CPU for Music Making

[nicmcv]

Hiya Everybody

I'm going to be upgrading soon. After lots of reading in the forums I'm still unsure as to what processor would be good. There are many that represent excellent value Intel and AMD. I here the e2180 is good for overclocking, is it worthwhile, i've never overclocked, is it easy?

I make music on my pc (or at least that's what I call it ), at the mo I have an AthlonXP3200 (stock) will I notice a significant increase in in performance when switching. I use lots of plugins in Cubase and Wavelab, these tax the CPU so I can only run a finite amout before my pc starts to buckle. I'm hoping to be able to at least double the amount of plugs I can run.

There are many factors which will determine the performance so I'm just going for ball park idea's at the mo. If you have any recomends for a MOBO and RAM to go woth the CPU I'm all ears.

All the best.

Nic

 

[nicmcv]

Sounds like quite a chip

Thanks for the wisdom.

I had a quick look, quad core's are pretty good value for money, good price for that one at the mo. I guess if I got that I'd have to overclock it as it looks ripe for it.

As I understand it Cubase doesn't yet take advantage of multicore 64bit processing. Does Vegas take advantake of multi-cores? To make matters slightly more complicated with regard to plugins, i understand that you only achieve true 64bit performance when everything in the software chain is 64bit (DAW plugs etc). This is what I'm really interested in. When a system can run like this I beleive it knocks spots off everything and run a shed load of plugs.

I'm going to switch to Sonar as they have had active support for Vista and Multi-cores since V5 (now v 7). I don't really want to change, but as stienberg have not persued this as activly as other companies my hand is forced.

I see you have 2gb of RAM, I fancy 4gb, as far as i know this is optimum for what I need to do, however it is all app dependent. You run video apps which must chew up a lot so I guess 2gb must be good. Ill defo run Vista64.

I hear SATA RAM disks are rather good for speeding up OS and Apps, do you know much about them, or is it just another computer distraction vying for my attention, taking precious time away from music creation

Also have you tried sticking in a USB stick to give Vista a RAM boost, no idea if this works. Sound interesting though.

Thanks again.

Nic

 

[nicmcv]

Thanks mancubus & ozzie

Thats given me plenty to chew on. I think I'll go in the direction you chaps recommend. Given that it takes some time for software and drivers to appear for a new OS I'll stick to simple stuff for now (CPU RAM and MOBO).

I put a PC together for my Dad a few months ago and was really quite impressed with how easy it was to build and how well Vista ran after I customised/optomised it.

I guess it's a diffrent beast when you need to get down to the nitty gritty. Vista runs slow on my lappy (initialy), but thats cause it's one of the first dual core's and only has 1gb of ram. I think I'll upgrade it to Vista 64 Ulitmate as it's on Vista 32.

It seems that quite a few PC owners who use them for creating music do overclock. would you recommend it?

Thanks again for the advice.

Nic

 

[nicmcv]

Definitely. Say you got a Q6600, which runs at 2.4Ghz - you might well be able to overclock that to 3.6Ghz. So the CPU is going to process your music 50% faster, whether the app is multi-core enabled or not. It does take a little while to get everything stable and configured correctly, but think of the hours you'll save with that kind of performance improvement.

Given that it's 50% I think I just might do it. I don't have to run it OC'd all the time so it would really be worth it for complex arrangements with loads of plugs. When I just use the net I could turn the settings down.

Thanks

 

[nicmcv]

You chaps have convinced me

This is excellent feedback, thanks so much MaNcUbUs, OzZiE, Mattus and stevenazari1

I have been resisting OC’ing for a while now, but the prospect of doing it to a quad core like the q6600 is too tempting. Intel are practically goading people to do it. 2.4 up to 3.6 is amazing. Given that it’s spread over 4 cores makes my mind boggle.
Last time I had a bash (at oc’ing ) four years ago, it all seemed relatively straight forward. Now it is practically standard for peeps what build their own computers to ramp those parts right up. There is a lot more choice for OC’ing too. As time passes computing power is dropping in price a lot, so these days it just knocks me out what I can do on a PC. I remember buying half a meg of RAM for my Amiga, £125. £125 for half a meg, flippin heck, I can get 4gb for £80ish.

