are dualies *really* better for multitasking?

[grepcomputers]

considering that most apps barely cause any CPU load, except some, while you are using them (like photoshop), are dualies really better for the type of multitasking where you just have *lots* of apps open? You can't _use_ more than one at a time, and while you aren't using the others, they don't take up any of the CPU.

Apps like DVD ripping and MP3 ripping do take up 100% CPU while they are running, but I don't do that much. In fact, on my P3 933 w/512MB RAM, I find the computer quite responsive even while ripping MP3's.

So my big question is - is it really worth it to upgrade to a dual P3 1GHz system on an Acorp dual P3 i815ep mobo? Considering the multitasking I do (*lots* of apps), would it make more sense to upgrade to a faster proc and maybe DDR RAM?

cheers...
...grep

 

[MrThompson]

I would rather use my dual PII 400 for multitasking than my old 1718 MHz Athlon rig. It?s more responsive. Duallies have torque. They don?t slow down. I believe you appreciate the benefits of an SMP rig if you have lots of apps open at the same time. You might want to hang out at 2CPU for a while. Lots of good folks with SMP experience to learn from.

BTW, my single CPU days are over. My Athlon rig was replaced with a Xeon dually.

 

[MrThompson]

LOL, looks like you already have a thread going on this at 2CPU...

 

[Soulkeeper]

heh small world

 

[Rivergater]

hmm, thats good to know.

my impression of dualies was that it wasn't worth it because to truly take advantage of dualies, you needed software that was specifically written to take advantage of it.

i'm not a coder so all my info is from what i've heard in random magazines.

 

[MrThompson]

Duallies are like SCSI. Once you have experience it, you can't go back. The following quote is in my sig line on most forums. Unfortunately the character limit at Anand prevents me from using it here.

"If the supercooled, overclocking crowd discovers how fast duallies feel, there will be a stampede to build SMP rigs that will make the California gold rush look like a few little old ladies pushing shopping carts at the supermarket."

I guess you could call me a dually evangelist!

 

[RickH]

You will never see the difference. Most apps can't use SMP--everyone always make remarks about Photoshop being faster with duals. How often would that help you?? A modern MB with a single fast processor and fast ATA hard drives are the way to go. If your are editing real video, >30 MB/sec not DIVX, you need multiple processors, SCSI drives for sustained writes, etc. Don't waste your $$ on unnecessary hardware. R

 

[Aboroth]

If you have an OS that can use both processors it doesn't matter if you don't have apps that use both processors. You will feel a difference. You will still have both processors working, and actually have more than one process being done at the same time, on two different CPUs. It is more than a "feeling", there really is a difference. They are definitely more responsive when running more than one program.

 

[greg]

>>I would rather use my dual PII 400 for multitasking than my old 1718 MHz Athlon rig. It?s more responsive. Duallies have torque. They don?t slow down. I believe you appreciate the benefits of an SMP rig if you have lots of apps open at the same time. You might want to hang out at 2CPU for a while. Lots of good folks with SMP experience to learn from.

hahahahhhhhahhahhhhahhahhaa ROTFL. Running 128MB of RAM on WINDOWS XP with 500 applicaitons will so that. But seriously now...

 

[MrThompson]

greg - Laugh if you want but the old P2 dually is more responsive when multitasking. Even my wife noticed this. I have made the same comments numerous times on various forums. Often there are others with similar machines that concur with my observations.

 

[zodder]

I like the fact that you can run 2 different SETI clients on them.

 

[Thor86]

Multi-tasking, unless the apps are specifically written to take advantage of smp, then NO.

Otherwise, only multi-threading like server software take more advantage of smp, which is definately better and worthwhile.

 

[MoFunk]

My friend has one, I am able to run solitare on one cpu and spider solitare on the other with no slow down on my system.




Seriously the only thing he uses it for is if he is compiling a program on one, he can use the other for his other programs that are open without having any lag in response time. Unless you have the money to burn or code programs, I dont think you need it.

 

[Robbio]

Originally posted by: Aboroth
If you have an OS that can use both processors it doesn't matter if you don't have apps that use both processors. You will feel a difference. You will still have both processors working, and actually have more than one process being done at the same time, on two different CPUs. It is more than a "feeling", there really is a difference. They are definitely more responsive when running more than one program.

