my computer is dying!

[clarbaden]

i was just wondering if any of you had any ideas about how to speed my computer up.

I am currently using cubase sx3 and my usually session contains ezdrummer and a lot of processors e.g amplitubemetal , compressors and eq plugins.

i can set up my sessions fine but wen it comes to recording guitars over my ezdrums my my sound card starts to crash and the cpu usage in ther bottom corner sky rockets then the sound slows down and i cant do anything... its fucked.

so do you have any ideas how to speed up my laptop so this dosent happen, oh and i use a tapco link usb interface... cheers

 

[Line666]

There's not a lot you can do bar shutting down all programs running unnecessarily in the background, a reformat does wonders for speed on a windows pc as well, but the other choices you have are to either heighten the latency (which if your recording guitars is not really an option) or get a new pc that can cope with the strain.

What are your specs?

 

[narcossintese]

It´s a cpu overload. You need a better processor, but as you´re on a laptop I think the best route would be getting a new one : /

 

[AudioPhile777]

if its dying, shoot it... put it out of its misery.

buy a newer, faster, better one.

 

[006]

if its dying, shoot it... put it out of its misery.

buy a newer, faster, better one.

MacBook Pro anyone? :Smokin:

 

[SocialNumb]

Sure, I'll take 2! Oh wait I have 2!

Anyways, that.^

 

[jrt12]

i could have 3 or 4 high performance desktop PC's built for the price of one 17" MacBook Pro.

people love to say that PCs cant run programs as well as Macs, but now that i've optimized my settings for ProTools, I run sessions with dozens of tracks, multiple plugins and track guitars for DI (with amplitube running) with no latency at 128 samples. oh yea, and paid about $600 to get my machine built from the ground up 3 months ago (3.0 intel processor, 4 gig RAM, ASUS mobo, nvidia video card to support dual monitors).

$2000 for a macbook pro? the extra money must be for bragging rights

 

[mick thompson]

you could try freezing tracks - that would take some load off

 

[jrt12]

oops, i just realized you were talking laptops... unless you truly need the portability to take it diff places, i'd really recommend a desktop. so much easier and cheaper to add on and upgrade down the road.

 

[SocialNumb]

i could have 3 or 4 high performance desktop PC's built for the price of one 17" MacBook Pro.

people love to say that PCs cant run programs as well as Macs, but now that i've optimized my settings for ProTools, I run sessions with dozens of tracks, multiple plugins and track guitars for DI (with amplitube running) with no latency at 128 samples. oh yea, and paid about $600 to get my machine built from the ground up 3 months ago (3.0 intel processor, 4 gig RAM, ASUS mobo, nvidia video card to support dual monitors).

$2000 for a macbook pro? the extra money must be for bragging rights

It's bragging rights. Us rich people like to shit on the poor.

 

[clarbaden]

i think my best bet is a desktop because macs are lush and its our staple at college but you can get a top spec desktop or a low spec mac for the same money.... what specs should i be looking for a good quality desktop? and which specs are pointless for what we are doing? ty

 

[jrt12]

i agree with the posters above, ASUS mobo + Intel processor is a great combo. i would recommend the second or third fastest processor you can find (since the fastest ones are seriously ovepriced). as for overclocking, i dont konw enough about the pros/cons to speak to that.

if youre running XP (which most on here would recommend i believe, as vista isnt worth it and not sure which DAWs will support Windows7 right away), it doesnt make sense to get anything above 4 gig of RAM.

as for the video card, for me switching to a dual monitor setup almost 10 years ago has changed the way i work and would never want to go back. you can get a decent nvidia or ati card for about $50 or less that can provide that option.

more specifics as to your DAW would provide other limitations/needs, but I've only used PT, so i cant speak to the rest of them. plus there was a link in an earlier thread to a couple websites that list optimizations for streamlining performance for audio production. i have them bookmarked on my home cpu, so if no one else has that handy, i'll send it later.

 

[narcossintese]

Intel Core2Quad isn´t expensive and you'll never have to freeze a track again. The thing just handles real time all the plugins and vsti you can imagine at the same time.

 

[jrt12]

well i could only find one link, but it has all the critical settings you need for optimizing windows for audio production.

http://www.pcmus.com/TweakXP.htm

of course its not all inclusive, as there are other things specific to what DAW and version youre using. like i had to uninstall IE8 and revert back to IE7 because PT isnt compatible. i have no idea what my internet browser has to do with PT, but whatever... the shit works flawlessly now.