| |
|
|
When running an audio system under the Microsoft environment, it may not always run as efficient as one would want it to. The basic reason for this is that Windows is installed with many services and settings that use CPU performance and memory. When running audio based applications, the less background interference the better the performance you will attain. This is why Windows offers the ability to turn off or modify many settings within the operating system.When Windows is installed, it is configured for every type of scenario that the operating system is able to do. It is basically an all-in-one type of install so that a novice user can be up and running without having to do any configuring.
For the novice user who wants to use the Windows operating system to run their audio applications while knowing that their system will perform flawlessly, many user guides have been created to help them configure it for optimum performance. Here you will find guides to each operating system that microsoft has released to help you step by step in optimizing the operating system.
Hopefully the guides will be easy to follow but if you should have any questions please send me an email and I will try to respond and help you as much as I can. Also please understand that this is a free service that I provide for all DAW users. If you would like to donate any money please click on the PayPal link below! Any donations are greatly appreciated!!!
- Windows98SE and ME
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP Home and Pro(SP1)
- SP2(coming Soon!)
Optimizing the operating system is usually the best way to get the best performance for applications but your hardware also plays a key factor to getting even more power. Within the Operating System guides there are some tips for improving data flow from within the OS, but having the right components helps even more so. One example is to use hard drives with large sized caches onboard, like the Western Digital JB model Hard Drives. These drives incorporate an 8MB cache which helps buffer the data giving you a better hard drive read and write times. Using all drives with an 8MB cache on board, OS and Data drives truly enhances the amount of performance you get from your DAW.Obviously CPU's are a major factor into a high performance oriented DAW machines. The faster the CPU is the more tracks and plugins you will achieve within your audio application. There are of course several flavors of CPU's these days and the major players are AMD and Intel processors. If you are going to choose Intel your best bet is to purchase a Pentium 4 based CPU with Hyperthreading Technology(HT). Hyperthreading technology makes the processor act like there are two CPU's installed. Although this is not as powerful as having a physical dual CPU machine, it will at least give you a cost effective way to build a machine with great performance. If you are going to purchase an AMD based machine, the 64 bit CPU's are the hot ones these days but you could go for any of them and still get some great performance. Although AMD processors run a little hotter than Intel, you may want to look into a better cooling method for them than the stock fan they supply you with! Look into getting some thermal paste.
More to come.....