Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format
GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ The Computer Thread
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 19 2011, 06:08 AM
Hey guys, i consider myself a computer/technology freak, i love computers, cameras, interfaces, graphic cards etc, and i just got a new iMac, so i'm thinking, all of you guys are using GMC, that is like a modern alternative to learn guitar in a cool (and technological), and i know that each one of you has a computer, and several are discovering D.A.W's and pro-like software to use it with a guitar, so what are you running now?
I'm running:
21.5 iMac
i5 quad core processor
8gb ram
1tb HD and 1.5 TB external
AMD Radeon HD 6750M
and i'm LOVING it, i can run logic with like 100+ real time heavy plugins, YUMMY.
Posted by: thefireball Sep 19 2011, 12:05 PM
Dell Inspiron 1545 (about to get a new hard drive due to issues)
Hard drives: 500 GB internal (don't know if I'll go up to 750 GB), 1 TB external
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
4 GB RAM
Dual Core 2.10 GHz Processor (I WANT A QUAD CORE! I do a lot of multi-tasking. That'll be on my future desktop)
Reaper for DAW
POD Farm 2 for sounds (current expansion packs: Metal Shop, FX Junkie)
EZdrummer with expansion of DFH
A few other plugins I can use with my MIDI keyboard or enhance my recordings. Still experimenting though.
Posted by: SpaseMoonkey Sep 19 2011, 12:26 PM
Dell Studio 1555: 2.4 Dual Core , 320 Gb Internal HD , 8 Gb Ram , ATI Radeon HD 4570 512Mb , Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
Mac Mini: 2.4 Core 2 Duo , 320 Gb Internal HD , (2x) 1Gb External , 8Gb Ram , Nvidia GeForce 320M 256Mb , OSX.
The Dell is pretty much for gaming and the Mac is for everything else. When Diablo 3 is due out the Dell is getting replaced with something way newer and much more improved.
Posted by: Fran Sep 19 2011, 12:52 PM
A 3 year old laptop, dual core & 2 GB RAm. Still does the job 
Posted by: tonymiro Sep 19 2011, 02:32 PM
For the mastering studio:
Self built 32 bit dual core with 3 gig ram, 20 gig OS HD and 1 terabyte mirrored raid SATA array, dual monitor 2d graphics, Win XP, AES/EBU interface for the connection to external dedicated ADC and DAC. PC's 32 bit as we use a Plextor Premium 2 for the CD read/write and saide for the DAW. Sadie does some kernal level stuff with the Plextor to let it produce DDP2 and PQ properly and the Plextor also needs the 32 bit to do its C1, C2 and CU redbook reports.
Several external SATA HDs etc for backup.
Elsewhere:
1 self built 64 bit quadcore with 8 gig ram, 20 gig OS HD plus 1 terabyte of SATA HD, dual monitor 3d graphics, Win 7 premium. 1 Sony Vaio dual core laptop on win 7 premium.
Wife and daughter also have a few others: 1 desktop, 2 laptops and 2 netbooks between them.
Posted by: djohnneay Sep 19 2011, 02:48 PM
mine's self-built, so here are the specs :
AMD X6 hexcore processor
Sapphire HD5770 vapor-x graphics card
4 GB of RAM
750 GB internal harddisk (external yet to come)
windows 7 64-bit
I haven't found a single thing this computer couldn't do, and it can play all new games on maximum, so i'm happy 
when i just got it, the fans were very noisy, so i got some software to control the fans and some additional software to keep it up to speed.(like ultradefrag, avg, process lasso, crystaldisk and some more things)
Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Sep 19 2011, 02:58 PM
AMD dual core 5200+, 2.8Mhz,3GB Ram memory..It"s time to reinstall or upgrade, most annoying is overheat or freezing- in half of the work! The processor quickly heats up like crazy at 96 degrees on rendering stuff !
A month ago, I wore it in service to the replacement cooler and fan, and everything was OK for a one week, and then problems back ! I replaced the power supply and memory, but nothing. Before throwing the computer through a window, I tried something that I never did, and didn't not know how to do it: changing the paste between the cooler and the CPU! Guess what - operation was successful and the patient survived! 75-80 degrees in the full load! Thanks to Mighty Youtube !!! 
Posted by: dark dude Sep 19 2011, 02:59 PM
I might as well be running a cardboard box 
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 19 2011, 03:07 PM
Mac Mini: 2.4 Core 2 Duo , 320 Gb Internal HD , (2x) 1Gb External , 8Gb Ram , Nvidia GeForce 320M 256Mb , OSX.
