Ableton Forum

Currently, I have a PowerBook G4 1ghz, 1GB SDRAM Mac Os 10.3.9. When I run Ableton, as soon there are more than 2-3 tracks, it begins to overload the CPU usage. I perform and compose electronic/rock music with Live.

I am looking to buy a new mac Laptop, what would be enough RAM, power, etc. ? Of course you might say "as much as possible." But what is a decent compromised amount so I do not have to spend too much. Is the base line 2.2ghz/2gbRAM enough?


Thank you,

Any other tips to manage CPU power would be apreciated as well.

s.ribbon

For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

beatpoet wrote:For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

And if you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Although that sounds like a great deal. I have a 15" monitor at the moment and would not want to make it any smaller.

thanks you though.

I actually use the M-Audio firewire and a firewire external hardrive.

Normally I either chain link the M-Audio through the External hard drive or leave the hard drive out.

Does it slow down the M-Audio firewire interface if I link it through the external hard drive?

Does the MacBook Pro have two firewire ports? Is this better?

Heinz Graaf wrote:

beatpoet wrote:For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

And if you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Just curious, can you connect a display to a macbook?

smutek wrote:

Heinz Graaf wrote:

beatpoet wrote:For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

And if you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Just curious, can you connect a display to a macbook?

Yes. I use it hooked to belkin KWM suitable for Macmini i use to share the video with my XP pc.
It works fine and the addition of a Keyboard and mouse, completed my setup as a 'portable desktop powerhouse'.

- Best
- Pasha

Heinz Graaf wrote:If you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Nope my friend...Decent firewire audiocards for Macs (ie. M-audio 410,audiophile,etc) come with 2 firewire ports so...you can daisy chain the card and the external HD to the same firewire port on your laptop, no need to use the USB. But I agree with you...if you can afford it, go with a Macbook Pro...you won't regret.
It doesn't make it slow, the Macbook Pro has 2 firewire (1/400...1/800) and 3 USB.And...yes it's better.

Heinz Graaf wrote:

beatpoet wrote:For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

And if you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Most firewire audio cards have a 2nd firewire por for easy daisy chaining.

How much Ram is necessary? or Speed?

Will the basic 2.2ghz, 2GB Ram be sufficient for production and performance?

Would it be helpful if I hook up my old G4 Powerbook 1ghz 1GB Ram to help manage the CPU load? How would I do that?

-space

smutek wrote:

Heinz Graaf wrote:

beatpoet wrote:For best bang for buck, Get the highest spec 'white' macbook you can, and stick a load of RAM in it. I have a 2.0Ghz with 2 Gb ram and find it more that adequate. Get the ram from crucial and not apple (it's much cheaper). The new macbooks can take up to 4gb ram so there's no point in going for a Macbook Pro

You'll probably need to get a good external HD too so leave some cash aside for that.

And if you connect an external FW hard drive to the macbook you will be forced to use an USB soundcard becuase there are no more ports available.... No express, no firewire... No point in going for a macbook pro? Dont think so..

Just curious, can you connect a display to a macbook?

Yes, it uses a mini-DVI port and includes adapters for VGA and DVI monitors.

spaceribbon wrote:How much Ram is necessary? or Speed?

Will the basic 2.2ghz, 2GB Ram be sufficient for production and performance?

Max out the RAM if you can afford it... but don't buy your RAM from apple, since they overcharge like mad. The new macbooks support up to 4Gb, and that upgrade will buy you a lot more performance than an extra 1.33Ghz on the CPU.

Would it be helpful if I hook up my old G4 Powerbook 1ghz 1GB Ram to help manage the CPU load? How would I do that?

It's possible, but you'll find it to be more trouble than it's worth. The macbook will basically blow away the powerbook as far as performance is concerned, and you'll never look back.

BUT, if you really want, the best way to spread out the load is over the network. Use the built-in network MIDI driver in OSX to sync live across the net, and mix the audio down on a mixer, or send to the macbook for processing via S/PDIF or something.

As far as processor performance.... you don't need to get the fastest CPU available. While faster CPU is often nicer, the truth is that you won't notice that much difference between a 2.0 and 2.2 GHz Core2Duo. The big difference you'll notice is getting away from that G4 laptop you currently have. The G4 processor was obsolete 6 years ago. That's why your Ableton is dragging so badly.


2 Gigs RAM should suit you well. 1 Gig is an absolute minimum... but 2 Gigs will be better. Max out the RAM if you want peak performance. But don't buy RAM from Apple. Those fuckwads charge more than twice what they should.

Macbook Pro basic then I'll add 1-2 GB of Crucial later.

you should add the 4gb of ram.


it will make a huge difference.

get the ram here, good customer service and pricing.

http://www.macsales.com/