the "today we build our studio pc"-thread

[Methlab]

I am going with the Phenom II 965 from a 939 dual core. I want to save money, and I don't need all the processing power of the i7. I use FLstudio and Cubase (contemplating a Reaper switch). My main plugs are guitar amp sims, Addictive Drums and maybe 2-4 software synths a track. From everything I read, I will be more than fine with the AMD.

The problem with a gear site like Gslutz or toms Harware when it comes to computers is that you will get a lot of posts that make it like you have to spend more than you really need to. If you post a build in Toms Harware and are looking for compatibilty issues, 9/10 someone will tell you to just spend 1-200$s more and get something better. I read posts in here by DAW builders just rippping the Phenom in benchmark tests. That does nothing for me. I went to DAW forums and saw what people were actually using and MANY are using the Phenom II with 100% satisfaction.

Anyone who says stuff like "futureproof" to justify spending more, I have serious trouble paying any more attention to. No computer is future proof. Upgrading your computer is almost always a PITA, regardless if it was built for expansion or not. I want to build one and use it until it falls apart or my needs become greater than the machine. In my experience that is 3-7 years. By then, I will have a different budget and buy another.

With all that being said, the Intels are more powerful for audio, but the question is if you need the power. Many people do not, and you may be one of them. Frankly if I bought an i7 and it ran my biggest project maxed out and only used 20% of the CPU, I would be mad that I overspent.

Most people I read about are maxing out their phenoms with 150+ track counts with effects on each channel. So if that sounds like your production style, then you need an intel. If you are more of a 32 track guy who uses VSTS then you should be fine. It is different for everyone.

[J2thaD]

I do music production as a hobby on the side. Use primarily software DAWs and vsts. With an external midi controller. I am currently in need of a new medium budget build, as my PC is ancient. This seems like the the thread to ask questions in. So here goes. My budget is around $900, and this build will also be for my every day use as well. Any input, and suggestions would be much appreciated.

Was going the amd route
what I am looking at so far.
AMD Phenom II 965 BE
Cooler MASTER HAF 932 Black Tower
Western Digital Caviar Black HD SATA 3 1TB 32mb 7200rpm
Corsair AX750 750w Power supply.

Want a stable board that is USB3 capable and has enough slots so I can also put in a quality sound card, as well as a decent video card.

Any suggestions on a motherboard, ram, and sound card?

[Gearowner]

motherboard:
Asus P8P67 Pro

cpu:
Intel Core i7 2600K Quad-core 3.4GHz 95W (Sandy Bridge, socket 1155)

RAM:
2 x Kingston Value DDR3-1333 4gb

graphic:
PowerColor Radeon HD5750 1gb Silent

ssd:
Intel X25-M 34nm Gen2 120gb Solid State Drive

hdd:
WD Caviar Green 2.0 tb

od:
Lite-On 8x Blu-ray Player

case:
Antec P183. + ACOUSTIC PADDING. fans: inlet - scythe slipstream 120 fan. exhaust - scythe slipstream 120 fan. top fan not needed. close the top hole with acoustic padding.

psu:
Antec CP-850 w/scythe slipstream 120 fan

cpu cooler:
Gelid Tranquilo w/ Scythe SlipStream 120 fan


Get this for $ 1400 and youll be done for quite some time. Also, youll be silent. inaudibly silent. see for more,
Serenity i7 Sandy Bridge PC, SPCR Edition, by Puget Computers | silentpcreview.com

[Methlab]

Originally Posted by J2thaD

I do music production as a hobby on the side. Use primarily software DAWs and vsts. With an external midi controller. I am currently in need of a new medium budget build, as my PC is ancient. This seems like the the thread to ask questions in. So here goes. My budget is around $900, and this build will also be for my every day use as well. Any input, and suggestions would be much appreciated.

