Need a new PC............Help ??

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jpb123

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Hi,

My pentium 4 3.0ghz pc has just started to become erratic and unstable , especially when using VST3 plugins with cubase 5.

I found this out after buying Ozone for mastering. Whenever I apply a preset to my audio file it stops, the pc doesn't crash but cubase stops responding.

In the " Real World " as opposed to the mega bucks world what kind of spec would be ok for my needs ?

I have 3 or 4 audio tracks ( mainly vocals ) per project and the rest is just midi tracks from my synths that I put down to a stereo track after recording the vocals.

I use a M-Audio delta 66 ( Pci )and omni I/O mixer and also a fast track ultra mainly as a midi interface as I'm happy with the Omni I/o.

If anyone could give me any suggestions that would be great

John
 
If it just started happening and ozone seems to trigger it, you may not need a new PC.

Have you made sure that your system meets the requirements for ozone? Maybe there's an older version you can download?
 
I've not checked. ut it's funny you should say that as I've never really had this problem before.......I'll check
 
Steenamaroo said:
If it just started happening and ozone seems to trigger it, you may not need a new PC.

Have you made sure that your system meets the requirements for ozone? Maybe there's an older version you can download?
Click to expand...

This guy speaks the truth, but considering you're using a Pentium 4, I'd personally suggest upgrading sometime soon just because that's some decently old hardware. =]
If you're tech savvy enough, I'd suggest going to Newegg and waiting until they have a nice sale on a DIY parts build. You can get something like an i5 with 4-8 GB of RAM with a motherboard and all for around $500, if you've got the cash to spare for it.
If you don't know how to work technology well enough, you could either read up on how to build a computer or go for an OEM one. Personally, I've been a fan of HP computers, so I'd give them a look on newegg as well.
 
Thanks MrWrenchey,

Do you think an I5 is the spec I should be looking at ?
That's what I wanted really , someone just to say what kind of spec would be ok !!

Most PC guy's I speak to seem to think that I want a machine for listening to music or gaming !!

That's why I thought I'd ask here

Thanks Again
 
jpb, I've built over 10 pc's for myself, and others, including musicians. An i5 is plenty for your needs. I'd also recommend 8gb of RAM, and Windows 7 64bit. And if you really want bang for your buck, load your Windows on a 120gb SSD. 10 times faster read than a spinning HD. Add a conventional HD of around 500gb, and you should be set. Save your audio files on the big drive. Keep the SSD drive under 70% full and you should be good for years.

Other tips include: Always use anti-virus (microsofts free version is sufficient), get Anti-Malwarebytes and use it.
Don't load junk!! keep your OS Drive clean - move your Browser cache to the spinning HD. Un-install things you
don't use.
Get an off system back-up drive, and USE IT regularly. You can schedule back-ups so you don't have to do
them manually.
Know whats on your computer!! Pay for your software, especially e-mail. Remember if you don't pay for it,
you're not the customer, you're the product!
 
I just bought a Lenovo Win8 box dedicated to recording w/3.4GHz dual core i3, 4GB RAM (8GB max), and 1TB HDD for $270... BUT...

It only has a 280W power supply, 4 SATA ports (2 used), 3 PCI Express x1 slots, and 1 PCI Express x16 slot. Needless to say I made sure to buy a powered USB hub as I'm using a number of bus powered USB devices.

On the other hand I like the software tools that were provided and maybe I can replace that wimpy power supply so as to upgrade from Intel 2500HD integrated graphics.

Bottom line if you buy a new box make sure it's going to support your gear. Luck.
 
Thanks Michael,

That's probably the best straightest answer I've ever received. I think that's what I'll do.

When you say I5 will a 2nd or even 1st generation do or would it be best to go with the 3rd gen ??

John
 
michaelst said:
Pay for your software, especially e-mail. Remember if you don't pay for it,
you're not the customer, you're the product!
Click to expand...

There is a lot of good, free software available. Mozilla Thunderbird is pretty good for email (with the Lightning calendar add-on).
 
I think Ivy Bridge is the latest, and it's not that much more expensive than Sandy Bridge, and has better graphics (4000hd vs 3000 or 2000hd) But if you're not doing any serious gaming, Sandy Bridge would be fine, and save you a few bucks. And you don't need the top of the line i5 either, the 2400K, is adequate, tho the 2500k is $30 more with much better graphics.
 
michaelst said:
I think Ivy Bridge is the latest, and it's not that much more expensive than Sandy Bridge, and has better graphics (4000hd vs 3000 or 2000hd) But if you're not doing any serious gaming, Sandy Bridge would be fine, and save you a few bucks. And you don't need the top of the line i5 either, the 2400K, is adequate, tho the 2500k is $30 more with much better graphics.
Click to expand...

