quad core

R

roachy

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quadcore 9500, 3gig dominator mem, 500gighd maudio soundcard, 8600gt grfx card, with twin screen

getting that this week

£650 which is bout $1300 or abit less

do u think i shud tick t this idea or get a mac
 
roachy said:
quadcore 9500, 3gig dominator mem, 500gighd maudio soundcard, 8600gt grfx card, with twin screen

getting that this week

£650 which is bout $1300 or abit less

do u think i shud tick t this idea or get a mac
Click to expand...

I personally prefer a mac--but I think that's a preference thing. I think you'll like the speed you get out of the quad core, but a lot of audio processing (and sample based vsts) is ram intensive too.

I recently got a new Mac--an "octo core" but software really has to be written right to take advantage of all those processor cores. It's the ram that I think makes the most difference for me--I've got 16 gigs. And as cheap as HDs are, I'd bump that up too. Maybe keep the 500gb for your os and apps, and fill a second bay with a terabyte for storing your audio work.

I do video as well as audio, and I put a terabyte in each of my four slots: one for the os & apps, one for audio, one for video, and one just archiving stuff and getting it out of the way.

Trust me--you'll use the space. :)
 
It's all about having an even balance between components in your box. I just recently built a new computer with a 64 bit OS and its everything I've ever wanted.

Intel core i7 920 (quad core overclocks to over 4.3 ghz without much heat)
12 gigs triple channel DDR3 (lots of memory takes the load off the hard drive when it comes to running samples and processing online effects)

2 - 750 gig, 7200rpm hard drives (I will soon be adding more HD's, but keeping samples and software separate from the recording destination drive will help keep the hard drive from having to jump around)

GeForce GTX 275 with 2 gigs of video memory (this just simply removes the graphic rendering load off the CPU)

A 750 watt power supply to handle all the power needs for the processor and other components. Then all the regular stuff like tons of cooling fans and a DVD burner.

I currently dual boot windows vista 64 Ultimate (i also use it for high end graphic design and gaming) and I couldn't be more happy with the performance of this system. I run tons of samples, record multiple audio tracks at once and have yet to hear/see any latency issues. I run Sonar 7 64bit with a PreSonus Firestudio Project through firewire and its awesome to have a powerhouse computer that has yet to use anywhere near its processing capacity when working with large project files.

This cost me around $1700 after all the parts were shipped but to me it was well worth the benefits. I can power on my computer and start recording a track at 24-bit/96k sample rate in less than 3 minutes without ever worrying weather my system can keep up with it. Since I build computers as a side business I can tell you building your own (if you can) can save you lots of money in the long run.
 
I do my audio work on a DIY PC and I have no problems at all. I build a new comp ever 2 years or so. Building your own PC makes so much sense. I would recommend a clean partition and install for your music stuff. Make a music PC and a general use PC partition. If you're really hardcore make sure the music PC isn't even connected to the net.
Good luck!
 
just been looking at macs

seen the octo - coree and the quad core

but i was told the octo and quad are really for pro users hence the name octo quad pro

he told me to get a dual core would be as fast as a pc quad core im not too clued up on pcs so i need to know

either the quad core or the i mac
 
WhiteStrat said:
I recently got a new Mac--an "octo core" but software really has to be written right to take advantage of all those processor cores. It's the ram that I think makes the most difference for me--I've got 16 gigs. And as cheap as HDs are, I'd bump that up too. Maybe keep the 500gb for your os and apps, and fill a second bay with a terabyte for storing your audio work.
Click to expand...

Helpful tip: if you're running Snow Leopard, boot 64-bit. Then, the kernel can make use of more of your unused RAM for buffer caching.
 
I don't have Snow Leopard yet--running with the 10.5.7 that shipped w/the box. But I'll be upgrading soon.

Mine's the '09 Nehalem dual quad core, so it'll boot 64-bit. Thanks again.
 
loquat said:
I do my audio work on a DIY PC and I have no problems at all. I build a new comp ever 2 years or so. Building your own PC makes so much sense. I would recommend a clean partition and install for your music stuff. Make a music PC and a general use PC partition. If you're really hardcore make sure the music PC isn't even connected to the net.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

Mine are DIY as well I agree 100 percent keep it off the network.
I do that and it is the only smart thing to do if your doing a lot of audio / video and PC's can be built cheap to dedicate a box. To a application then run a KVM switch to save desk clutter. That is how I run
 
I built my PC and it has worked flawlessly. And it's not even a dedicated audio PC. It's also my home PC.
 
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