sorry I'm still a rookie looking for answers. Thanks

[jagabo]

Oops. At first I thought you had a Core 2 Duo, but I see now the XPS 600 is pretty old and had a Pentium D based dual core processor. Many motherboards will accept Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, and Core 2 Quad processors. You'll have to find out what motherboard you have.

[mn072065]

Sorry so Core 2 is better than quad, confused. Thanks

[jagabo]

I changed my original post while you were posting. Note the information I added.

From what I can tell you have a Pentium D processor. You might be able to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo, or even more to a Core 2 Quad. It will depend on the exact motherboard. You will probably need a BIOS update too.

General CPU performance hierarchy (highest performance at the top):

Core 2 Quad
Core 2 Duo
Pentium D
Pentium 4

Obviously, there is some overlap between the generations and relative performance will depend on the applications you use. Check out Tom's Hardware's CPU charts to get some idea of what to expect:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

There aren't many applications that can really take advantage of a quad core processor right now.

[rallynavvie]

I hate it when n00bs mistake dual-processors for dual-core processors :P
I was getting all excited thinking I had another SMP geek on the forum, but...

There are some advantages to running a quad-core, even if you aren't using apps that can use that many threads. Very useful if you're doing a lot of DCC work and switch between applications a lot. If I enable HT on my workstation I can emulate quad-cores. TMPGEnc only seems to see 2 threads. Mainconcept is the same. Acrobat and Photoshop seem to use all four "cores" like this though.

What is it you're doing with this machine that you want it to do better? It really does depend on what you want from it.

[TBoneit]

It is a Dell forget it. You'll need another case and motherboard and I suspect you have DDR memory which means you'll also need new DDR2 memory.

Dells are good but you only buy them if you are not the type that likes to change much beyond adding morer memory or another drive. They are not very upgradable.

Dell motherboards and cases do not use standard plugs for the anything in the front. USB, audio, power switch and Power light and Hard drive activity light. You would have to have the proper plugs and be willing to rewire all the above. If you have good electronics skills and can work out what wires go where and have good soldering skills then you could do it. Easier to buy a new case with the proper power supply.

Antec and Lian-Li both have nice quality cases. I have used a Lian-Li case since my AMD700 Slot 1 processor days. Dual 3 speed fans in front. 4 USB ports, and a rear fan. All still working quietly and of course original. All Aluminum works on a slide out tray, drive bay that hold 5 3.5" hard drives is removable, a 3 bay 3.5" removable bay that has openings in the front for floppies, tape or Zip drives. Filter on the front fans.

Those are the sort of features that seperate good cases from inexpensive crap.

Anyway Find a buyer for the Dell and line up a a good local builder that can do you right. Expect to spend $1500 to $2000 for a really nice computer with a real good Motherboard. Asus for example with Dual Video PCIe 16x. Nvidia chipset if you game and want to SLI the video cards. Asus has Nvidia chipset Mobos for intel or AMD. We sell for example a nice one, with Nvidia chipset and dual PCIe slots for video, 2 IDE ports, floppy, 4 SATA raidable, Firewire, 8 USB2 some PCIe 1x and PCI slots. It ain't no cheapo $40 board though. You get what you pay for.

I'm selling off through work for example a 3Ghz P4 and Asus motherboard equipped computer that I ran 5 days a week encoding and so on for 12+ hours a day and 24 hours a day the other two days. It never faltered even when Batch encoding overnight. But then Asus and Intel. Drives died but that's all that did. Buy quality and avoid problems. First generation pre Prescott P4 with HT so it's been a while I was using it.

[mn072065]

Thanks TBoneit, you make sense. I rather build my own. I want my computer for video editing, i use alot my camcorder with the family, plus backup some of my DVD's before my kids destroy them. I will slowly investigate which is the best of the best components, (Unless you know where i can get this info) and buy all the best parts to build me a superfast computer. Thanks again

[rallynavvie]

Well if you want to go crazy with your new system go read the forums over at www.2cpu.com

For video editing keep in mind that a video card isn't a very critical component in your system. You can get away with anything that supports the kind of displays you want so that could be any of the last couple GPU chipsets. There's really no need for SLI at all in a video editing rig. Your video card is an easy place to save yourself a few hundred dollars on your build.

[manono]

I will slowly investigate which is the best of the best components, (Unless you know where i can get this info)

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2998

[TBoneit]

I hope you didn't think I was suggesting SLI for Video editing that seems to work fine even with built-in video (Nvidia 6100) I suggested "if you game and want to SLI" or you think you'll be gaming in the future......

A while back I posted some links to processor benchmarks comparing various AMD and Intel in a thread, a advanced search under my name should find it

[mn072065]

Hey manono thanks alot, great options. Will try a very high end system since i want power. Thanks again.

[jagabo]

If you're really considering a quad core CPU the Core 2 Quad Q6600 is expected drop to about half its current price on July 22.

http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=789466

[dwill123]

If you're thinking quad-core I'd sit tight a bit and wait for AMD to release Barcelona quad-core. Barcelona is a real quad-core as oppose to Intel's "let me glue two dual-cores together on the same die". As was mentioned earlier these will be better than dual-cores but not really until new software is written to take advantage of using more than one core at a time.

[TBoneit]

Software takes advantage of more than one right now. Windows XP or Win2K come to mind.

TMPGEnc encoders do too. and many other