dual p3-1gig's vs single XP or P4 solution?

xyyz

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Sep 3, 2000
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I setup a dual p3-1gig system for my mom so that she can do her graphics work. this system has been nothing but problems. so i'm thinking about getting her a new processor and MB.

my question is how would a single P4 or single XP system stack up with this dual P3-1gig? my mom does some pretty heavy graphics work and she's started to get into video editing too.

I'll need something that has 4 DDR ram sockets... and it needs to support standard DDR RAM... because that's what I have right now.

this dual setup gave some nice performance so how fast does the single processor need to be to get comprable or better performance?
 

dullard

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May 21, 2001
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It is a bit difficult to give a good answer. We really need to know how well her specific programs and even better her specific uses of those programs perform when using dual processors. Could you perform a quick benchmark for us?

For example, suppose a single 1 GHz P3 perfomed 100 tasks in 1 hour. Typically you can assume that a dual 1 GHz machine will be able to perform between 130 and 180 tasks in an hour - 30% to 80% speed boost. That is such a broad range that depends on her specific programs and her specific uses of those programs. It is possible for the dual 1 GHz machine to perform up to 210 tasks in an hour - a 110% boost. It is also possible for the dual processor machine to perform at about an identical speed. It is impossible for us to know how she uses her graphics programs and video editing programs.

Ask her to perform a typical task with both processors, then perform the same task with just one processor. Then we can answer your question easily.



<< an athlon XP 1800+ or a P4 1.8a ghz should fit the bill nicely. >>


Adul, if I just made a quick estimate, I'd say about the same thing. That is since a 1.8 GHz P4 fits nicely in that 30% to 80% range. However with a good benchmark we can do better.
 

xyyz

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she uses... photoshop, flash, fireworks, and she's gonna be getting into premiere and after effects.

what sort of benchmarks shall I run? where can i get the benchmarks?
 

dullard

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1) Get a stop watch.
2) Ask your mom to do something she typically will do.
3) Time the task with the stop watch.
4) Rerun the same thing but using only a single processor.
5) Tell us the times.

What your mom does with photoshop may be completely different than what I may do with photoshop. That is why a benchmark of her specific use is so much better. Plus it only takes a few minutes to do this simple benchmark.
 

BreakApart

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Nov 15, 2000
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What mainboard is she using and what problems are you having?

Perhaps a better mainboard for the dual cpus would be what she really needs. For video editing, photoshop and heavy multitasking i'll take a slower dual setup over just about any single cpu setup.
 

xyyz

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Sep 3, 2000
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<< What mainboard is she using and what problems are you having?

Perhaps a better mainboard for the dual cpus would be what she really needs. For video editing, photoshop and heavy multitasking i'll take a slower dual setup over just about any single cpu setup.
>>



I designed a system using the Iwill DVD266-R.

As for the problems... man where do I start?

we got your lockups... yor BSOD's involving ntoskrnl.exe constantly, we have errors about writing to hard drives... qos problems... aspi32 problems...

i think i've listed the problems in other posts under the OS section... but I can repost them here if you'd like.
 

BreakApart

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Nov 15, 2000
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Have you read through the forum posts regarding DVD266-R boards at 2cpu.com?

Seems ALOT of people have tossed those boards, too many problems. There are a few options as far as another board goes, the dual socket370 chipsets include 815, 840, BX w/slockets, and a few different VIA chipsets. Guess you'll have to do some research as each chipset has different trade-offs, sdram, ddr, rdram, etc.

Guess it all depends how heavy your mother is into Video and Photoshop, perhaps a quality single setup might be a good solution to get her up and running, then leave the dual setup til you get the board swapped out with something your happy with.

Good Luck
 

ScottMac

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Mar 19, 2001
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Are the steppings on the processors the same? PIIIs are pretty ginchy about having EXACTLY the same generation CPUs in a dual setup.

Sometimes swapping the CPUs (#1--->#2, #2--->#1) can clear up the kind of problems you describe (I did it, it worked for me, same kind of strange problems). Chalk it up to "FM."

As mentioned above, how she uses the machine, and what she does when she's using it is really the key issue. I've seen reviews (~six months ago..maybe Tom's, here, or 2cpu.com) where a dual PIII beat a P4 (and an Athlon/Tbird) single for things like video rendering. Premier will use two processors (or four, or even eight, I think). Premier also likes LOTS of RAM (it will take half of whatever you've got.....); go for at least a gig if shes doing anything over 15 minutes, and 2 gig for anything over an hour.

Also make sure all of your drivers are up-to-date. If you have Via chipset motherboard, update the 4-in-1s, do the Windows Update, check out Adobe's site for updates and patches. Make sure your video card drivers are updated, as appropriate.

Good Luck

Scott


 

xyyz

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Sep 3, 2000
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both processors are of the same stepping... i'll try the swapping of the CPU's later tonite. so far things are somewhat mellow... I haven't noticed the ntoskrnl.exe BSOD yet... *knock on wood*

the thing that kills me is that I really feel like S- for getting her to shell out all this cash on something that works half the time.

I was also looking at a dual tbird setup to replace this POS... but that will be a bit later. Does anyone know if you have to have registered DDR ram on these boards?