Investing In a New Desktop Computer

[Creativemind]

Hi All!

I'm thinking of investing in a new desktop computer.

Want advice on what I should look for in terms of making it handle large projects on Reason.

I read online 8gb RAM is more than enough (probably for me as I rarely exceed 10 tracks but have had 18 tracks in the past with a few combinators in there and got the 'Computer Too Slow' message this is with AMD Athlon 64 x 2 Dual Core 5600 2.81ghz with 5GB ram). I also want to invest in some VST's that could be very CPU intensive.

So is just getting the highest of everything the way to go, so say Intel i7, 8gb if not 16gb, Quad Core and getting a much ghz processor as I can get. Want as powerful as I can get as cheap as I can get.

Something I found online from Image-Line says "Search for a CPU with the fastest single core performance".
https://support.image-line.com/action/k ... se?ans=214

Any advice welcomed,
Thanks you!

[kuhliloach]

Definitely go with 16 GB of RAM since Windows hogs a lot of it all by itself. You want to help Windows avoid the need to use drive-based "virtual memory". Consider 32 GB even.

SSD Drives have no moving parts and make a huge improvement in performance while also being silent. All drives should be SSD, and your large VST's, songs, OS, and apps will load and save much faster.

Having a quiet system can really make life better, so consider fan upgrades using near-silent fans. For example, if room permits, a larger front-fan on the case might fit. Larger fans are usually quieter because they can spin at a slower speed while providing the same cooling as a smaller faster-spinning fan. Near-silent power supplies are also a big advantage and shouldn't raise the cost of your system by much so consider a silver, gold, or platinum rated power supply.

[Creativemind]

So I wasn't gonna go above 16gb RAM. I guess 16gb it is. A quiet fan . So you can specify this (someone I know builds them see) can you, a comp with a quiet fan?

And looks like I need an SSD drive. This is the drive that comes built in, we're not talking an external drive here are we?

Also is quad core probably the best and what ghz processor? Intel i7 too?

[Oquasec]

16gb is good for sony vegas and adobe premiere.
4gb will do fine. 8gb is optimal for music production and gaming.

[avasopht]

First thing you must be aware of, GHz and whether it's an i3/i5/i7 is insufficient data to go by alone (also gen 7 was a bit of a minor step up IMO). The Intel iX range is up to its 8th generation, and there is a huge difference in performance, even when there are similar clock speeds.

The motherboard is said to play a huge role in performance as it can effectively downgrade the performance of components that it cannot keep up with.

You must get a separate CPU cooler, as tests show that the cooler that comes with Intel CPUs are shit, and as result your CPU will never operate at its full speed, instead slowing down clock speed to reduce CPU temperature.

Get a simple £30 GPU, as the GPU included with the CPU will be using up its memory bandwidth (as well as RAM), and may contribute to its temperature too.

For about £550 with parts from ebuyer you can get yourself:
- (8th gen) i5 8400 CPU with 6 cores (real cores, not logical ones)
- 16gb ram (crucial)
- 500gb ssd (corsair)
- Geforce GPU
- Case with 2 x USB2 and 2 x USB3 ports
- Decent CPU cooler