where do i need the power, memory or processor speed?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jugalo180
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jugalo180

jugalo180

www.moneyistherecipe.com
i was having problems with my 1.3 gig processor, 512 pci sdram on xp system so i got a 2.5gig processor, 512 ddr 266 on xp system. i haven't hooked this system up yet. if i had problems with the old system freezing, popping, and skipping, from handling all of the effects and tracks in my projects should i see a tremendous difference in performance due to the stronger PrOcEsSoR and 512 ddr ram, or would i have to boost the MeMoRy up to 1024 to see the performance that i am looking for?
 
Being that the new system is a little over 1Gz faster than the old one, I would say yes.
As far as the memory....... Da Mo, Da Betta!~
 
That is plenty memory and processor for almost any amount of audio processing.
 
Your old system specs should of worked fine.

More processing power and system memory are not the cure-all.

Pops, skips etc can be caused by many things, chipset, OS configuration, Drivers, conflicting hardware etc.

Your new setup *should* work fine. Provided you researched the components and selected based on compatability. What soundcard are you using? This is often the starting point component when buildling a DAW.

If your new machine works fine, you will get more plug-in count as well as track count. 512MB is plenty.

You may get the same pops and skips as before. You need to isolate this problem more specifically. Is it the mainboard chipset not agreeing with your soundcard, is it software settings, is it OS configuration etc?

Then again, if it's only doing this when you are using massive amounts of plugins, more CPU power will help a lot.

If not, that's what these forums are for.

Good luck.
 
thanks alot

i apreciate the excellent feedback from everyone. i will definitely bookmark this thread for future trouble shooting methods. the problem is only when i use massive amounts of plugins and tracks, so i hope the new system works, if not i'll start trouble shooting. btw, i am using the lynx one sound card. i e-mailed the company and they told me that it was compatible with windows xp, and cubase sx.

thanks everyone
 
I have to back up what Emeric said.

PC's with far less balls than that shouln't lock up/click/pop even with dozens of tracks. The only thing my system has run up against has been crappy reverb plug-ins that eat resources like nobody's business.

As to memory- I went with 1GB against the recommendations of a number of well-respected (by myself and others) commentators.

BUT- this choice of all this RAM was less motivated by the desire to prevent lockups/clicks/pops etc than the desire to have more memory than the University-Wide system I suffered through many years ago. Just a personal thing. But considering the extra 512 MB didn't cost me much, I wouldn't do it any differently. Just for the record, I don't believe Win XP really needs more than 512 MB to maintain stability.
 
Isn't it the front side buss that is really key to improved performance?
 
Look, it isn't any one thing. Everything factors in. But seriously look around, there are still pro level studios with Pentium 2 computers running the show. Old macs killing it on PT3. The sad fact of the matter is hardware today is OVERKILL. The problem is usually software. Either the soundcard software or the OS conflicting with some other piece of software. Ask any computer science major and they'll likely tell you that the hardware is hardly an issue theese days. The computers you can buy for $300 are far superior to the ones in pro studios two years ago. C'mon 3,000 mhz frontside busses don't matter when a tiny incompatibility between two peices of code stall your system between each info up or down or the running hardware are trying to use the same exact processor clock ticks.

Hardware lust is out of control. Software has been the bottleneck for years now...get it?

The most common hardware used these days would put HAL to shame....where's the intelligent software?
 
I have a >3 years old Dell PIII, 450Mhz, 256MB RAM machine which runs fine. I have a Delta 44 and record w/ N-Track. My songs are only acoustic folk so I don't run up the track count. I was about to give up on it when it had Windows 98, but I wiped out the drive (which Dell loaded chock full of cr*p) and put Windows 2000 on, and it's like a new machine.
Your 1.3Ghz should have been fine, but hopefully the new system works out!

Now if I had the cash, I would upgrade, but I must save money to eat and pay the rent!
 
you only need more memory if you are running out of it. 512 should be enough for almost anything audio related unless you are loading large samples into ram (e.g. kontakt)

The easiest way to tell if you are running out of memory is to run task manager and watch the memory meter (i can't remember what it's called in XP, 'commit charge' maybe?).

if it goes higher than what you have in your system, your system will start using the hard drive to make up the difference and then it's time to buy more. it really is as simple as that.

i gotta agree with jake-owa's points entirely. it's the software that's the problem these days.

your hardware should take you pretty far, i wouldn't worry about that. unless, of course, something fails! you did buy good quality memory right? you did buy a good psu right? you're not running soundblaster right?
 
Any more memory & CPU power would be like hunting sparrows with surface-to-air missles. :p
 
RWhite said:
Any more memory & CPU power would be like hunting sparrows with surface-to-air missles. :p
Click to expand...


lol!!!

Good one White!
 
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