Do I need more memory?

[jbauerctu]

Guys,

Just got Ableton 8 up and running and I'm using my Line 6 Guitar port for the Audio Interface and guitar in.

I've got a 2.8GHZ Pentium 4 but only 512Mb RAM. When I record the guitar I get an annoying delay with the the egg timer until I can record. (not latency)

Would upgrading the memory to 2GB help or would there be no difference as I would be better off with a dual core processor? What I dont want to do is buy memory it and make no difference. I'm hoping the memory option would be ok as I cant afford a new PC

On another Note my hard drive is small as well only 40GB. If I upgrate to a 500GB HD would I be better of re-installing ableton on that to run rather than where the XP is installed?

[Dogboy73]

512MB running XP on a P4?! That must be one slow arse machine! Might be worth trying to up the RAM to 2GB. You would need to identify exactly what sort of RAM you need first. It might be something like DDR PC2700 333Mhz ........ possibly! Seriously though I would save up & think about a new machine. Even a low end Dual Core machine with 2GB of fast RAM (which would cost you about £20-£30 these days) will be a huge, huge improvement over what you have.

[tehLORD]

I also concur with the new machine rather than upgrade path.

But 2GB should offer you a clear improvement over the 512MB you currently have.

[ecc83]

" as I cant afford a new PC"

If that's the bottom line, so be it. Yes at least a Gig, XP(32) can't use more than 3 and bit anyway but it makes sense to go as big as you can. Download the Crucial app' and do a scan,this will tell you whayou have and how much extra memory will cost you (my old 3.2G P4 has weird V expensive ***t in it so I am stuck at 1G!).

Hard drives, yes go for 500G SATA if the MOBO will take it. In fact if you can use a SATA drive it would be better to leave the 40G as a "dumping grund" and run all your programs on the new drive, os, DAW samples, the lot. You could keep some songs backed up in the 40G.

The reason for the above is (I am told) that SATA drives are now so much faster than the old IDE ones (which I bet your 40G is) that you can run everything off them no problem.

However, if you cannot fit a SATA drive get a 500G IDE but keep os and DAW on the 40 but as little else as possible. Record all tunes to the 500G.

Me no pc guru, just what I have picked up here and there.

Jusfort: Keep the pc if and when you can afford a new one. Two pc's networked and SPIFFE'D are far more than twice as useful as one!

Dave.

[jbauerctu]

Hmmm its as I suspected! I can't afford one at the moment...well I dont think I can. Depends on costs I suppose. I could use my monitor so I would need the desktop its self.

I hope that 2GB would at least let me record my guitar with some other bits I sequence in Ableton....

Would I be better off building my own PC then? What would you recommend without going too overboard?

EDIT - Thought I'd check out the system requirements on Abletons Website and got this -

System requirements
Windows: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 or Celeron compatible CPU or faster (multicore CPU recommended), 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows compatible sound card (ASIO driver support recommended), DVD-ROM drive, QuickTime recommended

So a multicore is recommended as is 2GB of RAM...Damnit

[ecc83]

Don't be too despondent!

That spec' for Abe 8 (of which I know jack btw!) is probably for running all its bells and whistles. With 2 G ram you should be able to run quite a bit of stuff but avoid resource hungry plugs like reverb (put it on after recording).

I have P4's, a 3.2G with 1G ram and a 3.0G with 1 G ram. My son seems to run all the stuff he needs, ok, sometimes things stutter or stick a bit but usually it is because he has left something running he no longer needs at that precise time.

Be totally brutal with clearing the pc of anything you don't need on it. Got windows office? Get it orf, put Open Office on a usb stick and run it when you need to. If you have an XP disc do a format and re install to get a totally fresh setup. Go to MSCONFIG and make sure only those things you really need are loaded at startup.

Get over to the forum at www.soundonsound.com and find the Windows Optimizations and do the lot! Take no notice of the points that say "X only uses a tiny bit of resource on a modern pc.." you ain't got one, do it!

I can run 2 tracks in Samplitude se8 on an HP laptop, 850mHz! 512ram at 24bits 44.1kHz all day if I want. That is about the limit of the machine but it shows that you don't really need Deep Thought to record a bit of geetarr!

Dave.

[jbauerctu]

Don't be too despondent!

That spec' for Abe 8 (of which I know jack btw!) is probably for running all its bells and whistles. With 2 G ram you should be able to run quite a bit of stuff but avoid resource hungry plugs like reverb (put it on after recording).

I have P4's, a 3.2G with 1G ram and a 3.0G with 1 G ram. My son seems to run all the stuff he needs, ok, sometimes things stutter or stick a bit but usually it is because he has left something running he no longer needs at that precise time.

Be totally brutal with clearing the pc of anything you don't need on it. Got windows office? Get it orf, put Open Office on a usb stick and run it when you need to. If you have an XP disc do a format and re install to get a totally fresh setup. Go to MSCONFIG and make sure only those things you really need are loaded at startup.

Get over to the forum at www.soundonsound.com and find the Windows Optimizations and do the lot! Take no notice of the points that say "X only uses a tiny bit of resource on a modern pc.." you ain't got one, do it!

I can run 2 tracks in Samplitude se8 on an HP laptop, 850mHz! 512ram at 24bits 44.1kHz all day if I want. That is about the limit of the machine but it shows that you don't really need Deep Thought to record a bit of geetarr!

Dave.

Ok cool man cheers!!! Makes me feel a bit better mate. Its just frustrating that I have these ideas and everysingle time I'm hampered by PC performance and I cant get them down!!

I literally just reintalled windows xp. All thats on there is Virus Protection, Ableton Live 8, Line6 Pod farm and Line 6 gear box. Ill check out msconfig though and windows optimization

Someone has just said they might have an old 3.2G Pentium 4 with 1GB of RAM I can have for free So thats better than what I have already.

[Dogboy73]

You might be able to get a barebones system cheaper than the cost of upgrading your current system;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=110&subcat=

[ecc83]

Hey that's great!
You have not said what interface you are using? Go pci and mixer if you can. Usb is ok but pinches some resource.

Dave.

[jbauerctu]

You might be able to get a barebones system cheaper than the cost of upgrading your current system;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=110&subcat=

Cheers for that...so around £300 ish?! Something to bear in mind after my Birthday when I have ££ to burn

Hey that's great!
You have not said what interface you are using? Go pci and mixer if you can. Usb is ok but pinches some resource.

Dave.

Hey, I'm using the Line 6 guitarport.....which I assume is ok?