God those new Core i7 chips are beasts.. MAC or PC, whatever.. They will certainly get you through many years. I'm only just maxing out my core2duo at the minute so I'm overclocking it to keep up.. but next year when those Sandy Bridge chips hit I think I will invest.

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quote:

Originally posted by 19503 imac. all problems solved. especially since u already consider it, u will not regret.

An iMac is partially laptop. It uses laptop Ram which is slower than desktop Ram. ( and also different laptop components )

If he's looking for a new PC, imo that's the way to go, especially if using alot of samples.

And for the price of an iMac i7, you can build a Monster 3.33 ghz 6-core i7 PC.

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Last edited by Timothy on Aug-28-2010 at 10:22

i have 2GB "laptop" RAM @ 1067MHz (DDR3) and i have no problems, and i use mostly samples.

quote:

Originally posted by 19503 i have 2GB "laptop" RAM @ 1067MHz (DDR3) and i have no problems, and i use mostly samples.

That might be true in your case, but for heavy sample users, desktop ram is better. The iMac uses dual channel ram, which is also a limitation.

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You're going to want a lot of RAM. Trust me. I just upgraded. I thought 4 gigs would be enough but sometimes it still takes up to 15 seconds to load an Omnisphere patch, and romplers are only going to get bigger in size, thus more loading to be required. I highly recommend 8GB of RAM or 16GB if you want to go all out.

I see a lot of people here talking about Intel but I would strongly encourage you to check out AMD if audio processing is your main concern. You're going to get a TON more CPU cycles on an AMD versus an Intel of equal value. The Intel cores are "smarter" when it comes to running programs that do not support multi-CPU modes, but I'm pretty sure every DAW does (I know Ableton does) so this kind of renders the big advantage the i7 chip has because the AMD can use all 4 cores at full speed just like the i7 can inside your DAW.

I would encourage you to check out benchmarks, then look at prices. AMD was a laughing stock for a while, but their Black Edition Phenom II series chips are no joke and even the nerds are respecting them. For audio processing I would never go Intel but that is because I am not super rich and the AMD just make sit a no brainer because of price. Also, hold off on the 6 core AMD's - You want to make sure and get a Black Edition chip and the 6 core's havn't been out long enough for proper evaluation and with AMD you really need to wait because they are kind of a rollercoaster when it comes to making processors, but the 4 core Phenom II Black Edition series is tried and tested. You can get a 3.4ghz one along with a very nice Gigabyte motherboard for just $250 on newegg.com - Don't let the low price that almost seems like a steal fool you. It competes toe-to-toe (maybe 5% slower than i7 chip) with the i7 that costs about 3-4 times as much. The only downside to the AMD chip will be the heatsink/fan. It sounds like a jet plane taking off and nobody in your house will be able to sleep but I will link a very, very good affordable fan/heatsink below. Also, the compound it comes with sucks, but thats with any CPU.

If you do go AMD, make sure you PM me before buying your RAM. I had to learn the hard way that AMD motherboards are generally defaulted to 1.5v and most RAM doesn't come that way. The best way to keep your computer alive is to not mess with voltage settings, so you're going to wait RAM that is 1.5v by stock.

The hell with it I'll just link you up what you need in my opinion. I run very high CPU intensive programs (Omnisphere, Trillian, SoundToys' Decapitator, etc)




Memory (4GB)
CPU + other 4GB RAM on Combo deal
Motherboard
Heatsink & Fan
I leave this heatsink set at its max 2500 RPM and can't even hear it.
Thermal Compound Last but not least. This is the best 10 bucks you can spend on a computer. It's value should be around $100. Will drop your CPU's heat anywhere from 5-10 degrees Celsius versus other compounds.

Case and power supply is up to you but you'll need at least an ATX Mid Tower.

Good luck, hope this helps

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anyone making EDM will find the imac and the ram handling sufficient. Are you loading 8 gigs of samples ? Or just your drums ? I have a Mac Pro with 32 gigs of ram but I enjoy my kiddy porn editing at blistering high speed. Just a preference I guess.

Cheers guys, much appreciated!

Stephen - very comprehensive! Thanks!

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quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Wiley You're going to want a lot of RAM. Trust me. I just upgraded. I thought 4 gigs would be enough but sometimes it still takes up to 15 seconds to load an Omnisphere patch, and romplers are only going to get bigger in size, thus more loading to be required. I highly recommend 8GB of RAM or 16GB if you want to go all out.

