the "today we build our studio pc"-thread

[offcenter2005]

Since I'm going with windows 7 pro 64 bit should I go with oem or retail because I'm doing a custom build? Is it true once components are installed on the oem they are linked to the os licences and cannot be changed out with anything but the exact part that you would want to replace?

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

With that monster i7 you should be able to do quite a bit more tracks and plugs than I can, just make sure and of course match it with a good board, RAM, interface/driver (asio performance/capacity is really important), etc. The hard drive is really important as well, you can do the small SSD system/app drive (I highly recommend Crucial), and a good SATA HDD media drive, and get really great results inexpensively.

i second that mate , im going for a 256gb of crucial m4 and a 1gb 7200 rpm sata hdd and whats a good mobo to match with i7 + rme hdsp 9632 and 16gb ram (in terms of asio) ?

[SLL]

I'm still focused on the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mobo for DAW work. I haven't read anything bad yet about the mobo. There is some good threads here on the forum, where the board is discussed. I also found some good threads on RME's forum:

RME User Forum / Any of you tested the HDSP legacy PCI cards with Z68, X79 mobos?
RME User Forum / Motherboard/Upgrade Options For HDSP9652 PCI
RME User Forum / RME PCI cards and SandyBridge motherboards. Incompatible??

In general it seems like many of the newer Sandy Bridge mobo's is good for DAW work. But about the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mobo, the only thing I need to see, is some very low latency test (latency 32, 64 sample buffer + maxed out or high ASIO performance), that hopefully can spread some light on how good the PCI -> PCIe bridge works with a RME HDSP 9652 or 9632 card.

Higher buffer settings of for example 256, 512 samples, should work without any problems. But it's the very low once that's really interesting for me :-)

SLL

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by fito_88

i second that mate , im going for a 256gb of crucial m4 and a 1gb 7200 rpm sata hdd and whats a good mobo to match with i7 + rme hdsp 9632 and 16gb ram (in terms of asio) ?

The ASIO performance is a function of mostly the RME and it's driver. The Asus P8H67-V should be a great match for that setup, it has lots of PCI, and PCIe slots as well. Not an overclocker, but I wouldn't do that with a DAW, and with that CPU you certainly don't need to. If you really need overclocking and and a Z68 chipset there is the Asus P8Z68-V LE. Make sure you get good, properly matched RAM (I usually prefer Mushkin).

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by SLL

I'm still focused on the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mobo for DAW work. I haven't read anything bad yet about the mobo. There is some good threads here on the forum, where the board is discussed. I also found some good threads on RME's forum:

RME User Forum / Any of you tested the HDSP legacy PCI cards with Z68, X79 mobos?
RME User Forum / Motherboard/Upgrade Options For HDSP9652 PCI
RME User Forum / RME PCI cards and SandyBridge motherboards. Incompatible??

In general it seems like many of the newer Sandy Bridge mobo's is good for DAW work. But about the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mobo, the only thing I need to see, is some very low latency test (latency 32, 64 sample buffer + maxed out or high ASIO performance), that hopefully can spread some light on how good the PCI -> PCIe bridge works with a RME HDSP 9652 or 9632 card.

Higher buffer settings of for example 256, 512 samples, should work without any problems. But it's the very low once that's really interesting for me :-)

SLL

exactly ! ur looking at the same thing as me , many ppl come and say oh my pci card works fine with my z68 chipset and i find out the he only uses 512 buffer size or more ! i mean for cryin out loud any shitty interface out there would perform perfectly in this buffer size !! its when u lower the buffer size to 64 or 32 samples and test how smooth the sound is with the asio peaks and if theres any static noises or not .. NOW THATS THE CHALLENGE !! now can anybody in this world help us with that EVER :D

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

The ASIO performance is a function of mostly the RME and it's driver. The Asus P8H67-V should be a great match for that setup, it has lots of PCI, and PCIe slots as well. Not an overclocker, but I wouldn't do that with a DAW, and with that CPU you certainly don't need to. If you really need overclocking and and a Z68 chipset there is the Asus P8Z68-V LE. Make sure you get good, properly matched RAM (I usually prefer Mushkin).

actually i prefer the newer z68 chipsets so id stick to the p8z68-V LE or AsRock ext4 gen3, and what do u mean by properly matched RAM ? i thought any ram out there would do it so i chose the cheapest 16gb 1600mhz kit which is the G.SKILL ripjaws !

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by fito_88

actually i prefer the newer z68 chipsets so id stick to the p8z68-V LE or AsRock ext4 gen3, and what do u mean by properly matched RAM ? i thought any ram out there would do it so i chose the cheapest 16gb 1600mhz kit which is the G.SKILL ripjaws !

