Choosing the CPU specs.

C

Chinmay Bhosale

New member
Hello everyone! I'm Chinmay, and I'm from India. I just joined the forum, so i'm new to this.

The topic i'm posting about is the computer. I currently have a Dell Optiplex 745 SFF CPU with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz processor and 2 GBs of RAM. The interface I'm gonna be using is a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 or Pro 24 DSP. Probably the Pro 40 for drum tracking. I'm mostly gonna be producing some modern metal music and electronic music.
So, my question is that should I upgrade my current CPU or should I get a new one with a quad core processor? When I tried plugins like Nexus and Massive on FL Studio 10 with the current setup, it went all overload and started clipping alot, I couldn't make any preset work on both the plugins. Also, when I put heavy delay on a track, the same problem occurs. I don't want any latency and tracking problems with the interface. Also, while mixing and mastering the songs.
So, what do you all suggest? Let me know soon.

Thank you!
 
Upgrade your processor, because I think you're goin to need it. If you can, try and order from Microcenter. AMD is a good chip. It's cheap and gets the job done.
 
It all depends on what your motherboard can hold. Check to see what's the highest grade CPU your motherboard's socket is compatible with and make your decision from there.

Not all CPU's fit into all motherboards. They change up the socket-types depending on the CPU family. (ie... not all i7's have the same socket type).

If you can get a quad core CPU that has a clock speed of 3.2Ghz or higher, you should notice a significant enough improvement. If you're on a budget, I'd recommend building your own computer based on the AMD Phenom II 955 chip or above. That was my last computer build, and I technically could do anything I needed to do music-wise without much real limitation. It was the moment I finally said to myself "wow, this computer is fast". Of course eventually I outgrew it, otherwise i'd still be on it, but I didn't leave it b/c it was slow... moreso b/c i had some extra money and wanted to max out my possibilities so I went over to an i7. But anything from AMD Phenom II (quad core) and up should be a fantastic improvement to your dual core.

---------- Post added at 05:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 AM ----------

and yeah... it looks like you want to start to go harder on the VST's.... so you will definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, benefit from a good quad core processor. On that AMD, I could finally run a full project loaded with Nexus, Omnisphere, Kontakt, Sylenth, etc. No real issues. Could have many 10-15 heavy-duty instruments loaded at once without not much of an issue. I onlybegan to run into issues with i'd have a heavy-loaded mix flooded with Waves Kramer instances all over the place... had to raise the buffer... and it would crash when trying to bounce. So... it's not like the AMD is the end all be all... but I guarantee you'll get much much more work done on it then your optiplex dual core 2.0Ghz.


You'll always want to consider a minimum of 8GB of ram.... and a 7200rpm HD minimum. SSD's are a very very nice upgrade as well and finally somewhat afforable. They're great to have as an operating system drive, and then use the 7200rpm to record audio to and hold sample libraries of your VST. They are a treat... but not 100% necessary for fast audio work. It makes your operating system much faster... but the DAW will run relatively the same (only really benefiting from the libraries and audio being on a dedicated drive... and faster bouncing).
 
What specs does your pc run on now? if you don't mind me asking. Also how much did you pay for it? I'm looking to upgrade asap.
 
I'd assume you're running into more issues from lack of Ram that the CPU, but could be wrong. A Core 2 Duo should be able to handle Massive and Nexus.

Another problem could be that you're using FL Studio. It needs tweaking in the setup depending on the computer sometimes. If you do upgrade, I'd scratch the idea of adding a CPU and just get something new. At least an i5 with 8gb Ram.
 
Speaking of the i5, is there a big difference between that and the i7 performance wise?
 
yes, depending on who you ask. We're at the point where the difference is a second or 2 when loading things and being able to run 35 plugs vs. 40. I'm from a different era, I'm still making music on an iMac Core 2 3.0ghz with 16gb ram. I get not 1 glitch, pop, crackle, ect. I'll never completely "utilize" this thing with the stuff I do. Funny because others boast of making 80 track songs where I hear nothing that couldn't have been done in less than 16.

I have an i5 1.6ghz 2gb Macbook Air that my wife uses that I have Reason on. It runs no different IMO even with the SSD drive, but I'm not running Pro Tools, and tons of plugs mixing on it, so I can't say I'm an expert on the subject. Mainly because I haven't ran into enough problems to upgrade computers yet, my Core 2 Duo is doing just fine.

Others will probably tell you otherwise and for another $1,000 investment, you'll notice you can load a grand piano patch in 2.2 seconds instead of 2.8, lol.

When recording live music using multiple takes and tracks, you're going to have to utilize busses, dubs, auxs, overlays, ect. even on a 8 coredepending on how you work. If you're a 20 effect per track guy, a jump from a core 2 to i5 won't help much. If you utilize routing and don't goe for alot of CPU draing stuff...a jump from a core 2 to an i5 still won't help much.

But if you do plan on jumping, just get an entire new computer. No reason to test out the mobo on something that came stocked with a Core 2 2.0ghz and 2gb ram. If anything, I'd just upgrade/max out Ram.
 
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