ed wrote:Just wondering whats more important ram or the processer?
Looking at a Sony vaio I like has an i7 processer but only 2gb of ram, then theres another with only an i3 but with 8gb ram, its for music production/dj'ing, my bro said I prob wouldn't ever need the power of n i7 what do u guys think?
Any i (3,5,7..) series Intel will do good work. They have been doing them long enough heat isn't a big issue anymore on quads and the way they use"speed step" CPU Ghz scaling works pretty well.
8GB is going to be the max on most off the shelf laptops, unless a lot of new mobos are coming out that socket 16GB, I haven't checked lately.
You can easily max an i7, but not that your brother is wrong either. Normal usage you will have CPU headroom. Some apps/VST only single thread on one core, unfortunately it's generally the core your DAW and OS are mainly running off. At least your DAW will likely be able to dynamically pass off cpu load to available cores. That's usually the cause of the 40-60% meters when you don't have a lot going. (Looking at you Maschine
)
If you have a 64 bit DAW/64 bits plugins and a lot of RAM, provided the plugins multi thread well (most 64 bit will) you can throw a lot in session before RAM or CPU runs out. But to take full advantage you need that scenario (8 core 2.4ghz/24GB RAM is what I have).
The main consideration is really this. A plugin like Omnisphere has 50GB of samples it uses in conjunction with it's synthesis engine. It's multitimbral so you can load a lot of GB of patches in it, so I have 24GB myself. But 2.4ghz is a slow processor and mine only speed step up to 2.58Ghz, so thankfully Omnisphere doesn't need a super fast CPU like 3Ghz+ one.
But if I use u-he Diva or D16's LUSH-101, very CPU intensive synths, there are patches that a 3 finger chord will 99% my whole ASIO meter. (CPU meter in PC DAWS is really that the ASIO measure available to the DAW based on how it is written to utilize your CPU's/Cores).
The top FX plugins also are going to favor a faster CPU over RAM due to the calculations necessary.
So it's a balancing act on CPU/RAM based on personal usage. I chose more RAM less CPU as I run Omni, Kontakt and use a lot of sample at 24 bit/96khz.
If you get the Vaio just max the RAM ASAP, I'm sure the slots take at least 8GB maybe more if you're lucky.