Same sticks, preferably from the same matched kit. What you have sounds like it should be fine, have seen good reviews for it. Enjoy your build. Cheers

[Megadrum]

which is a better case: Antec Solo II, NZXT Phantom 410, or the Corsair 500r? Better as in noise level, cooling, and ease of building/cable managing (my first build). not water cooling, possible after market heat sink. Buying today! Thanks slutz!

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Gearslutz.com

[bugcheck]

Hi all, longtime lurker here. I'll be building a new Sandy Bridge DAW soon. Would you all mind taking a look and seeing what you think? I also posted this build on Tom's Hardware with some more detailed notes, if interested. Thanks!

• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3
• CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
• Memory: Corsair Dominator 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
• Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti
• System Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB
• Data Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB
• Optical Drive: LITE-ON SATA Blu-ray Burner
• 1394 Card: SIIG 3-Port FireWire 800 PCIe
• Case: Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl
• PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850
• OS: Win7/64 Ultimate

Regarding the memory selection, I know 32GB is a lot, but I want to be able to load multiple large sample-libraries. I had some concern about compatibility - it's not listed in the Corsair configurator - but I've come to believe that it's compatible. Please correct me if you think otherwise. I also considered perhaps a more conventional choice: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. I think latencies between the Dominator 32GB and the Vengance 16GB are close enough that overall system performance would be similar with either. Does anyone think differently?

[Megadrum]

Alrighty Gears! After 2 months of researching and after all the wonderful help everyone on here and other forums have given me, I present to you....my build! I just purchased it on NewEgg and I've been double checking my order for the past half hour making sure I didn't screw it up

CPU: Intel i7 2600k
MOBO: Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen 3
RAM: 16GB (4x4) 1600 DDR3 Corsair Vengeance (low profile heat sinks)
PSU: Corsair Professional Series HX750w
HDD 1: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 32MB
HDD 2: Western DIgital Caviar Black 1TB 32MB
SSD: Intel 510 120GB
COOLER: Cooler Master V6 GT
OPTICAL: ASUS
CASE: NZXT Phantom 410
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Total on NewEgg: $1,297.39 (after rebates)

Again thank you everyone who helped me through this long tedious process!

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by bugcheck

Hi all, longtime lurker here. I'll be building a new Sandy Bridge DAW soon. Would you all mind taking a look and seeing what you think? I also posted this build on Tom's Hardware with some more detailed notes, if interested. Thanks!

• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3
• CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
• Memory: Corsair Dominator 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
• Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti
• System Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB
• Data Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB
• Optical Drive: LITE-ON SATA Blu-ray Burner
• 1394 Card: SIIG 3-Port FireWire 800 PCIe
• Case: Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl
• PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850
• OS: Win7/64 Ultimate

Regarding the memory selection, I know 32GB is a lot, but I want to be able to load multiple large sample-libraries. I had some concern about compatibility - it's not listed in the Corsair configurator - but I've come to believe that it's compatible. Please correct me if you think otherwise. I also considered perhaps a more conventional choice: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. I think latencies between the Dominator 32GB and the Vengance 16GB are close enough that overall system performance would be similar with either. Does anyone think differently?

the ram is way overkill , the 16gb kit is more than enough for huge VST sample libraries if thats what u mean, and remember 90% of the vsts r 32bits so u wont be able to work but with 4gb ram.

and why the external firewire card? i believe this mobo has 2 internal firewire ports ready to use. correct me if im wrong

and why the video card if its only a DAW pc ?? invest ur money in a good quality SSD like crucial or Intel better than spending on over-kill rams,video card & firewire card that u dont need. cheers

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by Megadrum

Alrighty Gears! After 2 months of researching and after all the wonderful help everyone on here and other forums have given me, I present to you....my build! I just purchased it on NewEgg and I've been double checking my order for the past half hour making sure I didn't screw it up

CPU: Intel i7 2600k
MOBO: Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen 3
RAM: 16GB (4x4) 1600 DDR3 Corsair Vengeance (low profile heat sinks)
PSU: Corsair Professional Series HX750w
HDD 1: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 32MB
HDD 2: Western DIgital Caviar Black 1TB 32MB
SSD: Intel 510 120GB
COOLER: Cooler Master V6 GT
OPTICAL: ASUS
CASE: NZXT Phantom 410
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Total on NewEgg: $1,297.39 (after rebates)

Again thank you everyone who helped me through this long tedious process!

quality build mate, looks very powerful, nice choice with the PSU i chose the 1 below it the hx650 as i decided to invest the money for 256gb crucial ssd instead but the rest looks tough. enjoy ur build buddy and plz tell us how ur DAW works with it and if u experience any issues. cheers

