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Originally posted by Osmodiar there's another thread somewhere about 32bit / vs 64bit. I went 32bit initially and then had to rebuild the OS to change to 64bit because i wasn't happy with the free memory i was left with. In my opinion save yourself the trouble and go with 64bit to start with. Sit it out until you have another pay check under the belt and do it properly from the get go i say. Regarding the matched sets, the OP mentioned overclocking, if you want the highest level of reliability and stability when overclocking then a matched set of ram is not a bad idea. When you push up the clock cycles of memory with tight timings, if you have 3 sticks with identical physical properties it may be easier to find stable settings than if you have sticks from different batches that might not like exactly the same settings. So it's not necessarily about a paper performance increase, but higher chances of stability across the sticks at faster speeds. If budget is really strict and more important than that then yeah it's not 100% necessary, i just took the mentality with my build that i wanted to do it once, do it well, and not have to do it again for a long time.

Valid point, although I remain unconvinced that the benefit of matched RAM is worth the extra cost. Saying that my overclocking method usually involves buying a new PC with a faster CPU

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Originally posted by tehlord Valid point, although I remain unconvinced that the benefit of matched RAM is worth the extra cost. Saying that my overclocking method usually involves buying a new PC with a faster CPU

errr... as you should if you want a stable production machine....

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It's actually cheaper though, if you're going to buy 3 sticks eventually, buying 2 then buying 1 later will cost more than buying a set of 3 straight up, and you run the slight risk of them not being easy to overclock. The only benefit of not buying the 3x2GB initially is to spread the cost over time.

If you were only going to by 2 sticks, and settle for that then yeah it wouldn't be worth the cost of an extra stick in a matched set purely for that reason.. but the extra cost is bringing you another 2 gig of memory, + filling out the third memory channel on the motherboard, and giving you the best chance of a stable overclock.. so i definitely think it's worth considering.

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I was using a Toshiba Satellite P205, which miraculously I got some decent sounds out of including my stuff in the production forum. So $300-700 for this machine, anything will be better than what I was using -- even the i3. But I'm willing to go all the way if I can, including i7 and matched ram. My "soundcard" is an EMU 0202, which sounds great and very clear. I can get the latency down to around 10ms on that Toshiba with this thing, but it really crashes if I keep the latency at that speed while adding lots of processing. So I'm sure it will work fantastic with a new machine.

edit: I'm sure after you guys find out what I've been using, the i5 and i7 won't be as important. I've asked around and the i3 seems just fine so seems like it'll be the one I get. Not too expensive either.

Last edited by Evolve140 on Mar-24-2010 at 21:40

i don't get it.. all these talk about needing high end processors for producing.. imo unless you use your computer for other tasks that might actually require a powerful processor or you have extra cash to spare it's unnecessary.. Core2duo's, phenom II's.. they'll all work just fine.. if you're building a system just for producing, i would rather spend the extra cash on something else that would actually benefit my workflow.. better sound card maybe?

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I guess, the one thing I am going to make sure and get is a good graphics card so I can play some games. You're right about what you said though.

edit: should have the final part list in a while, will let you guys know.

Last edited by Evolve140 on Mar-24-2010 at 23:52

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Originally posted by Evolve140 I guess, the one thing I am going to make sure and get is a good graphics card so I can play some games. .

I just put an Ati 5770 in my other machine and it's crazy fast for the money. Runs Crysis maxed out no problems.

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Yeah i agree a 5770 is a good compromise for a production PC that you want to play some games on. Being newish 40nm tech it will be quieter and draw less power than alot of other cards that perform in the same league, it's a good value pick.

Nvidia is about to launch some new cards in the next few days which might put some competition on ATI and possibly bring some of their prices down. They will be really high end cards tho so i'm not sure it will affect the 5770 too much.

For the record no one is really saying you NEED to go all out on your PC for production, yes you can get by with alot less if budget is your main concern. However there are obviously a lot of benefits to having a blistering system that can handle everything you throw at it and more for years to come.. it's more cost effective in the long run than frequent upgrading, and it's just nice to have a beast to work with, to have the creative freedom to experiment with any effects and instrument stacking you like that would kill a normal system.

I haven't been able to do anything in a project yet that has taken the cubase ASIO/CPU meter over about 40%, however with enough plugins running at a sample buffer of 128 i did end up getting clicks/pops eventually and had to back off the buffer a bit. I'm going to look into that further because i'm not sure if any more clock speed will really help, probably will to some degree but it may be a limitation of the firewire sound interface possibly. I'm tempted to run a small overclock and see if i can push the buffer back down or if it makes no difference.

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Far out. You'd be stupid to put in a 5770 and an i3.

Especially if your focus is production.

And for the record, I am saying that you need to go all out on a processor and motherboard combination. They're the most essential thing for producing electronic music and the one thing that can't be upgraded.

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