Was going the amd route
what I am looking at so far.
AMD Phenom II 965 BE
Cooler MASTER HAF 932 Black Tower
Western Digital Caviar Black HD SATA 3 1TB 32mb 7200rpm
Corsair AX750 750w Power supply.

Want a stable board that is USB3 capable and has enough slots so I can also put in a quality sound card, as well as a decent video card.

Any suggestions on a motherboard, ram, and sound card?

I just built my Phenom II BE and put in a Gigabyte MicroATX motherboard. It is awesome. USB3 and on boards graphics. It removes needing the graphics card out of the equation, which is awesome. If you don't need a lot of PCI slots, I think microatx is ideal for a DAW. I still have 3 open and don't need any filled, since the onboard firewire works flawlessly.

Performancewise I have not put it through it's paces yet. I know Addictive Drums takes up about 25% of the ASIO meter in Cubase 5 when I do snare rolls. I enabled multi in Cubase so I am pretty sure it is using all 4 cores, but it just shows one performance bar. Quite sure there may be some more BIOS tweaks to do as well for me.

When you get your RAM, make sure that the motherboard is using the proper speed and voltage. Just because you set it on auto does not mean it is set up right. I learned that lesson, and now my DAW is so far running rock solid.

Total spent with 64 bit win 7 was $650.

[Are Sorknes]

Hi. I'm building my first computer from scratch. Can you see anything wrong with it? I will post a few questions at the bottom of the list

Motherbard:
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7, Socket-1366 ATX, X58, DDR3, 4xPCIe(2.0)x16, On/Off Charge, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0

CPU:
Intel Core™ i7 Extreme i7-980 3.33Ghz, Socket 1366, 12MB, 130W

Hardrive (C
Corsair SSD Performance 3 Series 128GB SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA3.0), 410MB/210MB/s read/write, incl 2,5" to 3,5" bracket

Hardrive (audio)
Western Digital Caviar® Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3.0), 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 3,5", Dual processor

Graphics:
PowerColor Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0, DVI, native-HDMI, 700MHz

RAM:
Corsair Dominator DHX DDR3 1600MHz 24GB Kit w/6x 4GB XMS3 DHX, CL9-9-9-24, for Core i7, w/Connector, 1.65v

Powesupply:
Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 600W PSU ATX 12V V2.3, 80 Plus, Modular, 2x 6+2pin PCIe, 9x SATA, 135mm Vifte

Fan (CPU or some other place)
Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Cooler Socket 775/1155/1156/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3, 1600~2000 RPM, 120mm

And then a couple of questions:
Will the CPU work with the mobo? The specs on the mobo tells me that it supports Quad-core. The Intel-i7 is Six-core. But the mobo specs also says that it supports this particular processor.

Is a 600w powersupply sufficent? seems that many of you guys uses 800w or even 1000w.

How many fans should one have? The case provides me with 3 Nexus Basic Series 120mm fans. I have also listed one additional fan.

Any help would be appreciated, I am really new at building!

[StudioTinPanAll]

Originally Posted by Are Sorknes

Hi. I'm building my first computer from scratch. Can you see anything wrong with it? I will post a few questions at the bottom of the list

Motherbard:
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7, Socket-1366 ATX, X58, DDR3, 4xPCIe(2.0)x16, On/Off Charge, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0

CPU:
Intel Core™ i7 Extreme i7-980 3.33Ghz, Socket 1366, 12MB, 130W

Hardrive (C
Corsair SSD Performance 3 Series 128GB SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA3.0), 410MB/210MB/s read/write, incl 2,5" to 3,5" bracket

Hardrive (audio)
Western Digital Caviar® Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3.0), 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 3,5", Dual processor

Graphics:
PowerColor Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0, DVI, native-HDMI, 700MHz

RAM:
Corsair Dominator DHX DDR3 1600MHz 24GB Kit w/6x 4GB XMS3 DHX, CL9-9-9-24, for Core i7, w/Connector, 1.65v

Powesupply:
Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 600W PSU ATX 12V V2.3, 80 Plus, Modular, 2x 6+2pin PCIe, 9x SATA, 135mm Vifte

Fan (CPU or some other place)
Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Cooler Socket 775/1155/1156/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3, 1600~2000 RPM, 120mm

And then a couple of questions:
Will the CPU work with the mobo? The specs on the mobo tells me that it supports Quad-core. The Intel-i7 is Six-core. But the mobo specs also says that it supports this particular processor.

