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Old 09-01-2011, 08:57 AM   #1
axeman
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Default Dell Inspiron 620 w/ Intel Core i5-2310 good for REAPER?

Greetings,

Have been running REAPER 3.x (originally 2.x) on an old Dell Dimension E310 for quite a while now and have recently stumbled upon some performance-related issues (detailed on a thread in the main discussion forum a couple of weeks or so ago). Given the old PC's age and the timing of REAPER 4 being released, I'm thinking very seriously about buying a new PC to run REAPER.

As I get "EPP" pricing from Dell, I thought I'd check out the desktops they have on sale for the holiday weekend and ended up honing in on an Inspiron 620 w/ Intel Core i5-2310 (6MB Cache, 2.90GHz) with 6GB of RAM and an internal 1 TB (7200 RPM) hard drive. I should be able to pick it up for about US $680 (with tax and shipping), which seems like a reasonably good deal, but wanted to see if there was any particular reason this may or may not be a good choice for running REAPER.

BTW, I also called to verify that the Inspiron 620 has two separate USB host controllers, as I have a TASCAM US-1641 audio interface and want to be able to record to an external USB hard drive without both devices sharing the same controller. (The keyboard and mouse will have to share a controller with the external hard drive, though.)

Any recommendations about this purchase, either for or against, would really be appreciated. I realize that building my own box would be a better deal, but I just don't have the time or patience--and my previous Dell has been very stable.

Thanks a lot and take care,


Alan
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Old 09-01-2011, 11:02 PM   #2
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I'm wary of anything Dell, but my Dell desktop (which I use as a backup DAW, shenanigans, and various...ahem...streaming medias...) works great. You could say it's the "royal taste-tester" of my pc army. Only after I've verified a file is clean do i move it to my real machines.

So with that in mind, Dell desktops aren't so bad but I imagine it varies. If you can try it out first definitely do!
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Old 09-05-2011, 05:32 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fastlanestoner View Post
I'm wary of anything Dell, but my Dell desktop (which I use as a backup DAW, shenanigans, and various...ahem...streaming medias...) works great. You could say it's the "royal taste-tester" of my pc army. Only after I've verified a file is clean do i move it to my real machines.

So with that in mind, Dell desktops aren't so bad but I imagine it varies. If you can try it out first definitely do!
Thanks a lot for the feedback. Am now trying to verify the chipset and see if I can find any references to the corresponding support/performance in this context.

All the best,


Alan
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Old 09-14-2011, 06:55 AM   #4
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Default I ordered it (should be here on Friday)

Greetings,

Just a quick update to advise that I went ahead and ordered the PC. It should be here on Friday, but it will probably take me at least a week or so to get everything up and running. Will share my experience once I have a sense of how everything is working.

Take care and thanks again for the help,


Alan
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Old 10-07-2011, 06:30 AM   #5
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Default so far, so good

Hi again,

Well, I've been using this new PC for a few weeks now and so far it totally smokes (especially compared to my last machine). REAPER 4 runs just fine too, although I had at least one or two odd glitches when loading in REAPER 3 files--the most annoying of which was a file where my one reverb track ended up with an erroneous send that kept it from hitting the master. All in all, though, I'm very pleased.

Thanks again to fastlanestoner for providing feedback.

Cheers,


Alan
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Old 10-07-2011, 10:21 AM   #6
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Quote:
... good for REAPER?
axeman -

I hope so.

I picked-up this identical PC a couple of weeks ago. I am happy that I bought it - very pleased, no regrets.

I have a question for you, though. What are you talking about regarding "separate USB host controllers", and what did you find out about this?


Just a lo-tech guy in a hi-tech world,


R'Mad
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Old 10-11-2011, 04:55 PM   #7
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sometimes different USB ports are on the same controller, some are on separate. it's mobo dependant.

it's advisable to disable anything you don't need in the device manager
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Old 10-17-2011, 05:44 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReaperMadness View Post
axeman -

I hope so.

