What kind of internal hard drive do I need for a Mac desktop?
- Thread starter porkplan
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Steenamaroo
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Since you said 21.5 inch, I'm guessing it's an imac? As far as I know you can't install a second hard drive.
You'd want to add a storage drive in a usb/firewire/thunderbolt caddy.
Either that or replace the internal (pain in the ass) with an SSD.
Having said that, "my mac can't handle my DAW anymore" is pretty unlikely to point to hard drive. Do you have a particular reason for thinking the HDD is the issue?
It's more likely to be CPU or ram limitations.
Tell us more about your setup? How many tracks are you running? Many effects? Virtual instruments?
Have you checked activity monitor to see how ram/cpu usage is under load? What about 'page outs', listed in the same place. If that number's high you need more ram.
You'd want to add a storage drive in a usb/firewire/thunderbolt caddy.
Either that or replace the internal (pain in the ass) with an SSD.
Having said that, "my mac can't handle my DAW anymore" is pretty unlikely to point to hard drive. Do you have a particular reason for thinking the HDD is the issue?
It's more likely to be CPU or ram limitations.
Tell us more about your setup? How many tracks are you running? Many effects? Virtual instruments?
Have you checked activity monitor to see how ram/cpu usage is under load? What about 'page outs', listed in the same place. If that number's high you need more ram.
Hi and thanks for your answer.
Actually what I mean is Logic pro x is often overloading maybe because the storage of my hard drive on my Mac is almost full.
I've been reading that it is an essential part of music production. Hard Drives and Audio - Hardware Considerations - Tuts+ Music & Audio Tutorial although this particular link didn't tell how exactly you would use your hard drive. Im assuming it's for saving the projects in order to run my system smoother.
And btw according to some people on Mac Rumors, it is possible to add another hard drive on my imac
Actually what I mean is Logic pro x is often overloading maybe because the storage of my hard drive on my Mac is almost full.
I've been reading that it is an essential part of music production. Hard Drives and Audio - Hardware Considerations - Tuts+ Music & Audio Tutorial although this particular link didn't tell how exactly you would use your hard drive. Im assuming it's for saving the projects in order to run my system smoother.
And btw according to some people on Mac Rumors, it is possible to add another hard drive on my imac
I doubt that Logic is overloading because your hard drive is almost full. It may be because it isn't fast enough... Do you use a lot of samples? By that I mean multiple tracks of sampler instruments playing at the same time?
I only very occasionally get an overload in Logic, and I'm never quite sure why, and I have a 2013 iMac. Most of the time I just click OK and everything is fine. I don't use a lot of samplers, except Drummer I think qualifies.
J
Steenamaroo
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Hi and thanks for your answer.
Actually what I mean is Logic pro x is often overloading maybe because the storage of my hard drive on my Mac is almost full.
I've been reading that it is an essential part of music production. Hard Drives and Audio - Hardware Considerations - Tuts+ Music & Audio Tutorial although this particular link didn't tell how exactly you would use your hard drive. Im assuming it's for saving the projects in order to run my system smoother.
And btw according to some people on Mac Rumors, it is possible to add another hard drive on my imac
Hi, no worries.
How full is almost full?
How about the other stuff I asked? Activity monitor etc...cpu usage, ram usage, details of your sessions etc?
I don't know imacs inside out but I'm guessing you can replace the optical drive with a 2nd hdd caddy, just like you can on mac books?
Unless something's really changed in the 2013 onwards models, it's way more hassle than just getting a USB external drive - IF that's what the problem is.
My memory as of the moment has 60.67 GB free out of 499.25 GB. It's smoother now compared to before. Because I deleted around 40 GB worth of memory. Basically, the "system overload" rarely appears now. But I still notice that my Mac is quite slow in responding especially while clicking on plugins while playing my session. Before clearing that 40 GB worth of memory yesterday I got the "system overload" more frequently.
I'm not entirely sure about the CPU usage, but when I play my session, the CPU meter gets to about half of the bar up to 3/4ths of the bar on average.
Here is what's going on my mixer to give you guys an idea https://z-n.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-h...._=1416004767_f0412a23c7f1368314dd3b6def13d743
And here's the specs of my Mac
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
I'm not entirely sure about the CPU usage, but when I play my session, the CPU meter gets to about half of the bar up to 3/4ths of the bar on average.
Here is what's going on my mixer to give you guys an idea https://z-n.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-h...._=1416004767_f0412a23c7f1368314dd3b6def13d743
And here's the specs of my Mac
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
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Steenamaroo
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That 60 odd gb isn't memory. It's hard disk storage.
Even when you had 20gb left, that shouldn't be close enough to the edge to slow down your machine, although I'm not going to flat rule it out.
Memory is the 4gb 1333mhz you've got. There's a much greater chance that that's holding you back.
My mac book pro is (was) more or less the same spec as yours. I popped 16gb ram into it and it made a huge difference.
Judging by usage now, 8gb would have been fine, though.
If you continue to get problems, check 'activity monitor' and look for free memory and page outs.
If free memory is low and/or page outs is a big number, you'd want to upgrade your memory.