DAW - Desktop vs All in One CPU?

[No_Direction]

Hi Guys, thanks for reading this

I'm thinking of getting a new cpu mainly to act as a DAW, with a budget around £1000, and I was wondering what you guys think about the use of decent all in one's as a DAW nowadays vs desktops?

I'm thinking of taking the plunge for the new Dell Inspiron 2350 all in one, which has: 12gb RAM, I7-4700mq processor (unfortunately they put in one of the mobile/laptop processors instead of a desktop but the 4700mq still holds it's own/does really well from what I can see in terms of benchmarks, and from this has about 20% or so less power than the modern day desktop processors of say I7-4770), and also a 5400RPM hard drive (I'm gonna get a 7200rpm 1tb external drive if I go for this option.) additionally from the manual online, it looks pretty easy to upgrade the RAM and processor.


The alternative is a traditional desktop (either HP envy, or Dell XPS or a custom build, either way it'd have 16gb of RAM with an I7-4770(k) processor, and an internal 7200rpm 1 tb drive)


My question really is, for a guy who uses probably about 10-15 tracks max in a band type setup, with maybe 3-4 vst's (the most draining being BFD3 for drums), is 4gb RAM and a processor power difference of about 20% between the all in one and a decent desktop really gonna have that much of an impact on performance? The reason I like the all in one option is a mixture of portability, space in my flat, and to be honest, it looks freaking cool. Assuming no effect on performance, I'd easily opt for the all in one, but if the all in one will be sluggish and impact on workflow I'm looking at the desktop option.

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome

Thanks

Nick

 

[Armistice]

CPU is not a computer. CPU is a CPU.... You're thinking of buying a computer.

Have you come across any music software that support touch screen? That might shift you in one direction or other. No point having it if it's not going to be used... personally I'd find it damn annoying to interact with a touchscreen in a standard desktop position, but then, I'm lazy...

My $0.02 is to buy a machine to be a DAW and keep it solely for that, or aligned, purposes....

 

[StudioHermit]

I just went from a P4 with 1 Gig of ram, to a dell with an i3 with 8 gig. The P4 was getting it done, just took twice as long. So, I dont think it would be that big an issue.

 

[cecerre]

I use my old core 2 duo, Windows 7 x 64, 4GB RAM, Video card with 3GB of DDR2 (PCIe) and a pair of 64GB SSD's in RAID 0 and some external drives for recording, gaming, browsing, etc. My only advice would be to kill un-necessary services while recording if its something serious. Other than that, I personally do not see why a home recording hobbyist needs a dedicated computer, much less an Apple or what ever. Now that I think about it, I would be remiss if I didn't recommend more RAM if not using SSD hard drive. Best of luck!

 

[Track Rat]

Neither here nor there but I'm still running a PIII 500 MHz machine with with about 640 Megs of RAM running 98SE. Seriously. It's the best computer I've ever had.

 

[CoolCat]

I like the All In Ones' that aren't touch screens. Its just manufacturers copying Apple's "all in one" style, right?

Apple came out with it first and now Microsoft/Windows are doing the all/in/one. I've never had one but came close. I went with a old desktop because I had the monitor already and the desktop was cheap.

Theres not much needed to run Reaper DAW, and the rest is pretty low for the interfaces, far below the average 4-8gig Ram and CPU's of anything new.

 

[DM60]

Apple came out with it first and now Microsoft/Windows are doing the all/in/one. I've never had one but came close. I went with a old desktop because I had the monitor already and the desktop was cheap.

First "All In Ones" came out in the 80's and it was neither Apple or IBM clone (since MS did the OS for IBM first) . TRS80, Compaq (when they were a real computer company and used their own OS).

To OP, the only advantage of an "All In One" over a laptop is the larger screen. Otherwise, they are just laptops. Before I went with an All In One, I would just go for a traditional desktop as you will have more flexibility with components (but really, even that is becoming less true today).

 

[CoolCat]

My question really is, for a guy who uses probably about 10-15 tracks max in a band type setup, with maybe 3-4 vst's (the most draining being BFD3 for drums), is 4gb RAM and a processor power difference of about 20% between the all in one and a decent desktop really gonna have that much of an impact


Nick

10-15 tracks you can use an crappy old pc from years ago and get that done.
Anything new will probably be more than enough energy for your needs.

cheapo desktops of 2013 come with 4gig these days, 6 & 8 gig Ram is common around here.
I got a $250ish desktop HP 4gig Ram and can slap comps & eq on every track and all kinds of VST garbage on 18 tracks now, or more (I havent max'd it out).
Reaper Record in 24 bit, render to 16 blahblahblah.
Of course these new $250 cheapo pc's would have cost $10,000 in 1995.

imo, theres a lot of over-hype with pc's specs for the low level guy doing one song at a time. 10-15 tracks is nothing. sure if your doing Abbey Road 65 track stuff that's another need.
you don't need 16gigs ram and fastest CPU speed for what you describe.

remember it will all be outdated and old in about 12 months...lol

 

[DM60]

Of course these new $250 cheapo pc's would have cost $10,000 in 1995.

You couldn't buy them at any price back then, as the technology wasn't there yet. I remember in 95, I went for a job with a computer company and they were bragging about how they were managing 2-3 terabytes of data (this being text data which is a hell of a lot of data). I mean they had a huge room for their storage.

So, to put it in context, the cheapos are pretty damn advanced.

 

[CoolCat]

You couldn't buy them at any price back then, as the technology wasn't there yet. I remember in 95, I went for a job with a computer company and they were bragging about how they were managing 2-3 terabytes of data (this being text data which is a hell of a lot of data). I mean they had a huge room for their storage.

So, to put it in context, the cheapos are pretty damn advanced.

yeah man..Its a crazy fast evolving world, making pc resale /used prices horrificly low, imo.

AllInOne or separate desktop/monitor etc.. that was hardest decision too last time I bought one.
The AllInOne look cool and take up less space, but the Geek Squad said the desktop offered more in my lower end proce range.

I'm typing right now on a old Compaq Presario, AMD 64, Windows 7 YEAR:2005
Retail was $500 .....today near worthless.


RAM
Installed Size 512.0 MB / 4.0 GB (max) . (I have 2.5gig onm this old rotty dude)
Technology DDR SDRAM .
Memory Speed 400.0 MHz .
Memory Specification Compliance PC3200 .
Form Factor DIMM 184-pin .
Configuration Features 2 x 256 MB

It will record to Reaper and allow numerous VST's, not sure the maximum.