Bub,
 
Spec's in sig.

 

• Processor: Intel Core i7 - 2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz - H67 Mobo
• RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [4x4096] 
• Soundcard: TonePort UX2
• OS: Windows 7 x64 SP1

 
If I insert GR4 and switch on Input Monitoring I read between 1% and 4% CPU.
 
 

Do I agree you need to know how to spec/pick a system when you are looking for a dedicated machine..? yes I do...
 
But  I also think the "DAW specific" bit is pure marketing BS.... to me anyway, PC specs are as apples to apples as you can get.. the equivalent performance to my machine at studio cat would be about $1400 .. TWICE my purchase price...
 
IMO recommending or going "DAW specific" is the easy option for folks who do not know how to spec a system in detail or are not conversant with what they want.. and that is ok for some for peace of mind.. but its not worth $700 to me :)..
 
As for support.. FYI It took about 30mins to extract HP bloat and make this a clean machine.... adding Sonar, Maschine, the KA6 and all my other music gear (editors, librarians, sample libraries etc) had to happen regardless.. so i see no DAW specific support at all... its up running and a silent fast joy to use.
 
BTW, I have built many machines over 20 years and i costed one out,  but in this case it would not have saved me any money, nor given me a warranty..
 
 
        Bub

Mystic38

That Studio Cat is a ripoff at $1050.. pretty much any mainstream PC manufacturer does better, cheaper.

But you're not comparing apples to apples. It's not a ripoff if you consider the DAW specific support you get with it and how much time is taken to customize it for DAW usage. Plus I'm sure they would adjust for current market values of such a system. And ... you're not being fair now. :) The ones from Sweetwater and Musicians Friend were $1500.

FWIW, about 5wks ago for $800 I purchased an HP Elite 580T with i7-950, 8GB RAM, Blu-ray, 1.5T 7200rpm SATA 3G, GTX460, Win7/64.. and it flies.

I paid $703 (after a $50 rebate on the video card) for an Intel i5 Quad 2.67GHz CPU, Gigabyte Mobo, 8GB RAM, 500GB SATAII HDD, Galaxy GeForce 9500GT 512MB Video Card, Windows 7 x64, killer Rosewill case with 2 huge case fans and quick connect screwless drive mounts, built in closeable storage compartment, washable air filter, 800Watt Green Power Supply, 22x Light Scribe DVD drive, and they threw in a free multi-card memory reader. That was 2.5 years ago.

You could have got much more PC for your money if you would have built it yourself, but there is no reason your HP shouldn't work great! :)

this is a good topic bud..i asked the same thing about 6 months ago and it helped alot of people get a good idea of there own settings..im glad someone else has updated a good thread like this to give others a heads up..exspecialy after two patches later..by the way,long time no hear..hope all is good man..miss not talking to you as much..i got a little bitter and moved on rather than causing a scene and writing one of those foolish "goodbye cakewalk" letters,peace out holmes.

-chuckster

Mystic38

Do I agree you need to know how to spec/pick a system when you are looking for a dedicated machine..? yes I do...
 
But  I also think the "DAW specific" bit is pure marketing BS.... to me anyway, PC specs are as apples to apples as you can get.. the equivalent performance to my machine at studio cat would be about $1400 .. TWICE my purchase price...

I'm not calling you a liar ... but man, I searched all over and could not find your PC for less than $1399 new. I found one that was open and never used for $900 ... but it has a different Video card than you listed. So they are selling different configurations under that model number which is typical. You got a hell of a deal on it where ever you got it (if it was new).

BTW, I have built many machines over 20 years and i costed one out,  but in this case it would not have saved me any money, nor given me a warranty..

Every PC I've ever built had a warranty on the parts. RAM is usually lifetime, HDD's +/-5 years, CPU's lifetime IIRC, mobo's 2 ~ 5 years. And I've always been able to build my own systems for a fraction of what I could buy them pre-built. Yeah, I could get a P4 system cheaper than if I built it myself, but it was always cache starved compared to the one I spec'd out and it was stuck on a Soyo mobo. LOL!

As for a DAW, again, they are tweaked and tested and sometimes come pre-loaded with whatever you request, you just use your serial to register it when it arrives. Something like an HP, Dell, etc is setup for generic usage and aren't spec'd out with larger cache, faster memory, etc, unless you upgrade the advertised box.

But, like I said before, that HP should be a great system for you and it sounds like a great deal at that price. Glad you like it!

chuckebaby


this is a good topic bud..i asked the same thing about 6 months ago and it helped alot of people get a good idea of there own settings..im glad someone else has updated a good thread like this to give others a heads up..exspecialy after two patches later..by the way,long time no hear..hope all is good man..miss not talking to you as much..i got a little bitter and moved on rather than causing a scene and writing one of those foolish "goodbye cakewalk" letters,peace out holmes.

-chuckster

Hi Chuck! How's it goin? :)

I started this thread to prove a point. I had a gentlemen tell me an i5 w/4GB ram was not enough to run a 1 track project with Guitar Rig on it in X1. LOL! So I figured I'd ask around for some confirmation. :)

I know what you mean about the 'goodbye cakewalk' letter. Did that myself once or twice. I think we all have done it at least once, even the admin! J/K!

I had a gentlemen tell me an i5 w/4GB ram was not enough to run a 1 track project with Guitar Rig on it in X1.

Gentleman?  I thought Freddie said it...

See sig.

Specs in signiture...  CPUs barely know they are running!

I started this thread to prove a point. I had a gentlemen tell me an i5 w/4GB ram was not enough to run a 1 track project with Guitar Rig on it in X1. LOL! So I figured I'd ask around for some confirmation. :)

If you can run the "Floating" demo project, you can run GR4 (assuming Pro is not inherently that much heavier than LE). It's got five instances on top of all the other plug-ins, ProChannel instances and a few synths.


The modest system in my signature runs the demo very nicely at 132 samples at about 45-50% CPU (per Windows Resource Monitor).


Actually, it would be kind of interesting to know what other posters see for CPU usage on this demo project at the same buffer size (call it 128 samples).


And while you're at it, post your disk usage, too. With buffers at 256k, I'm seeing an average (while it's actively reading) of about 30-35%.