I Guess My Computer Really is LAME After All

[jonheal]

I generally express some self-righteous pride in the fact that I plug along with my lowly Core 2 Duo in the face of all of you i7s out there. And honestly, since I am kind of a one-note-at-a-time plinker, I rarely run into issues. Yesterday, I tried playing more than one note a time on the FM4, which appears to be an especially greedy little bugger, particularly if you have the sustain turned up on all of the operators. Suddenly I found that if I mashed a bunch of notes, SNAP, CRACKLE, POP! I had to turn the buffer all the way up to 1024 to get it to shut up!!

Waaa!!

[Gorgon]

I generally express some self-righteous pride in the fact that I plug along with my lowly Core 2 Duo in the face of all of you i7s out there. And honestly, since I am kind of a one-note-at-a-time plinker, I rarely run into issues. Yesterday, I tried playing more than one note a time on the FM4, which appears to be an especially greedy little bugger, particularly if you have the sustain turned up on all of the operators. Suddenly I found that if I mashed a bunch of notes, SNAP, CRACKLE, POP! I had to turn the buffer all the way up to 1024 to get it to shut up!!

Waaa!!

Install Reason 5. Problem solved. Oh wait, you can't use the FM4. Sample it first!

[chk071]

Would a new computer/laptop be an option? Seriously, you get something entry level, which is 10 times faster than your Core 2 Duo for really cheap money, probably ~300 € already. A Core 2 Duo is simply ancient these days, and more and more devs make use of the nowadays available processing power. Hell, even my cheapo laptop for 340 € is already faster than my dual core Athlon X2 5200+ desktop used to be.

[jonheal]

Even when I buy new computers, they're used. The last several machines I've bought have been refurbished business desktops from eBay. I just looked, and there is a nice selection of i5s with Windows 10 Pro for around $260.

Maybe I will get one for myself for Christmas if I am a good boy.

[chk071]

Would definitely be a good idea. For me, it is very disapointing if what i can do with a computer is so limited by its processing power.

[kuhliloach]

Good job to you jonheal getting the most from the last system! Those last years are when the value really kicks in! You'll enjoy a new one. You've waited plenty long. Consider an SSD (no moving parts, fast!!!) for C: and D: and also think about 16GB RAM.

[jonheal]

By the way, I read an article recently about the danger of power failures and (soft) damage to SSD drives. I'm not sure it is still the case, but at the time SSDs were particularly susceptible to unrecoverable wonking in the event of a power failure, and the article recommended using a UPS. (Laptop users, of course, already have a battery -- assuming it's charged.)

[Last Alternative]

I have an i7, SSD, and 16 gigs of RAM but 16 gigs of RAM is unnecessary for me since I've never used more than 5, even on my biggest projects. It's usually 2-3. But I guess it's always better to use a fraction of power instead of riding the limits. Also, my CPU never goes more than 20% from what I've seen while monitoring performance.
Basically, my computer never breaks a sweat. Build your own - trust me!