OS Recommendation - 1GHz CPU

F

Fret

New member
I just had a computer given to me that I am hoping to use for some recording. It is a PIII 1Ghz with 256MB RAM. I know it is a little limited but hey, it was free. I use Sonar 1 and a Delta 66 and I am trying to decide if I should install Windows 2000 or Windows XP. I know that W2k is a smaller operating system and would usually offer better performance on a slower system but I’m hoping that there is some reason that XP would be better for recording.

Thoughts???
 
know that W2k is a smaller operating system and would usually offer better performance on a slower system but I’m hoping that there is some reason that XP would be better for recording.
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Says who?

I ran XP on a PII-450 system with 512Mb of RAM and it was not slow at all. It actually ran better than 2000 when it came to DAW apps.
 
Yeah, 512 would be a good minimum for XP (I'm up to 1 gig myself, but I do a lot of soft-synth stuff that requires the memory for samples). Seems in general that with a little tweaking, people are getting better performance using XP on a DAW as opposed to Windows 2000. I've used both on mine (now using XP) and prefer XP tweaked up.
 
warble said:
Yeah, 512 would be a good minimum for XP (I'm up to 1 gig myself, but I do a lot of soft-synth stuff that requires the memory for samples). Seems in general that with a little tweaking, people are getting better performance using XP on a DAW as opposed to Windows 2000. I've used both on mine (now using XP) and prefer XP tweaked up.
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I've been told that XP is pretty stable for DAW apps. I use it because it came on the pc I bought in 2001. I've upgraded the RAM, and that's about it. Of course I have to use my pc as an all-purpose machine because it's all I've got, but I don't have any problems with XP at all. I've heard that 2000 has too many bugs in it to make it useful for DAW. Is that true?
 
Rokket said:
I've heard that 2000 has too many bugs in it to make it useful for DAW. Is that true?
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Not 100% sure about that one, but I could believe it. I seemed to run into problems with Win 2000 that sometimes couldn't be resolved without a complete format/re-install. I've yet to crash XP and haven't experienced any weird glitches. I'll also say than I'm WAY happier with the performance it provides for me - especially when it comes to recording.
 
warble said:
Not 100% sure about that one, but I could believe it. I seemed to run into problems with Win 2000 that sometimes couldn't be resolved without a complete format/re-install. I've yet to crash XP and haven't experienced any weird glitches. I'll also say than I'm WAY happier with the performance it provides for me - especially when it comes to recording.
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I haven't had any problems either since I added more RAM to my pc. I haven't used anything else, so I wouldn't know. So, for all intents and purposes, I'd say go with XP "tweeked" for recording (remove all the unnecessary programs), if you are going to use the PC as a dedicated DAW and nothing else.
 
Windows 2000 is really a pretty good OS, considering it's Windows. It will run in 64 MB of RAM, which does mean it's "smaller" than XP. Given a choice between 2000 and XP Professional, I would choose 2000 for your machine. Given a choice between 2000 and XP Home, I would choose XP Home.

Both 2000 Professional and XP Professional have a LOT of features (background processes running by default) which a DAW doesn't need. If you can turn off the ones you don't need, they both run pretty well.
 
brzilian said:
Says who?

I ran XP on a PII-450 system with 512Mb of RAM and it was not slow at all. It actually ran better than 2000 when it came to DAW apps.
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Brzilian, where you been, man?

I agree with Brz, XP's fine once you right click on My Computer, go to advanced-->performance-->optimize for performance.

Plus it has remote desktop, which is cool for controlling a DAW remotely via wireless. Neat article on that at prorec.com.
 
I emailed Cakewalk tech support and here is there answer.

“I would suggest Windows 2000 with that version of SONAR. It will give you a bit more performance over XP.”

Since XP is already installed and I plan on upgrading hardware and software anyway I’m going to go a head and give it a try. Does anyone know of any good articles about maximizing XP for recording?
 
Polaris20 said:
Brzilian, where you been, man?

I agree with Brz, XP's fine once you right click on My Computer, go to advanced-->performance-->optimize for performance.

Plus it has remote desktop, which is cool for controlling a DAW remotely via wireless. Neat article on that at prorec.com.
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Got a new job, moved and got a girlfriend - life has become a little more hectic. :)
 
Disable some of the services running which you don't need in WINXP and it will run better for sure!!! WinXP optimises the way it uses resources IRQ's and MEMORY and is a big improvement over Windows 2000 for Music Apps!!!
 
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