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Help building computer for music studio
shrike09
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi guys -
I trust your opinions, and need some help.
I don't want a gaming PC.
I want a FAST computer running Windows 7.
I am going to build it myself, but am not sure which parts to get.
If someone could go to newegg and offer some suggestions on CPU/MOBO configs that are cheap but fast, I would appreciate it greatly.
I don't care if it's Intel or AMD but I do want the following:
Lots of USB's and Firewire ports
Lots of RAM (maybe start with 4 with the ability to go to 8)
No onboard sound necessary
I already have a video card.
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks!
I trust your opinions, and need some help.
I don't want a gaming PC.
I want a FAST computer running Windows 7.
I am going to build it myself, but am not sure which parts to get.
If someone could go to newegg and offer some suggestions on CPU/MOBO configs that are cheap but fast, I would appreciate it greatly.
I don't care if it's Intel or AMD but I do want the following:
Lots of USB's and Firewire ports
Lots of RAM (maybe start with 4 with the ability to go to 8)
No onboard sound necessary
I already have a video card.
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks!
shrike09 on
0
Posts
When you pick a motherboard start googling that chipset with the name of the various possible sound devices and buzz words (MOTU , Protools m-powered and le, usb midi latency). Incompatible chipsets or poor choices in chipsets can ruin your day if you are recording live instruments or sending lots of tracks in and out.
Go with the most ram you can if you are planning to use lots of soft synths or samples. If you are doing all samples then straight out 8 GB to start if your os / production software support 64 bit.
Make a QUIET computer or you will hate it when tracking.
CPU: Phenom II x4 3.0Ghz $140
Mainboard: MSI AM3 using amd 870 chipset, no onboard video $100
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600 housebrand 2 pairs of 2GB $190
Video: Radeon 5770 1GB DDR5 $150
And my next purchase looks to be:
Sound I/O: M-Audio 4 in 4 out audio interface $100 (newegg used to have a 10 in/out , but it's gone now and 4 covers my needs)
Definitely get a quality power supply and case with good cooling. Mine:
Power supply: Corsair 750watt 80+ certified $110
Case: Antec Three Hundred $60 I love this case. Thumbscrews everywhere not cramped at all and airflow is awesome and silent with the stock fans.
An idea of performance, win7 rating is mid sevens for all components (except my HDD's, normal sata) The only thing I've thrown at it so far that wasn't perfect at 1920x1080 w/max settings has been LOTRO, and turning off AA made short work of that. For audio recording, I'm really liking Reaper under windows. Very easy to use, full x64 compatibility and the price is right at $40. Recording just a guitar off the mic input for my onboard sound proved quite easy and quality was quite good. It's not Pro Tools, but I really don't need that just yet...
I'm sure you could do what you're wanting cheaper (these prices are already significantly cheaper than I paid just a couple months ago) And 8GB of RAM is probably overkill, but I was putting an HDR image together with lightroom and photoshop using 7 RAW images the other day and managed to crack 4.5GB actual mem usage, so who knows...
Quantux, that's exactly what I need, someone else to make the decisions for me, LOL. I'll probably get all of that stuff except for the video card (I already have a gaming PC and don't need any 'distractions' in the studio).
useless4, I use a Firewire Solo for one audio input, and do most of my work just using MIDI.
I just need to run multiple apps at once and am getting tired of their load times. For some reason Sibelius is always telling me it's out of memory (well, I only have 2 gigs right now so it's understandable). I also want to put Ablelton Live through it's paces ;-)
Thanks again - I'll let you know how my build goes!
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I agree about the video card, they do tend to come in handy, but these days most onboards will cover anything but heavy gaming. And If you're just using midi and one line, you could probably skip the fancy sound, and get by just fine with a dual core athlon II and 4GB ram. But theres always room to grow, so if you find you need more later, it's easy to add, and stuff will be even cheaper.