Does size matter (for a computer)?

C

Cliff K

New member
I haven't had much luck with my questions about configuring an Apple laptop, so let me ask it more directly:
For music, how much ram do I need? is firewire 400 fast enough, or do I need firewire 800? is 4200 rpm fast enough for a hard drive?

This info will help a lot before I buy.

Much appreciated, thanks!
 
1. you need 512mb ram really as a minimum now.

2. i don't think you're ever gonna have a data stream of more than 400mbits/sec but as this is only burst speed (i.e. not sustained or sustainable) i guess there's no harm in getting the quicker one. what is it for - an external HDD or a soundcard or what?

3. i don't know of 4200rpm hard drives. the two most common IDE drive speeds are 5400 and 7200. 7200 is worth the extra money to reduce your response times. you could go all the way and get an external SCSI at 10,000 if you like!
 
lets go down the list!

1. at least 256 but 512 or higher is preferrable
2.yes, but of course firewire 800 is a better plan
3.i dont think so...isnt 5400rpm a standard? see if you can get 7200rpm though. some software require faster HD speeds than others but all are happy with 7200rpms
 
Thanks for the info, guys, it's a help.

noisedude said:
what is it for - an external HDD or a soundcard or what?

3. i don't know of 4200rpm hard drives. the two most common IDE drive speeds are 5400 and 7200. 7200 is worth the extra money to reduce your response times. you could go all the way and get an external SCSI at 10,000 if you like!
Click to expand...

Noisedude: one of the differences between the iBook and the Powerbook is that the Powerbook has a Firewire 400 port and a Firewire 800 port, the iBook is only 400 (I'm trying to decide which laptop and configuration to buy). Also, the standard HDs for both of these are 4200 rpm, but the Powerbook has an upgrade option to a 5400 rpm HD. It sounds like it might be a good idea to get a faster external HD, but that defeats the portability of the laptop it seems.

Thanks again for the response.
 
ok well in my opinion whether you need faster firewire depends if you're using firewire for anything in particular. that's why i asked about external discs. for the speed, i could take it or leave it, especially if the books have USB2 which is inbetween the two speeds (in terms of rating anyway, not necessarily in use).

however, it is (IMO) a MUST that you get a fast hard disk. if you're recording with tonnes of lag and delay you'll wish you'd spent more. i've never recorded with a 4200rpm drive, but i noticed a difference between 5400 and 7200. so step it up.
 
JGourd recorded the entire Jamfest on external HD's slaved off a notebook. They're plenty portable, and if you're gonna do 16 or 24 tracks at once you're gonna need 7200rpm.

It's not like you're lugging around a 19" monitor for crying out loud!

Plus, you can dedicate a HD to each job you do until you can mix rough tracks.
 
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All those are 20 times faster than my set up

I'm still recording on an Apple 40 Mhz with session 8 with 882 i/o,
although I only use it for mix downs from the tape machine.

only 72 meg ram


but even with that minimum set up you still need a 7200 rpm external hard drive to do it right.
 
Alright, so I guess I'll be getting an external HD as the fastest drive I can get in a Powerbook is 5400 rpm, and that's with about $160 upgrade. So, is Firewire 400 good enough to do multi track work with a laptop and external HD, or do I need bump up to the Firewire 800 option? (that's part of the iBook vs. Powerbook dilemma).
Another thing I'm wondering about is the cache (I'm not really clear on what this does)...the iBook cache is 256k, the Powerbook is 512k. Is 256k cache good enough?
Thanks for the good info....I'm learning :) .
 
in a sense it doesn't matter. cache on the processor is super-quick memory used for storing little bits of stuff close to hand. it will make your stuff quicker but you're essentially dealing with streams of data that don't repeat so there's potentially not a huge benefit.

that said, bigger is always better. i don't have a performance chart or anything but if you were to go to somewhere like techimo.com or sysopt.com you can find people on the forums there who really know this stuff inside out.

faster firewire will be better but it's a waste of money if you don't shell out more for a faster external drive. quite a lot might not have been upgraded to the newer interface standard yet so you could find slower drives much cheaper. hmm.
 
Thanks again Noisedude. Those sites are cool...not too much Mac stuff, but lots of tech data to get me more up tp speed with the technologies. Yea, I'll definately get a faster external drive......it seems like 7200 rmp is the standard and I can get a pretty large HDD for about the same cost as the Apple upgrade from 4200 rpm to 5400 rpm. I'm guessing that it's an issue with heat that keeps Apple from putting faster drives in their laptops. I figure I'll go with the standard 60 gig 4200 rpm built-in drive and use that for my basic computing, and reserve the external drive for music.
 
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