Computer RAM Q

[yammer107]

Dose the 'brand' or quality of RAM effect performance? Specifically: A cheap brand, or combination of brands? I keep getting 'run time' errors and other goofy partial crashes (some graphics disapear / lock up) * I'm on Pro Tools le 7.4* Dell Lap top / Windows Vista dual core (recomended make & model and requirements per Digidesign) I upgraded to 4 gigs almost a month ago.... but I noticed some slow down and quirks before that which is why I upgraded... So now its hard for me to tell - just ruling things out here.... thanksInitial problems began after installing Akoustic Piano by native instruments ,, which is a total hog and known for issues. But I reinstalled it on an external drive, and also downgraded to the 16 bit version ( it comes with both 24 & 16 ) And I'm having trouble with songs its not even running in.....~ Chris

[slideboardouts]

I don't really know that the brand makes much of a difference in windows computers. I've ran a number of computers with all kinds of different brands of RAM combinations so I don't think that that would be your problem. The first thing that I would blame is Vista lol. My god that thing is a nightmarish resource hog, and if Akoustic Piano is a hog as you say then well...that might be the issue. Maybe you need to clean out your registry. That is a fairly common cause of sluggishness on windows computers. It could even be a hard drive about to die. I experienced similar things to what you described once and it ended up being the internal hard drive in the process of kicking the bucket. Good luck with it. These kinds of problems are always a pain in the ass -Steve

[southpaw]

I'd say the quality of RAM is definitely going to affect performance at some point, anyway... I dont have any real data to back that with tho, and am not on windows. Since initial problems started with Akoustik Piano.. That could very well be your source as steve said. That's where i would start, then i would go through my plugins and software and make sure everything is tidied and updated, etc. Another thing to check is how much of your startup drive is used. Computers...Its a love/hate relationship. Regards,Jamie

[aimusic]

Also don't forget the speed of the RAM can effect performance.....

[mojobone]

How fast is your hard drive?

[yammer107]

Well thanks for the nods thus far.... Things are somewhat minor / work aroundable but I expected better results after doubling the amount of RAM. I've got the system cleaned out & stripped down per all the available optimization tips... And its a 'one horse' machine... only used for recording nothing else.... not even internet acess... I expected this to reduce isues as well. I'll try cleaning the registry believe I read that once before but forgot - thanks Steve. Gee its hardly 12 months old folks - is it possible I've simply outgrown it already? Naturally my songs have become more complex in terms of track count, plug-ins, effect sends, soft syths. But I keep a pretty clean machine, I'm not sloppy... I comp or make inactive anything not needed etc... combine plug ins via effect sends to get the most track use from them, etc. I record soft syths to audio & disable the syth, etc... Chris

[yammer107]

just missed your post Mojo.....Gotta run to work... I'll check the speed and get back to you..

[mojobone]

Having a single drive can also be a bottleneck, if you have a drive head trying to read and write simultaneously, it'll also cause excess wear.

[yammer107]

I have 32-bit T5300 1.73 Ghz...I'm aware 1.73 is a bit lacking.... I guess over 2 is better. I received error messege; DAE runspeed 7054.... or something to that effect referencing #7054* I'm not yet recording to a seperate drive. I'm only using the external drive for backup, installing my soft syths & samples on it. Thanks for any help you may offer... Just trying to adopt a more preventive posture on things here ..... Chris

[mojobone]

That would appear to reference your processor; I was asking about the hard drive speed, they generally come in 5400, 7200 and 15000 RPM. 7200 is the minimum recommended for streaming multichannel audio. If you have a single 5400RPM drive, as most inexpensive laptops do, that is most likely your bottleneck.