The Dell is pretty much for gaming and the Mac is for everything else. When Diablo 3 is due out the Dell is getting replaced with something way newer and much more improved.
woa everyone knows about computers that's so cool!
and, i'm waiting for diablo 3 too!!, but looks like it's coming next year
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 19 2011, 03:58 PM
I'm running Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, 20" Single monitor as main computer.
I also use my little netbook a lot as well, Acer Aspire One with Intel Atom, 1GB RAM and 120GB HD.
Both machines run with Win XP 32bit.
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 19 2011, 04:05 PM
i see some people running XP?, why is that?, when i was a windows guy i was in love with 7 
Posted by: tonymiro Sep 19 2011, 06:18 PM
For us full compatability with all our existing hardware and software is the MUST have, not 3d graphics, processor speed and so on. So we run XP quite simply because MS changed a lot of low level and kernal level stuff, including a lot of audio routines, with Vista and 7. We have some specialised stuff - like the Plextor - that is essential in mastering because you have to be able to verify the BLER to ensure that your redbook premaster CDA isn't going to get rejected at the replicators. Only CD writer that can do that is Plextor and the Plextor relies on low level/kernal stuff that XP 32 bit does but Vista and 7 do not support. So we have to ensure that the OS can work with the Plextor - and that means XP. Same goes for sadie.
So Vista and 7 counts for very little here wrt the mastering daw. Main thing we're missing out on at the mo is not being able to use 64 quad and address more ram but for mastering that isn't that much of a deal anyway as most of our work doesn't need lots of simulatneous track lanes open and also a lot of ur processing is OTB.
Just to add - the mastering daw is built to match/work with the Plextor, sadie and the AES/EBU interface. Those 3 are essential and the pc and OS are specced to work with them and not the other way around. It's also why it's a self build and not pre made off the shelf job.
Posted by: Gitarrero Sep 19 2011, 06:18 PM
Ha, I've got the same comp as Brandon, an Inspiron 1545!
And Adrian, I am also desperately waiting for Diablo 3... 
Posted by: SirJamsalot Sep 19 2011, 06:28 PM
I'm on XP - primarily because my computer is about 7 years old - I got mine just before dual core became "in" - I'm running dual Pentium 4 Prescott Dt's (660) with two drives - main being an 80 GIG! LOL. Waiting for my 7 year old primary drive to take a dump, then it's time to go for a new system. I've got like 4GB ram. I have just enough Horse Power to record with Cubase - I back all my stuff up on a 1T network storage device. I'm also running dual monitors, which is awesome - that way I can have multiple apps in sight while recording.
I have a few financial decisions to make, but can only afford one at a time, so I get the highest priority item first and since I'm able to record with what I have, upgrading my system takes a back seat to anything that will improve my tone and ability to perform live $
cheers!
Posted by: Sensible Jones Sep 19 2011, 11:33 PM
After blowing up my old Steam Powered Compaq 486 P3 I invested in a dell Dimension E520, Intel Celeron 3.06GHz, 4 GB Ram, 160GB HDD, 1 TB External, 32 Bit Vista.
Have just ordered an upgraded machine!
3.06 GHz Quad Core, 8GB Ram, 500GB HDD, 1TB internal and 1 TB External, nVidea 512 Graphics card, 7.1 Sound Card, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit. Should be with me later this week!!
Posted by: SirJamsalot Sep 20 2011, 12:51 AM
So Vista and 7 counts for very little here wrt the mastering daw. Main thing we're missing out on at the mo is not being able to use 64 quad and address more ram but for mastering that isn't that much of a deal anyway as most of our work doesn't need lots of simulatneous track lanes open and also a lot of ur processing is OTB.
Just to add - the mastering daw is built to match/work with the Plextor, sadie and the AES/EBU interface. Those 3 are essential and the pc and OS are specced to work with them and not the other way around. It's also why it's a self build and not pre made off the shelf job.
yikes - I'll stick to bending strings and let you professionals work out those computer techie details - haha. I'm glad someone knows what their doing!
Posted by: thefireball Sep 20 2011, 01:23 AM
That's cool!
I run mine too hard. hahaha video and audio. Mine gets hot.
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 20 2011, 02:28 AM
Congrats on your new mac! You can't have too much horsepower when running real time plugins. Quad proc's are a great idea I"m running a Mac Pro Tower with Quad Xeon Proc's 
and a iMac as a Logic Node 
and My Mac Laptop for Mobile use. 
and of course the ipad 2 and alesis dock I"ve been experimenting with. 