Ivy Bridge IS the latest and greatest, but only three Ivy Bridge processors (last I checked) have 4000HD graphics, the rest are still saddled with 2500HD. Also note that only i5 and i7 are overclockable and not even all of them. Do your research.

Luck.
 
wheelema said:
Ivy Bridge IS the latest and greatest, but only three Ivy Bridge processors (last I checked) have 4000HD graphics, the rest are still saddled with 2500HD. Also note that only i5 and i7 are overclockable and not even all of them. Do your research.

Luck.
Click to expand...

I believe the K on the end indicates overclockability (this is the case on my overclockable 2600K). So, the 2500K can be overclocked, the 2500 can't. If you don't want/need to overclock, you can save a few quid on the locked version.
 
Thanks , would an I5 3rd Gen Laptop be suitable with 8 gb of ram etc ?

The reason I ask is because I'm actually thinking of using my Fast track ultra as the audio interface and stopping using the Delta 66 / omni I/O combi , people seem to think that the fasttrack has slightly better pre amps etc etc and would make my setup streamlined with a laptop.

I've never really used a laptop for audio but plenty of people seem to rave about using the laptop for recording !!

But argos have an acer e1 laptop with 3rd Gen I5 processor and 8 gig of ram for £399 which is about what I'd like to spend !!
 
michaelst said:
jpb, I've built over 10 pc's for myself, and others, including musicians. An i5 is plenty for your needs. I'd also recommend 8gb of RAM, and Windows 7 64bit. And if you really want bang for your buck, load your Windows on a 120gb SSD. 10 times faster read than a spinning HD. Add a conventional HD of around 500gb, and you should be set. Save your audio files on the big drive. Keep the SSD drive under 70% full and you should be good for years.

Other tips include: Always use anti-virus (microsofts free version is sufficient), get Anti-Malwarebytes and use it.
Don't load junk!! keep your OS Drive clean - move your Browser cache to the spinning HD. Un-install things you
don't use.
Get an off system back-up drive, and USE IT regularly. You can schedule back-ups so you don't have to do
them manually.
Know whats on your computer!! Pay for your software, especially e-mail. Remember if you don't pay for it,
you're not the customer, you're the product!
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this setup and it's pretty much exactly what I have and I can run beastly projects in Sonar X1 without problems. While an SSD as your primary would be ideal, they can get pretty pricey. As long as you have a secondary/external drive to keep your projects on, then you're in business. And I'd just get a 1TB external rather than a 500GB as they're not that much more expensive nowadays. As far as AV, if your DAW isn't even connected to the internet, because you treat it as a DAW and nothing else, then you can save your proc from the additional overhead of apps that want to suck it's resources like AV.

Backups - another thing I totally agree with. Look at Carbonite. For 100 bucks a year you can backup 1 PC AND an external drive with unlimited space. Totally worth it. If you have your DAW isolated from the internet, you can plug that external into your regular laptop/pc and run Carbonite from there; if your DAW is on the net you can just have carbonite installed locally. If you don't want to pay for a service, you can always burn a DVD of projects as you finish them and store them somewhere.
 
jpb123 said:
Thanks , would an I5 3rd Gen Laptop be suitable with 8 gb of ram etc ?

The reason I ask is because I'm actually thinking of using my Fast track ultra as the audio interface and stopping using the Delta 66 / omni I/O combi , people seem to think that the fasttrack has slightly better pre amps etc etc and would make my setup streamlined with a laptop.

I've never really used a laptop for audio but plenty of people seem to rave about using the laptop for recording !!

But argos have an acer e1 laptop with 3rd Gen I5 processor and 8 gig of ram for £399 which is about what I'd like to spend !!
Click to expand...

I do everything on my laptop. Click on the link in my sig below, all those tunes were done in Sonar X1 on my laptop.
 
jpb123 said:
Hi,

My pentium 4 3.0ghz pc has just started to become erratic and unstable , especially when using VST3 plugins with cubase 5.

I found this out after buying Ozone for mastering. Whenever I apply a preset to my audio file it stops, the pc doesn't crash but cubase stops responding.

In the " Real World " as opposed to the mega bucks world what kind of spec would be ok for my needs ?

I have 3 or 4 audio tracks ( mainly vocals ) per project and the rest is just midi tracks from my synths that I put down to a stereo track after recording the vocals.

I use a M-Audio delta 66 ( Pci )and omni I/O mixer and also a fast track ultra mainly as a midi interface as I'm happy with the Omni I/o.

If anyone could give me any suggestions that would be great

John
Click to expand...

I typically don't apply ozone until I'm finished recording/sequencing/mixing/arranging. It takes a lot of resources up on your computer and can definitely cause latency issues or in your case freeze cubase. I would suggest trying better audio drivers before getting a whole new PC, and playing with your buffer/sample rates. Also you could try mixing down some of your tracks into wav's and importing them in a new project to keep it condensed and less plugins running at once...
 
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