Brain overload - what PC?

[bmrzycki]

Just saw this on Max PC: Don't Expect Ivy Bridge Before March. It fights right in with ryandfl's comments. If you need the machine before then go with the Core i7 (Sandy Bridge) model.

[justin3am]

In the office we use Dell T3500 and HP z800 workstations. Very fast, very reliable machines.

[Nielzie]

Difficult to tell because I don't know the CPU footprint of DIVA yet..

My Intel Core i7 920 can handle ACE reasonably well, but concerning DIVA.. should I be afraid?

[xh3rv]

I've heard good things for a while now about solid-state drives in DAWs but haven't actually seen it ... I would probably want an SSD drive, an economically sized fast writing drive, and especially in a multiple-PC environment some big slow external thing in an ideal setup.

Something about spec'ing a CPU for DIVA before it's completely finished is a bit of a yellow light for me. There's some pretty economical stuff that I'd be pretty happy with for ACE, Tyrell sorts of CPU usage but I sort of feel like, in my position, the wise choice is just expecting DIVA to sound procreatively fantastic.

[The Chubu]

Howard the next iteration of the Sandy Bridge processors are supposedly coming out next month..They are suppose to provide a whole heap of bang for the buck.....

I dont think so, next Sandy Bridge E will be a high end proccessor. We're talking about stuff to replace i7 990X. The "cheap" one is going to cost 300 usd. Then other at 600 usd, and another one at 1000 usd.

Thats a market in wich AMD has no place, so no good "bang for the buck" thing there, intel just puts pricing as they please.

[Shabdahbriah]

Howard the next iteration of the Sandy Bridge processors are supposedly coming out next month..They are suppose to provide a whole heap of bang for the buck.....

I dont think so, next Sandy Bridge E will be a high end proccessor. We're talking about stuff to replace i7 990X.

That's my understanding as well, that the "extreme" editions are to come out first, with the top end appearing at $1000.00 +/-, and the "consumer" editions following after the hype of being first with the hottest.

[Howard]

My Intel Core i7 920 can handle ACE reasonably well, but concerning DIVA.. should I be afraid?

i7-920? No, you should not be afraid

[GruvSyco]

Don't you have that big beast of a power mac? You could always bootcamp unless you specifically have the need to run both simultaneously.

[grandmasterbird]

I think they're UK based but I buy my machines from Novatech.

I did some comparisons today between an i5 music pc from Inta-audio (about £850) and an i5 gaming machine from Novatech (£499).

After looking at the specs the only real difference was a bigger harddrive and dual screen graphics card in the Inta-audio machine. They both had the same RAM, motherboard etc etc although the cases were different (one being a 'silent case') as were the power supplies but I think they would basically do the same thing.

I'm no computer boffin so there may be more to it than that. Going on my own experiences though it's worth getting something mid-range that perhaps isnt specifically built for music. If you do go top of the range or purpose built you'll always be paying over the odds.

These days as long as it's some form of quad core with at least 4gb ram and a decent motherboard you're laughing!

[zvenx]

Howard the next iteration of the Sandy Bridge processors are supposedly coming out next month..They are suppose to provide a whole heap of bang for the buck.....

I dont think so, next Sandy Bridge E will be a high end proccessor. We're talking about stuff to replace i7 990X. The "cheap" one is going to cost 300 usd. Then other at 600 usd, and another one at 1000 usd.

Thats a market in wich AMD has no place, so no good "bang for the buck" thing there, intel just puts pricing as they please.

for me a $600 processor with the power I imagine it will have IS bang for the buck..... not for you? Since I have been doing music professional all my computers for music have cost over $3,000....and yes I know $600 isn't the entire cost, but I imagine it will be about $2700 in an adk system. which for ME is huge bang for the buck.
ymmv
rsp

[jooster]

Funny, all this talk about waiting for the fastest possible processor to arrive. Unless you are attempting to beat IBM's deep blue in a chess match, I suggest never to wait for what you think you need if it is available now. Most of us need decent speed, not smoking speed... (I know, it makes you feel macho, but it doesn't make music!)

