Necessary Computer Specs to Avoid Overwhelming CPU

[kuhliloach]

While it does depend on what you're doing I'm going with the above statement: You need at least a Quad Core 2.8Ghz i7 processor with an SSD drive and 16Gb of memory.

SSD drives are screaming fast and bring the DAW to a Whole New World.

[Sinistereo]

Xeon CPU with registred ECC RAM .. = stable

taking a lot of cores is much better, because you don't need a fast Single Core Clock for Reason!! (3 GHz or more)..

One more opinion, if you're still shopping. The absolute difference in computational power between 4th generation i7 and 6th generation i7 is not very significant. Intel has been focusing on power consumption rather than raw speed. Rather than spending more on the latest generation, I would maximize my core count because Reason makes very good use of multiple cores.

HOWEVER, as has been discussed here before, it is only "physical" cores that count, not hyperthreaded or virtual cores. If you can afford a Xeon setup, it'll give you the most horsepower for Reason. Otherwise, I think the build you posted (plus an SSD) looks great for price vs. performance.

[JamesKerwin]

Xeon CPU with registred ECC RAM .. = stable

taking a lot of cores is much better, because you don't need a fast Single Core Clock for Reason!! (3 GHz or more)..

One more opinion, if you're still shopping. The absolute difference in computational power between 4th generation i7 and 6th generation i7 is not very significant. Intel has been focusing on power consumption rather than raw speed. Rather than spending more on the latest generation, I would maximize my core count because Reason makes very good use of multiple cores.

HOWEVER, as has been discussed here before, it is only "physical" cores that count, not hyperthreaded or virtual cores. If you can afford a Xeon setup, it'll give you the most horsepower for Reason. Otherwise, I think the build you posted (plus an SSD) looks great for price vs. performance.

I actually contacted Reason about this and they've mentioned that hyperthreading will not impact my use of Reason as they don't utilize this in their software. Their is only an insignificant amount of power added with hyperthreading if any. I guess I could look into a Xeon as well since I haven't bought the parts yet. Thanks!

[Sinistereo]

I actually contacted Reason about this and they've mentioned that hyperthreading will not impact my use of Reason as they don't utilize this in their software. Their is only an insignificant amount of power added with hyperthreading if any. I guess I could look into a Xeon as well since I haven't bought the parts yet. Thanks!

Hyperthreading will help with many other programs, just not Reason (or anything else that depends mostly on floating point math).

[guitfnky]

SSD drives are screaming fast and bring the DAW to a Whole New World.

I've seen no discernible difference in performance in switching to an SSD from a 7200 RPM drive in a DAW, except in terms of loading a session up the first time (takes several seconds less with an SSD), and noise level. This with recording ~8 tracks simultaneously, and medium/high audio track counts.

[kuhliloach]

Good to know guitfnky -- is your 7200 drive a hybrid? I've noticed time stretching can have an effect too. Loading complex Combi's seems way faster on the SSD. My last 7200 was years ago and they may have improved them within the last 2-3.

[guitfnky]

Good to know guitfnky -- is your 7200 drive a hybrid? I've noticed time stretching can have an effect too. Loading complex Combi's seems way faster on the SSD. My last 7200 was years ago and they may have improved them within the last 2-3.

No, it was a 2010 iMac stock drive.

[dana]

I ran the Benchmark song and it quit at 2.01 seconds I think my computer is slower than myself and everyone else expected. Next step is upgrading, I assume?

Based on how you've said you use it (lots of Combinators), I'd say yes, you probably would want to upgrade, if you're only able to get 2 seconds in before it stops playback. Assuming, of course, you'd set your buffer as high as it goes, before running the test.

Keep in mind, though, you don't need mind-blowing specs to get something that will work well for you. You won't need an i7, 16 GB RAM, or an SSD. However, those are all very nice things to have. The faster i7 will give you plenty of processing headroom for synths and effects, extra RAM will be helpful if you plan to use a lot of sample-based instruments (drum patches, NNXTs, etc.), and an SSD is just so nice to have because it reduces load times so significantly (especially noticeable if you're using one for your OS boot drive for the first time; you'll never want to go back). They'll also arguably last you longer, because of all of that extra performance headroom.

Really? He's running an i5 and it isn't performing, next step is to get a powerful i7 processor or higher. SSD will load larger songs and refills a lot faster. 16Gb ram will allow more samplers, larger libraries to load without stuttering.

You're just trolling here, go to 4chan or somewhere else more suitable for that!

[Kenni]

I ran the Benchmark song and it quit at 2.01 seconds I think my computer is slower than myself and everyone else expected. Next step is upgrading, I assume?

Based on how you've said you use it (lots of Combinators), I'd say yes, you probably would want to upgrade, if you're only able to get 2 seconds in before it stops playback. Assuming, of course, you'd set your buffer as high as it goes, before running the test.

Keep in mind, though, you don't need mind-blowing specs to get something that will work well for you. You won't need an i7, 16 GB RAM, or an SSD. However, those are all very nice things to have. The faster i7 will give you plenty of processing headroom for synths and effects, extra RAM will be helpful if you plan to use a lot of sample-based instruments (drum patches, NNXTs, etc.), and an SSD is just so nice to have because it reduces load times so significantly (especially noticeable if you're using one for your OS boot drive for the first time; you'll never want to go back). They'll also arguably last you longer, because of all of that extra performance headroom.

Really? He's running an i5 and it isn't performing, next step is to get a powerful i7 processor or higher. SSD will load larger songs and refills a lot faster. 16Gb ram will allow more samplers, larger libraries to load without stuttering.

You're just trolling here, go to 4chan or somewhere else more suitable for that!

I might be wrong, but it looks like you two actually agree?

[boobytrap]

if you can buy ALEANWARE laptop. you can load up to 1000 tracks with 10000 devices without Overwhelming

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