[fito_88]

guys heres what i picked so far for my next DAW pc:

cpu : i7-2700k

mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

PSU : Corsair HX-650

RAM : G.skill DDR3 16GB (4x4GB) PC-12800/1600

HDD : Hitachi 7200rpm 1gb (owned)

SSD :Crucial RealSSD C400 256gb SATA3 M4 Series

Case: Cooler Master HAF X 942

CPU COOLER : Noctua NH-D14

Case fan : CoolerMaster MegaFlow 200


my only concern is the mobo , wether to go for the AsRock or pay the extra for Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen 3 as iv been hearing amazing reviews about the Asrock , but yet all the reviews are from gamers not from DAW users :(

[Masaaki]

Originally Posted by bugcheck

Hi all, longtime lurker here. I'll be building a new Sandy Bridge DAW soon. Would you all mind taking a look and seeing what you think? I also posted this build on Tom's Hardware with some more detailed notes, if interested. Thanks!

• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3
• CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
• Memory: Corsair Dominator 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
• Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti
• System Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB
• Data Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB
• Optical Drive: LITE-ON SATA Blu-ray Burner
• 1394 Card: SIIG 3-Port FireWire 800 PCIe
• Case: Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl
• PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850
• OS: Win7/64 Ultimate

Regarding the memory selection, I know 32GB is a lot, but I want to be able to load multiple large sample-libraries. I had some concern about compatibility - it's not listed in the Corsair configurator - but I've come to believe that it's compatible. Please correct me if you think otherwise. I also considered perhaps a more conventional choice: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. I think latencies between the Dominator 32GB and the Vengance 16GB are close enough that overall system performance would be similar with either. Does anyone think differently?

Looks pretty good to me. Just one suggestion. Noctua 92mm cooler is not so quiet and efficient in my experience. Cost saving by using 92mm fan is just $30 or $40, so get 120mm or 140mm fan version.

The 1394 controller on ASUS board is probably VIA chip, so it is better to get external FW card if you already have one. But FW400 is probably enough (or even better) than FW800, in terms of compatibility.

For the video card, just make sure DPC latency when you install the driver.

[Megadrum]

Originally Posted by fito_88

quality build mate, looks very powerful, nice choice with the PSU i chose the 1 below it the hx650 as i decided to invest the money for 256gb crucial ssd instead but the rest looks tough. enjoy ur build buddy and plz tell us how ur DAW works with it and if u experience any issues. cheers

Thanks man! yeah i went a little overboard on the psu but it was only $20 extra (rebate). Ill update once i get it running!

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Gearslutz.com

[bugcheck]

Thanks Masaaki and fito_88 for your input!

Originally Posted by fito_88

the ram is way overkill , the 16gb kit is more than enough for huge VST sample libraries if thats what u mean, and remember 90% of the vsts r 32bits so u wont be able to work but with 4gb ram.

and why the external firewire card? i believe this mobo has 2 internal firewire ports ready to use. correct me if im wrong

and why the video card if its only a DAW pc ?? invest ur money in a good quality SSD like crucial or Intel better than spending on over-kill rams,video card & firewire card that u dont need. cheers

Originally Posted by Masaaki

Looks pretty good to me. Just one suggestion. Noctua 92mm cooler is not so quiet and efficient in my experience. Cost saving by using 92mm fan is just $30 or $40, so get 120mm or 140mm fan version.

The 1394 controller on ASUS board is probably VIA chip, so it is better to get external FW card if you already have one. But FW400 is probably enough (or even better) than FW800, in terms of compatibility.

For the video card, just make sure DPC latency when you install the driver.

Thanks for the cooler tip. Is there a Noctua model in particular you like? The NH-D14 looks massive!

Indeed the 1394 card is because the mobo is not TI chipset, and FW interfaces are often not happy with non-TI. I choose PCIe because I've read about some problems with the PCI cards due to PCIe-to-PCI bridge issues, though it's not clear to me if this is really a valid concern. The card I spec'ed does actually have one FW400 port and two FW800, but perhaps I'll look a bit further.

While I'm building this primarily as a DAW, it will definitely see some dual use. I'm a software developer, and I also wouldn't mind running an occasional game (gasp!). That's why the video card. I have seen GTX 560 Ti mentioned in other DAW builds, but that's about all I know. I'd love to hear any firsthand experiences. I'll definitely be checking out DPC latency once the system's together.

The amount of RAM I'm on the fence about somewhat, and I may end up going with 16GB, but I can imagine that it won't be too long before it doesn't seem like too much. But I know part of it is just a gut desire to have RAM for days!