Is a 600w powersupply sufficent? seems that many of you guys uses 800w or even 1000w.

How many fans should one have? The case provides me with 3 Nexus Basic Series 120mm fans. I have also listed one additional fan.

Any help would be appreciated, I am really new at building!

UD7 is overkill (UD5 is plenty)
600W psu is a bit low, i recommend at least 700w for your DAW
24GB ram is a lot ! maybe better 12GB with faster timing (cl8)
at the moment it seems the new sandybridge i7 2600K is the best in price/performance (much cheaper and almost as fast as 980x)
3 nexus basic will do just fine

[AldenW]

Originally Posted by StudioTinPanAll

600W psu is a bit low, i recommend at least 700w for your DAW
24GB ram is a lot ! maybe better 12GB with faster timing (cl8)
at the moment it seems the new sandybridge i7 2600K is the best in price/performance (much cheaper and almost as fast as 980x)
3 nexus basic will do just fine

That's not true, 600W will be more than plenty. If you want to confirm this, use this: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Yeah, I can't imagine what's going to use 24gb of ram. That's crazy. Even 12 gb is ridiculously high.

If you can wait, Sandy Bridge will save you lotsa cash.

Oh yeah, and the three fans will also be more than enough.

[Are Sorknes]

Thank you for the replies. seems i can save some cash! Are the sandy bridge cpu's out for sale yet?

[razorboy]

Originally Posted by AldenW

That's not true, 600W will be more than plenty. If you want to confirm this, use this: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Yeah, I can't imagine what's going to use 24gb of ram. That's crazy. Even 12 gb is ridiculously high.

If you can wait, Sandy Bridge will save you lotsa cash.

Oh yeah, and the three fans will also be more than enough.

I agree with all of the above.

Sandy Bridge will be available mid-March, give or take a few days.

[wannaberocker]

Gigabyte 880 ud3
crucial ram ddr3 8 gb kit
amd phenom ii 3.2ghz quad
western digital 1tb internal hd
ati readeon 1gb ddr3 graphics card ( to free up all my ram)
MOTU 24 i/0 with PCIe 424 card
Win7 enterprise ed
Studio one pro 1.5

yeah..its rock solid @ 24 tracks of i/o simultaneously at 96k at 32 samples, not one click noise or buffer issue or @ 16 samples at 44.1k

[shapey]

Originally Posted by wannaberocker

Gigabyte 880 ud3
crucial ram ddr3 8 gb kit
amd phenom ii 3.2ghz quad
western digital 1tb internal hd
ati readeon 1gb ddr3 graphics card ( to free up all my ram)
MOTU 24 i/0 with PCIe 424 card
Win7 enterprise ed
Studio one pro 1.5

yeah..its rock solid @ 24 tracks of i/o simultaneously at 96k at 32 samples, not one click noise or buffer issue or @ 16 samples at 44.1k

Looks an awesome set up, i pretty much just copied this for my upgrade, one question, do i need to buy the extra graphics card (radeon?) is it strictly necessary or an added bonus? Does that motherboard have on board graphics? It fits my needs perfectly hence the copy

[Syncamorea]

My oldest DAW PC has been relegated to the mobile recording rig:

Intel Q6700 @ 2.67GHz
Asus Rampage Formula
Mushkin 2x2GB Redline DDR2
ATI 4700 series passively cooled GPU
Zalman 850HP power supply
Thermalright AXP-140RT CPU HSF
Seagate 500GB 7200 rpm OS HD
WD Raptor 150GB work surface HD
WD 400GB 7200 rmp storage HD
Seagate 2TB 5900 rpm storage HD
Lian Li HTPC case (rack mount)

running:
W7 64
Cubase 6
Wavelab 7
Steinberg MR816CSX + MRX816X

My project studio rig:

