Help! Is my computer not good enough?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kerfoot32
  • Start date Start date
K

Kerfoot32

New member
I'm using a HP Pavillion dv6 notebook pc with 4gb of ram and a AMD Anthlon II P360 Duel Core processor at 2.30ghz. Is this good enough? I use acid pro and when I get a lot of tracks/plug ins going it slows down and starts crashing a lot. The project I was working on isn't even workable anymore because it crashes so much. Is it time for me to upgrade?
 
Seems like it would be good enough... until you start getting into a lot of tracks and plugins :(
Your hard drive might have something to with it as well if its 5400 RPM
 
I'm thinking hard drive, too. The speed of the hard drive affects limitations on track count. CPU power affects number of plug-ins. Think about minimizing plug-ins on each track. Reverbs are notorious for eating up cpu power. Use one or two reverb plugs and Send to them rather than Insert.
 
Kerfoot32 said:
Is there anyway to tell how fast my harddrive is?
Click to expand...

Maybe download PC Wizard or something similar. Then google the specs on your hard drive.

But try lightening the load on your computer. Knowing the specs on your hard drive won't help much to prevent crashes. There are too many variables involved to troubleshoot through a forum. You gotta figure what works and what doesn't on your own.
 
Even with laptops you want more than one drive.

The OS, services and apps do tons of housekeeping work and if they have to go do something else while you are recording or mixing, you run the risk of overrunning the buffers and getting clicks, pops or dropouts. The mechanical movement of the drive head arm is GLACIAL in computer terms.

The whole idea is >smooth uninterrupted flow of data<.

Best setup for ANY daw:

OS, apps and plugins on boot drive
Sample library on secondary drive (if you use them, you can use the audio drive if you only have two)
Audio tracks and projects on another drive
 
Kerfoot32 said:
I'm using a HP Pavillion dv6 notebook pc with 4gb of ram and a AMD Anthlon II P360 Duel Core processor at 2.30ghz. Is this good enough? I use acid pro and when I get a lot of tracks/plug ins going it slows down and starts crashing a lot. The project I was working on isn't even workable anymore because it crashes so much. Is it time for me to upgrade?
Click to expand...

I've got the same exact laptop you've got...works fine for me. You just gotta know how to treat it! Whenever I'm getting into the track/vst heavy songs, I have to disable the antivirus software and cut my connection to the internet. Helps a looooot.
 
Many times a bad plugin will cause crashes. Isolate the problem - turn off one plug-in at a time. (or turn one on at a time)
 
Eh. I'm already using 2 harddrives. i'm using lots of stuff. native instruments, guitar rig, lots of guitar tracks and drum tracks and vocal tracks. I'm probably just gonna get a desktop with a ton of power. i'm thinking six core i7, with 10gb and a 7200 2tb. will that do the trick?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top