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#41054 - 09/14/14 04:13 PM CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R?
ADF Offline
advanced member

Registered: 04/13/12
Posts: 309
Admittedly I'm not the most computer savvy person out there; nor do I need the latest upgrades on hardware and software. I am very happy with Pro Tools 8 and original Eleven Rack, and would like to get at least 5-10 more years out of them.

However, as I've gotten better with PT's, my old laptop is struggling to keep up with the demands I place on it.

So my idea is to upgrade my computer. I've read people say they've had trouble with PT's with Windows 8, and the new Mac operating system won't run it; so that's out of the question.

Sweetwater sells a Creation Station computer for $999 with 4 GB RAM, as well as one for $1399 with the same 4 gigs. The only difference is the less expensive one has a dual core processor, while the more expensive one has a quad core.

The more expensive one also has 500 MB more storage, but that's not a factor for me, as I keep everything on an external hard drive.

I don't do crazy track counts - usually 15-30, and I like to run compressors and EQ's on each (I often sub-group in hopes of reducing CPU demands).

Here's the comparison of their computers, and it's the two on the right I am looking at. I can find computers at Best Buy equally or more powerful for much less but they all have Windows 8.

Any thoughts anyone has would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

http://www.sweetwater.com/creation_station/compare.php

Quick edit - how much difference does anyone think it will make if I spend the extra $400?


Edited by ADF (09/14/14 04:15 PM)

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#41055 - 09/14/14 06:00 PM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: ADF]
Marc C. Offline
advanced member

Registered: 07/03/13
Posts: 297
Loc: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
I can mention a few things right now, after a quick look at the specs on those...

Do not go for the CS200. A Core i3 chip isn't bad, but it's very much a low-end CPU. At the very least, go for an i5, and preferably an i7, for some serious grunt. Even the CS250 is not a great system, by today's standards, and it's very expensive for that hardware. The one saving grace for each of these systems is the connectivity. There's a lot of it, and that's always a good thing. Also, one would assume that Sweetwater has chosen hardware that all plays well together - again, that's good.

One thing to note is that not all software is optimized for multi-core use (indeed, some software is not even optimized for dual core). As a result, benchmarks can often be better on, say, a dual core system with a higher clock speed, than on a quad core (or more) system with a slightly lower clock speed.

On the whole, you may choose to go with a Sweetwater system already set up for music - and that's fine. I, being the cheap so & so that I am, would rather buy a normal system - at a much lower price - and add stuff as needed.

To wrap up... you may or may not know this, but you can always 'downgrade' to a Windows 7 operating system should you choose to do so. I don't have a Windows 8 system yet, but from what I've read it is actually a better OS for audio / video than Win7. It uses RAM much more efficiently and runs leaner. So... I guess you'll need to do a little homework to find out what runs on what and so on...

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#41056 - 09/14/14 06:41 PM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: Marc C.]
singtall Offline
veteran member

Registered: 09/06/10
Posts: 3540
Loc: Louisiana
i build computers, so take this with a grain of salt;

i would opt for Ram, then a solid state hard drive, then more cpu power.

i'm running 16gigs of ram, 256gig SSD, with a quad core processor. my windows boot time is less than 3 seconds from power on to login. i can run anything i want without any problems.

cost for my pc build? about $650 (not including the monitor).

what works well is any gamer system - minus the large video card. i'm using onboard built-in graphics, which is fine for audio purposes.

an example of an inexpensive gamer pc:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

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#41062 - 09/15/14 09:50 AM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: singtall]
jaminjimlp Offline
veteran member

Registered: 02/18/13
Posts: 1052
Loc: Georgia
First let me say +1 to what both these guys have stated.
I build my own computers too, this is a list of items to build a smoke'n comp for PT
I have the same cpu and mobo in mine and the same amount of ram but a different brand and my ssd is 180gig intel.

As soon as newegg.com makes it pubic I will post the wish list or you can go to newegg.com public wish lists and search "ADF"
they seem to be a few days behind on posting the submissions of public wish lists.

in short it's:
AMD 8 core 4GHZ
MSI AM3+ 990 mobo vw/ military spec components
32 gigs DDR3 1600 Ram
OCZ 240gig SSD
WD Black 1 TB hard drive w/5 year warranty
LG DVD burner
an inexpensive case w/ 480w power supply
an Inexpensive video card w/ HDMI so you can hook it too your TV for a main or second monitor

total $942.02

that's less than 1/2 the price of the most expensive one at SW and this will smoke it!!!

you put you OS and PT on the SSD and all your PT data files on the 1 TB drive
Win 7 64 is just $99 on top. the great thing about building it yourself is its easier than you think and the parts only fit where they go.


LG Internal Super Multi Drive SATA Model - GH24NSB0B $17.99

LOGISYS Computer CS305BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Enhanced SOHO Computer Case 480W Power Supply $44.99 -$10.00 Instant $34.99

WD BLACK SERIES WD1003FZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $99.99 -$20.00 Instant $79.99

OCZ VTX460-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Flash Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail $219.99 -$95.00 Instant $124.99

MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $169.09

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL $304.99

GIGABYTE GV-N210SL-1GI GeForce 210 1GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card $36.99 -$7.00 Instant $29.99

AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX $189.99 -$10.00 Instant $179.99

Subtotal: $942.02


Edited by jaminjimlp (09/15/14 10:08 AM)
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#41063 - 09/15/14 12:29 PM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: jaminjimlp]
Marc C. Offline
advanced member

Registered: 07/03/13
Posts: 297
Loc: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Way to go, Jim.... nicely done.

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#41066 - 09/15/14 01:08 PM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: Marc C.]
ADF Offline
advanced member

Registered: 04/13/12
Posts: 309
Originally Posted By: Marc C.
Way to go, Jim.... nicely done.


