Help me with computers

[surreal.manifold]

Hello handsome refined intellectuals, I had good luck with my last thread getting information so figured I'd ask you guys about computers for music production. I did search other posts but still it helps me to make my own for clarity. So apparently I bought the worst laptop in the world from a pawn shop for recording. I've never had problems before, even the shittiest Acer let me have 20 virtual instruments going in the past, but this Acer is like world record shitty. Opening Ozone 9 with one instrument crashes the whole thing. I just bought the $500 version of the axe IO interface and figured it would be a waste to put it thru another shitty computer.

I want to treat myself and buy a computer designed for recording and programming music. I don't know anything about computers. From what I read cpu, ram and something else- that can be called ssd? Lol are the most important for music production. Can someone explain to me what these things each do? How would I benefit from having a better one of each? I was thinking an i7 4.0 ghz 32gb ddr4 ram, 1tb ssd would be ideal for what I'm doing and my budget. All I know is those acronyms and numbers are supposed to be good I guess. Anything I'm missing? I'm just looking on Amazon for computers with those specs. Anyone have any computers they can suggest to me or what specs I should be looking for? I'd like to spend around $600, $750 would be ok, and if I have to spend $1000 I will but I will hate it a little bit.

Thanks in advance for any input and advice you guys are great.

 

[DoctorStoner]

Solid State Drive (SSD) is key for fast operation. I would never use a hard drive again. You can use it for virtual RAM with very low latency also. My PC from 2020 is using a Ryzen 7 3700X with 16GB ram and operates smooth as can be with a bunch of instances of Amplitube. AMD will generally be cheaper than the equivalent Intel chip. Slightly outdated tech will still be super fast for most applications and be a lot cheaper. I bet my $1300 setup from 2020 would be $500-600 today.

 

[surreal.manifold]

Solid State Drive (SSD) is key for fast operation. I would never use a hard drive again. You can use it for virtual RAM with very low latency also. My PC from 2020 is using a Ryzen 7 3700X with 16GB ram and operates smooth as can be with a bunch of instances of Amplitube. AMD will generally be cheaper than the equivalent Intel chip. Slightly outdated tech will still be super fast for most applications and be a lot cheaper. I bet my $1300 setup from 2020 would be $500-600 today.

Thanks for the input I'll keep this in mind. I'm not sure they have refurbished Ryzens on Amazon, I'm thinking going that route to save some money

 

[spudmunkey]

CPU: Determines the speed things happen when you're trying to process something
RAM: The more you have, the more things you can have open before you experience slow-down, like multiple programs, or large files.
SSD is a "solid state drive", which is a newer tech of "hard drive", which is your storage space. Unless you're scraping the bottom of the barrel with no-name brands and the cheapest of the cheap, any reasonable SSD will be at least 10x faster than a normal "spinning disk" hard drive. Switching from a hard drive to an SSD is the single most impactful upgrade you could do to a laptop by a huge margin. Everything opens faster, and everything feels "snappier".

One thing that may be worth looking into: what software are you planning to use? Others will have to answer this, but does some recording software work with Intel but not AMD CPUS? Or Nvidia vs AMD vs Intel GPUs? The reason I bring this up, is I recently had to buy a laptop, and the software we need to use is incompatible with AMD GPUs and Intel integrated graphics.:


So to make sure I'd have no compatibility issues, I had to get a laptop with an AMD processor, and Nvidia GPU. But, this was architectural design software, and I have no idea if audio recording software might have similar incompatibility issues.

 

[surreal.manifold]

CPU: Determines the speed things happen when you're trying to process something
RAM: The more you have, the more things you can have open before you experience slow-down, like multiple programs, or large files.
SSD is a "solid state drive", which is a newer tech of "hard drive", which is your storage space. Unless you're scraping the bottom of the barrel with no-name brands and the cheapest of the cheap, any reasonable SSD will be at least 10x faster than a normal "spinning disk" hard drive. Switching from a hard drive to an SSD is the single most impactful upgrade you could do to a laptop by a huge margin. Everything opens faster, and everything feels "snappier".

One thing that may be worth looking into: what software are you planning to use? Others will have to answer this, but does some recording software work with Intel but not AMD CPUS? Or Nvidia vs AMD vs Intel GPUs? The reason I bring this up, is I recently had to buy a laptop, and the software we need to use is incompatible with AMD GPUs and Intel integrated graphics.:
View attachment 128825

So to make sure I'd have no compatibility issues, I had to get a laptop with an AMD processor, and Nvidia GPU. But, this was architectural design software, and I have no idea if audio recording software might have similar incompatibility issues.

Thank you so much for breaking everything down man. Super appreciate it. The main DAWS I use are cakewalk, reaper and fl studio. Would you agree with the guy above that amd is better?

 

[spudmunkey]

Honestly, we're in a place where as long as you are paying attention to pricing, there's not necessarily a slam-dunk obvious choice with blanket statements. AMD *tends* to have better battery life, but it's not the case with every model, and Intel's newest narrows the gap. Same with performance. And really, even if one is better for the same price, it might mean that something will take :49 seconds instead of :56 seconds...but are you really going to notice that difference? I wouldn't unless I was using them side-by-side. It's helpful to make sure that the two CPUs you are considering are actually in the same class, then look at the rest of the computer as a whole package. Some laptops with the same CPU will perform worse than others because they have inadequate cooling, meaning the moment it gets hit with a load, it slows down to prevent overheating. This actually made some Intel i9 processors (their highest end) actually perform worse than the same laptops with CPUs from the lower in class.

Though I will say one significant difference to consider is that unless you're looking at the absolute newest stuff, AMD doesn't support Thunderbolt, so some peripherals won't be compatible. If I understand correctly, an AMD computer would need to support USB4 (which includes thunderbolt compatibility), BUT SOMEONE ELSE WILL NEED TO CONFIRM THAT...I'M ONLY ABOUT 99.44% SURE THATXA THE CASE)

 

[Jonnysleftfoot]

I’d suggest taking a look at used M1 or M2 MacBooks or Mac mini’s. A base model would likely exceed your expectations, with the caveat that storage will be an issue. That’s where external SSD’s come into play.

 

[Andromalia]

Problem with macs is, although their hardware is decent for the first time since er... decades, using a DAW requires sizeable amlounts of RAM which Apple sells at a retarded price. (200€ to upgrade from 8 to 16, and it's impossible to upgrade yourself of course, riiiiight. GAFY Apple). The only real interesting Mac onfigurations are the entry level ones, provided you can do with an entry level config. Value goes out the window when you start picking options. (Going from 16 to 32 with a Lenovo is 50€...)

 

[velvetkevorkian]

Others will have to answer this, but does some recording software work with Intel but not AMD CPUS? Or Nvidia vs AMD vs Intel GPUs?

No, any combination should be fine. In Mac land you may need to be aware of Apple Silicon vs Intel but on Windows pretty much anything goes. Even the exceptions that you've posted for other domains read as much narrower than what you've landed on to me.