Speaking of Amiga’s, I think I remember chat from the time about true multitasking. This appears to have actually happened recently as computer power is getting nice and fat. I’m a bit out of touch really as to what PC’s or MAC’s are capable of. I saw a clip on youtube of a chaps PC. He had 3 monitors and had a fast processor and ram etc. What got my attention was he was running a game as his desktop background, not manic miner but like some Jucied up monty sized shooter. I tried running as many apps and video’s on my dad’s vista pc I built for him and got bored opening so many different apps before it started to glitch. I can’t wait to get one.

Nic

 

[nicmcv]

You are right there. Think I might go for an RME Hammerfall at some point. For the meantime I might have to get a 2496 or summit.

 

[nicmcv]

Remember to get a decent soundcard too. No point in getting an amazing system if you get a cheap m-audio or something. Spend at least £150 so that you can get the low buffers and latency.

Just out of interest, I've got a Audigy 2 (can't remember the exact model) and I'm running it with the KX driver. I manage to get 21. ms latency. I think that's not to shabby for an old rig like mine. However, I want more, or less. erm.

What card do you use?

 

[nicmcv]

2.9ms latency, thats almost non exsistant

I had no idea. the 828 is smashing, I've read about it. For the price the range of features make it unrivaled. You can connect it to anything you chuck at it. I also heard it has excellent timing.

I'll have to save up for a wee while to afford that one. I quite fancy this
http://www.tcelectronic.com/Default.asp?Id=11055
as you can use the compressor and reverb when you are tracking, and you have the option of recording it with or without fx while monitoring with fx. That caught my attention.

I checked out confetti, do you work there? It looks amazing. From the photos it looks like there is a stack of good gear there. Wish I lived in Nottigham, i would pop in just for a gawp. Bet the courses are good to.

 

[nicmcv]

Nice one ozzie, sounds like you've got a superb setup.

I'm kind of trying to get my wee studio into gear. I've been tootleing with music for the last 15 years in some form or another.Played drums at school. Left school bought a Yamaha DX100, my first synth, it was fantastic. I then got a rack guitar fx unit, Roland G8 or something, made the DX100 sound so good. That made me buy a guitar, a Mexican Strat (i'm using a lovley epiphone SG at the mo that i've borrowed from a pal) . Then I got an Alesis MMT8 sequencer.

I could bang on for ages about all that, I do dance style music myself, but I also work with other friends. One band does Punk/Surf/Psycadelia, another Country/Psych/Groove and another kinda does out there Grime. I just love the whole process, Writing, playing, tracking and mixing. Any type of music, I'm into most of it.

I'm trying to get some tracks in shape so I can look at it as a complete body of work of the last year.

I looked at the motu 828 again, it's only a wee bit more cash than the TC. It has so many more options than I first thought. Also, I can take it about with the laptop and record stuff. The monitor led's seem to give excellent feedback. I don't trust my cubase master fader (i'm being over picky ), never have, i like a bunch of led's vu etc.

The Fireface products are rather good, they are made from old tanks, rock solid construction with balanced and neutral sound. I've looked at the Hammerfall card a few times and been tempted. Thats a nice setup you made Big Wayne!

It would be cool to see pic's of your setup Ozzie, I'll take pic's of mine. It's very homemade and ramshackle. But I love it and it does the job. like all home studio's it has a comfy black ikea executive chair. This is a must. If I could make only one recomedation to people setting up a home studio, it's get a comfy chair. Oh yeah and make sure you have a place for your beverage/sustanance of choice.

Thanks to all for the great advice, OCUK forums is unique.
Big Wayne is right, I think it's a good idea to have a thread in sound city about this. I'm quite inexperienced here at OCUK forums, I've not posted before really anywhere on the net, just been a lurker and I'm really quite surprised by the respose (put a big smile on my fizzer). I could help do the thread if you can point me in the right direction?

Nic

 

[nicmcv]

I've got bits of equipment, Couple of synths, 16 track rack mixer, a Boss DR55, Roland G8 fx, a Bass and a Strat. I have a BCF2000 to control Cubase.

To get where I need to be I need a Spanky new PC, FW soundcard and a pair of monitors (and to treat the accoustics in my room). Oh yeah and actualy learn an instrument properly.

I'd love a decent mic or 6, i'm going to have to get at least an SM58 to start with and then maybe a U87 (har har) or one of those Blue Bottles (i wish). It'll take a wee bit of time to get those.

It'll all take time but it's worth the effort, due to my limitations with equipment I've had to be creative in other ways. It's all good.

I've started a thread in Sound City for Sound Cards for Music Making...
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10744145#post10744145

Nic