PC Notes
Technique : PC Notes
New Intel desktop processors promising
lots of power but significantly lower operating temperatures, plus
64-bit compatibility - an ideal combination for computer-based musicians
- are about to arrive. If you're on the verge of upgrading your PC,
read this first...
Coming soon to a PC and Mac near you: Intel's
latest Core 2 Duo processors should provide extra clout, yet should
still be easy to keep cool — a perfect combination for the PC musician.
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Intel Centrino laptops using Banias and Dothan
processor cores revolutionised mobile computing performance with their
combination of high processing power and low battery drain. As I
discussed in PC Notes May 2006, the dual-core Yonah of Core Duo laptops
provides even more processing power and the possibility of even longer
battery life. It's hardly surprising, then, that these three Pentium-M
processors have proved extremely popular with both mainstream computer
users and musicians.
Meanwhile, Intel's traditional Pentium 4 desktop
processor series has gained the reputation of being more difficult to
keep cool and, in some situations, providing worse performance than
AMD's popular X2 dual-core desktop processor range. Consequently, many
musicians have looked enviously at the Pentium-M processors of the
Centrino range as a possibility for desktop computers. As I described in
PC Notes August 2005, you can now buy several desktop motherboards
supporting Pentium-M processors, as well as Pentium-M 'Desktop adaptors'
that fit into some Intel Socket 478 motherboards originally intended
for Pentium 4 models. The only problem with the Banias, Dothan and Yonah
processor cores of the Pentium-M family is that they don't support
64-bit operating systems such as Windows XP Pro x64 or the forthcoming
Vista. After all, the future is most definitely going to be a 64-bit one
for PC and Mac users alike, so if you're buying a new PC and want it to
last as long as possible, 64-bit compatibility is increasingly
important.
With this in mind, many people are getting excited
by a new range of Intel processor cores, code-named Merom, Woodcrest and
Conroe, which will be available shortly. They share the same basic
architecture, similar to the Pentium-M series in principle but offering
64-bit support. Merom is intended for laptops and Woodcrest for servers
and workstations, while Conroe supersedes Intel's current Pentium 4
range for desktop machines.
Apparently, the Pentium 4 name will finally
disappear for ever. While the Woodcrest core has been given the official
launch name of 'Dual Core Xeon', the Merom and Conroe will both be
marketed as 'Core 2' processors, and the ones we'll be interested in as
musicians are the dual-core 'Core 2 Duo' models with (as it says on the
tin) dual cores. It won't be long before we can try them out, either,
because, although the 'Core 2 Duo' name was only confirmed by Intel in
May of this year, there's a promised shipping date of July 23rd. The
processors should therefore have been out for a couple of weeks by the
time you read this.
They will initially be available in 1.86, 2.13 and
2.40GHz versions, all featuring 4MB of Level 2 cache that can be
dynamically allocated to either core, and there will also be a new Core 2
Extreme version with extra graphics capabilities for game players. If
you've recently bought or built a Pentium 4 Presler-based PC featuring
an Intel 975X chip set, you may be able to unplug the Presler and pop in
a Conroe instead, depending on the motherboard revision. If the
motherboard shipped from April 2006, it may have the more sophisticated
CPU power-supply circuitry required by the Conroe range already on the
motherboard (you can check on the motherboard manufacturer's
compatibility list). If, on the other hand, you're just about to buy, a
motherboard featuring Intel's 965 chipset is a safer bet, since these
will all support the Conroe range. You'll also shortly see a new Apple
Mac desktop computer featuring a Conroe processor, that will replace the
current Power Mac G5.
We all know about the excellent performance of Core
Duo laptops, but the reason for all the excitement is that the Conroe
desktop Core 2 Duo processor apparently abandons some of the clever
power-saving laptop features in favour of even better processing
performance, but is still far easier to keep cool than the Pentium 4
range. Merom has a very low 35W Thermal Design Power, and while most
Conroe and Woodcrest models have one of 65W, this has to be compared
with the 95W of the latest Presler 2.8 and 3.0GHz Pentium D models and
the 130W of the 3.2 and 3.4GHz versions.
While Intel claim that the Merom will deliver 20
percent more performance for the same power level as the Core Duo, for
desktop users the Conroe will offer an even more tantalising 40 percent
faster performance, using 40 percent less power than the current fastest
Pentium D950 3.4GHz Presler processor. As always, it's difficult to
predict exactly what audio performance we can expect, although initial
tests by various web sites on pre-release samples all agree that Conroe
performance is excellent across all types of application, exceeding that
of other systems featuring more expensive Intel Presler Extreme Edition
965 3.73GHz and AMD FX60 and FX62 models.
