Dual core vs Single core?

geocacher · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:21 pm Post subject: Dual core vs Single core?

The last system I built was over 3 years ago, and still runs great, and is still pretty fast for my application.

I want to put a new computer in the living room. I'm not a gamer,

My question is: I'm looling at the Asus P5LD2 ATX, Intel LGA 775 socket MB, which can use either a single or dual core.

The 2 that I have it narrowed down to is: P4 630 Prescott 3 ghz 800mhz fsb single core, or D930 Presler 3ghz 800mhz fsb dual core.

Won't the performance of these 2 be similar? They are about the same price.

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2old2care · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:33 pm Post subject:

Really depends on the application. Similar...yes. But the Presler will multi-task a bit better, and run a bit cooler and more efficient.
Be warned that mobo might need a BIOS flash to run the Presler, depending on how old the stock is, where you buy it.
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geocacher · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:06 pm Post subject:

2old2care, Thanks for the fast response! Newegg. I did read the reviews about the Asus boards, and it seems like, " Do I feel lucky today!". If I have to flash the bios, I will be sol, cause I don't have another chip.

The worse that can happen is I'll have to return it. Or order a cheap chip to get into the bios, flash it and return it and pay a restocking fee. If that's at all prossible?

I built 2 machines for me and the wife with Asus's P4PE boards, and have been very happy with them over the last 3 years. That's why I'm sticking with Asus.

2old2care · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:18 pm Post subject:

No prob, tell us how it turns out.

BTW, don't scrimp on memory or power supply, good quality will save you the hassle, in the long run.

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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: Re: Dual core vs Single core?

geocacher · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:36 pm Post subject:

Update!

weaZel,

I took your advice, and went for the core 2 duo e6400.

This is the system right now:
Asus P5B mb
Asus en7300gs video card( I'm not a gamer)
Corsair xms ddr2 pc6400 2gb c4
320gb wd sata hdd
Pioneer 0111d dvd dl burner
temporary Celeron D #331 2.66ghz(getting the e6400 tomorrow by FedEx
Antec Sonata2, with a 450 ps.

This is running, and I'm using it right now.

I did a lot of research, and found out that Asus released these boards with a bios, that wouldn't support the conroe, even though the box said it was ready!

You couldn't flash the bios, if the system wouldn't boot, so rather then rma the board back to them, I bought a cheap Celeron for 50 bucks.
Then I find out from their tech, that this chip might not run either, without the up to date bios!
Needless to say, this build has been a nitemare, but in the end, I took a chance, and the thing boot up.

I have one question. I have never swapped a cpu, on a working system. I know that I have to flash the bios first, and clear the cmos, before i exchange cpu's.

Will this work without doing a complete reinstall of the os? Everything else remains the same.

Xal · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:16 pm Post subject:

It should do, but XP can be picky sometimes. I would recomend a full reinstall anyways though because the celeron is single core and XP will not have the drivers to use the dual core.
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Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
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geocacher · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:47 pm Post subject:

Xal,

I'm a little confused, are saying that XP didn't install the drivers, because it didn't detect a dual core,(when I did the first install with the Celeron), or are you saying that XP doesn't support dual core? BTW, I'm using XP PRO.

And if that's the case, will it work? And what difference will I see if any?

I've already installed Windows twice, and really don't want to do it again if I can avoid it. I didn't know it, but my ups's battery was dead, and the system took a power spike, and corrupted the os, where certain things didn't work, like the Asus probe. I uninstalled, and reinstalled, but it refused to work, along with other applications. It's running fine now.

Xal · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:27 pm Post subject:

Because you installed on the celly. XP supports it. It just may not use the second core if you don't reinstall although a "repair" install should be enough to sort it. You shouldn't have to format as the rest of the system is unchanged. Windows installs certain drivers only during setup and the CPU drivers are one of the ones it does this with (or at least it did in 2000). Try to do a repair install and if it works OK and CPUZ (google for it) picks up both cores and everything runs smooth then you should be good to go.
_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

2old2care · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject:

You'll certainly want a clean install with all your final hardware in place.
XP will let you go from dual to single usually, but not always the other way around.
You will want to run memtest86 for a few cycles before you load an OS, it will shake most hardware problems out before you waste your time loading.

Looks like a pretty good setup, you got there.

Remember that the BIOS and other features of that Conroe are a bunch different from that celery. The Conroe is a whole new critter, different from any previous processor. Save yourself the time and grief and reformat and reload.

my 2¢
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geocacher · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject:

I was afraid you were going to suggest this!