Dude... You do realise that RAM doesn't affect loading speed? It affects how much you can load, not how fast you can do it. Thats all down to CPU and RAM speed. If you'd gotten the triple channel CPU like we suggested (core i7) it'd all be loading 30 percent faster at least.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Wiley I see a lot of people here talking about Intel but I would strongly encourage you to check out AMD if audio processing is your main concern. You're going to get a TON more CPU cycles on an AMD versus an Intel of equal value. The Intel cores are "smarter" when it comes to running programs that do not support multi-CPU modes, but I'm pretty sure every DAW does (I know Ableton does) so this kind of renders the big advantage the i7 chip has because the AMD can use all 4 cores at full speed just like the i7 can inside your DAW. I would encourage you to check out benchmarks, then look at prices. AMD was a laughing stock for a while, but their Black Edition Phenom II series chips are no joke and even the nerds are respecting them. For audio processing I would never go Intel but that is because I am not super rich and the AMD just make sit a no brainer because of price. Also, hold off on the 6 core AMD's - You want to make sure and get a Black Edition chip and the 6 core's havn't been out long enough for proper evaluation and with AMD you really need to wait because they are kind of a rollercoaster when it comes to making processors, but the 4 core Phenom II Black Edition series is tried and tested. You can get a 3.4ghz one along with a very nice Gigabyte motherboard for just $250 on newegg.com - Don't let the low price that almost seems like a steal fool you. It competes toe-to-toe (maybe 5% slower than i7 chip) with the i7 that costs about 3-4 times as much. The only downside to the AMD chip will be the heatsink/fan. It sounds like a jet plane taking off and nobody in your house will be able to sleep but I will link a very, very good affordable fan/heatsink below. Also, the compound it comes with sucks, but thats with any CPU. If you do go AMD, make sure you PM me before buying your RAM. I had to learn the hard way that AMD motherboards are generally defaulted to 1.5v and most RAM doesn't come that way. The best way to keep your computer alive is to not mess with voltage settings, so you're going to wait RAM that is 1.5v by stock. The hell with it I'll just link you up what you need in my opinion. I run very high CPU intensive programs (Omnisphere, Trillian, SoundToys' Decapitator, etc)

See above for why I think your advice is bunk. Sorry dude, but you genuinely don't seem to understand what you're talking about with RAM and CPUs. And I hate to be the one calling you on it, but I don't think the guy should be taking advice which just doesn't really stack up with everything I've heard and read.

While its true that you might get a few more CPU cycles, it won't help you as much as the optimised Intel architecture and triple channel RAM IMO, especially if you're using a lot of samples.
The fact is, your CPU is underpowered and really poorly suited for the applications you want (mostly fast RAM utilisation).

my answer to the OP is the same as its been for the last year:

buy an i7, triple channel RAM (or 2 channel if its all you can afford), good USB 3 motherboard (preferably with built in graphics), big hard disk.

Wait a year, then think about SSD, a graphics card, more RAM.

The most important things are to get the best possible CPU and motherboard, everything else can really wait until you have more money, but if you stint on those things, you'll be sorry.

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quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Wait a year, then think about SSD, a graphics card, more RAM. The most important things are to get the best possible CPU and motherboard, everything else can really wait until you have more money, but if you stint on those things, you'll be sorry.

Upgrading your computer after a year is not very smart imo, computers tend to fall apart after 3 years...

I tend to disrespect motherboards i'm going to buy a cheap 90$ GigaByte mobo...USB3 and SATA 6gps will not be utilized or popular right away anyway imo.

I'm resisting the urge to buy AMD right now, they are so cheap compared to Intel a Phenom II x6 Six Core 1055T costs like an i5 760 here...not to mention you have to buy 50$ cooling for the i5\7 cuz their cooling ii shit...

What specific part will die after 3 years?? You're just buying a bunch of components, if one breaks, replace it.

Maybe the fact that you buy $90 motherboards might have something to do with why your computers last 3 years....

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Well I don't know all that much about components, it's a full time job in itself keeping up with that shit and frankly it bores me to tears!

I greatly value all your input though, and I've learnt a lot just in this post alone.

A bit of background.

I just boughts an i3 Sony Vaio for £400 about 4 months ago. Needed a portable computer for work & to replace my ancient 6 year old Athlon 64 pc.

The laptop is a piece of crap. I realised I should have probably known better but never did I expect it to shutdown/bluescreen/restart all the fucking time at random (I've exhausted all possible ideas as to why it does this, but fuck knows and I refuse to take my laptop to some shit fucking repair place to pay through the ass and be without a pc for weeks whilst it gets fixed or sent off to Sony.

So a new PC that won't fuck me over would be nice, I bought the laptop on the pretence that I may just start using it to play out on. But honestly DJing bores me to tears nowadays too, however from an aethetic perspective I love the way the iMac looks, I fail to see how power will be an issue, since I've managed on a 512mb 3,2Ghz single core system and never filled the 160gb hard drive.

I simply don't like filling my pc's with shit. And I always opt for less is more in productions. I still have yet to buy a synth, I use 3OSC, synth1, etc.

Anyways. Cheers guys. I don't need bleeding edge really, since I don't game either. And if anyone wants to help me trouble shoot or swap me a dog turd for this Vaio holla me.

Ciao!

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Nothing lasts, nothing lasts, everything is changing into something else. Nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong, everything is on track...

You know, William Blake said... uh, nothing is lost. Nothing is lost and I... I really believe that, we only move on...