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  3. VE3 server machines... 16GB... PC or MAC?

  • VE3 server machines... 16GB... PC or MAC?

    U
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    Well... title says it all...

    What machine is best to host 3x VE3?

    I have the Orchestral cube, so lots of delicious samples. 

    It figures the need is either for a Mac Pro

    or a Win64 (XP or Vista?) system based on a server mobo etc.

    Price-wise it's probably the windows system. 

    Any suggestions on that one?

    Which mobo (server or normal?), CPU, Ram (speed? DDR2 probably?)

    Or would 8GB be sufficient?

    Hmmm... I really wish there was a dedicated hardware forum here ;) 

    Thanks so much for your input!

    -Emanuel
  • M
    M

    Emanuel,

    I've been putting together 8 gig XP64 machines and about to add another. I guess there's give and take on both sides. With 8 gig machines you (obviously) need 2 of them to equal one 16 gig machine, and that means twice the chance of things going wrong with components. On the other hand, you have two discreet machines and if one goes down, well, you're still left with at least 8 gigs. I'm starting to keep a spare parts machine on hand though, so if ANYTHING ever goes down, I can have it back up in a couple of hours.

    An 8 gig machine may be still less expensive than a 16 gig due to the RAM and the motherboard.

    I don't know what to tell you. It's kind of where you draw the line with what you want to put up with. So far, the 8 giggers have been pulling their weight and have had good response from them. Going to add a new one in a couple of weeks to handle the woodwinds alone.

    I'd sorely love to just have (2) 16 Gig machines, if it were a perfect world. But I'm just not there yet on trusting putting so much money into one computer.

    But several others can chime in with their experience. I think (I'm sure) that the VSL folks are using 16 gig machines or more. Remember a thread where 32 gigs was reached and conquering the world. But that's some cash for that RAM....!!

    Mahlon
  • U
    U

    Thank you Mahlon for your input here!

    Am a bit concerned about those 8GB machines.

    Those mobo's don't seem to be so happy - fully loaded.

    (my hardware shop warned me on this topic)
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    @Emanuel said:

    Thank you Mahlon for your input here!

    Am a bit concerned about those 8GB machines.

    Those mobo's don't seem to be so happy - fully loaded.

    (my hardware shop warned me on this topic)

    Unless your hardware shop is an expert on streaming samplers, then take their advice with a pinch of salt. There is no problem that I'm aware of with on 8GB machines, as long as you know how to set them up. Please get your suppliers to be more specific about the alleged problems, so we can see whether or not they would affect your setup.

    Once you get to 16GB, then it becomes much more difficult and potentially expensive. I've recently moved to a 16GB DAW and am only using one machine in my setup. I have found out a number of things, but am not quite ready to post my results yet.

    DG
  • U
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    Hi DG, thanks.

    Will check with my shop on further details, and post here again.

    I'm kind of reluctant to start warking with 2 or more extra computers in my studio.

    The noise alone... ;)

    Curious for your new DAW and results!

    Talk to ya soon,

    -Emanuel
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    @Emanuel said:

    Hi DG, thanks.

    Will check with my shop on further details, and post here again.

    I'm kind of reluctant to start warking with 2 or more extra computers in my studio.

    The noise alone... 😉

    Curious for your new DAW and results!

    Talk to ya soon,

    -Emanuel

    The noise is hardly anything if you want it to be that way.

    DG
  • M
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    Hi Emanuel,

    I've silenced my two 8 gig machines so that I don't hear them and they sit 4 feet from me. This is done by a combination of isolating the hard drives and sound dampening of the case to stop any conductive noise they may be relaying to the case and to quieten the hard drive's seek times. The other main tactic is to use quiet components -- components made to be super-quiet in the first place.

    It's really quite easy to silence a computer. I'll post details if you'd like. Best place to start is by buying 'silent' or quiet components to build it with. You can find out more by googleing 'silent pc' or 'quiet pc'. There's a wealth of information.

    I'm enticed to try a 16 gig machine, but I've not the courage yet. DG, I would like to see your exeriences when you're ready to post them.

    Mahlon
  • U
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    Hi again Mahlon and DG,

    I do know a thing of two about silencing computers.

    The problem is that I record and mix in the same room.

    My current computer is already here too.

    (very quiet - mobo and VGA fanless, big Zalman cooler on CPU, quiet PSU etc...)

    Although it is "silent", it is not really - if you know what I mean.

    So I don't want to have 3 of these around.

    A "silent" 8GB computer would be about 1080 euro excl VAT from my supplier.

    (This is without screen, mouse or keyboard of course)

    The set is built around a core2DUO E8400 45nm 3GHz CPU and 8GB of 1333 DDR3 OCZ Ram.

    Also included is a silent Antec case and dito PSU, a silent CPU cooler, fanless VGA,

    a Win64 Home Vista license, DVD-drive and 1TB Samsung hard disk.

    In the mean time, my supplier also specified that the problem has more to do with OCZ than with the mobo.

    So was happy to hear that ;)

    I'll be trying to find out what a 16GB silent server machine would cost in the coming days.

    Happy to hear your thoughts in the mean time.

    Ciaou!

    -Emanuel