i need a new computer

[guitardude]

my old p4 and my 1.6m just wont cut it. drum samples and effects just kill the cpu. so i really need to upgrade and i am looking for advice.

i have found i can get a refurbished dell pc with a quad core q6600 and 6gb ram for $500. single 500gb hdd and vista...

would it be worth it to get something like this dell? or is it overkill and should i build my own computer?

i am trying to keep costs down, but i want to make sure its fast cause i dont like waiting 15 minutes for drum samples to load and everytime i press stop and play to freeze the computer for 20 seconds. what do you EXPERTS recommend?

[String7th]

I just built my first computer. Got help understanding the basics, but after I understood this compatable with that and specifics, I was able to custom build my computer for my needs. Dell and pre-built upgrade all parts equaly, where I needed a super-fast processor,but a cheap $30 video card.
It's a fun process to build a computer.

[brandondrury]

I'm seeing more and more computers being sold for prices that I can not build them for. Ultimately, for the time being anyway, I think I would still build my own because there are often things that really bug me about many of the name brand computers. However, if price is an issue the computer you are looking at does look like a good price.

It is generally recommended to have an audio hard drive independent of the Windows hard drive. I like to take it a step further and have a 3rd hard drive for samples only. These help with performance but may be overkill depending on your needs.

The computer you have listed is a modern, fast computer. Is it overkill? If you are doing synths and sample work I'd say that nothing is overkill. At $500, the price is right.

Brandon

[BillyShears]

i have found i can get a refurbished dell pc with a quad core q6600 and 6gb ram for $500.

Don't waste your money on getting 6GB of memory - XP and Vista (being 32 bit OS) will not see all of it. To make use of more than 4GB you need to be using a 64 bit OS and seeing how much trouble some people have had with that, I wouldn't even bother - that's assuming your sound card manufacturers even makes a 64 bit driver.

If 4GB is not enough, get a second PC or change the way you do things. For example do you really need to have a reverb plugin on each individual track - group a few tracks and send them through a single reverb. Render a guitar track that has an effect on it instead of having the plugin running until you mix down - might be just me but I always end up running around in circles if I have too much control and access to every parameter all the time.

[guitardude]

yes i noticed too that i could not build a comparable computer to the dell for anywhere near $500. i was thinking of adding an extra drive later and etc.

but i was reading the on the cubase website, and apparently, cubase sx3 (which i use) cannot use more than like 2.3gb of ram period. and also apparently, no cubase product can properly use all cores in a multi-core processor without cpu spikes. there are tons of complaints over on the cubase forum specifically about these intel quad cores that i am interested in. so i am just completely confused now!!!!!!

Originally Posted by BillyShears

Don't waste your money on getting 6GB of memory - XP and Vista (being 32 bit OS) will not see all of it. To make use of more than 4GB you need to be using a 64 bit OS and seeing how much trouble some people have had with that, I wouldn't even bother - that's assuming your sound card manufacturers even makes a 64 bit driver.

this is also a good point, i read about this too. so there is another reason not to go out and buy a nice new computer. also most plug-ins dont even work right under 64-bit as they are not made for it. so now what? do i just upgrade my computers i have now?

ahhhh i hate computers, they are trying to pull me away from the music! what do i do now?!

[BillyShears]

ahhhh i hate computers, they are trying to pull me away from the music! what do i do now?!

If it was me, forget about 64 bit and quad cores and stick with SX 2.3 if its working for you. Go out and get a duel core as they are ridiculously cheap and if Cubase doesn't support quad cores properly you haven't lost anything. You could just buy a motherboard, CPU and memory if you are happy with everything else and the money you save could be put to something you might actually need, like a nice pre-amp or whatever it may be.

good luck

[guitardude]

i just overclocked my processor from 1.6 to 2.13ghz. upgrading to 2gigs ram, and i got a 7200rpm hdd. should hold me over till x-mas!

[brandondrury]

if Cubase doesn't support quad cores properly you haven't lost anything.

I hear (emphasis on "hear") that Cubase does support quad core properly.

You could just buy a motherboard, CPU and memory if you are happy with everything else and the money you save could be put to something you might actually need

This is what I do.

Brandon

[guitardude]

i also "hear" they have some sort of fix from intel out for this problem. something about not being high enough in the priority list blah blah. but i dont feel like wasting my money right now...

the extra .513ghz helps a lot in loading cubase and samples, so another gig of ram and 7200rpm drive should help a ton in loading samples and files. i figure my 5400rpm internal drive is my biggest crutch, so thats being eliminated within the next week.