Intel i980X @ 3.3GHz
Gigabyte UD5
Mushkin 2x4GB DDR3
ATI 5870 w/ Zalman cooler
SSL MX4
Seasonic X850 power supply
Thermalright Venomous CPU HSF
Silverstone Fortress
150GB Raptor OS
300GB Raptor work surface
1TB WD Caviar Black storage
2TB Seagate 5900 rpm storage

running:
W7 64
W7 32
Soundscape
SSL Alpha Link SX
Grace m902
Grace m201 A/D

I got a great deal on the i980 and it's a monster. I plan to keep it around a long time and I might even stockpile spare mobo and RAM to make sure that can happen. It's a classic processor. This PC has been rock solid for a year. The Q6700 PC and Cubase have been super solid for 4 years now. Great stuff, solid onboard FW by Via. Or should I say "via Via"?

Next up I'm stockpiling parts to build a replacement for the Q6700 mobile rig. I've talked myself into a 2600K but am still stewing over mobo.

I pretty much always replace stock case fans with quiet fans. As much as they are hated by the OC community, I like SilenX fans. I also use Yate Loon and Noctua. I like the Zalman MFC Plus fan controller. I like beautiful women to run naked in the control room just to see if you're still reading as I drone on endlessly. I can get really anal about cable routing, to the point that people have looked at my builds and asked when I'm going to put the cables in and load the OS... I like to filter out dust and seal up the cracks that dust leaks in through. I buy two mesh sizes of copper and make my own filters.

[AldenW]

Originally Posted by Mattydeath

Ok so I have got many mixed answers among other forum sites about this but..

Lets say I built my new computer with two HITACHI Deskstar3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5. hard-drives would this make my DAW Cubase 6 run smoother.

For example when having over 40 tracks not having to freeze some?

also asus x58 and intel I7 980x extreme edition
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3

Sorry dude; is there a question here? Yes, you will need more than one hard-drive...

[StudioTinPanAll]

Originally Posted by Mattydeath

Ok so I have got many mixed answers among other forum sites about this but..

Lets say I built my new computer with two HITACHI Deskstar3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5. hard-drives would this make my DAW Cubase 6 run smoother.

For example when having over 40 tracks not having to freeze some?

also asus x58 and intel I7 980x extreme edition
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3

1 what pc you have now
2 what's on the tracks (audio or vsti's)
3 how many plugins you use (which plugins, some are really heavy)
4 980x extreme is good, the new intel i7 2600k is cheaper and almost as good
5 3tb is a lot ( i would go for 2TB caviar black HD)
6 use a smaller HD for you C:\ (system drive)
7 use a seperate HD for audio
8 use a seperate HD for VSTi samle libraries
9 use windows 7 (64bit) to use all 6GB of ram

[oweng]

1 what pc you have now
2 what's on the tracks (audio or vsti's)
3 how many plugins you use (which plugins, some are really heavy)
4 980x extreme is good, the new intel i7 2600k is cheaper and almost as good
5 3tb is a lot ( i would go for 2TB caviar black HD)
6 use a smaller HD for you C:\ (system drive)
7 use a seperate HD for audio
8 use a seperate HD for VSTi samle libraries
9 use windows 7 (64bit) to use all 6GB of ram



asus m774/usb3 - ??? whatever .. the really cheap board...
amd 565 >?? dual - quad unlocked 3.4 black box - unlocked
4 gig kingston
msi 460 cyclone
startech firewire
saffire 24


2.4@ 2.85 - cas 9

fast and stable\\

oh yeah - i run xp pr0 32

/...
still wonder why people install windows 7 and then say
i am having problems with my windows 7 daw....