And a +1 to that!

Thanks SO much guys. That is some great info. Pressed for time now, but will be back in a bit.

Again, this is awesome info. Thanks from me, and no thanks from my Sweetwater rep! wink

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#41075 - 09/16/14 09:09 AM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: ADF]
TLTD Offline
veteran member

Registered: 02/20/11
Posts: 2742
Loc: Michigan
I found, at least for laptops, going from quad core 4GB RAM to i7/8GB RAM let me load tons more plugins in Pro Tools. You can always change to SSD or dual drives if there's a slot. I upgraded my custom built PC though and went for RAM and hard drives and was pleasantly surprised. The PC's AMD also, and on PC I don't see a big difference. Both systems are about the same in speed now, just the i7 loads more completely different programs faster, and a few extra plugins probably. My last step is to get a better CPU for my PC. The cool thing about a half way decent motherboard is running three or four hard drives if you want, I got three now. It DOES get taxed on the CPU sometimes though with that "tons of plugins" thing mostly because my son mixes IRs in with his recordings. Too many IRs on my i7 machine will start to audio glitch too, BUT I'm still only at 8GB RAM on the laptop and 4GB RAM on the PC.

What I'm trying to say, is more than likely Singtall is correct about that. At the point you bottleneck your CPU, you're already bottlenecked from low RAM and using just one hard drive or a slower hard drive. I'm sure an i7 PC is faster than my laptop but my laptop is an ASUS G73-XA1 built to be fast for gaming, dual 7200RPM drives (SSD in the future for sure). 3 seconds? WOW. I think...it's more about the streaming speed because at the point glitches happen, there's also TONS of tracks on those projects. You're going to bottleneck if you have a bunch of tracks and the hard drives are working over time with less ram and if you don't run dual drives and if they're slower drives.

ALSO...MSI motherboards have a trick you may have to do with the bios. We'll see how that goes first. Looks like decent specs. I was going to mention the SATA speed, but I don't know if it helps audio but can't hurt.

FYI, I typed a lot of this before I noticed you posted the new PC specs, but looks like you still might want to get another drive and clean install the OS on that one & use the big drive for audio ? Good luck smile
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#41076 - 09/16/14 10:15 AM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: TLTD]
Rushian Offline
veteran member

Registered: 01/26/10
Posts: 569
Loc: New Jersey, USA
I concur with the advice from all above.

I too build my own PC's and have even put together a duel hardrive HP laptop from e-bay repair parts (my original pro-tools machine). However over the last two years I have found it hard to beat the prices from iBuypower (disclaimer not affiliated with them or get any kickbacks! DAMN!). I selected and priced all the components and their cost for the exact same thing typically beat mines by ~$100! Go figure! So it has been a no brainer to just buy from them and they are reasonably flexible with customizing components and the OS. I have been buying the laptops for my business needs (3D CAD) and when I upgraded this year, I switched that machine to my 'music' laptop (Battalion Laptop) and retired the HP. I run the OS and protools from a SSD and the data is on a mechanical drive.


Edited by Rushian (09/16/14 10:16 AM)
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#41108 - 09/18/14 01:53 AM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: jaminjimlp]
ADF Offline
advanced member

Registered: 04/13/12
Posts: 309
Originally Posted By: jaminjimlp
First let me say +1 to what both these guys have stated.
I build my own computers too, this is a list of items to build a smoke'n comp for PT
I have the same cpu and mobo in mine and the same amount of ram but a different brand and my ssd is 180gig intel.

As soon as newegg.com makes it pubic I will post the wish list or you can go to newegg.com public wish lists and search "ADF"
they seem to be a few days behind on posting the submissions of public wish lists.

in short it's:
AMD 8 core 4GHZ
MSI AM3+ 990 mobo vw/ military spec components
32 gigs DDR3 1600 Ram
OCZ 240gig SSD
WD Black 1 TB hard drive w/5 year warranty
LG DVD burner
an inexpensive case w/ 480w power supply
an Inexpensive video card w/ HDMI so you can hook it too your TV for a main or second monitor

total $942.02

that's less than 1/2 the price of the most expensive one at SW and this will smoke it!!!

you put you OS and PT on the SSD and all your PT data files on the 1 TB drive
Win 7 64 is just $99 on top. the great thing about building it yourself is its easier than you think and the parts only fit where they go.


LG Internal Super Multi Drive SATA Model - GH24NSB0B $17.99

LOGISYS Computer CS305BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Enhanced SOHO Computer Case 480W Power Supply $44.99 -$10.00 Instant $34.99

WD BLACK SERIES WD1003FZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $99.99 -$20.00 Instant $79.99

OCZ VTX460-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Flash Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Retail $219.99 -$95.00 Instant $124.99

MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $169.09

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL $304.99

GIGABYTE GV-N210SL-1GI GeForce 210 1GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card $36.99 -$7.00 Instant $29.99

AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX $189.99 -$10.00 Instant $179.99

Subtotal: $942.02


Thanks SO much!

I'm not sure how that site works (as I mentioned, I'm a newbie at this!) but I just searched ADF and it's not up yet.

That is a fantastic price and better than the Sweetwater ones that are nearly three times as expensive.

Thanks again!

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#41122 - 09/18/14 12:24 PM Re: CPU vs. RAM - Which is More Vital for Running PT's and 11R? [Re: ADF]
jaminjimlp Offline
veteran member

Registered: 02/18/13
Posts: 1052
Loc: Georgia
Hey dude I just checked and it is there if you just search all capital letters ADF just don't forget to add Windows 7 professional 64-bit edition if you need it
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"May you be Blessed and our Lord Jesus keep you"

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