For me the calculus is not yet right for SSD. I'm sure it's a nice fast boot, and fast launching apps, but I guess I don't see the system drive as a particular performance bottleneck. I think I'll wait until they get bigger and cheaper.

Again, thanks for your help!

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by bugcheck

Thanks Masaaki and fito_88 for your input!





Thanks for the cooler tip. Is there a Noctua model in particular you like? The NH-D14 looks massive!

Indeed the 1394 card is because the mobo is not TI chipset, and FW interfaces are often not happy with non-TI. I choose PCIe because I've read about some problems with the PCI cards due to PCIe-to-PCI bridge issues, though it's not clear to me if this is really a valid concern. The card I spec'ed does actually have one FW400 port and two FW800, but perhaps I'll look a bit further.

While I'm building this primarily as a DAW, it will definitely see some dual use. I'm a software developer, and I also wouldn't mind running an occasional game (gasp!). That's why the video card. I have seen GTX 560 Ti mentioned in other DAW builds, but that's about all I know. I'd love to hear any firsthand experiences. I'll definitely be checking out DPC latency once the system's together.

The amount of RAM I'm on the fence about somewhat, and I may end up going with 16GB, but I can imagine that it won't be too long before it doesn't seem like too much. But I know part of it is just a gut desire to have RAM for days!

For me the calculus is not yet right for SSD. I'm sure it's a nice fast boot, and fast launching apps, but I guess I don't see the system drive as a particular performance bottleneck. I think I'll wait until they get bigger and cheaper.

Again, thanks for your help!

You will seriously miss the biggest upgrade to performance if you don't try the SSD. The Sata buss is where the bottleneck isn't, the HDD is a bottleneck when reading (OS and Apps). My Crucial M4 (one of the top rated) was only $99 for a 64GB boot drive. The difference in DAW snappiness and stability was staggering. You might want to think about it some more.............

[Masaaki]

Originally Posted by bugcheck

Thanks for the cooler tip. Is there a Noctua model in particular you like? The NH-D14 looks massive!

NH-U12P is my favorite. It's big, but not as huge as other ones. You can rotate the heatsink to control the direction of air flow. As long as you avoid those RAMs with huge heatsinks, cooler's heatsink won't interfere.

Noctua coolers usually come with two types of in-line adapters, that reduce RPM of the fans. It also comes with two fans. So, you can try various combination, like two fans on both sides of heat sink, or only one side, and then couple with the RPM reducers. When you do that, closely monitor the CPU usage level and CPU temperature. You can also use Zalman's variable speed controller to adjust RPM.

[Yoda117]

Originally Posted by Megadrum

which is a better case: Antec Solo II, NZXT Phantom 410, or the Corsair 500r? Better as in noise level, cooling, and ease of building/cable managing (my first build). not water cooling, possible after market heat sink. Buying today! Thanks slutz!

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Gearslutz.com

If you haven't gotten it yet, I kinda prefer the Antec cases.

The P183 or P280 are really killer as far as cable management and sound go. The Solo II is a bit of an older (and smaller) design, but it's been a staple of Antec's line due to it's quality and ease (I believe SPCR had it as it's Editor's Choice and baseline case for quite some time until the P183, I think, came around).

[fito_88]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

You will seriously miss the biggest upgrade to performance if you don't try the SSD. The Sata buss is where the bottleneck isn't, the HDD is a bottleneck when reading (OS and Apps). My Crucial M4 (one of the top rated) was only $99 for a 64GB boot drive. The difference in DAW snappiness and stability was staggering. You might want to think about it some more.............

+1 for that mate , SSD upgrades r better than a whole cpu upgrade and very noticable , i got my crucial m4 256 for $285 which was really cheap (touch wood) very much recommended

[bugcheck]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

You will seriously miss the biggest upgrade to performance if you don't try the SSD. The Sata buss is where the bottleneck isn't, the HDD is a bottleneck when reading (OS and Apps). My Crucial M4 (one of the top rated) was only $99 for a 64GB boot drive. The difference in DAW snappiness and stability was staggering. You might want to think about it some more.............

Originally Posted by fito_88

+1 for that mate , SSD upgrades r better than a whole cpu upgrade and very noticable , i got my crucial m4 256 for $285 which was really cheap (touch wood) very much recommended

Once your DAW is launched and you're in your normal project workflow, is there still an appreciable difference? I'd have guessed that the performance gains come mainly at boot and app launch. Beyersound, I'm also curious about your report of increased stability - in what sense?