100% working plugins - everytime
100% up time
100% stability ( 99.9% )
...never give a second thought to ... will it work ...
( it IS running right now - over in the studio -- i'll bet ya ...!!! )

it works - it just works...

i can run about 80 heavy plugins total before it drops out.

80 tracks with one plug in
or
3 tracks with 27 plugins each --
something like that


don't laugh - sometimes i like to load up the plugs to get a thick sound
..like on my kik ... damn i get a good kik sound..

o


the only trick i came up with was ... to run NO swap ( virtual )
i though to myself one day
since xp sitting there uses 200M of ram
and a fully loaded daw runs 2G

why do i need a swap file .. - i don't

[cporro]

I finally finished my blog post for my DAW build. It's a big one on the whole process from a first time builder's perspective.

DIY DAW Build | BlueDustStudio / Chris Porro

it's a i7 950 with GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R board. it compiles the information i got from sites like this, scott mueller's big thick book, and what i learned from the build. also my unpopular opinion that building DAWs is not the way to go. sorry, just my 2 cents.

[Dr.fire.K]

Originally Posted by cporro

I finally finished my blog post for my DAW build. It's a big one on the whole process from a first time builder's perspective.

DIY DAW Build | BlueDustStudio / Chris Porro

it's a i7 950 with GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R board. it compiles the information i got from sites like this, scott mueller's big thick book, and what i learned from the build. also my unpopular opinion that building DAWs is not the way to go. sorry, just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the blog. Although, it wasn't the lengthy detailed build that i appreciated, but the conclusion as a first time builder that it just ain't worth it. I decided months back that i wanted to try building my next DAW, but have been since sliding toward "that sounds like a bad idea." I don't want to do it "for fun" and as you said, i need something tested and reliable.

[cporro]

Originally Posted by Dr.fire.K

I don't want to do it "for fun" and as you said, i need something tested and reliable.

some will disagree, but my mind is made up. i think you are on the right track. if you really tally up the hidden costs of DIY i think a "workstation" machine from a big manufacturer is the way to go for sure. one of the tech gurus from my DAW community has the same opinion.

[Lil Neno]

How soon will PCs have Thunderbolt technology?

[Strange Leaf]

I just finished upgrading my DAW. I never changed anything in a computer before expect putting in a new PCI card or such.

Now I replaced the motherboard, processor, RAM, fans, harddrives, OS etc and it all went pretty smooth. Only problems I ran into was needing some help setting up the BIOS correctly. I did have some help over the phone from someone who was experienced builder though, but I pretty feel confident doing it all on my own the next time.

My upgraded DAW looks like this:
i7 960 processor (new) + Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard (new)
12 Gb RAM 1600 MHz (new)
Intel 80Gb SSD system drive (new)
2x Samsung 500 Gb Spinpoint drives for project / sample library (new)
Plextor DVD burner
Silent ATI X1300 graphics card
P180 chassis
500w power supply
Win 7 OS (new) + Cubase 6 (new)
UAD-2 QUAD (new) + my old UAD-1
Dedicated Firewire card from exitdata.se to run my MR816csx

Everything is running steady as a rock at any latency setting, down to 32 which is lowest, but I keep it at 64 since UAD-2 card's lowlatencymode does not support 32 sample latency.

[AldenW]

Sweet rig strange leaf!

[Nev]

I didn't want to start another thread about the same topic, and I had posted this before in the sandybridge topic but it belonged here, so I figure I'd ask in here if this will suffice:

Today I upgrade my studio PC. Can't afford $4k for a Mac Pro

Core i7-2600K $315 I will OC
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K

GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $320.00
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B $100
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B


I want to reuse my:
ATI video card
Cosair TX750w power supply (rock solid)
1TB 7600RPM drives x 2
External eSATA/FW Glyph GT050Q

I am upgrading from a Asus P5QL/EPU - Dual core 8500 OC at 3.8ghz - 16gb DDR2 RAM running rock solid for years without a hitch.

