Please recommend a new Windows PC (desktop)

[ZenMusic]

I am going to buy a new PC solely for Ableton Live and music production.

I'll get at least 16M RAM would really appreciate some specific model recommendations that have been working for you.

I would like a 3 monitor video card if you have a recommendation there also.

My current system crashes too often to be productive and is a few years old. I can repurposed it.

thanks
david

[jlgrimes]

It depends on budget.

I'd start with a gaming PC as they are made to handle low latencies of gaming + heavy Graphics loads (which also helps with heavy DAW use). For three monitors you would probably want a nice graphics card.

ibuypower.com is a pretty good site to look at. I bought my desktop here. There are more higher end gaming desktop companies but ibuypower still does a good job.

If your budget is small, you might be ok with a mid to high grade general desktop as well.

Things to watch out for.

Be careful with going over 8 cores as they might not be good low latency performers. Go to cpubenchmark.com to compare processors for good single core performance. Single core performance is usually preferable than good multi core performance for low latency. Usually 4-8 cores is a good sweet spot for multi cores on a DAW system for low latency performance.

Know what you are buying for the cooling system. Some require maintenance (changing out the fluid every occasionally). Others dont and would be a safer bet if you dont plan on getting in your machine.

If you need Thunderbolt consider a Windows gaming laptop. Most high end gaming desktops are only "Thunderbolt-ready". Translation, upgrading to Thunderbolt on a Thunderbolt ready desktop requires a great deal of work (PCI slot, internal motherboard connectors, power supply, cabling, motherboard chipset, Windows driver, Thunderbolt adapter boxes etc). Most high end windows gaming laptops usually will have it working from the jump.


Good luck.

[sic]

If you are buying a pre-built machine, there are companies that specialise in building computers for music production. They tend to be more expensive, but it's well worth it if you can afford it.

I got a desktop built by Frost back when I lived in Sweden and had more dispensable income, and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made.

Which company to go with depends partly on where you're located, as these companies tend to be smaller and more localised than the ones that sell gaming/general purpose computers. They also tend to have very good support, so it's handy if you don't have to ship the desktop across the world, should it come to that.

If this seems like something for you, Gearslutz probably has some recommendations for good companies in your region.

[RedSkyRoad]

I've got an AMD Ryzen 3900X and it's a dream. I can throw anything at it!!!