In layman terms please.....

PC Configurations, motherboards, etc, etc

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Ricardo
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In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

I am not a tech head. I don't understand half of what you guys say. Sooo........Here 'tis:
I need a new computer. 8 GB RAM is the limit on my Motherboard. My graphics card is 1GIG, I still use 1333 DDR 3 RAM. I have some money from the tax man but not a fortune. This 8 year old computer works fine. It has an SSD and two HDDs, Win 10, but it's maxing out when I'm mixing over 30 tracks with waves and similar plugins in Samplitude, everything starts sounding harsh and popping. Buffering is fine. Scope 7 is flawless. It's my summing desk and synth utility, plus other extras when required. I don't do live stuff either.

I need a new stable system that is future proofed. I only need to replace the MBoard, chip and graphics card. And possibly the power supply.
I'm in Australia if that matters in terms of availability of parts and power.

thanks
Carry on....
R
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valis
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by valis »

Jimmy and Gary are our most prolific builders here.

What Scope setup are you using? PCI cards or Xite? That's one of the first considerations.

What's your CPU in that setup?

Also you'll need to do the Ram too for sure, at least if the system is going to be modern. We're on DDR4 now.
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Hi Valis
I'm on XITE-D, Scope 7. Samplitude Pro X3
Currently I have:
CPU - Intel CORE i7 2600 3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/LGA1155 CPU
MOBO -GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3 MB, LGA 1155, Intel Z68 Chipset
GRAPHICS - Asus ENGT520SLDI1GD3LP GT520, 1GB, DDR3, 810MHz,
Yes RAM of course.

Thanks
R
petal
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by petal »

What latency are you running in scope?

Raising it, might be an easy fix for the next few years.
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Maximum i'm afraid. Graphics are playing up as well which is not good. Some of those Waves plugins are very CPU hungry.
R
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by garyb »

i've never understood the love of Waves, but to each his own.

why not just get one the current motherboards and a matching cpu and some ram? if that's too expensive then look to ebay for a used 4790 and matching motherboard. you can sell the old stuff or make a new computer.

i don't see any reason to get a new graphics card, unless it's just not working well. the graphics issues are probably just an overloaded machine.

also, DON'T mix while composing. that's like painting the floor in a room and then ending up on an inside corner. get all of your composing and recording finished and then mix. this will make things much easier on the system when you are using vstis, and it will also lead to better mixes.
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by valis »

Graphics for modern Waves versions uses OpenGL, updating drivers may help there.

Looks like your motherboard would support a bump up to Core i7-3770, but since 8GB ram is your limit and that's only an 11% performance bump at best (multithreaded), a new computer is indeed probably your best bet. Given the age of that machine, my suggestion is to start with picking your CPU/RAM based on your budget and then getting a motherboard to match that has features you need.

I would bump the GPU too, but you can limp along on that one for a while longer. The main reason I suggest dropping it is because 1GB of video ram isn't enough for modern OSes (Win10 composites everything in-GPU now, both onscreen & offscreen), and because Nvidia dropped support for Fermi class cards (and older) as of April this year: https://techreport.com/news/33484/nvidi ... ng-systems

The good news is you can stagger your purchases. If I'm not yet ready to do a build, the first thing I invest in is the PSU as they change relatively slowly and the prices won't drop much by the time I'm ready to buy more. Anything using memory chips or NAND drops the fastest.

Intel CPU's no longer depreciate that much as they age, though there is a price bump when they are new and availability is low. However since they don't drop as much in price as they used to over time, this also means targeting older architectures to save money isn't as worthwhile. An i7-6700, 7700 or 8700 would be a great new build, and buy you extra cores plus a heck of a lot of extra oomph in terms of per core power & system bus... motherboard I'll let Jimmy speak up about if he's around.
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Thanks guys
I'll go see my local dealer re the i7 chips. Motherboard pending. i'll see if he has any recommendations then check back. Will probably splurge a little and add 64Gb RAM for plenty of elbow room and future proofing. Even Scope 7 has 16Gb RAM recommended.The graphics card will probably behave in a better system.
I don't think anyone's going to buy a MB that won't accept more than 8Gb RAM
My IT dealer will probably advise on the PSU. He's pretty good and doesn't charge the earth.

'i've never understood the love of Waves, but to each his own.' I only have the hardware emulations for different flavours. Can't be bothered with vocal strips and bass riders, etc etc bla bla bla, CLA blabla. The Scheps 73 though...... :) I digress
R
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Sounddesigner
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Sounddesigner »

Ricardo wrote: Thu Aug 23, 2018 4:10 pm
Will probably splurge a little and add 64Gb RAM for plenty of elbow room and future proofing. Even Scope 7 has 16Gb RAM recommended.The graphics card will probably behave in a better system.

