Hey computer nerds - help a dummy out

[Greg_L]

Yeah I really just don't know anything about how computers work. Nothing. Nuh-thing. Not a damn thing. If there's a problem, any problem, I'm usually pretty screwed until someone fixes it or tells me what to do.

I'm like an old lady and her car. She just gets in, turns a key, and hopefully everything just works because she hasn't the slightest idea how to fix anything. That's me on a computer.

[JD01]

Yeah, now I'm sure little things must pop up for VHS and Tad, but 'cos they know what they're doing their basically no problem at all - so they barely even notice it... where as if something like that happened to me I'd be completely fucked until I could get help.

Using you analogy - if my car won't start (often a problem with my last one) I didn't really give a shit, I'd just give it a push, bump start it and remember I needed to give it time to charge (while never quite getting around to buying a new battery)... some people are knackered when their car won't start.

[WhiskeyJack]

I also agree with the idea of getting an SSD instead of a hard drive. You’ll notice your start up is really fast and that your applications will open and close MUCH faster. If you need more space, you can always get an external hard drive.

I won't ever go back to a HDD for the OS and Programs and shit. I will likely continue to keep upgrading all my back up drives and stuff to SSD as well. it only makes sense.

[Armistice]

I don't feel this is a skillset I wish to master, unless I get really poor someday and I'm actively working on that not happening.

I have a great admiration for those that can do it, however. Given how low resource audio recording is, there are plenty of perfectly good off-the-shelf boxes to be had for not too much.

So unless you feel it's a box you really want to tick off, I'd leave it alone. I say this as someone who's been working on, and with, computers of some sort or another for longer than most. I know how exactly they work. I know what a BIOS is. I just am not interested in building one myself.

I feel the same way about building guitars. Why would I spend countless hours building something that would end up being a piece of shit, just for fun? What fun is that?

I also accept that others like doing this stuff and good on them, but it ain't for me. Good luck!

[Tadpui]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JtpyMZ

Here's the exact same build, except the Intel version. It seems that there is about a $100 "Intel tax". However, the i5 8400 is a really good processor. It doesn't have the same caliber of fancy integrated graphics as the AMD, but will still drive 2 displays with no issues. Plus it has 6 cores and will be excellent for even medium or large audio projects.

I'm sticking with the Micro ATX form factor because I don't see much need for lots of internal expansion slots for this use case (my two full ATX motherboards only have graphics cards installed, and a bunch of unused empty slots), and the ability to use a compact case makes the machine easy to fit anywhere.

Still sticking with 2 8GB sticks of RAM as well. Even though it uses both available DIMM slots, RAM is still juuuust expensive enough that 2x16 would up the price considerably without much benefit for this use case.

I've gotta defend the Hitachi 2TB HDD. This much storage for this price is a great deal. It's not solid state, it's mechanical and will make some noise when stressed, but the price per GB is too good to pass up. And Hitachi has one of the lowest failure rates in the industry. As a mass storage drive, I think it's a slam dunk.

The WD M.2 NVMe drive will provide fast app loads and quick boot times as an OS drive (and you don't have to run cables to it!). I wouldn't recommend running Windows 10 off of a HDD, so this SSD will make the computer feel really responsive overall.

I'm still on the hunt for a comparable pre-built system. I think that even with a pre-built, you're going to want to at least replace the fans. And it's a bit of a gamble on how good the fan controls will be on the super-cheap motherboards that most prebuilts use. But I don't doubt that there's something perfect out there, already assembled and ready out of the box. I'm just way better at finding the specific components that I want and assembling a dream machine, rather than searching through thousands of similar pre-built computers looking for the one that has the right combination of parts.

Either way, this is still kinda fun for me

[CrowsofFritz]

Honestly, the only reason I do this is to get the exact specs I want AND it saves a ton of money.

If I want a prebuilt computer with the same power as it costs in parts, it’ll cost at least $300 more from like PowerPC or Razer or something.

Plus it’s so easy. After doing it once, you’re already a pro at it.

