Samah,

That Tyan board that you are using, is that a Thunder or Tiger board?

Brian

Hey Scott

Looking at your comparitive graph [ brilliant by the way ], would the following (2) conclusions be correct:-

In sub-5.8ms latency situations [ I do all my work at 2.9ms ]

=> the Athlon 64 3200 gives virtually identical performance to the FX-51 cpu but is *bucket loads* cheaper

=> the just released Athlon 64 3400 would likely be marginally better than the FX-51 cpu and it too is *a lot* cheaper than the FX

Lastly, do you know when the 90nm Socket 959 Athlon 64's come out ?

Timboe

Hi scott good work! here is my DAW specs and proformance.

p4 3.0ghz asus p4s800 3-200gb maxtor drives ATA 7200rpms delta 66 64sample 1.5ddr samsung midiman4x4sport 500wattpower hpcdburrner.

mp-on HT-on mp-off HT-off
cpu stock(wdm-only)
1.5-stop 1.5-stop
2.9-70 2.9-81--99
5.8-46 5.8-55--87
11.6-36 11.6-42--56
23.2-30 23.2-35--47
46.4-28 46.4-32--40

Hi, and thanks for setting up these tests and compiling the results!

ASIO LATENCY--Single Proc %--- Dual Processor %
46.4 (2048)------------26---------------27
23.2 (1024)------------29---------------30
11.6(512)--------------35---------------33
5.8 (256)---------------45---------------44
2.9 (128)---------------68---------------65
1.5----------------------n/a---------------n/a

(Note the Single Processor score was the same regardless if hyperthreading was disabled via BIOS or via the check-box in the Audio, Advanced window.)

One observation (and apologies if this is old news...) was looking at the Windows Task Manager CPU meter: Using 5.8 latency as an example, the Windows Task Manager meter registered about 25% usage with single processor, but about 43% with Sonar using both processors. Since Sonar doesn't show a huge difference between single- and multi-processor, I'd infer that overall system performance might be better when running other apps with Sonar, to use sonar in single-processor mode. Just a thought.

P4 3.06 w/Hyperthreading
Asus P4T533 Motherboard
1GB RDRam (2x512)
NVIDIA GeForce4 TI4200 Video
Western Digital ATA100(?) 7200 drives (160 for system; 200 for audio)
Sony DRU-500A CD/DVD
Antech 4?? Power Supply
Layla 24 Card (ASIO mode for these tests)
Windows XP Pro SP1

Thanks again!

Steve E.

sorry, wog, but my card doesn't have WDM. only ASIO

here's another

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD 2800XP+ (Not OC)
1GB Corsair Dual Channel 3200
M-Audio 1010LT (.27 driver)
Win2K Pro / Tweaked

Asio
46.4.......30%
23.2.......33%
11.6.......39%
5.8.........50%
2.9.........70%
1.5.........Wont Start

Here's another:

AMD AthlonXP 2400 O/C'd to 2.1GHz
ASUS A7V333 Motherboard
512Mb Crucial Ram
RME Multiface ASIO driver

46.4ms........35%
23.2ms........39%
11.6ms........45%
5.8ms..........61%
2.9ms..........88-89%
1.5ms..........dropout

Running a P3 Dual 1.4ghz Intel Tualatin CPU's.
Front Buss is 133
512mb RAM PC133
1 - WD8mb ATA 100 40gig Hard drive for OS
1 - WD8mb ATA 100 80gig Hard drive for Data

On 2000 PRO and S3.1

With MP mode
46.4 = 46%
23.2 = 51%
11.6 = 57%
5.8 =70%
2.9 =Redline Warning ( No Dropout)

Without MP mode
46.4 = 65%
23.2 = 70%
11.6 = 80%
5.8 = Redline Warning ( No Dropout )
2.9 = Redline Warning ( No Dropout )

With WDM drivers on a Delta Omni .29 drivers
I could not get down to 1.5 with my drivers and soundcard .

My system rarely drops out when redlining .It seems to roll over to the second cpu . Interesting . I thought I had a smokin pc till I saw some other stats .

