Worth going from socket 939 single to dual core?

[AgentZap]

I just picked up Pinnacle Studio 11 to edit AVCHD (high def format) videos off my camcorder and my computer can't stream the video playback when im editing for more than a few seconds before I just get a still video frame and just audio. Clearly I need a better system to handle this video format.

Currently I have an Athlon socket 939 4000+ CPU / 2 gig ram / 256mb MSI NX6800GT video card

Would it be worth it to take out the 4000+ San Diego athlon and drop in a dual core 4200+ Toledo (my motherboard supports either) to give me a more life in my pc or if I am planning on piecing together a new system within the next 4 months? Would I see much of any difference? My CPU is clearly pegged at 100% when playing back the video in edit mode. My RAM use only gets up to about 800mb.

It would cost about $73 dollars to upgrade. Should I go for it or should I just put the money toward the new pc?

 

[Arcanedeath]

For under $100 you can give new life to your system I'd go dual core in a heartbeat, you should be able to use your system better w/ the dual core, I'm not sure if your specific app is multi threaded but even if it isn't you should have a much more responsive system if you upgrade for general stuff, although you may want to overclock to get at least the same clock speed as you had single core.

 

[jkresh]

going to dual core will help with video (though for high def video you might also want a faster hard drive). If the upgrade will not significantly increase the time before your next build then do it, if you were going to completely rebuild in 6months and will wait another year after the upgrade then ... Also how comfortable would you be with doing a new build (ie could you spend $1000 and do a new build or is that out of your budget for the time being). If you could afford to do a new build then a quad core with a fast drive (or raid array) would be a dramatic improvement, if not then the dual core is cheap and will help.

 

[Markbnj]

Lots of bang for the buck in that upgrade.

 

[teclis1023]

I think it's probably worth the upgrade. Just make sure that your motherboard is ready for the X2 processor. Is your BIOS flashed to the latest stable version? I say this because I performed a similar upgrade (from a 3800+ to an X2 4200+) and I forgot to upgrade my BIOS.

If you have any issues, reset the CMOS and see if that works.

 

[lamere]

You have to make sure your mobo will support a dual core chip before anything.
Some do, some dont. if its relatively new, then it probably does.

 

[gsellis]

Studio's core is built from Avid Liquid (soon to be called Pinnacle again). The Liquid engine does have multi-threading built into it. Not all tasks are multi-threaded, but there are some that will benefit from the multiple cores. Do it.

While the engine is self throttling (will try not to lag the system while doing background tasks and may slow itself down), a second core lets you do other things with more 'snap'. You can do browser, mail, etc., while a big render/effect is underway with no significant performance issues with more than 1 core.

 

[fredhe12]

I'm sure you probably know, but just to state the obvious, make sure its s939 and not AM2.

And yes, I think it's a worthwhile upgrade - lots of bang for your buck there.

 

[AgentZap]

Thanks for your help. Yes, it is a 939 and my motherboard is already flashed to support it. I guess I'll go for it =)

 

[KThomas00]

Hey AgentZap,

Did you ever make the change to the 4200+? How does Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate work with it?

I'm thinking about making the jump myself.

Thanks!