I just went through this exercise of upgrading my PC. Have had DIY PC's for about the last 15 years and my current old one started to crap out (hard drive failures stemming from the board). The machine I spec'd out came to around 1500. But what started to gnaw on me is the sad fact that a PC owner is sortof like a Fiat owner; you have to accept some regular maintenance tasks and a slowly degrading performance over time.

I just don't want that anymore. I don't want to solve driver issues and other unexplainable things Windows does. I don't like the weekly/monthly upgrades that potentially kill some standard function or moves things around a bit. I want a reliable machine that requires no tinkering and allows me to make music whenever I have a little bit of time and inspiration.

So yes, I jumped on the mac. All the Adobe, and music/video apps I had were transferable or needed an upgrade anyway so that made the change over relatively painless. And I must say, the mac is a kick-ass machine that appears to just do what you want it do without funny surprises.

This is not a rant against MS Windows, far from it. I am in the "industrial software" business and this is all MS Windows based. I know that these systems can be set up with a high degree of stability and operability - but you have to close the OS down to a defined set of permitted apps; that is not a typical home/studio situation.

If you are at a fork in the road, take that opportunity to really think things through. If you want to make music, don't let building a PC or waiting for a faster chip set sit in your way!


Anyway, just my 2 cents...

[zvenx]

I think Howard says he already has a mac and wants a PC as well.

oh I agree with what you say above (all my other computers except my DAW is mac), but they are going to jump all over you in 5,4,3.
rsp

[VitaminD]

Funny, all this talk about waiting for the fastest possible processor to arrive. Unless you are attempting to beat IBM's deep blue in a chess match, I suggest never to wait for what you think you need if it is available now. Most of us need decent speed, not smoking speed... (I know, it makes you feel macho, but it doesn't make music!)

While I generally agree.. I also think this is dependent on the length between computer upgrades.

If one upgrades every 2-3 years, then it doesn't matter as much as if they upgrade ever 4-6 years.

I'd rather use my still-working Athlon x2 and wait 5-6 months for Ivy Bridge than jump on board with a Sandy Bridge (unless a great deal comes along!).. esp considering the performance differences between Tick and Tock revisions. It's between 15 and 30% depending on application!

Example: An i5-2500 performs as well as most of the first gen i7s!

Of course one could say this about any new technology - generally it will perform better than the last. However, the processor release cycle is picking up pace.. or well.. was.. not sure now that AMD screwed up.

[VitaminD]

I just don't want that anymore. I don't want to solve driver issues and other unexplainable things Windows does. I don't like the weekly/monthly upgrades that potentially kill some standard function or moves things around a bit. I want a reliable machine that requires no tinkering and allows me to make music whenever I have a little bit of time and inspiration.

And I still do not understand this.. This it is the general theme I hear out of people who spend large amounts of cash on an Apple-made Intel PC. Do most people find some way to break their computers?


I have a hodgepodge of 2-8 year old hardware (most 4-5 year range) running Windows 7 that I keep online 24/7 and I don't have issues like you describe. I haven't had to solve a driver issue since Windows XP and even then it was simply because M-audio had beta 64-bit drivers at the time (for my 8 year old soundcard). I think I've had bluescreens twice in the past year and that was after the PC uptime was well past 1 month w/o a reboot.


I don't do any tweaks.. I don't have any modifications (minus moving the taskbar to the TOP of the screen and switching file explorer to 'detail' mode ).. it just runs. So it baffles me when I read people are sick and tired of having to deal with the system I'm using that does none of that. With Windows XP I could see it.. with Windows98 I could definitely see it but these days it seems like Microsoft finally got their act together when it comes to O/S stability.

CoreAudio seems interesting as does the coherence of the in-house multimedia software. However, if you are using a 3rd party audio interface/soundcard, videocard, or any other device, then you are still subject to the potential ills of a 3rd party driver on an Apple PC right??

oh well.. probably will always baffle me.. that reasoning.

[UltraJv]

I think Steve Wozniak sums up Apple progress and reliability quite well here :

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... k-s-phones