While it is good to have more than enough RAM in your system I don't think it's good to have waaaay more than you need due to possible defected RAM possibly causing a problem at some point. If you don't need anywhere near 64GB of RAM then it might not be good to get that much. Personally if I used 8GB I'd probably only buy 16GB. Currently I'm on a 32BIT Windows O/S so despite my CPU being very powerfull I only have 4GB of RAM in my computer and not more to protect against unknown problems that come from computer components that one doesn't need. RAM is pretty cheap in price and you can always add more later. Just something to consider. Everyones needs and philosophy is different for sure.

I also agree with others, it seems best to get a whole new computer with new CPU and not just a new Motherboard. Your problems smell like something more than a new motherboard is need but looks like a new CPU is needed primarily.
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valis
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by valis »

32GB is probably more reasonable only due to the cost that 64GB of DDR4 will add (you will find a significant price bump past 8GB sticks). I do think 32GB might not be a bad idea for longevity's sake, given the age of his current system.
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Thanks
I agree 32Gb seems more reasonable. I intend to replace the motherboard and cpu, I merely meant ‘which specific mb is pending’ If Jimmy is offline, does anyone have a good suggestion, Intel perhaps?
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by petal »

I believe that Intel stopped producing Mobo's a few years back, otherwise it would be a safe bet.

The "Asus Rog Maximus Hero X" is confirmed tried and tested positive with the XITE in this thread:

http://forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=35384

The "Asus Rog Maximus Hero X" is a bit expensive though, so maybe a cheaper motherboard from MSI, Gigabyte or Asus with the same chipset (Intel Z370) could be an option?
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Hi Petal
I had noticed that post. It is a little pricey. Here’s an alternative I’m considering https://www.ple.com.au/Products/626603/ ... otherboard
It’ll probably be fine but just thought I’d run it past you guys. The ASUS board is over twice the price but I still want quality components.
Thanks
R
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valis
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by valis »

I think the era of bad capacitors and lack of BIOS/EFI updates is past, the biggest issue with Asus is they're a top tier vendor so support can be spotty when you have a failure under warranty. Here in the US I've noted both west coast service centers, and which is unreliable so I always ship to the other and just claim it's an accident if I'm not supposed to . :wink:
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Well, I’ve decided to for N i7 8700, the gigabyte board as above and16Gb RAM with the option to add more. I’ll replace the graphics card as well because I think the old one has seen better days All up around AU $1100, that’s about US $800
Thanks all. I’ll report back later on progress
All the best
R
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Sounddesigner
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Sounddesigner »

Ricardo wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:06 pm Well, I’ve decided to for N i7 8700, the gigabyte board as above and16Gb RAM with the option to add more. I’ll replace the graphics card as well because I think the old one has seen better days All up around AU $1100, that’s about US $800
Thanks all. I’ll report back later on progress
All the best

Getting the 8700 6-Core was a wise choice, especially since you already had a powerfull Quad with the i7 2600 @ 3.4GHZ and if that type of quad was overloaded then a 6-Core was the logical and best choice. That new 6-Core has more speed for more demanding instruments @ 3.7GHZ but most importantly those two extra cores should cover all your effects needs and more ( Waves and similar effects was your problem, wich is best solved by more Cores.).

I'm sure that 6-Core will serve you well for many years to come. You definitely now have more power on multiple fronts. Keep us informed regarding SCOPE compatibility with your new System. Good luck!
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Ricardo
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

Thanks for that.
Now for the arduous task of backing everything up....groan.....then re installing......groan groan, then playing....yay!!!
R
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Ricardo »

UPDATE
Well, my computer store gave me a quote then promptly closed down to do internet sales only...Hmmm.
However, my mouse was jumping all over the screen, so I bought a graphics card with 2Gig memory, only AU $55, just to see what would happen. The answer: Brilliant. I'm very happy. No more glitching, flashing or pauses waiting for the tracks to start.
R
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by dawman »

valis wrote: Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:46 pm Jimmy and Gary are our most prolific builders here.

What Scope setup are you using? PCI cards or Xite? That's one of the first considerations.

What's your CPU in that setup?

Also you'll need to do the Ram too for sure, at least if the system is going to be modern. We're on DDR4 now.

I’m a systems integrator, pick the parts do my research.
GaryB still builds my PCs.
A trained professional.
Ankyu
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Sounddesigner
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Re: In layman terms please.....

Post by Sounddesigner »

Ricardo wrote: Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:46 am UPDATE
Well, my computer store gave me a quote then promptly closed down to do internet sales only...Hmmm.
However, my mouse was jumping all over the screen, so I bought a graphics card with 2Gig memory, only AU $55, just to see what would happen. The answer: Brilliant. I'm very happy. No more glitching, flashing or pauses waiting for the tracks to start.
That's great that a new graphics card has everything working properly now. Always great to be able to skip upgrading and use a current computer for a longer period of time and get the most out of it you can get, when possible.
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