or do I need a multi-core processor ?

I had a Presonus Firepod, Native Instruments, and BB running on my core-i7....and it recently died...wondering if running these 3 at the same time really uses all the cores, or if I could save some money with a core i3 build.

Anybody have any experience running these or similar programs on an i3 ? Did it hiccup ?

As always, thanks in advance.

My backup PC is an Intel Core 2 Duo, far less in power than an i3. BIAB works fine.

I have no idea about the NI stuff, though.

Check the single-core Geekbench score and report it here.

Matt - do you run a DAW at the same time as your BIAB ?

I can, although I don’t normally on that PC. It’s not a stock PC and I weed out unnecessary programs when I build one.

You mean you don't buy an off-the-shelf job, absolutely loaded with bloatware?
(neither do I )

Yes, it should run just fine. I ran a Duo Core on an off the shelf stock laptop as well, with Vista as the OS, and an external focusrite interface. Everything ran fine and at the same time.

And I have NI on it... Komplete 6 was the version.

Note that when running Sonar on the laptop I was able to really load that processor down when I had the right plugs installed and loaded.... Melodyne, Ozone, and a few others.... I could get the CPU meter up into the 70%+ range easily. That did cause a few issues on occasion. Freezing the tracks often solved the CPU crunch. My current i5 Intel machine barely goes over 25% under a full load. I think the i3 should be a fine processor.

HI

YES as you see from below I run mine on an Asus N55 laptop this is i3
Like Mat I have weeded out all the bloat ware .

I have a Sona project that has 22 separate instances / tracks of Kontakt 5 no prob. see my Towards the light composition on my front website page (link below)

Also I have multiple Kontakt 5 vsti tracks in both BIAB and Real band songs.
I do use an Akai EIE pro audio interface.
Have fun
Mike

Some i3 are significantly faster than some i5s