[ardour-dev] PC Hardware suggestions

[Dave Phillips]

John Rigg wrote:

>AMD64 is better than x86 in my experience, too. The extra CPU
>registers available in 64-bit mode seem to boost performance
>more than the 64-bit pointers reduce it. Also, AMD64 distros
>are optimised for that architecture, unlike x86 distros (other
>than Gentoo) which have to work with a lowest common denominator
>like 386 or 586.
>
I just want to add an "Amen!" to that paragraph. I'm running 64Studio on 
a machine with an AMD64 3200+, an 80 GB hard drive, and 2GB RAM. I build 
Ardour2 myself for this machine, it performs like a champ.

Yesterday I was experimenting with the new Rosegarden 1.5. I tested 
various recording scenarios (audio and MIDI), employing multiple LADSPA 
processors per track. The only xruns I experienced occurred during 
parameter changes on some plugins that are not recommended for realtime 
use. The thing is, at some point I realized that I was still running 
Firefox and a p2p client at the same time I was testing RG. My tests 
weren't all that heavy, usually involving only four or five tracks, but 
each track had three or four plugins attached. I was impressed by the 
machine, the OS, JACK, and the application.

And yes, I confess that I do enjoy power and control, the more the 
merrier. :)

Best,

dp