[Liquid360]

I know there are some issues with Win 7 32 bit VS 64 bit systems. When I built my new PC last year, I installed the 64 bit version, but had to re-install Win 7 32 bit because some programs just don't work under the 64 bit OS. It's not that the programs themselves aren't compatible, it's a drivers/directories problem.

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by bugcheck

Once your DAW is launched and you're in your normal project workflow, is there still an appreciable difference? I'd have guessed that the performance gains come mainly at boot and app launch. Beyersound, I'm also curious about your report of increased stability - in what sense?

The OS and Apps are mostly read only situations, as well as being interactive ones, they don't just launch and idle statically. The incredible read speeds that SSDs are capable of are approximately 4 plus times what a HDD is. This increase in throughput dramatically speeds up DAW performance. The stability gain is simple, when something has the ability to work that much faster in a linear fashion, it keeps things much more stable when pushing bigger data loads (big sessions, etc). I went from a 10,000 RPM WD Raptor to the Crucial M4, and that performance difference is more than noticeable. The only real limitation now is ASIO capacity (the real DAW bottleneck), I wish these developers would move farther along with that!

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by Liquid360

I know there are some issues with Win 7 32 bit VS 64 bit systems. When I built my new PC last year, I installed the 64 bit version, but had to re-install Win 7 32 bit because some programs just don't work under the 64 bit OS. It's not that the programs themselves aren't compatible, it's a drivers/directories problem.

What do you mean? I recently switched to a W7 Pro 64bit OS from the same in 32bit, everything works better. The one thing I did do was to keep Cubase 6 in 32bit, thereby keeping all the 32bit plugins off the bridge (already tried it the other way on my laptop, hated the performance issues caused by the 32bit bridge). It's kinda the best of both worlds, things run super fast and super smooth. 32 bit apps usually run wonderfully in W7 64. It is an excellent OS, I don't miss XP or even OSX in the slightest.

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by offcenter2005

Since I'm going with windows 7 pro 64 bit should I go with oem or retail because I'm doing a custom build? Is it true once components are installed on the oem they are linked to the os licences and cannot be changed out with anything but the exact part that you would want to replace?

Retail, who knows what junk lurks in an OEM version? I don't have the answer to your license question, but the other OEM issues are enough hassle to steer clear of them. I have an excellent Asus laptop, but the OEM OS has so much junk in it (my studio tower has the retail version), it makes me never want to touch an OEM version again.

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by fito_88

+1 for that mate , SSD upgrades r better than a whole cpu upgrade and very noticable , i got my crucial m4 256 for $285 which was really cheap (touch wood) very much recommended

The other cool thing you with the 256gb version is over 2.5 times more write speed than my M4 64gb. Nice one!

[Megadrum]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

Retail, who knows what junk lurks in an OEM version? I don't have the answer to your license question, but the other OEM issues are enough hassle to steer clear of them. I have an excellent Asus laptop, but the OEM OS has so much junk in it (my studio tower has the retail version), it makes me never want to touch an OEM version again.

can you elaborate on some of these issues with the OEM? I just purchased my copy and it's OEM, and this is the first time I've heard this!

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Gearslutz.com

[offcenter2005]

Originally Posted by Yoda117

If you haven't gotten it yet, I kinda prefer the Antec cases.

The P183 or P280 are really killer as far as cable management and sound go. The Solo II is a bit of an older (and smaller) design, but it's been a staple of Antec's line due to it's quality and ease (I believe SPCR had it as it's Editor's Choice and baseline case for quite some time until the P183, I think, came around).

Is noise that big of an issue if you are in a sound room or isolated from where the mics are?

[Masaaki]

Junk/bloat-ware that comes with laptops or off-the-shelf machines (Dell, HP, etc) are installed by the OEM manufactures, not from the OEM OS disks. The Windows OS that is sold as "OEM version" does not contain any junk/bloat-ware. You'll get clean installation, like retail version. OEM version is just the same functionally.

It is just the licensing issue, that is tied with the license number, and you can't install in a machine with different motherboard, which means, once you install OEM version, you need to stick with it (and that's fine most of the cases).

[Megadrum]

Originally Posted by Masaaki

Junk/bloat-ware that comes with laptops or off-the-shelf machines (Dell, HP, etc) are installed by the OEM manufactures, not from the OEM OS disks. The Windows OS that is sold as "OEM version" does not contain any junk/bloat-ware. You'll get clean installation, like retail version. OEM version is just the same functionally.

It is just the licensing issue, that is tied with the license number, and you can't install in a machine with different motherboard, which means, once you install OEM version, you need to stick with it (and that's fine most of the cases).

what if you bought OEM windows disc that was meant for a Dell computer? Thats my case, the guy i bought it from told me it wouldnt make a difference

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