Originally Posted By: jazzmammal
Could be but I've read conflicting posts about how much ram is needed to generate RT's. All I know for 20 some years now is put in as much ram as you can afford.

A few more points to make. Years ago I found out about all the bloatware the PC makers put on their machines so I started building my own. Then I found out the guys at all the independent computer stores will take your components and build it for you pretty cheap. I'll read about different combinations of CPU/Mobo/Ram along with the case and buy what I think is the best bang for the buck from Tiger Direct or somewhere at the time. I just had a brand new machine built at Fry's 3 months ago for business. If you buy everything from them they'll put it together for you for $85. It's an AMD Ryzen with a gaming mobo and 16 gigs ram with room for 64. I also bought the enterprise version of Win 10 Pro. I'm not an enterprise but I simply asked the tech about it and he signed a paper that let me pay a discounted price. I don't have any music stuff on it but I can tell just for my business and using the internet it's quite a bit faster than the one I just tested. I should switch machines but that's a hassle and my music PC isn't exactly a dog.

The next point is both machines are clean installs of Win 10 Pro and I don't optimize anything and I mean NOTHING. Lots of folks like to mess with their systems and for me I've learned to leave them alone. When I did this little Biab test the internet was running, my AV was running, everything was running and my audio was perfect, no glitches and you read the generation times.

Is leaving it stock really necessary, I have no idea. Just as an observer (backed up by a comment from Kent a while back) it seems those with the most problems are those who are constantly messing with their systems because they read a tech article. Or, maybe it's just coincidence but my systems work well so why mess with a good thing?

My best advice to folks having these problems is wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows and make the first thing you try out Biab and see what happens. That's your baseline. Clone the HD and then CAREFULLY start reinstalling what you really, truly need and pay attention. Then, don't change a thing leave it alone.

One more thing about generation times. I tested installing everything onto my SSD system drive which of course worked great, then I deleted all the RT/RD's leaving just the Biab program itself on the system drive and running all the RT's from the external drive. Zero difference so may as well save the space on the system drive. Again, the idea is keep the system drive as clean as possible.

One thing rharv talks about and he is a guru on these forums is to point all the DAW/Biab apps to an external drive for rendering audio. He gets much deeper into live recording/mixing and all that than I do but he says it does make a difference.

Bob


Hi Bob,
Many thanks for your reply, suggestions, ideas and the energy you are putting into helping to shepherd me along as I prepare to buy BIAB.

Yes, in my experience, there is a tipping point of sorts regarding the amount of RAM needed to accomplish any intensive task, such as video editing, and audio tracking/editing.

After one reaches that specific point, then adding more RAM is redundant. However, the difference between having too little and just the right amount of RAM can be huge, in my experience.

Great minds think alike on the having-a-computer-assembled front. I used to do this a lot - seems that was what one did all the time in the late 80s and 90s, but I do not know many people who do that nowadays.

However, I am a bit of a control freak, and research things painstakingly, so dictating the contents of my own system is a must for me. There are a couple of guys where I live who have a YouTube channel on which they test all manner of computer hardware for gaming. I am quite impressed by how rigourous these fellows are, and I am going to approach them to see if I can pay them to consult a bit (even though I have a rough idea right now what I want), and put together a fairly sophisticated PC for me.

The 'extra' factor in all of this is that I also require the computer to be capable of video editing. Not only does that require more system resources than audio tracking and editing, but we are now living in a time in which each of the main video editing software applications work optimally with different hardware than the others.

Why can't life just be simple?

Regarding optimizing on the PC, although I do not leave things alone totally in that respect, what I tend to do is to change various settings. For example, I make the computer notify me if a Windows update is trying to install itself, so that I can choose to install or not install the update.

I also create System Restore Points before I install any programme or app, and that has saved my bacon on a couple of occasions.

Thankfully, on the one occasion when System Restore did not help, reinstalling Win 10 was relatively painless, and I have to say, very, very quick.

I completely agree with rharv about rendering audio (and video) on a separate drive - that is actually faster, and puts a lot less strain on each drive than trying to run everything from one drive.

Thanks for mentioning that, though - I only discovered that a year or so ago.

And yes, rest assured that I will completely wipe and reformat my HD, prior to re-installing Windows, if the need arises. Cloning the drive is a great idea.

I wonder if it also makes sense to partition the System drive because it might keep the information in various partitions safer - I will ask rharv about that. Then again, it might lead to more trouble than it is worth.

Thanks, too, for letting me know about the results of you testing leaving BIAB on your SSD drive and running all of the RT's and RD's from the external drive. It is very useful for me to know that there was zero difference in the regeneration time of those tracks when you did things that way.

Thanks again for all of this.

Last edited by drutgat; 10/12/18 10:29 PM.
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