Optimizing Your Computer for Music Production
The thing that a lot of people don’t seem to understand when they first buy a computer is that there are a lot of variables in the hardware alone that can make or break the way the software runs. This is because when you go to the store and see them all sitting side by side, they tend to look very similar. There are people who simply buy computers because they look “cool” or the monitor display looks impressive. In fact, a computer’s appearance and its monitor have very little to do with how well the computer is going to run your software. It’s the “guts” of the computer that really make the difference. I call Macs the pretty computers, because Apple usually takes the time (and money) to make a computer look a little snazzier on the outside. But what’s inside a Mac and what’s inside a Windows computer are not very different, and they’re becoming more similar all the time. Figure 1.1 shows my current computer. At the time I purchased this (2005), it was the top of the line for Dell’s home computers.
Figure 1.1. An external shot of my Dell XPS Gen 3 computer.
When you open up a computer and expose the “guts” of the machine, things look a little different (see Figure 1.2).
Figure 1.2. The “guts” of my Dell XPS Gen 3.
Note
Laptop or desktop? Unless you’re constantly on the road, traveling, or you require a laptop to perform live, stick with a desktop computer. Desktop computers will always be better computers for music production because it takes time just to develop the technology to make hardware small enough to fit into a laptop. Sure, it’s nice to be able to stick a studio in your pocket, but let’s get serious here!
Obviously, most store owners aren’t going to allow you to take apart their display computers to see their guts, so it’s important to know what to look for before you go shopping.