I picked-up this identical PC a couple of weeks ago. I am happy that I bought it - very pleased, no regrets.

I have a question for you, though. What are you talking about regarding "separate USB host controllers", and what did you find out about this?


Just a lo-tech guy in a hi-tech world,


R'Mad
USB connectivity on PCs has long been serviced through hubs, with multiple ports sharing the same controller/bandwidth (typically no more than two controllers in the old days). Dell claimer our PC has two host controllers (one for the front ports and another for the rear), but documentation on the chipset seems to indicate that every single USB port has its own connection (which, I assume, translates into its own controller).

Good luck with yours!

Take care,


Alan

P.S. Mine has still been smokin' in terms of performance and stability.
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Old 10-17-2011, 05:54 AM   #9
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axeman -


Well! You mean I may have acually not purchased a wrong piece of equipment?! Good for us.

Thanks for getting back on this... 'appreciate it.


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Old 10-17-2011, 08:20 PM   #10
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Default suggestion for future upgrades

Any dual core CPU 2.0Ghz or higher with 4Gb ram or more with usb 2.0 or higher should be adequate for reaper 4.XX, for extra performance consider replacing your current 7200 rpm for a SSD drive(128gb for $200), even the hybrid ssd drives from seagate (momentum XT 500 GB for $100) will perform considerable faster as well. The slowest component of any computer system is the hard drive.
I have a relatively "low profile" dual core mini laptop 12" with intel su4100 CPU(1.3 ghz only)4gb ddr2-1066, with a Crucial SSD drive M4 128 Gb($219) which is currently the fastest ssd drive in the market for sata 2 interface. I've been able to record 8 simultaneous tracks using plugins(realtime) for each input(8 channels)without a single issue or any latency problems.

Last edited by superpowter77; 10-17-2011 at 08:55 PM.
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Old 10-18-2011, 06:31 AM   #11
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Default Get a good powered USB hub with at least 5V/2A

Don't worry about USB ports anymore, just make sure you only use 1 USB port from your laptop at once, let's say your laptop has 3-4 USB 2.0 ports, then you need to find out one witch one is the main one. Then Use that one for your USB audio interface then pick another Usb port and connect your powered USB hub there. Do not use all your internal usb ports, that's what the powered usb hub is for.
One more thing make sure to pick a really good USB powered hub with enough mA(miliamps), each USB port takes 0.5 mA, so get something as a powered USB hub with at least 5V/2A. A good and cheap alternative, so far the only ones that charges my Ipad2 are the
Rosewill RHB-320 7 Ports and Rosewill RHUB-310R 7 ports and the industrial type powered hub I mention below.
I have at least 9 different brands.

remember you need to divide the total amp capacity from you usb hub by 0.5mA, let's say you buy a 7 port powered usb hub(w/ 2A(amp) total capacity) and you want to utilize 5 ports. Then, you have to downsize to 4 usb devices(0.5 mA x 5 devices = 2.5A), specially if you are using usb hard drives.

In case you really want to get serious, and only applies if you have a express card port 34/54 on your laptop. Get a powered usb express card(not easy to find powered ones w/ AC adapter) as the D-link
2 port USB 3.0 express card, so you plug your powered USB hub from there, and you will end using only one(1) internal usb port from your laptop, leaving more free resources for your USB audio interface. Technically you are not sharing anything here, because USB expresscard connection is coming directly thru the internal PCIe bus from your laptop's motherboard. And get a industrial type USB powered hub as the StarTech ST4200USBM Mountable 4 Port for ($59 bucks), this baby has a (7-24V)external terminal block DC power connector(optional), so you will never run out of juice here. Its performance is rock solid and is the most stable device I've ever owned.

I assume you already know all the other related stuff to free up "resources" from your BIOS laptops as disabling all internal devices you don't really need as (firewire(IEEE 1394)), internal audio, printer ports,etc) plus disabling the windows 7 services you don't really need.

Last edited by superpowter77; 10-18-2011 at 07:11 AM.
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