Need a new PC, what should I look for?

D-Jam, post: 42518, member: 3 wrote: I’m not sure. I’ve not had the chance to really mess with Windows 8. Usually with most new versions of Windows I’ll end up on them after the first Service Pack…usually a year or two after release.

8.1 aka SP1 is coming out shortly. Also it depends a little bit if the new OS is an extension of the previous (Win 8 has it’s roots firmly in Win 7) or a totally new design (Win XP was a totally different approach than Win 98/Win ME). The last factor is driver support.

… In terms of bloatware, I don’t know if MS loads up a clean install with anything …

Yes, Windows is a clean install and comes without any addition, not even Windows Defender (MS Antivirus suite) is installed standard. The pre-installed OEM Windows versions are indeed loaded with bloatware. I usually have downloaded retail Windows disk and reinstall with the serial number on the sticker on the PC.

I would strip a lot of the Windows functionality because you don’t need it (like Windows Media Center, fax solutions, XPS viewers and printers and all kinds of other unnecessary stuff), but I did that with my MacBook too.

I rarely have a problem in Windows…about as often as I’ve had a problem in a Mac. Goes to show one of the big secrets to Apple’s success rate on Macs is that they use high quality hardware and keep the OS clean. It’s why I tell PC people (I’m a Windows person) that you can’t do well with a cheap $500 laptop. Make it an investment and something you’ll use for years, not months.

I am all for good gear. However I feel confident in helping people setting up their laptops (500$ upwards) so that it will do what it needs, without useless luggage. Like everything keeping a laptop clean requires some periodic cleanup activities.
Do that and even a lower end laptop (still using an old, cheapo laptop for DMX control) will serve you well for at least 3-5 years (about the time needed for PC’s to double in performance). After that it depends on the increased demands of your primary applications.

Greetinx,
C.

any gear for DJing should honestly be separate from any gaming rig you may play. bullshit like origin and steam will bog you down for days, plus your porn spyware.

i have a gaming PC and a laptop specific for music and DJing

I wouldn’t use my laptop in general for gaming. Personal thing I like a desktop for gaming.

However, I’ve used my laptop as a dual-purpose…having Traktor on it as well as Adobe Photoshop and other software I use for web work. My secret has mainly been to maintain and keep my system clean. I also know the limits of my system…as I’ve seen some try to run 2-3 heavy-resource programs at once and then wonder why they crash.

ALSO…it helps to use a cooling platform when DJing. You would be surprised how many lockups/freezes are because of heat and not software.

Origin and/or Steam aren’t are a problem, just switch them off when you want to use the rig for music purposes. That’s the beauty of a PC, one rig that you can customize according to what you want to do at any particular moment.

Any process running on a pc can be killed, all you need is a little know how. My gaming rig and my music rig are one and the same, no issues whatsoever. All I do is switch certain things off when I get my music head on. My gigging laptop is also my everyday laptop, again I switch certain things off and hey presto, I’m running Traktor with 2ms overall latency in a hot sweaty club.

Fair enough using separate PCs for separate jobs but the reality is that it need not be so.

@DJ AMK you are definitely right about the separation, but in some cases it is ok to work and play on the same machine, you just have to be somewise responsible, a lot of care and it should be ok I believe.

DJ AMK, post: 42912, member: 9439 wrote: any gear for DJing should honestly be separate from any gaming rig you may play. bullshit like origin and steam will bog you down for days, plus your porn spyware.

i have a gaming PC and a laptop specific for music and DJing

Sometime I feel like the proverbial caller in the dessert (or is that desert?) … well you know, that little voice in your Tiramisu!

Let me spell it out one more time: D . U . A . L . B . O . O . T .

And you can pm me if you don’t want to go on public record as someone who, despite several attempts on my end to explain, still doesn’t grasp the concept.

Greetinx,
C.