System Limitations

[studiogenocide]

Interested in what your current PC setup (I don't want to hear from Mac users ) is able to handle in the way of plugins, track count, etc.

Currently, with my 3 GHz single core, Windows XP, 3.25 GB RAM, and 7200 rpm drives running Cubase 5, Native Gold Bundle, T-Racks, Sampletank 2.5, and Kontakt- I am able to achieve:

Approximately 32 audio tracks with about 15-20 miscellaneous plugins active.

With that said, I am building a new rig with 2 cores @ 2.5GHz, same amount of RAM, and same HDD parameters. I am really excited to see the difference.

 

[ranjam]

With what you have now, how can you do much 'better'? Why would you want to get more? Maybe just because you want to see how far you can go, and that I can relate to. But the difference may be so small that you might think you did something wrong.
I was doing some experimenting as well. I don't know if I learned anything. But the hard drive is almost an afterthought for me now. I tried a 10,000 RPM HD and it was noisy and heated up real quick. Now I know why gamers go with liquid cooling. But the HD has 'specs' other than speed and storage size. There's how many platters, seek time, buffer size, transfer rate, and more. This can have more effect on how far you can take your recording than the capacity of the drive itself.
The RAM is important, but also the type of RAM. Say you had 2GB of PC2-4200 and only 1GB of PC2-6400. Well the 1GB of PC2-6400 would be 'better', if all you cared about was speed.
Wow. To do 32 tracks with 20 plug ins means you're recreating Dark Side Of The Moon. I don't think I've gone over seven tracks once. But mind you I was going the opposite direction. I was using my 'free' Cubase LE discs that come with everything in all my old PIII laptops that I originally gave each of my kids to fool around on, and one Pentium M I kept as a back up system. So far (knock wood), I haven't had any trouble at all, on any system. But I kept the process simple. The 1.6GHz Pentium M with PC4200 RAM isn't really night-and-day 'better' than my PIII 1.2GHz. That was my experiment, and so far I'm happy with everything I've recorded on all my systems. Sorry kids, you ain't gettin' nothin' back.

 

[michaelst]

If you really wanna see a difference, upgrade to windows 7, and run it off of an SSD drive. Dual CPU's are not really needed either. Any i5 or i7 quad core will be more than fast enough, and it's save you some time, money and headaches.

 

[ranjam]

I thought of upgrading, but then most tech support I checked with told me XP Pro was the design 'center', so that's what I went with. I think anything works other than MCE.

 

[RWhite]

If you really wanna see a difference, upgrade to windows 7, and run it off of an SSD drive. Dual CPU's are not really needed either. Any i5 or i7 quad core will be more than fast enough, and it's save you some time, money and headaches.

I just wanted to point out that a dual-core processor really IS two CPUs, as a quad core ir 4 CPUs, and so on.

 

[studiogenocide]

Thanks for that ramjam- I am actually hoping for a nice increase in plugin performance. Currently with my Pod setup- I have it running off another PC because it taxes my processor too much to be efficient- especially when there is a load from the plugins and VSTs.

michaelst- I have seriously considered just that. Thanks again!

Rwhite- so does that mean in the advanced options in Cubase- I can set it to "multiprocessing" and it will increase performance?- or is that targeted at separate processors?

 

[studiogenocide]

But no one has yet to tell me what their running on their current setup! Just give me a "comfortable" track and plugin count

 

[michaelst]

I'm running an Intel i5 650 (3.2gh) dual core, with 4gb of ram, windows 73 (32 bit), on an Corsair Nova 64gb ssd, a seagate 1Tb sata (3 partitions), a GTS 250-1gb video card to a Gateway 24" HD display, an M-audio 2496 to a Yamaha MG12 mixer to Event TR8 and TR6 monitors, .

I've used up to 28 tracks, all with inserts(Comperssion and EQ plug-ins), half with effects plug-ins. and have yet to hear one hic-cup or stutter or artifact.

I use N Tracks, Sound Forge and Ozone4

 

[Treeline]

The biggest limitation of my system is the operator.

 

[TeyshaBlue]

lolz. I run a $285 HP laptop from WalMart, Vista Home OS....3 gigs of RAM, 5400 rpm 160 gig HD, 2ghz Celeron processor. I use Sonar 8.31 with a ZOOM R16 interface. I've used as many as 22 tracks, with 12-15 plugs with zero problems.

It's the worst possible laptop rig in the world and it works flawlessly.

I do back up to a Seagate external drive every day though.

 

[_brian_]

I limit myself to 8 tracks - no matter if they are audio or midi. However, if I was miking up drums etc - that plan would be knackered.

I've found a track limit actually helps my creativity rather than hindering it, I now consentrate more on the bigger picture rather than little individual bits and bobs which slow me down and make me loose writing rhythm.

For me, depends greatly on the type and quality of the plugins being used.

 

[RWhite]

Rwhite- so does that mean in the advanced options in Cubase- I can set it to "multiprocessing" and it will increase performance?- or is that targeted at separate processors?

I don't use Cubase, but I would presume the answer to be Yes.

 

[ranjam]

lolz. I run a $285 HP laptop from WalMart, Vista Home OS....3 gigs of RAM, 5400 rpm 160 gig HD, 2ghz Celeron processor. I use Sonar 8.31 with a ZOOM R16 interface. I've used as many as 22 tracks, with 12-15 plugs with zero problems.

I am completely unsurprised. But then again, 3GB of RAM is a lot, and I think more than Sonar (or anyone else) needs to run 'smoothly'.

It's the worst possible laptop rig in the world and it works flawlessly.

Obviously you haven't seen my collection.

I do back up to a Seagate external drive every day though.

Beyond smart. I've completely crashed a few times, 'just testing' the waters, and Cubase kept eveything up to my last 'save'. But an external HD is just smart.

 

[ranjam]

I limit myself to 8 tracks - no matter if they are audio or midi. However, if I was miking up drums etc - that plan would be knackered.

Not necessarily. I go to a small mixer and send out a stereo signal, but a mono signal would work to keep the track count down on your system.

I've found a track limit actually helps my creativity rather than hindering it, I now consentrate more on the bigger picture rather than little individual bits and bobs which slow me down and make me loose writing rhythm.

Didn't seem to hurt George Martin using only four tracks. We're spoiled.

For me, depends greatly on the type and quality of the plugins being used.

There's the rub.