Keep in mind that this system has been running for a week tomorrow, and I did test the memory with a version of memtest 3.4, by HCI Design, for about 5 hours with no errors.

I had originally bought Patriot memory, but returned it, because of compatibility problems for the Corsair, which is known to work with these boards.

This computer build has been the most work, time, and effort to get together!

Ok, let me ask this, the Asus software to upgrade the bios that I'm going to use, if I understand it right, will reboot the machine on completion.

If it doesn't reboot, then I have to clear the cmos according to the manual? Then swap cpu's and finally do a clean install. Does that sound right?

What did I get myself into? Maybe I should just leave well enough alone! Does anyone want a Conroe?

2old2care · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't even go into the OS to flash the BIOS. That board has the EZ flash utility, where you just hit alt+F2 when booting, and pick the file off of a floppy or usb stick. You just have to rename the file to whatever is says in the manual. (first part of the BIOS section)

I always use this for memory test.

Stick with it. New builds with the latest hardware can be trying, but usually worth it.
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geocacher · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 8:27 pm Post subject:

2old2care, thanks for the encouragement, but the reason I wouldn't use this utility with the bios version I have right now, is because the update version I'm flashing with has this fix" #2 fix ez-flash2 crash free function may fail issue".

You see, this endeavor, has been endless, every turn you take, has some new surprise up it's sleeve.

I figured that it would be safe to use the "Asus Update utility", in windows, rather then the ez- flash2 crashfree, crash in the middle of the update.

All I can say is, that they(Asus,Intel,etc.), shouldn't of released this cpu/mb/chipset, before their products worked reasonably together!

geocacher · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:24 pm Post subject:

Update!

All has gone very well!

I used the bios update utility in windows to flash the bios this morning. It worked great, very easy!

Cleared the cmos, and swapped out the cpu's.

Booted the machine, and didn't know what to expect with XP, but believe it or not, it had a pop up window "found new hardware", and proceeded to install the drivers, etc for the dual core cpu, and told me to reboot for the change to take.

That was it! No windows reinstall, no repair install, nada.

The system is working perfect, and CPU-Z, is showing it properly as a dual core.

Xal · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:58 pm Post subject:

You are running without optimisations though but hey if you are happy with it then

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Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

geocacher · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:22 pm Post subject:

Xal · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject:

The drivers and setup as is stands have not been set up to run dual core properly, its there, its using both cores but its not tuned. But as I said, so long as you are happy with it, leave it that way. Its a bother reinstalling and if everything is running well then why bother.

Please keep your posts friendly, we don't like flamers here. If you don't understand what someone posted, PM them and ask, don't be rude on the forums.
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Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case

2old2care · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:03 pm Post subject:

How about some benchmarks?

I'd like to see some real people's numbers on a Conroe.
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geocacher · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject:

I'm lost for words!

First off, If I was being rude, you would have known it!

Did I rant, and use all caps?

And please tell me the difference I would see now, if I drove myself crazy, and re-installed everything?

I just think, some of the people, that I asked, my basic question, didn't have the experience, or knew, that XP-Pro had this capability!

All I'm saying is your last response, wasn't very helpful, and didn't make much sense to me!

And once again, if you perceived my tone of type, as being rude, I'm very sorry.

ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

geo, you werent being rude.

Xal, be wary, everyone says things differently. I think you jumped down his throat a little on that one.

Geo, as far as i know, most of us power hungry tweakers, want all taht we can get out of our systems...no? =D
I know that i would grow more and more curious about what the best config for my machine was, that i wouldnt want to set it up and "settle in", just to redo it again in a month. Get all the fiddling out of the way now, and then move in your stuff. IMO.

and if you look around the board....we tend to get a little friendly and rag on people sometimes...its all in jest, and ive never been privvy to such a friendly forum on the net. Worry not...we're all friends here.

Hope you get it all sorted!
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Xal · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:27 pm Post subject:

I was a bit harsh, I appologize. It was all the exclamation points

I had just had to ban a member on my own forums for flaming and rudeness, I guess I was just seeing flaming everywhere.

Tweakers rule of thumb, if you install new hardware then reinstall OS. That way you get rid of all the drivers and optimisations for the old hardware and are insured that all the drivers for the new hardware are installed. As I was saying though, if you don't feel like the slight boost in performance is worth it then don't bother with it, its only a few points in a benchmark anyways.

As 2Old said...... Give us some benchmarks

_________________
Phenom II x4 955 @ Stock
Asus M3N78-EM
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667 @ 800
1gb Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 @ Stock
X-fi Extreme Audio PCI E
Nexus 600W Silent PSU
Nexus Fans
Custom case