And of course "QUAD HEAD" displays 
I'm all Mac LOGIC, REAPER, GARAGE BAND, for DAW. Native Instruments Complete, Ozone, TH2, Fav Plugins.
I"m a big fan of my Mac gear as you can see. Mostly, because of APPLE LOGIC being my DAW of choice. It only runs on a MAC so I can't use a PC for it. Also, FINAL CUT PRO, which won't run on a PC. Also, GARAGE BAND, which is MAC only. So I don't have a lot of choice on platform. I pretty much have to use Mac stuff, as long as I want to keep using the Apple software.
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 20 2011, 02:43 AM
wow todd, you have some thousand dollars over there , im so jealous about that mac pro!!!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 20 2011, 02:55 AM
, im so jealous about that mac pro!!!Thanks
It's actually not crazy expensive as it might seem. I kept the ram/storage lower to save a bit. I've been a big Mac Addict for several years. I almost forgot my hard drives! G-Tech All the way! Gtech and Glyph are my fav vendors for drives. 
I drive a 1993 Car so I don't spend money on Cars. I rent my flat so I don't spend money on buying a house, I don't take vacations as I hate to spend money on that when I could buy more gear. So every penny that I have beyond rent, and food pretty much goes to Gear/Equipment/Software.
Posted by: Azzaboi Sep 20 2011, 04:21 AM
Mine is a custom gaming machine:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
i7 Sandybridge - 3.2Ghz CPU
Nvidia GTX 460 - 1280MB Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 RAM
320GB Solid State HD (300MB/s transfer) / 500GB
Cooler Master Case
Motherboard is Sandybridge (2nd Gen Intel Core) which gives direct access from cpu to memory and graphics card. The solid state hard drive also adds to overall performance. Starts up and shutdown in a few seconds, multi-tasking is good and can plays games at max resolution smoothly.
Posted by: SirJamsalot Sep 20 2011, 05:43 AM
You can't have too much horsepower when running real time plugins. Quad proc's are a great idea I"m running a Mac Pro Tower with Quad Xeon Proc's and a iMac as a Logic Node
and My Mac Laptop for Mobile use.
and of course the ipad 2 and alesis dock I"ve been experimenting with.
And of course "QUAD HEAD" displays
I'm all Mac
LOGIC, REAPER, GARAGE BAND, for DAW. Native Instruments Complete, Ozone, TH2, Fav Plugins.I"m a big fan of my Mac gear as you can see. Mostly, because of APPLE LOGIC being my DAW of choice. It only runs on a MAC so I can't use a PC for it. Also, FINAL CUT PRO, which won't run on a PC. Also, GARAGE BAND, which is MAC only. So I don't have a lot of choice on platform. I pretty much have to use Mac stuff, as long as I want to keep using the Apple software.
hey, you're also sporting a kensington trackball! I have the same one
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 20 2011, 05:50 AM
This little guy with the red ball? Yeah I love this thing! You may notice when you see recording studios in Magazines/Web that many of them have a trackball of some kind on the console/desk. There is a solid reason for this. The trackball reduces strain on the wrist and arm reducing the chance for Carpal Tunnel / RSI damage to your arm. For long mixing/tracking sessions, a trackball is crucial. At first, it's not that easy to use for some people so they just skip it. But it really is worth getting to know as a tool. I can work that thing for hours with almost no stress on my arm/hand. Unlike a mouse, which would jack me up pretty bad after that much time.
Posted by: SirJamsalot Sep 20 2011, 05:59 AM
second picture with the desk lamp - sitting on the glowy thing next to the keyboard
I love track balls. Mice need cleaning too much and require you move your hand. If I need fine-tuned mouse motion, I use my Wacom tablet!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 20 2011, 06:05 AM
I love track balls. Mice need cleaning too much and require you move your hand. If I need fine-tuned mouse motion, I use my Wacom tablet!
Oh that one!
It's also a made by the same folks. The new one (Red Ball) is even cooler than the black on black one. No more spin ring for scrolling. The ball itself acts as the scroll wheel! You just turn the ball left/right tro scroll up and down Very handy! And resolution of the optical sensors is increased so it's even more accurate and responsive. Give one a try!
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 20 2011, 06:17 AM
i gotta have that red ball man, my mouse is killing my right hand!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 20 2011, 05:43 PM
Do your hand stretches and finger yoga!
