Computer Question.

[Jhaatwt]

So my grandparents are getting a new computer, and giving theirs to me because they know I love recording things onto my computer. As of right now, for recording I use my families computer, but I want to set up some stuff in the basement to be isolated from everyone else. Perfect opportunity for a computer huh.

Anyway, it might not be in tip-top shape, so I was wondering if building onto it would be a good idea... like getting some more RAM into it, and possibly putting a new hard drive in? Also, would buying an external hard drive and external RAM be basically the same thing as putting it into my computer?

If this would work... what programs/RAM/hard drive would you guys reccomend? (keep in mind I am a 16 year old.. but I can make about 100 bucks a week at work).

Thanks in advance guys.

[JollyRoger24]

First off what type of computer is it

[the_only_singer]

It doesn't really sound like you know what you are doing so I don't know if you should be tearing a computer apart and trying to add parts if you don't know what you are doing.

But out of curiousity, do you know what your current specs are on the computer?

[Aus_rock_god]

I highly reccomend an external hard drive dude. When you have finished recording for the day, you can move your hard drive to a safe place and stop your brothers and sisters from deleting your work to make room for games (a major problem with home studios).

It will also keep your computer running at a decent speed, as long as you use your external harddrive to save everything, and use the internal to run the programs.

Don't put any program on the computer that isn't Windows or recording software. Lack of space = buffering problems, lagging, general pain-in-the-a$$-slowness.

But, from the sounds of it, this computer won't be flash.

[pitchfork]

I agree with that highly I lost all my data once, I now get all my stuff backed up onto an external drive, better performance too.

Definitely add ram if theres room, what spec is this pc?
And by the way, theres no such thing as external ram even if there was it would probably be quite slow.

[10571z]

Recording Pc. Id say

512 ram
1.8 ghz proccesor

[Moseph]

Recording Pc. Id say

512 ram
1.8 ghz proccesor

Those are minimum specs for good performance. You can get away with less if you are willing to work with latency, fewer tracks, fewer effects etc.

More is better with those. Also, be sure you have a drive for burning DVDs and CDs. That's another level of backup that I wouldn't recommend you go without.

[Aus_rock_god]

On that note, really don't skimp on the burning dept. There's not much worse than recording a kickass demo, only to find that every audio CD you burn doesn't work on a lot of CD players, not neccissarily because you used CDRW (don't use them for audio), but because your burner is a pile of crud.

[stevenkeith]

RAM is pretty cheap these days so you should be able to afford some no bother. Check you are getting the correct type for your motherboard though. If its an old PC then you may need SDRAM rather than DDR.

Installing an internal hard disk will be cheaper than an external disk so i'd opt for that. Not too difficult, most novices could manage. Again make sure your motherboard supports the Hard disk you are buying.

Googling your manufacturer would be a good way to find out what your motherboard can take.

As for the annoying siblings, password protecting your account should prevent them from deleting/accessing things they shouldn't.

For specs, the best and easiest way to find out what you need is to find the recommened specs for the software you will be using.

Note, there are minimum specs and recommended specs for virtually all software these days. The minimum specs is usually what you need to run the program with some features disabled so opt for the recommended if you can afford to upgrade.

Lastly, try and find a friend who has some computer knowledge before buying anything as some shops won't let you return goods if they are working. (i.e your own fault for buying the wrong part)

Anything more specific i should be able to help if you post here.:chug:

[Aus_rock_god]

^^^ king of the nerds.

:chug:

nice work man.

Even though having a partable hard drive is convenient if you want to bring material to a mate's place to edit, or if you want to record somewhere else.

Laptops for recording = sh!te.

[stevenkeith]

Yep, computer science student:chug:

:upset:

[pitchfork]

Laptops for recording = sh!te.

Depends if you have the cash to spend on a top of the range laptop.
I have seen laptops with like 4 gigs of ram on ebay before, the only problem you may encounter is not having enough internal storage.

[10571z]

Go To Start.. Run... Then Type in dxdiag

It will tell you the specs. :)
Most likely itll be a really crap computer if its ur grandparents

( xfx geforce 7900 gt, 1 gig kingston ram, 3500+ amd,200 gig HD:smoke: )

[The Haitian]

Go To Start.. Run... Then Type in dxdiag

It will tell you the specs. :)
Most likely itll be a really crap computer if its ur grandparents

( xfx geforce 7900 gt, 1 gig kingston ram, 3500+ amd,200 gig HD:smoke: )

That only works if direct X is installed. Seeing as it was his grandparents computer, they probably haven't used any application that would require Direct X. But it's worth a shot anyway.

I prefer to use this tool:
http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php#download

[Aus_rock_god]

Or you can just load Direct X on, since you'll need it to run the recording software anyway.

