Do I need more ram, or a better processor?
- Thread starter NSGUITAR
- Start date
KBMoser
Audiophile
well it depends...
see with windows 32 bit applications there is a set allocation of ram. meaning, 4 gigabytes is all you can utilize. no joke. this is fact.
so this is why 64 operating system bit kicks ass, to a point.... technology hasnt caught up with itself yet. windows 64 bit applications have a virtually topless limit and since you can run 32 bit applications with a 64 bit operating system, you can utilize your resources to your best..... but theres another catch, you can only do this if your DAW software of choice is 64 bit as well. even then, the variety and price of 64 bit plugins.... sucks.
but theres still an advantage of running 64 bit operating system with 32 bit software. with windows 32 bit, theres a cap of 4gb of ram. But roughly .6 gb is reserved for windows to run and function. so youre essentially only using 3.4 gb on any windows 32 bit platform. no matter how much ram you have, you cant use any more than 4, period.
but with 64 bit, windows 7 specifically, reserves 1-1.2gb of system processing. so, this adds the .6 gb back to the 4 gb limit with 32gb applications allowing you to utilize a full 4 gb if you have more on you MOBO.
plus if you have rewire devices you can certainly save or rather, ADD processing power. so realistically you wont really need more than 5-6 gb until 64 bit plugins are developed more.
now your chip is probably the problem here though. i upgraded last month and built a super computer. windows 7 64 bit, AMD 6 PHYSICAL (more than intel) core 3.0gb overclocked chip easily to 4 gb a piece, 8 gb of ram, 1 gb ddr5 pny grahpics card as well as other goodies....yeah its silly but it doesnt lag on a godamn thing.
lol
so my recommendations?.. add 1 gb of ram for $30, buy a quad core that fits your mother board, and definitely get 64 bit operating system and youll be in the same boat as everyone out there.....
EDIT: oh and dude, get rid of vista.
or you could pay way too much money on a UAD card or similar.
see with windows 32 bit applications there is a set allocation of ram. meaning, 4 gigabytes is all you can utilize. no joke. this is fact.
so this is why 64 operating system bit kicks ass, to a point.... technology hasnt caught up with itself yet. windows 64 bit applications have a virtually topless limit and since you can run 32 bit applications with a 64 bit operating system, you can utilize your resources to your best..... but theres another catch, you can only do this if your DAW software of choice is 64 bit as well. even then, the variety and price of 64 bit plugins.... sucks.
but theres still an advantage of running 64 bit operating system with 32 bit software. with windows 32 bit, theres a cap of 4gb of ram. But roughly .6 gb is reserved for windows to run and function. so youre essentially only using 3.4 gb on any windows 32 bit platform. no matter how much ram you have, you cant use any more than 4, period.
but with 64 bit, windows 7 specifically, reserves 1-1.2gb of system processing. so, this adds the .6 gb back to the 4 gb limit with 32gb applications allowing you to utilize a full 4 gb if you have more on you MOBO.
plus if you have rewire devices you can certainly save or rather, ADD processing power. so realistically you wont really need more than 5-6 gb until 64 bit plugins are developed more.
now your chip is probably the problem here though. i upgraded last month and built a super computer. windows 7 64 bit, AMD 6 PHYSICAL (more than intel) core 3.0gb overclocked chip easily to 4 gb a piece, 8 gb of ram, 1 gb ddr5 pny grahpics card as well as other goodies....yeah its silly but it doesnt lag on a godamn thing.
lol
so my recommendations?.. add 1 gb of ram for $30, buy a quad core that fits your mother board, and definitely get 64 bit operating system and youll be in the same boat as everyone out there.....
EDIT: oh and dude, get rid of vista.
or you could pay way too much money on a UAD card or similar.
Honestly, just get a new computer. BUT either wait until the AMD Bulldozer is released or the Intel Ivy Bridge comes out. That should drive prices down. The Intel Sandy Bridge is a fine platform which is relatively inexpensive and has decent graphics on chip (for DAW use at least), but has been pulled because of SATA 2 issues with the chipset.
The C2D and 4GB RAM will show their age. I also run an AMD 6-core (1090T) and its FAST AS A SHARK. Extra cores really help with a well coded DAW ( like REAPER
), but I'd wait a little bit if I was thinking of an upgrade now. Like 2 months....
