Is there much difference between 500M RAM and 1 gig?
- Thread starter djc
- Start date
69ShadesofRed
New member
It depends:
More RAM usually = more tracks, more plugins/fx/instruments. With some sequencers you can set so you allocate more RAM to tracks for buffering which cuts down on hard disk I/O. YMMV.
More RAM usually = more tracks, more plugins/fx/instruments. With some sequencers you can set so you allocate more RAM to tracks for buffering which cuts down on hard disk I/O. YMMV.
christiaan
Active member
It really depends. I have 512MB RAM. While mixing 16 tracks in Cubase SX + WinXP, I don't come anywhere close to using 512MB. So far for me, it would be a waste of money to upgrade. If you use tons of VST instruments and a zillion tracks, it may be different.
theshaggyfreak
New member
It depends on what you're doing. Most of the things that eat up RAM for me are large samples. Most plugins seem to use more processing power than RAM. It's always good to have some head room, though, in case you need it. RAM is cheap these days anyway.
I would, perhaps, take that thread with a big grain of salt. From the commit charges on most of those machines, they all need to be taught how to tweak their boxes.
Besides, the way in which actual RAM usage correlates to swap file usage is much more complex than the OS thinking "I'm almost outta RAM, let's swap". Even a machine with 4GB of RAM will swap (I point this out because 32-bit processors cannot address more than 4GB unless they're operating in a special mode called PAE, or Physical Address Extensions, which aren't available in any OS other than Windows Enterprise of various versions and a couple of builds of Linux kernels).
To the point, 1GB of RAM is likely advantageous to anyone who ever sees a commit charge greater 256MB which I suspect is most of us who do any complex projects.
However, as with all blanket recommendations, there are caveats.
For one, the system origin (OEM or DIY) and memory configuration play a role in how well the memory subsystem performs. For example, a major OEM box (Dell, HP, whatever) that is stuffed to the gills with DIMMS (say, 4 256MB DIMMS) will not perform the same as a system with 2 512MB DIMMS. OEM BIOSes are nearly universally tweaked for absolute system stability (and end-user stupidity) such that when the memory bus is heavily loaded (as would be with the greater number of DIMMs) the timings for memory access are slackened, thus reducing subsystem performance. Most DIY boards from quality manufacturers do not protect the end-user in such a way. If said end-user has purchased sub-par DIMMs (from which the OEMs want to distance their product's instability), these boards will gladly let that person hang themselves. Good boards will still be affected by the additional memory modules, but to a level that is easily offset by the performance gain from more memory if it is needed (say, going from 2 256MB DIMMs to four if you need 1GB of RAM).
Of course, if you're looking to add RAM, I would first suggest that you exhaust all avenues of system tweaking. It's generally free (time spent is all it costs), and it can additionallly yield rewards of greater available processor time. I mean, look at the services list on a default WinXP box. Do you really need Remote Registry or Wireless Zero Configuration on your DAW(these are just two of many examples)?
Besides, the way in which actual RAM usage correlates to swap file usage is much more complex than the OS thinking "I'm almost outta RAM, let's swap". Even a machine with 4GB of RAM will swap (I point this out because 32-bit processors cannot address more than 4GB unless they're operating in a special mode called PAE, or Physical Address Extensions, which aren't available in any OS other than Windows Enterprise of various versions and a couple of builds of Linux kernels).
To the point, 1GB of RAM is likely advantageous to anyone who ever sees a commit charge greater 256MB which I suspect is most of us who do any complex projects.
However, as with all blanket recommendations, there are caveats.
For one, the system origin (OEM or DIY) and memory configuration play a role in how well the memory subsystem performs. For example, a major OEM box (Dell, HP, whatever) that is stuffed to the gills with DIMMS (say, 4 256MB DIMMS) will not perform the same as a system with 2 512MB DIMMS. OEM BIOSes are nearly universally tweaked for absolute system stability (and end-user stupidity) such that when the memory bus is heavily loaded (as would be with the greater number of DIMMs) the timings for memory access are slackened, thus reducing subsystem performance. Most DIY boards from quality manufacturers do not protect the end-user in such a way. If said end-user has purchased sub-par DIMMs (from which the OEMs want to distance their product's instability), these boards will gladly let that person hang themselves. Good boards will still be affected by the additional memory modules, but to a level that is easily offset by the performance gain from more memory if it is needed (say, going from 2 256MB DIMMs to four if you need 1GB of RAM).
Of course, if you're looking to add RAM, I would first suggest that you exhaust all avenues of system tweaking. It's generally free (time spent is all it costs), and it can additionallly yield rewards of greater available processor time. I mean, look at the services list on a default WinXP box. Do you really need Remote Registry or Wireless Zero Configuration on your DAW(these are just two of many examples)?
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There are a few subtilities: http://firingsquad.com/hardware/building_gaming_opteron_2003_Part2/page14.asp
Now this is also relevant for motherboards that use dual channel ram. Most of those have 3 dimm slots. But best performance is only achieved when you use only 2 slots.
Now this is also relevant for motherboards that use dual channel ram. Most of those have 3 dimm slots. But best performance is only achieved when you use only 2 slots.
it's almost guaranteed aplications will get larger along with OS..."Now this is also relevant for motherboards that use dual channel ram. Most of those have 3 dimm slots. But best performance is only achieved when you use only 2 slots."
Of the dual-channel chipsets, only NForce 2 boards have 3 DIMM slots. All full-size i865/i875 chipset boards that I know of have 4 (Shuttle's SFF systems have two).
You're right, though, best performance is had with two DIMMs, primarily due to latency. The NForce2 is an exception, because using all 3 DIMM slots forces single-channel mode.
Of the dual-channel chipsets, only NForce 2 boards have 3 DIMM slots. All full-size i865/i875 chipset boards that I know of have 4 (Shuttle's SFF systems have two).
You're right, though, best performance is had with two DIMMs, primarily due to latency. The NForce2 is an exception, because using all 3 DIMM slots forces single-channel mode.
JuSumPilgrim
New member
djc said:
The answer is yes.
For a while a resisted getting more RAM, believing what Ive read here and elsewhere that it isnt necessary. I finally upgraded from 512 to 1 gig after suffering with dropouts when the track count would start mounting. Things are now snappy where they used to be sluggish or shut down. Definitely a significant dif.
I suspect those saying 512 is fine dont mix more than 12 tracks at a time.
DAFFYDRUNK
New member
I run with 512 and raid-0. Use Acid Pro4 right now. The biggest song I've recorded uses 40+ tracks. Most of this is various drum programming, but there are a dozen or so audio tracks with guitar/bass vocal stuff on it. Looking at my resources, the song uses about ~200 MB loaded up. Still, it hits the drive all the time and can't play on my boot drive (80 gb Seagate 7200) without stuttering here and there. People on here criticize my attitude that I'd rather have 512 MB and a raid-0 array than 1 GB memory and 1 drive, but I'm gonna stick my guns. Most of the DAW software I've played with seems to "sip" the drive and the extra memory doesn't help. Once you have 512 MB you're better off spending money figuring out a way to increase disk performance if you wanna record/edit a complicated recording...
distortedrumble
all up in yo grill!
all in favor?
hell just buy more ram you might need it later on so max it out so you dont have to worry about not feeding fido to get more ram for recording sometime in the future
hell just buy more ram you might need it later on so max it out so you dont have to worry about not feeding fido to get more ram for recording sometime in the future