Just put an MPX system together and I watch the the processors take turns doing the work for regular apps, when decoding mpeg2 down to mpg i can run multiple sessions but a single session doesn't run any faster...basically the specific application requires multithreading to even know there is another cpu in there - the machine does do solid model renders very quick though

 

[Soldat]

it's obvious that many of these guys have never used smp.....it kicks ass if you can afford it....and some of these guys simply don't know what they're talking about. SMP is flat out superior if you like to multi-task regardless of whether or not the software is written for it.

of course many of us don't 'need' it but like most enthusiasts we have it because we enjoy it...

 

[ShamusMcConnelly]

I dont know about the other SMP user's, but the ability to play, without a bit of lag, a serious hard-running high-video game on one monitor (I have dual monitor) and then run Windows Media player running long movies on other without any lag on either is great. Most of the time I just have a movie running on one and doing a bit of HTML or Dreamweaver on the other, but when I really wanna play, then you cant beat the fact that I can look at both movie and game at the same time and with no lag.

Cant beat it in my opinion.

Sham

 

[Tominator]

Multi-tasking, unless the apps are specifically written to take advantage of smp, then NO.

That was true with NT, nut Lynx, W2K, XPpro all can use multiple processors for applications not written for SMP.

I've got a dual 700@933 in the works now.

 

[skriefal]

The only problem I've encountered with SMP systems is driver support. Rather than take the time to create good drivers, the manufacturers would prefer to release buggy drivers with thread synchronization/concurrency bugs -- since those bugs often don't affect single-processor systems.

So finding hardware -- especially sound cards and, to a lesser degree, video cards -- that will work properly on an SMP system can be a painful experience.

Note that all of the above has been in reference to Windows-based systems running Win2k or WinXP. Under Linux, this isn't as much of a problem since the driver authors usually care about the quality and reliability of their code.

 

[greg]

>>greg - Laugh if you want but the old P2 dually is more responsive when multitasking. Even my wife noticed this. I have made the same comments numerous times on various forums. Often there are others with similar machines that concur with my observations.

Well, OK, I'll take your word for it. I haven't run dualies since my Cel 450 days, but I might not have run it hard and long enough to do a valid comparison.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Yeah, they are, depending on the programs though.

For games and such it'll actually decrease your speed.

If you're considering building a dual proc rig, wait 'til prescott.
You'll have all the benefits with hyperthreading, but it'll have none of the drawbacks.

Prescott's rumoured to OC as good as the NW's, as well.

 

[DarkRipper]

I upgraded my CAD department Compaq AP550s to Win2kSP2 from NT SP6 and they all raved about how much more responsive and faster seeming their programs and the whole computer seemed... they were asking me if I'd added more ram, etc.

I'm sold on it, too bad the P4 isn't SMP capable. I don't want to drop the coin on a P4 Xeon SMP system...

DR

 

[joohang]

A dual Celeron 433 was far more responsive than a single Athlon 1 GHz for my multitasking load.

I'm on a Duron 800 and the damn thing crawls. I can't wait 'til I go SMP again.

<-- has plans for a dual Duron 1.3 GHz server and dual Thoroughbred DP workstat ion

 

[CrawlingEye]

Originally posted by: joohang
A dual Celeron 433 was far more responsive than a single Athlon 1 GHz for my multitasking load.

I'm on a Duron 800 and the damn thing crawls. I can't wait 'til I go SMP again.

<-- has plans for a dual Duron 1.3 GHz server and dual Thoroughbred DP workstat ion

Save your money, if you're waiting, just wait 'til Prescott's released.

Dual prescott rig + dual channel DDR-II = :Q :Q :Q

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: zodder
I like the fact that you can run 2 different SETI clients on them.

Same here. My duallie is putting about 12 work units per day.

 

[grepcomputers]

Wow, that's a lot of good discussion...

I'd like to go duallies, but I have a very small budget. See, if I were to go duallies, I'd want to go dual AMD, and for that I'd want to get the MP processors. So that's $600 easy, *without* the RAM. And I'd like to stick with 512MB RAM... For half that I can go 2.1GHz (OC'ed to 133FSB) *with* the RAM.

And waiting for the prescott sounds like a good idea.

Besides, I have not responsivity complaints about my P3 933. However, I'm sure that once I go duals, I'll never look back ;-)

cheers...
...grep