|
Upgrading my pc. What to buy?
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Arctic Breeze |
I want to upgrade my computer. Lately the VST's in FL Studio has been a pain in the ass. I need more power! :D
Here's some of the stuff I've got:
Intel Pentuim 4, 3.0 GHz
1 GB RAM
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS
I think changing to a better soundcard would help me, any thoughts?
What soundcard should I buy?
Would an AMD processor perform better?
I'm currently running Win2k. |
|
|
| qiushiming |
? that computer is super powerful for FL...
maybe add another gig of ram...perhaps windows xp pro? |
|
|
| Arctic Breeze |
| I'll try with Win XP, a friend of mine has got an AMD computer with the same CPU speed, but a better soundcard. We made a tune on his machine, the CPU load meter in FL went to 60% when the tune was opened. On my computer it went straight to 100% and it was impossible to play. Just lagging all the time. |
|
|
| allcentury18 |
i have a p4, 3.0ghz, 1gig ram and an Echo MIA MIDI sound card. dual 19" lcd's and m-audio bx8's. Virus TI soon too :)
get my set up. btw do not buy creative, u will make posts on here in a week about needing help and WE CAN'T HELP YOU IF U HAVE CREATIVE.
k, that was my warning |
|
|
| Icone |
Well, I have had no problems for as long as I had my Creative Audigy card, so I can't really compare with the post above.
I have an AMD 2600+ with 2GB RAM and it serves me really well! Though with some tracks the CPU meter tends to go to the max... Even with full buffering turned on.
Perhaps it might be best to get another gig of RAM? I wouldn't turn to WinXP perhaps, since I heard it uses more RAM than Windows2000. |
|
|
| allcentury18 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Icone
Well, I have had no problems for as long as I had my Creative Audigy card, so I can't really compare with the post above.
I have an AMD 2600+ with 2GB RAM and it serves me really well! Though with some tracks the CPU meter tends to go to the max... Even with full buffering turned on.
Perhaps it might be best to get another gig of RAM? I wouldn't turn to WinXP perhaps, since I heard it uses more RAM than Windows2000. |
a lot of the new sequencers are not compatable w/ 2000... i mean i think he should hold off until windwos 64bit comes out, then he can really cater a sound system for everything. |
|
|
| DaveBegic |
I think the PC you have right now is ample enough for production. I've a similar set up and it does me fine.. only difference is I have an Audiophile 2496 soundcard.
Could always just bounce fx like sweeps etc. to wav files to compensate on cpu usage.. I do and it works for me.
Dave. |
|
|
| groundzero74 |
At the moment i think performance is leaning towards AMD in the 200� price range (Ordinary shop in Belgium , http://www.forcom.be - Intel Pentium 4 - 630 series : 184� , AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 196�)
But if you want pure floating point power, you have to go with Intel, they are still king in that region (check out the CPU charts @ http://www.tomshardware.com)
On the other question : i think you will only need more than 1GB of ram if you intend to use many Soft Samplers (with a lot of Samples)... Soft Synths & FX don't use much that memory (Waves iRx excepted) and Sequencing Soft doesn't require that much either - Actually i can only be sure about Cubase SX here since i never used Fruity Loops .. but i can't imagine it's memory requirements topping the very bulky SX engine :(
though... since memory is dirt cheap these days (Corsair DDR 512MB PC 3200 � 54.95 ) why not ?
Also, don't worry about winXP using more memory than Windows 2000, it can be tweaked deeply (as can 2000) and my current winXP setup runs with about 86mb of ram in use when just booted, my other PC with win2000 uses 59MB of ram... is THAT the big difference ...when you have 1024MB (or maybe 2048mb) of ram... i don't think so
CPU Power & Harddisk speed are more important.
About winXP 64Bit ... don't bother at the moment it will take time for every Audio Software Company to change their engines to 64 Bit, and still ...in the beginning they will be buggy. Always wait with these kind of thing , wait for the first Service Pack of an OS before upgrading, do the same with Audio Soft.
You will find loads of XP DAW tuning tips after 1 simple google search. |
|
|
| Icone |
You can always get a 64bit processor and install 32bit windows on it, that way it'll probably not matter much whether your installed software is 32bit. You will still have the opportunity to switch later on.
I have always had a grudge against xp since we have had heaps of trouble with it on our P4 (2.4GHz) PC in our living room. Was unstable as hell - something I can better avoid when busy with music... Windows2000 has been incredibly stable with me so far. |
|
|
| groundzero74 |
Don't be fooled by the "64Bit capable" processors from AMD or the 6xx line of intel. Both SUPPORT 64Bit, but are not in any way True 64Bit CPU's.
If at some point in the future you decide to go with the 64bit flow, buy a TRUE 64bit CPU , that will be commonly available in the coming year... and by that time the software might have caught up.
Intel wasn't even planning on releasing a 64Bit capable CPU since still supporting 32Bit (without emulating it) would have serious impact on the performance. Then they saw their sales drop when AMD released their 64bit capable CPU , because people though these just had to be better than any "just 32Bit CPU"... marketing techniques... flashy numbers :wtf:
Intel released their 6xx series some time later.
Btw ... The only time i have crashed my winXP setup was when i was overclocking my CPU & Memory.. otherwise NO CRASHES... ever, but TWEAK! |
|
|
| Project 7 |
| Buy Cubase SX, FL is noted to sometimes double cpu load over cubase.. |
|
|
|
|