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Tiny Tips: Custom Key Launching
While many PC laptops feature user-definable 'soft' keys that can be
programmed, using proprietary utilities and drivers, to launch your
choice of applications, many desktop PCs feature a clutch of dedicated
keys to launch such things as Media Player, email applications and your
Internet browser. What you may not know is that there's also an easy way
to re-programme these to launch your own choice of applications, such
as your favourite audio editor or sequencer, with a single key-press.
Just download and install Microsoft's famous TweakUI utility (www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx), and then have a peep in its Explorer section, where you'll see an entry labelled 'Command Keys'.
When you click on this entry, a list of keys will
appear in the right-hand window, and if you click on each of the special
keys on your particular keyboard it will automatically highlight the
appropriate entry in the list. Once an entry is highlighted, click on
the Change button and you can choose to perform the default option, do
nothing, or launch a custom program when the key is pressed.
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Decisions, Decisions
Loads of musicians have been attracted to AMD's X2
dual-core processor range over the last year or so because of its strong
audio performance, but have been confused by the various chip set
incompatibility issues (see PC Musician March 2006), while others have
opted for PCs featuring the highly compatible Intel Pentium 4 D800
Smithfield-series dual-core range or, more recently, the D900 Presler
series that runs slightly faster and cooler.
With the advent of the Conroe series, it now seems
that you can once again 'go Intel' and potentially achieve better
performance than the AMD competition without needing more powerful
cooling fans. As I write this, a few DAW builders have started to
acquire engineering samples of the Conroe to test them out and perform
some benchmarks, and the results may be out by the time you read this.
Unless there are any unforeseen issues that hamper audio performance (a
continual worry nowadays, it seems), I suspect that Conroe will become
an extremely strong contender for music PCs. Many mainstream PC industry
experts are already confident that Conroe will simply become the
fastest desktop processor available to date (although, as always, AMD
will no doubt respond in kind).
This enthusiasm for the new Conroe range is also
likely to have three consequences. First, the popularity of Conroe
processors is likely to result in them being in short supply for several
months after their release, and, second, Conroe prices are unlikely to
drop until supply has outstripped demand. On a more cheerful note, other
processor prices are likely to fall, so anyone about to buy a system
based on an AMD X2 processor might want to hang on a month or two, to
see if there are any bargains to be had.
Socket AM2
As these Intel developments continue, AMD have
meanwhile introduced a new Socket AM2 format for their processor ranges.
The new format supports DDR2 (Double Data Rate) RAM, with 30 percent
greater bandwidth, and supersedes the existing Socket 939 and Socket 754
formats. You can already buy Sempron, Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2 and
Athlon 64 FX processors that are compatible with AM2. Unfortunately,
while benchmarks do indicate improvements of a few percent with some
applications, audio performance seems essentially identical to that of
the older AMD Socket 939 format processors.
On the positive side, AM2 processors do offer a 20
percent lower Thermal Design Power, for even easier and quieter cooling
than their predecessors. Once again, the introduction of a new format
will have the effect of pushing down prices of the older S939-format
product range, resulting in more AMD bargains, so perhaps an S939 AMD
X2—based PC will become an absolute bargain over the next few months.
However, once Conroe appears it's likely that AMD AM2 prices will fall
as well.
Ultimately, all this competition is good for the
end-user, but it does make decisions more difficult. I was about to
build a Socket 939 AMD X2-based PC, but now I'm not so sure — perhaps
I'll wait and stick with Intel after all, or see what happens with AM2! I
would certainly recommend that anyone about to invest in an Intel-based
system waits to see what Conroe audio performance is like, since
musicians are going to benefit more than most users from its greatly
reduced cooling requirements. Alternatively, if you're about to invest
in an AMD X2-based machine, keep your eye on price announcements.
Despite the various uncertainties, if you currently have a single-core processor in your PC, buying or building any system featuring a dual-core CPU is going to provide you with heaps more processing power to run plug-ins and soft synths. Just be careful that your prospective purchase is compatible with any special hardware that you have, such as DSP cards and expensive audio interfaces, either by checking with its manufacturer or posting on the SOS Forums to find others who have tested the waters for you.
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