Thread Best CPU to Run Audio Aplications

Definitively INTEL cpu for me. Centrino for a laptop (no heat, no noise, low consomption). And Pentium or Xeon for a shuttle or equivalent.

I own 5 different AMD cpu... and I always had problem: stability, compatibility etc... It doesn't worth the difference of price.

Have to agree with Krowns...the AMD cpus are too flaky for any intesive audio..I use Intel p4 on an intel chipset board, and it's been rock solid for me...

Guys, I'm knew here, but I tend to disagree with most of you. I have used both AMD and Intel chips for music. I find that AMD chips are better. First of all, let me clarify where most of you went wrong.

SEMPRON processor are NOT FOR MUSIC! Further research on its architecture will prove that. My first AMD chip was over three years ago, the AMD64 4000+. It worked fine, but I need more processing power for plugins. I then switched the the AMD x2 4800+. That chip provided pristine quality. I used it for years and didn't have any flaking as reported here with other processor. I am currently building a new studio computer with the AMDs new AMD FX-62. This is the new dual-core for the lastest AM2 socket. It exceeds the 939 socket.

My previous x2 4800+ ran at 2.4GHz with 2MB cache. The Fx-62 runs at 2.8GHz with the same amount of cache. Once you are using the dual-core family of AMD, you can't go wrong. Besides, its has been ready for the new Windows Vista way before Microsoft released it to the press. Intel is not as advanced on 64bit technology as they are second place in discovering its feasibility for PC.

DID YOU KNOW???....Microsoft will drop Windows XP support in 2008. That means no more updates, patches, or support. Vista will take over the market. There are several versions of Vista that will be availble (catering to different needs) The most watered down verion supports 8GB of RAM!! (XP can only use 3GB). But thats NOTHING compared to versions that allow up to 128GB!!!!! AMD has just announced its merger with ATI (AMD bought ATI), and they still will work with Nvidia. Too much detials to give in once post, but I can answer many of your questions.

I've had problems with AMD, but all sorted (Sempron and AthlonXP) since i changed the FSB from 166 to 133. Problems only occurred in Cubasis VST and music players. All other software (imaging & co) was fine.

I've no idea why the Sempron is 'flaky' (on an Asus board and MSI) both of which claim to support 166 FSB. :?

Quote: I've had problems with AMD, but all sorted (Sempron and AthlonXP) since i changed the FSB from 166 to 133. Problems only occurred in Cubasis VST and music players. All other software (imaging & co) was fine.

I've no idea why the Sempron is 'flaky' (on an Asus board and MSI) both of which claim to support 166 FSB. :?

Interesting... I'm successfully running Cubase SL2.2.0.39 and Sonar 4.0.2 on a Sempron 2600+ (I was looking for an Athlon but they were all out...) at 333 mhz, 166 fsb with a MSI K7N2 Nforce2 board with an Emu 1820m on 512 megs of DDR400 ram. My previous DAW was an Asus A7N266 Nforce with a 1700+ Athlon XP. Considering my present platform and soundcard combination, I should have numerous issues but everything has been smooth sailing because I checked everything out before building this rig.

I'm seriously considering an athlon64 system in the next few months but I'm waiting for developments with dual core support on the Nforce 3/4 platform.

Just balancing this thread a bit. ;)

I recently updated my system with an AMD Athalon XP 2800 and a gig and a half of ram. I am running cakewalk and having issues with clicks and pops in my recordings. Ironic because I updated to fix this problem. I am running with an m-audio delta audiophile, an albatron nforce2 mobo, and a maxtor 2700 RPM Hard drive. I have messed with all my buffer settings and nothing seems to help. Any ideas? This is starting to get frusturating.

Quote: I recently updated my system with an AMD Athalon XP 2800 and a gig and a half of ram. I am running cakewalk and having issues with clicks and pops in my recordings. Ironic because I updated to fix this problem. I am running with an m-audio delta audiophile, an albatron nforce2 mobo, and a maxtor 2700 RPM Hard drive. I have messed with all my buffer settings and nothing seems to help. Any ideas? This is starting to get frusturating.

Are you using a SATA drive? There have been known problems using Nforce2 onboard sata with audio apps. That's why I'm only using ide drives with my system. The alternative is to use a pci sata controller.

hth,

Yes I am using IDE drives, they are formatted NTFS. What is SATA and how could that help me?

Actually, with the Nforce 2 boards, SATA won't help us that's why I avoid it altogether. There are, again, documented problems with the Sil 3114 SATA controller as well as the Promise RAID controller with regards to audio use. So far, I've read that SATA controllers that use chips from TI are the ones recommended for audio work.

As for your clicks-and-pops problem, find out in Devices Manager if your sound card is sharing an IRQ. If it does, you'll have to uninstall the card and move it to a pci slot that doesn't share an IRQ. You might have to consult your mobo's manual to find out which slot that is.