Speaking of which, I have a GTX 750 (low profile) that I’m not using if anyone wants it for video or light gaming. If someone wants to pay for shipping it’s theirs.

[Minerman]

I've been catching up here & I'm in the same boat as Greg with all this tech stuff, I'm just lost in an ocean of stuff I don't quite understand, but I'm trying to learn...

I still have access to the church I've used a few times since about 2012 or so, & I'm thinking about trying to putting a portable rig together...The desktop I currently have is pretty awesome, but it's a pain to tear it all down & move...A laptop would definitely make this easier, but my interface is rack-mountable & it might be cool to have a rack-mount pc...That's one option...

Another option I've been thinking about is turning a microwave cart into a portable rig...Put the tower in the bottom (fastened down with L-brackets maybe), & use the middle shelf for the rack mount stuff...

The whole idea is being able to record real drums, but I've got a couple more ideas about that I'll mention later to keep from hi-jacking this thread anymore than I already have...

Just some ideas I've been pondering on here...

Sorry to hi-jack the thread , so back to the nerd content...

[Minerman]

Getting sorta back on-topic, would a laptop/pc be able to record in real-time using a usb 3 external drive??? I tried this years ago with a laptop & an external usb 2, but there was a lag...

Any thoughts???

[CrowsofFritz]

Getting sorta back on-topic, would a laptop/pc be able to record in real-time using a usb 3 external drive??? I tried this years ago with a laptop & an external usb 2, but there was a lag...

Any thoughts???

Like as in the entire OS in on an external drive? You should definitely be able to. My computer runs on an external hard drive due to motherboard issues and I don’t have a problem. I’m using USB 2.

[Bill L]

I've been catching up here & I'm in the same boat as Greg with all this tech stuff, I'm just lost in an ocean of stuff I don't quite understand, but I'm trying to learn...

I still have access to the church I've used a few times since about 2012 or so, & I'm thinking about trying to putting a portable rig together...The desktop I currently have is pretty awesome, but it's a pain to tear it all down & move...A laptop would definitely make this easier, but my interface is rack-mountable & it might be cool to have a rack-mount pc...That's one option...

Another option I've been thinking about is turning a microwave cart into a portable rig...Put the tower in the bottom (fastened down with L-brackets maybe), & use the middle shelf for the rack mount stuff...

The whole idea is being able to record real drums, but I've got a couple more ideas about that I'll mention later to keep from hi-jacking this thread anymore than I already have...

Just some ideas I've been pondering on here...

Sorry to hi-jack the thread , so back to the nerd content...

I can't recommend the Behringer X18 Air or X32 rack enough. Portable, flexible and powerful. I have both and use them both for mobile recording and pro live sound.

[Minerman]

Getting sorta back on-topic, would a laptop/pc be able to record in real-time using a usb 3 external drive??? I tried this years ago with a laptop & an external usb 2, but there was a lag...

Any thoughts???

Like as in the entire OS in on an external drive? You should definitely be able to. My computer runs on an external hard drive due to motherboard issues and I don’t have a problem. I’m using USB 2.

No, the OS would be on the internal laptop drive, but track/record onto an external hdd via usb 3...I tried it years ago on a shitty laptop > usb 2, & there was lag/latency, so I'm wondering if usb 3 would work in real time...

[CrowsofFritz]

Like as in the entire OS in on an external drive? You should definitely be able to. My computer runs on an external hard drive due to motherboard issues and I don’t have a problem. I’m using USB 2.

No, the OS would be on the internal laptop drive, but track/record onto an external hdd via usb 3...I tried it years ago on a shitty laptop > usb 2, & there was lag/latency, so I'm wondering if usb 3 would work in real time...

Ah, I can’t say I have experience in that. Part of me wants to say it would be better while another part of me thinks it might not be given the way the USB protocol transfers data in packets rather than a continuous stream.

Are you unable to find any links or videos online of people doing this?

[Minerman]

Ah, I can’t say I have experience in that. Part of me wants to say it would be better while another part of me thinks it might not be given the way the USB protocol transfers data in packets rather than a continuous stream.