Thanks Scott

Paul

Thanks for posting this. I've been fishing around for the best upgrade path and this has been quite enlightening. I think I may have the most pathetic figures yet. My system:
AMD Athlon 1000Mhz
Abit KT7 motherboard
512Megs PC100 (2x256) RAM
Creative Labs TNT-2 Ultra
Maxtor Diamond Max Plus ATA66 40GB (OS & Apps)
Promise Fasttrack RAID w/2 IBM Deskstar 30GB Drives (audio files)
Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
Frontier Labs WaveCenter PCI (3.0 drivers)

My results:
46.4ms........76-77%
23.2ms........81-83%
11.6ms........NOPE
5.8ms.........NOPE
2.9ms.........NOPE
1.5ms.........NOPE

That Athlon 64 3000+ is looking really good right now. Anyone know if AMD has any price cuts coming any time soon?

Scott, I don't know if you're still collecting this info, but I ran the test out of curiosity. Here are my results:

46.2 - 47%/49%
23.2 - 51%/53%
11.6 - 58%/63%
5.8 - 79%/86%
2.9 - audio engine stops
1.5 - nope.

This is using an Audiophile 24/96 with the .36 drivers, in WDM mode. I didn't run ASIO tests because of an ASIO conflict with my EZbus (even though I don't use this as an audio device, I've never bothered to chase down the problem.)

System specs:
AMD Athalon XP Palomino, 1800+, 1.53 GHz
ASUS, A7V333, Socket A/VIA KT333
1 Gig DDR PC 2700 333MHz RAM
WD 100GB 7200 ATA/100 - 8MB buffer - C:/
WD 120GB 7200 ATA/100 - 8MB buffer - D:/

Yes, fluxuation is normal. Many have noted the fluxuation range, some may be estimating the average. Generally the fluxuation seems to increase as the load increases.

You may be able to reduce the fluxuation by testing after a fresh cold boot and making sure all background progeams are shut off if they aren't already.

I managed to finally profile my Dual Opteron 240 system:

AMD Opteron 240x2 (1.4GHz)
ARIMA HDAMB MOBO
1GB PC2700 (2x512MB)
GeForce TI4200 128MB AGP Video
Windows 2003 Enterprise Server
MOTU 828 MK2

I have 2 sets of results, one for WDM and one for ASIO. I've indicated ranges of values when there is variation, and indicated if I drop out.
My results seem a bit high at first glance compared to Scotts and the other Opteron review. I recently swapped in a new MOBO since the original one had a CMOS issue. Its possible I need to tweak some settings here.


------------------------WDM------------
-----------------MP_Off----MP_On

45.7ms..........41-44..........25-26

23.9ms..........44-48..........27-29

10.9ms..........50-55..........29-35

4.4ms............68-75............37-44

2.2ms............93(drop)........54-64



-----------------------------ASIO-------------------------
------------------------MP_Off----MP_On

23.2ms(1024)..........41-42........26

17.4ms(768)...........42-44.........27

11.6ms(512)...........45-46.........27-28

4.4ms(192)............56-57..........37-42

2.2ms(96)..............77-90..........53-64

ORIGINAL: mjmclane

Scott - Have you checked out this site? . . Best ProTools systems for under $1,000

I'm not referring to it's technical applicability to a Sonar system, but it's "cut to the chase" recommendations as to system components (which is updated often and is always located at the top of the thread). As a guy who knows enough about computers to be dangerous I appreciate having a knowledgeable source who has culled through the info and just says, "Here, we know this one works great." I think Allen Hallada is to be commended, as are you.

i would love a permanent thread like the DUC one for Sonar -- a CW-approved list of gear that would make a smokin' DAW for Sonar.

anyone else agree?

You know what is scary Johnny ? I seldom dropout when the cpu tags 100% . The cpu light reads Warning and turns red with no % . And I'm not cutting out at all . But in the back of my mind I'm thinking OK am I frying that cpu or what !

ORIGINAL: Johnny

Stratman. With these Intel duals, its measurement can be different sometimes. I remember someone on Cubase site with dual Xeons having load kick over to second processor when meter hit 100% and he had no dropouts. Accurate measurement of these types via a "project" test can be tricky. Of course you will know by how much you can "loadup"( your own projects) how the processors behave.

That's Cubase. Sonar is a different animal. It does load balancing far, far better... and the CPU meter is actually quite meaningful.

-S