Will sticking to a 2500K suffice? Or shall I spend the extra bucks for a Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970And switch to the appropriate mobo for it

How are the limitations with the PCI lanes going to affect a future UAD2 Protools HD combo, if it affects it at all.

The X58 chipset allows 36 PCIe 2.0 lanes, whereas the P67 only allows 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes originating from the CPU which reduces latency but limits total available bandwidth, not to mention the X58 allows triple channel memory controller. Now I know how this all affects gaming and Photoshop machines, but I do not know how it will affect audio PCs, considering the popularity of PCI expansion options, such as UAD and HD cards.

[flyingworld]

Originally Posted by cporro

I finally finished my blog post for my DAW build. It's a big one on the whole process from a first time builder's perspective.

DIY DAW Build | BlueDustStudio / Chris Porro

it's a i7 950 with GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R board. it compiles the information i got from sites like this, scott mueller's big thick book, and what i learned from the build. also my unpopular opinion that building DAWs is not the way to go. sorry, just my 2 cents.

It's time consuming,that's what you pay Apple to do.

How much did it cost you,if I may ask?

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

[n2o]

hello!
i tired of producing on my 4 year old laptop which is getting slow so i decided to build a new pc. Im not sure for PSU and memory, other components i think they are ok.

Motherboard:
ASUS P8P67 LE Rev 3.0

CPU:
Intel® Core™ i5 2500 3,3 Ghz

RAM:
G.Skill "RipJawsX" KIT 4096MB 1600 MHz

Graphic Card:
Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 "Silent" 1GB

Disk:
Western Digital "Caviar® Black™" 500GB

DVD/RW:
NEC AD-7261S LightScribe™

Case:
Cooler Master 690 II "Advanced"

PSU:
Cooler Master Silent Pro M500 500W


For RAM i was thinking to take only 4 gb for start and add more if needed later (also will be cheaper). Im choosing between G.Skill and Corsair Vengeance (both cost the same).

For PSU at first i wanted to take Corsair HX 650 (some high quality psu) but then i started thinking that i probably dont need such good psu (it is more for those who overclock i guess) and also 650 W might be too much since i dont need very good graphic card.

So what do you think? Im using Ableton Live 8 (win7), and maybe will try to install OS X.

[flyingworld]

Originally Posted by n2o

hello!
i tired of producing on my 4 year old laptop which is getting slow so i decided to build a new pc. Im not sure for PSU and memory, other components i think they are ok.

Motherboard:
ASUS P8P67 LE Rev 3.0

CPU:
Intel® Core™ i5 2500 3,3 Ghz

RAM:
G.Skill "RipJawsX" KIT 4096MB 1600 MHz

Graphic Card:
Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 "Silent" 1GB

Disk:
Western Digital "Caviar® Black™" 500GB

DVD/RW:
NEC AD-7261S LightScribe™

Case:
Cooler Master 690 II "Advanced"

PSU:
Cooler Master Silent Pro M500 500W


For RAM i was thinking to take only 4 gb for start and add more if needed later (also will be cheaper). Im choosing between G.Skill and Corsair Vengeance (both cost the same).

For PSU at first i wanted to take Corsair HX 650 (some high quality psu) but then i started thinking that i probably dont need such good psu (it is more for those who overclock i guess) and also 650 W might be too much since i dont need very good graphic card.

So what do you think? Im using Ableton Live 8 (win7), and maybe will try to install OS X.

Make sure that I5 is quad and that's a great setup!

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

[cporro]

Originally Posted by flyingworld

It's time consuming,that's what you pay Apple to do.

How much did it cost you,if I may ask?

Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

i think it was around $1500. all the details and more then you want to know are in that post. next time round i'm going mac and bootcamp. might even look into other DAW software. i use samp right now.