*puts glasses on and activates 'nerd mode'*

[mmetalmilitiaa]

Depends if you have the cash to spend on a top of the range laptop.
I have seen laptops with like 4 gigs of ram on ebay before, the only problem you may encounter is not having enough internal storage.
my macbook pro works quite well with a cubase/firepod setup and an external hd

[Seafroggys]

while we're on the subject of computers, I gots a question for Moseph.

Would 1-2 gigs of RAM and a 64 bit 2 ghz processor be quite sufficient for practically anything? Assuming if I use a Linux platform or not (Linux would be faster because its far less a memory hog then XP).

[The Haitian]

Or you can just load Direct X on, since you'll need it to run the recording software anyway.

*puts glasses on and activates 'nerd mode'*

Well actually that depends on the recording software and whether or not they use the DirectX API. Specifically if they use the DirectSound and DirectMusic interfaces in DirectAudio. As a programmer, I can tell you there are other ways to manipulate sound without using DirectX, remember that it hasn't been around forever. But now I'm just being an asshole lol.

while we're on the subject of computers, I gots a question for Moseph.

Would 1-2 gigs of RAM and a 64 bit 2 ghz processor be quite sufficient for practically anything? Assuming if I use a Linux platform or not (Linux would be faster because its far less a memory hog then XP).

Yep you should be good to go.

[stevenkeith]

while we're on the subject of computers, I gots a question for Moseph.

Would 1-2 gigs of RAM and a 64 bit 2 ghz processor be quite sufficient for practically anything? Assuming if I use a Linux platform or not (Linux would be faster because its far less a memory hog then XP).

Assuming the software you are using supports linux.

I would personally go for windows. Linux wont make a noticeable difference to your system performance.

[10571z]

while we're on the subject of computers, I gots a question for Moseph.

Would 1-2 gigs of RAM and a 64 bit 2 ghz processor be quite sufficient for practically anything? Assuming if I use a Linux platform or not (Linux would be faster because its far less a memory hog then XP).

Dont run linux... Its hard unless you know what your doing.... And you ask 1-2 gig ram and 2 ghz proccesor... Yes for recording itll be fine but would be better to upgrade to somthing dual core is ur serious amd have very good cheap options..

[Aus_rock_god]

Well actually that depends on the recording software and whether or not they use the DirectX API. Specifically if they use the DirectSound and DirectMusic interfaces in DirectAudio. As a programmer, I can tell you there are other ways to manipulate sound without using DirectX, remember that it hasn't been around forever. But now I'm just being an asshole lol.

Yes you are...

*deactivates nerd mode, grabs guitar, Canadian Club and a crumbled pack of smokes and returns to rock god mode

Much better...


...


Computers suck, analouge recording all the way baby!!!! Just because it doesn't need direct X and understanding of a whole bunch of small words that mean very little to me.


...

yeah

[Moseph]

Would 1-2 gigs of RAM and a 64 bit 2 ghz processor be quite sufficient for practically anything? Assuming if I use a Linux platform or not (Linux would be faster because its far less a memory hog then XP).

1) Assuming you have no hardware conflicts, or other hazards in the setup of the computer, you can do a lot with that. My computer is a 1.8 Ghz (32-bit processing) with 1 GB of RAM and after I spent some time tweaking Windows XP, I haven't done a project where I've run out of power (granted my largest project thus far has only been about 25 audio tracks and some MIDI).

2) I can't comment on the Linux thing. What I can say is that the vast majority of the freeware and semi-pro software for audio is available for Windows. And the professional software options are more or less split for Windows and OSX. Linux has some stuff out there that seems promising though (Ardour, Rosegarden, etc.). However, unless you're already a Linux and driver guru, it's probably a better option to spend the money on the introductory version of Cubase, Sonar, Pro Tools, or some other software. Depending on your device, etc, you can get set up for around $500, which is what you'd need to be spending anyway.

[Seafroggys]

Dont run linux... Its hard unless you know what your doing.... And you ask 1-2 gig ram and 2 ghz proccesor... Yes for recording itll be fine but would be better to upgrade to somthing dual core is ur serious amd have very good cheap options..

I'm a decent computer guru, so Linux isn't an issue for me at all.

The only issue is third party drivers for Linux for the sound card. That would determine whether I'd use it or not.

[Aus_rock_god]

*gasps* you can actually run that sack of crap???

*envys you*

[Jhaatwt]

Sorry guys for not replying for so long.

Im not computer illiterate or anything, I can read directions, and I know my way around a computer.

Thanks a bunch. So, probably... more RAM, external hard drive, and new internal hard drive? Sounds like it would be better eh?