I do it every day. It really helps! Seriously man. Here is a link to the basic stretches. Do some Wrist Rolls (just range of motion rolling the wrist) every day as well. I had carpal tunnel syndrom in both arms and it hurt like hell. I wore the arm braces for months. Awful. I learned my lesson.]
Also, get the trackball! The mouse, after a few hours of mixing, will make your wrist ache and the stiffness is painful and hinders your playing ability. To heck with that! The black on black track ball is very good. The new Red Ball with crazy sensitive optics is even better. It will help save your arm!
Here is a link with info on the Slim Blade. Works GREAT in Logic Too
http://www.kensington.com/kensington/us/us/p/1444/K72327US/slimblade%E2%84%A2-trackball.aspx
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 22 2011, 09:40 PM
Hey Todd, I didn't know you had CT, how did you manage to pass it? What were your experiences with this one, what were the symptoms you were gettin?
PS sorry for offtopic
Posted by: Daniel Realpe Sep 23 2011, 02:58 PM
I'm running on a Mac Book Pro and it does the job just fine for my needs! love it,
I used to be a windows man too, but now I just can't go back
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 27 2011, 01:24 AM
It was a few years back and it was pretty bad. Went to doctors, physical therapy, wore the wrist braces to the elbow for six months and didn't play guitar during that time. Learned the importance of stretching/warming up/cooling down the hard way. Now I stress how important it is every chance I get.
The symptoms were typical. Pain, swelling, traveling up from wrist area through forearm. High grade pain when moving fingers, hand. I just ignored it and "played through the pain" which was just stupid. I was inches from having the surgery.
PS sorry for offtopic
Posted by: Blister Sep 27 2011, 02:09 AM
The symptoms were typical. Pain, swelling, traveling up from wrist area through forearm. High grade pain when moving fingers, hand. I just ignored it and "played through the pain" which was just stupid. I was inches from having the surgery.
Todd, did you experience numbness or loss feeling, sensitivity, touch?
I would wake up in the middle of the night & my hand would be numb. If I touched the numb hand w/my good hand, the numb hand felt like rubber & didn't even feel like it was even mine (if that makes sense). That happened a few years ago, I stopped using the computer so much, started using my left hand for the mouse control & the numbness never returned. I am trying to remember to do your "finger/wrist yoga" before going to bed & when I wake up, as well & of course, before practicing guitar.
This probably needs to be a separate post. Very important!!!
Posted by: Todd Simpson Sep 27 2011, 02:30 AM
I would wake up in the middle of the night & my hand would be numb. If I touched the numb hand w/my good hand, the numb hand felt like rubber & didn't even feel like it was even mine (if that makes sense). That happened a few years ago, I stopped using the computer so much, started using my left hand for the mouse control & the numbness never returned. I am trying to remember to do your "finger/wrist yoga" before going to bed & when I wake up, as well & of course, before practicing guitar.
This probably needs to be a separate post. Very important!!!
Never did get numbness but I have heard of that. If you pinch a nerve or cause swelling in the wrong spot it can happen. Overnight, just sleeping on your arm or something can do that. I used to sleep on my stomach and wake up with numb arm now and then. But if it's isolated to joint areas and such, go see a doc just in case. As for computer use, I switched to the TRACKBALL as you can see in the pix I've got a few varieties. I refuse to use a mouse as it jacks up my hand if I use a mouse for more than 6 or 8 hours in a row. I can use a trackball for 8 or 10 hours in a row and be ok with finger yoga, ice down, and plenty of water
And that includes a couple hours of guitar playing. Imagine if you only ever got one pair of strings? How well would you treat them? Wrists/Joints/arms are the same. I remember hearing my doc tell me we had to "wait and see" about my Carpal healing and playing guitar again and I that feeling was pretty awful. Cured me from taking bad care of my arms/wrists from then on. The good news is, I"m more flexible, have more reach, and endurance than ever before
Consisten stretching can do some amazing things.
Posted by: OzRob Sep 27 2011, 04:12 AM
Like Tony, full compatibility is important. Kore 2 is the hub of my audio production and is still only 32bit. As soon as it's upgraded to 64bit, I'll be moving to a self-built Win7 PC running the best components I can afford at the time with at least 24gb ram. 32-to-64 bit bridges are not always reliable, with the exception of VE Pro but that's best used for slave computers (something else I'll be setting up when I finally get a W7 machine).
Posted by: Adrian Figallo Sep 27 2011, 05:42 AM
hey those are great tips man, i'm starting to feel something similar on both of my hands, so i might have to start taking actions.
Powered by Invision Power Board (http://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (http://www.invisionpower.com)