[Mikeeyb]

Help me build a PC. My budget is UP TO $2800, however if I could spend less that would be awesome. I want to do 8 inputs at 96k, run things such as Ivory, Atmosphere, and East West Quantam Leap Strings. I need it to be 64 bit, and very strong so it runs flawlessly. However I would hate to overspend and waste money that I could use elsewhere. Also, I want a pretty good video card. I am not TOO heavy on the VSTis, but I do use them a couples times a song so I need some power.

Thanks !

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Mikeeyb

Help me build a PC. My budget is UP TO $2800, however if I could spend less that would be awesome. I want to do 8 inputs at 96k, run things such as Ivory, Atmosphere, and East West Quantam Leap Strings. I need it to be 64 bit, and very strong so it runs flawlessly. However I would hate to overspend and waste money that I could use elsewhere. Also, I want a pretty good video card. I am not TOO heavy on the VSTis, but I do use them a couples times a song so I need some power.

Thanks !

Platinum Studio - :: PURRRFECT AUDIO - BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN EXPERT TECHNICIAN AND ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIAN! ::

[cporro]

Originally Posted by Mikeeyb

Help me build a PC. My budget is UP TO $2800, however if I could spend less that would be awesome. I want to do 8 inputs at 96k, run things such as Ivory, Atmosphere, and East West Quantam Leap Strings. I need it to be 64 bit, and very strong so it runs flawlessly. However I would hate to overspend and waste money that I could use elsewhere. Also, I want a pretty good video card. I am not TOO heavy on the VSTis, but I do use them a couples times a song so I need some power.

Thanks !

why do you want to run at 96k? my DAW does some crazy high sample rates but if i can't hear it why bother. i've seen lots of people talk about a difference from 44.1 to 48k. many believe this has to do with the filter being moved to a bit higher range so the artifacts are outside of people's hearing.

the other thing is...if you are recording you need an interface to support 96k. i expect many would these days.

working at 48k will save you storage space and dsp.

for a stable DAW i would not build it myself. i would get a mac pro or an engineering machine by dell or hp. do not buy the consumer products. i have a very long blog post where i deliberate about these life important decisions. DIY DAW Build | BlueDustStudio / Chris Porro

the machines will start around $1500. a cheap interface (behringer ada 8000) will run you $300. that give you 1k to put in the bank for your next rig upgrade. you know, when you can so clearly hear the difference between 48 and 96k. :D

you can hear the difference between the ada8000 and a fireface 800 here: Syncing Converters for 8 More Tracks | BlueDustStudio / Chris Porro

[Sugarnutz]

I've been building PC's since the days of the Intel 8086/NEC V20 CPU's with 640K of RAM, had a far amount of success building DAW PCs for the last several years. Here's a Sandy Bridge DAW I made a shopping list for. I haven't built it yet, but this is what I will probably build for my next DAW and what I would recommend for my customers and friends. These are all first-class parts from reliable manufacturers that I have used in the past:

GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9Q-16GBRL

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
(Get 2 of these; OS, Audio)

Sony Optiarc Black SATA CD/DVD Burner

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit 1-Pack - OEM

NORCO RPC-470 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply


Total comes out to $1092.91 plus shipping for a rack mounted i7 w/16 gig of RAM, 2 hard drives, CD/DVD burner and Win 7 64-bit OS. Features of the motherboard include TI Firewire, USB 3.0, eSATA port & built-in Intel HD3000 video with VGA, DVI, HDMI & Hi-resolution Display Port. It also has 3 PCI slots, PCIe x16 slot, PCIe 4x slot & two PCIe 1x slots which would make it compatible with a lot of different audio interface options. Not a bad deal for this price point. Gotta supply your own monitor, mouse & keyboard.

Here is a link to the Newegg public wish-list for these parts as a whole:

Gearslutz DAW

(for some reason when you click "Add to Cart" for the above wish list it only places one hard drive in your shopping cart. If you want two you will have to manually update the quantity. I can't do everything for you. )