If you're pressed and a project needs more I'd go with the AMD 1055 and an ASRock board. Memory hasn't been cheaper. You could get away with a nice system in the $500 range (provided you skimp on graphics and reuse your existing case/power supply).
The C2D and 4GB RAM will show their age. I also run an AMD 6-core (1090T) and its FAST AS A SHARK. Extra cores really help with a well coded DAW ( like REAPER
), but I'd wait a little bit if I was thinking of an upgrade now. Like 2 months....If you're pressed and a project needs more I'd go with the AMD 1055 and an ASRock board. Memory hasn't been cheaper. You could get away with a nice system in the $500 range (provided you skimp on graphics and reuse your existing case/power supply).
Also next gen (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Bulldozer) will ALL require new motherboards so if you want at least some future proofing (like, more than a year), you'll have to keep that in mind.
KBMoser
Audiophile
get a quad chip, plenty of power for anything we can do now or next couple of years for sure. buy a whole new system isn't really necessary or worth it. unless something breaks, just upgrade. but besides the chip you can skimp on the ram, just buy something other than vista like widows 7. for $300 plus a stick of ram you'll be cooking a lot faster than you used to.
EDIT: 64 bit windows**
EDIT: 64 bit windows**
32-bit Windows can only access up to 3.2GB of RAM (and it's even less once you account for system processes and programs that take up another couple hundred MB of memory). If you simply switched to 64-bit OS and if your motherboard supports extra memory capacity then you could have more memory for your programs. For example Windows 64-bit can allocate 4GB for every 32-bit program running in the 64-bit environment.
I don't think your system is that obsolete yet depending on the processor. If it's a Core2Duo then I think you might be at the point where both CPU and memory could be a limiting factor when you use newer virtual instruments.
I don't think your system is that obsolete yet depending on the processor. If it's a Core2Duo then I think you might be at the point where both CPU and memory could be a limiting factor when you use newer virtual instruments.
I'm shopping around to upgrade myself.
I am going smaller SSD (solid state not steven slate) for the OS
Raid 0 for recording. (4tb: 2 x 2tb 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb drives)
ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
I was planning on getting 8gig of ram. What is the fastest type that this motherboard supports?
I will be using this CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Raid 0 doubles the chance of losing everything. I back up automatically online via sugar sync.
I am going smaller SSD (solid state not steven slate) for the OS
Raid 0 for recording. (4tb: 2 x 2tb 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb drives)
ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
I was planning on getting 8gig of ram. What is the fastest type that this motherboard supports?
I will be using this CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Raid 0 doubles the chance of losing everything. I back up automatically online via sugar sync.
The board is supposedly rated to support memory OC'ed to 2000MHz.
Thuban processors have a memory controller that natively runs at 1333 MHz, but people have easily sent it over that 2000 MHz mark with boards that support the speeds. The memory controller is on the processor though, so overclocking the momory also overclocks part of the processor.
I personally don't overclock anything (I'm not to keen on shortening the lifespan of my devices) but if you feel so inclined, bear in mind memory speed matters very little outside of synthetic benchmarks on any system, and the Thuban in particular, which generally favors lower timings to flat out memory speed.
That said you may get tighter timings from memory rated for faster speeds.
Bear in mind that while using your DAW you can forget that Turbo Core crap, as well as cool and quiet. Those two will render your DAW environment unusable.
Thuban processors have a memory controller that natively runs at 1333 MHz, but people have easily sent it over that 2000 MHz mark with boards that support the speeds. The memory controller is on the processor though, so overclocking the momory also overclocks part of the processor.
I personally don't overclock anything (I'm not to keen on shortening the lifespan of my devices) but if you feel so inclined, bear in mind memory speed matters very little outside of synthetic benchmarks on any system, and the Thuban in particular, which generally favors lower timings to flat out memory speed.
That said you may get tighter timings from memory rated for faster speeds.
Bear in mind that while using your DAW you can forget that Turbo Core crap, as well as cool and quiet. Those two will render your DAW environment unusable.
kaomao
Member
Guys if you want to overclocks your systems, you need "bigger" powersupplies, more wattage are always handy when doing overclocking!
Especially with asus you can't have a stable system with average powersupplies. Corsairs or enermax is the way to go.
Especially with asus you can't have a stable system with average powersupplies. Corsairs or enermax is the way to go.
