Hp z440 experience?

[charlie2]

The hp z440 seems to be recommended by avid for pt. Anyone have experience with it?

[RobertElse]

Hi Charlie2 - I don't have experience with that machine, but I have a similar one from Dell, and I run Pro Tools.

I strongly recommend maxing out the memory (RAM) if you can afford it - I shelled out for the full 64MB in my machine and I am very glad I did. I would prioritize memory even over CPU speed... all those CPUs they list are fast and you will be fine with any of them. Put your money in getting the most factory-installed RAM you can because it will pay off over the life of the machine, and save you tons of stress and hassle.

I would also prioritize getting a SSD (solid state drive) instead of a spinning hard drive, if you can afford it. The hard drive is the slowest element in the chain, by many orders of magnitude, and again the investment to lessen that bottleneck will pay off. Also SSD's have no moving parts, so they are quieter and last longer. I have 2 SSD's in my Dell, 2TB each, and it is _not_ overkill. Music files and sample libraries are Big, and you don't want to be worrying about space and having to shuffle stuff around (which breaks all kinds of links that you then have to take time and hassle to re-link). And you want access to your samples to be fast fast fast.

So in order of (my personal) priority: 1. RAM memory, 2. fast hard drive(s) (SSD), 3. CPU core count (higher=better, for multi-threading), and finally 4. CPU speed.

Hope my 2-cents helps,
Robert

[charlie2]

Robert ty.

It helped a lot. You said two drives. What exactly are they for? What goes into them?

[RobertElse]

I put all my "system" stuff (operating system, software application installs including Pro Tolls and plug-ins), downloads, etc) on my primary drive C:, and put all my sample libraries on my second drive. The main reasons for 2 drives are (1) reducing contention for access to applications and plug-ins and sounds - spreading them across 2 drives lets the system interleave access to things, like having more burners on your stove when you're trying to cook multiple dishes), and (2) space: my 2TB primary drive is now half full, and my 2TB secondary drive is 75% full. I have the Native Instruments Kontakt 6 Komplete, and all the East/West libraries, which take up the lions share, plus a few other miscellaneous smaller libraries.

I don't know what the price differential between conventional (spinning) hard drives and SSD's these days, but SSDs are definitely worth it if you have the $$. Also, your machine will reboot much faster. Everything is faster, since disk access is always the bottleneck, not CPU speed. I would put my money into memory (first), then having multiple drives (second), then making those drives SSD's (as budget permits).

If you are planning to use one or more SSD's, be sure to check with HP on which drives in that machine can be SSD's. There may be restrictions (for example, drive 1 and 2 cannot be SSD but drive 3 and 4 can be, or some rule like that). Just something to be aware of before you plunk down your money.

I spent almost 40 years in IT as a programmer/database expert, owning and using multiple machines... these are my take-aways given my experience in various environment, both Mac and PC. Again, just my 2-cents, but hope all this helps.

Robert

[charlie2]

Thank you rob. See my other thread. I got 3 choices now.