Are you unable to find any links or videos online of people doing this?

No biggie...

No links/vids, but I honestly haven't looked very much, just wondering if anyone here has any experience with it...

I'm gonna say usb 3 would be much better, but it depends on the computer...My desktop has usb 3 ports which connect to the motherboard via SATA just like an internal drive & it's supposed to be the same read/write speed as the internal drives, but I haven't did any test or anything...

I suppose if a laptop has usb 3 that connect the same way (via SATA), it should do fine I suppose, & again, just trying to find real world experiences from folks like us here...

[Minerman]

I can't recommend the Behringer X18 Air or X32 rack enough. Portable, flexible and powerful. I have both and use them both for mobile recording and pro live sound.

Thanks Bill, I finally upgraded to a Tascam 16x08 a few months ago & so far it seems adequate for what I do...The Tascam has a few quirks I don't like, but I can probably live with it...If I ever decide to get another interface, the XR18 would be pretty high on the list...

Thanks again dude...

[Armistice]

Getting sorta back on-topic, would a laptop/pc be able to record in real-time using a usb 3 external drive??? I tried this years ago with a laptop & an external usb 2, but there was a lag...

Any thoughts???

Why would you need to Miner? How much are you going to record? Surely the internal hard drive would do for tracking, and then you dump and mix on the big machine?

[Minerman]

Getting sorta back on-topic, would a laptop/pc be able to record in real-time using a usb 3 external drive??? I tried this years ago with a laptop & an external usb 2, but there was a lag...

Any thoughts???

Why would you need to Miner? How much are you going to record? Surely the internal hard drive would do for tracking, and then you dump and mix on the big machine?

Lol...I really wouldn't need to Armi, I was just wondering if usb 3 would be able to handle real-time or not...I tried this about 10 years ago with a Vista-based pc & usb 2 external hdd, & it had latency/lag...

After thinking about this for a couple days, I'd probably be better off making my current rig portable by mounting everything in a small cart with wheels...Just haul the rig to wherever, roll it in & fire it up...

[CrowsofFritz]

Ah, that reminds me of the one and only time I brought my PC and monitor and everything over to my friends house to record drums at his place. That sucked. But I also don’t want or need a laptop. I might just try an iPad interface and just transfer files.

[WhiskeyJack]

Anyone know of any background services in windos 10 that might be running to interfere with my DAW? I have automatic updates set to manual, windows defender is disabled....

What am i missing? Does that cortana thing need some disabling or anything. I also notice this made me sign up with a pin and not a password and it is linked ot an ancient hotmail i don't use anymore. And i get notifications of all the junk mail, going to it. Am i able to switch it over so i can sign in with a normal password and not be linked ot my stupid outlook / windows account?


Thanks for your understanding in this matter.
MGMNT.

[Armistice]

Anyone know of any background services in windos 10 that might be running to interfere with my DAW? I have automatic updates set to manual, windows defender is disabled....

What am i missing? Does that cortana thing need some disabling or anything. I also notice this made me sign up with a pin and not a password and it is linked ot an ancient hotmail i don't use anymore. And i get notifications of all the junk mail, going to it. Am i able to switch it over so i can sign in with a normal password and not be linked ot my stupid outlook / windows account?


Thanks for your understanding in this matter.
MGMNT.

Happy birthday nerdboy.... or is that tomorrow where you are?

Windows does all sorts of shit and what you disable depends upon what else you use the computer for. I don't even connect mine to the net except to upgrade Reaper.

On my other devices I routinely disable anything that involves me talking to said device - Cortana, Bixby, etc. - not just from a privacy point of view but you know that mic is always on and waiting for you to say something and react, so that can't be helpful if you're trying to do audio stuff on your computer. So disable the mic and camera as well if you're a privacy freak like me...

[rayc]

I use AVG Tune up and it recommends what can be put into a "sleep" mode and only run when required/awoken.
This does mean that AVG can be annoying at times but Ive followed most recommendations - it even rates the frequency of use of programs and the impact it has on the CPU.I did the APPEE BURPHDAE thing of fb but DITTO!