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Intel E8400 or Q6600 for music production?

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs - Intel E8400 or Q6600 for music production?

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dpcdpc11   03-22-2008 at 02:56:16 PM

hi.. i'm a music producer... and my main tool is Reason 4 software from PropellerHeads... and i want to buy a new PC... and my dilema is the CPU..
which one do you think i should buy.. the new 45nm E8400 or the old Q6600??
the problem with Reason is that it's not biult for multi core CPUs so i guess the E8400 should do the job better... but recently i saw some tests with Reason running on a Q6600 and i was amazed...
really dunno what to do here. and my mainboard of choice is the Gigabyte G33-DS3R... hope someone could help me on this one!

thanks in advanced!!

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tbonelowe   03-22-2008 at 03:18:59 PM
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I don't think you would be hurting with either one of those CPUs. The Q6600 is a very good quad core for the money and with the G0 steppping runs at low temps. Sitting at 2.4GHz this processor will pretty much chew anything up you through at it and will be some what future proof for you as new multi threaded apps surface. If all your looking for is raw performance for the single threaded program you are running then I would say go for the 8400. At 3.0GHz it should be an excellent performer for you.

Palit 8800GT Super 1GB 700/950 SLI
E6600 @ 3.6 1.47v
Asus P5N-e SLI @ 400
GSkill 2x1Gb DDR800
WD 74GB Raptor
Audigy ZS
Hiper TypeR 580 PSU
Antec 900 v.2
LG L226WTY-BF
3Dmark06 16200

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kellytm3   03-22-2008 at 03:25:48 PM
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I think you would be better off with the Q6600.Reason 4 may come out with a newer version of your program that makes use of more cores?Besides if your not into building a new rig every year the Q6600 would be more future proof for your needs.

------------------------------ Q9550,ASUS P5N-T Deluxe 780i mobo,ANTEC 900 case,PC Power&Cooling Turbo Cool 1200 watt,4 Gigs OCZ 1066mhz,Zerotherm Nirvana Cooler,X-Fi Platinum sound card,BFG GTX 285 OC SLi,Razer Tarantula Keyboard,Razer Lachesis mouse,Razer Barracuda Headphones.Gateway
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spuddyt   03-22-2008 at 05:40:37 PM
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i'll second the q6600 - its just a great cpu

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goldragon_70   03-22-2008 at 06:03:34 PM
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If Reason is designed to take advantage of muti threading (especially more the two threads), then a quad core will be your best bet.

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jaydeejohn   03-22-2008 at 06:40:33 PM
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The 8400, by the time the muti thread comes out, the Nehalem core will be here, and that will require a whole new mobo/socket

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
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dpcdpc11   03-22-2008 at 06:49:17 PM
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thaks for your replies guys!! i know i can't go wrong with either CPU but the thing is that the E8400 is not available in our stores yet.. but they promissed that it will be available next week... if they dont keep their word than i'll go with the Q6600.. eventually Reason will have to adapt to the multi core CPU market... if they don't they'll loose all their customers!
and in the near future the software developers will make all their software able to support multicore CPUs... so i think i'll buy the quad... i'll keep u updated on this one...

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jaydeejohn   03-22-2008 at 07:04:37 PM
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Its been a slow process for software developers to go multi threaded, and a dual core at 3Ghz with outperform all quad cores at stock speeds or over clock (which the 8400 will do better) in more than 90% of all apps or programs


Message edited by jaydeejohn on 03-22-2008 at 07:05:27 PM
------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
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Shadow703793   03-22-2008 at 07:20:41 PM
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Q6600 would be the best option since you will benefit from the 2 additional cores esp. if your software is multi threaded.

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jaydeejohn   03-22-2008 at 07:29:47 PM
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Currently amd sadly, thats a big if.

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
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cisco   03-22-2008 at 07:58:24 PM
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I would agree on the Q6600. I have it and love it, it's a solid processor. You can always overclock but you can't add more cores. I am a firm believer in the more cores you have the better. Intel and Microsoft are investing $20 million into software development to improve applications to maximize the ability of multiple processors.

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jaydeejohn   03-22-2008 at 08:02:34 PM
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The cost of developing a few games, a pittance and a pity

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
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jimmysmitty   03-22-2008 at 08:41:46 PM
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cisco wrote :

I would agree on the Q6600. I have it and love it, it's a solid processor. You can always overclock but you can't add more cores. I am a firm believer in the more cores you have the better. Intel and Microsoft are investing $20 million into software development to improve applications to maximize the ability of multiple processors.



I agree. And thats funny cuz Valve and Intel did the same thing for Source. I guess we could call these guys pioneeres in multithreading optimizations?

Also the Q6600 will be a great choice. Yes the duals are better for gaming due to higher clockspeeds but when it comes to media and such quads are better.

But a Q9xxx would probably be even better due to the new SSE4.1 instructions.

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jaydeejohn   03-22-2008 at 08:56:59 PM
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Thats the video media, not necessarily the audio

------------------------------ I went drifting, thru the capitols of tin, where men cant walk and cant freely talk, and sons turn their fathers in
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dpcdpc11   03-22-2008 at 09:49:59 PM
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and the key word here is AUDIO... for the moment i think the E8400 would be a better CPU in this field... also i'm working for a photo studio so i use Photoshop CS3 constantly... and for now PS CS3 doesn't know how to handle more than 2 cores very well also like other Adobe products... in the end the E8400 i think is a better choice because by the time software will catch up with the multicore CPUs Q6600 will be an old timer and there will be better and more reliable CPUs on the market... in the seccond half of this year Intel will roll out their new six cores CPUs.. which i think is way too soon... hope the software will catch up with this tehnology pretty soon..
and so i'll definitely buy the E8400 to use in the next 2 years or so..
thanks anyway once again for your opinions!!

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