Subject: [linux-audio-dev] Re: Hardware advice please.
From: Patrick Shirkey (pshirkey_AT_boosthardware.com)
Date: Fri May 25 2001 - 20:35:02 EEST
>First, i take it that you plan to run Windows on the laptop,
NO FUCKING WAY! This baby will be pure from the day I buy it.
> You also need low seek times as well, which
>IDE/ATA drives tend not to offer, and is directly related to disk
>RPM. 5400 RPM is probably too slow.
Hence my questions. Does probably mean definitely?
>with disks that provide about 18MB/sec maximum internal
>transfer rate.... These disks would be close to or
>over their practical limit for 24 96MHz tracks.
So, would any HDD that goes faster than 20MB/sec be ok?
>>I am also intending to buy this new fangeled dream machine
>>from RME which will attach to my box via a pcmcia card.
>Which is not yet available :)
But will be soon right;-]
>>So can anyone tell me if 256Mb ram will be enough to record/play say, 32
>>stereo tracks at 96mhz and 32 bits/sec with a few ladspa plugins running
>>in real time?
>Its not a function of memory size as much as disk throughput and CPU
>Hz. I can play 32 mono 32 bit (float) tracks on a PII-450 with 148MB
>of RAM with disks that provide about 18MB/sec maximum internal
>transfer rate. My system isn't sweating too much at that level, but
>its definitely working quite hard. These disks would be close to or
>over their practical limit for 24 96MHz tracks.
So unless the HDD has really fast transfer rate it's useless for
recording even with the card doing the bulk of the work? That's why I
asked about scsi. The only problem is that it would be a pcmcia scsi
card which I'm not sure will transfer faster than an internal ide HDD.
Before I get too excited about this new arrival from RME I want to find
out some info on the peripherals like a notebook computer. From your
last reply I get the impression that the current selection of notebooks
which all come with 5400rpm HDD's (including the powerpc) will NEVER be
able to succesfully record without any dropouts.
My only hope is that a pcmcia scsi card attached to a fast scsi HDD will
be able to. If no one thinks this is possible then I will just save my
cash and wait for the next generation of notebooks which better come
with 7200rpm HDDs.
To recap:
- A notebook with 256 MB ram is good (more is better)
- An ide HDD with 5400rpm needs have an internal transfer rate faster
than 20MB/sec
- An ide HDD with 7200rpm is preferable esp with fast internal transfer
rate.
- A combination of pcmcia scsi card and fast scsi HDD may or may not
perform better than an internal ide HDD with 5400rpm and ok internal
transfer rate.
Can anyone either confirm or deny?
-- Patrick Shirkey - Manager Boost Hardware. http://www.boosthardware.com for latest stock and prices.Importing Korean Computer Hardware to New Zealand.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri May 25 2001 - 09:30:37 EEST