the ultimate Ableton Live workstation (PC)

[tz41]

Hi there,

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster I've come into a bit of money lately and I'm looking to build the ultimate Ableton workstation. I'm a Windows guy so please avoid the urge to tell me to buy a Mac. Some of the things I'm wrestling with are sound suppression, I need to find quiet power supplies, noise suppressing cases, quiet fans, etc. Also, should I put more than 4 gigs of RAM in the computer even though Ableton currently doesn't support it? Should I install Win7 64 bit in anticipation of a possible future 64 bit release? Help me build my dream Ableton machine!

Note, I'm looking for a desktop, not a laptop. I have a whole bunch of outboard gear that needs to get plugged into this sucker. I'll probably be using a Delta 66 sound card (I currently use the 44 and I love it).

Thanks!

[martinkellogs]

edited

[tz41]

R.T.F.Performance Tests

I did.. That doesn't help me identify quiet components. I'm less concerned about processor (in fact I didn't even mention it in my message), it's obvious Intel i7 9xx is the way to go. But I'm more curious about quiet components (like you can bet I'll be using an SSD HD) and deciding on whether to go 64 bit or not.

[Tone Deft]

all those cores and limited RAM? seems 64 bit for more RAM access is a no-brainer. Live won't use all the RAM but it will help with multi-tasking.

[tz41]

Live won't use all the RAM but it will help with multi-tasking.

Great point!!

[martinkellogs]

edited

[tz41]

ah ha! thanks for the tom's hardware pointer, i found this site through it: http://www.silentpcreview.com/

woo!!

[BlackMath]

CoolerMaster Cosmos Case
PC Powercooling Power Supply
Asus Motherboard
Intel I7 or I5 Cpu
128gb Solid State System Drive (Corsair/ Crucial/ or Western Digital)
Raid Array sample drive/backup (4) 1tb Western Digital or Seagate
Win 7 64

Keep in mind USB 3 will be coming in the very near future
and get a good Vid card with its own GPU

Perfomance-pcs.com silent fans and accessories
xoxide.com fans
newegg.com components

[carpekd]

Here's my build I'm about to start: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=14259092

I'm also trying to quiet mine down. I went with the Antec Sonata Elite case and a fanless video card. I'm still thinking about changing to an ssd and a quieter power supply...

[BlackMath]

Here's my build I'm about to start: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... r=14259092

I'm also trying to quiet mine down. I went with the Antec Sonata Elite case and a fanless video card. I'm still thinking about changing to an ssd and a quieter power supply...

you know with your video card and monitor choices you could go Blu-ray with the DVD drive for not much more

[tz41]

here's what i bought:

Core i7 950, 3.06 GHz processor
Zalman quiet CPU fan
Asus P6X58D-E motherboard
Samsung 256 GB SSD
GeForce 9500GT 1.0 GB DDR3 PCI-X silent graphics card
16 GB 1333 MHz memory - dual channel, (4X4GB)
Antec BP500U quiet power supply
Antec Sonata case

I don't think I'm going to do a bluray drive because I use USB key drives, though I may end up adding a USB 3.0 card

thanks for everyone's help!

[bobland]

My system, originally built for video is:
ASUS P6X58D-E
i7-920 -- will OC when sll software is installed.
6 GB RAM
PNY GTS 250 1GB
CoolerMaster HAF 932
Corsair PSU 750
150 GB WD Velociraptor boot
320 GB WD Blue temp files
500 GB WD Green photos
1 TB WD Black SATA III Audio
! TB WD Black SATA III Video
ASUS DVD
No Name card reader
Windows 7 64bit
No sound card yet but looking.
System is quiet to me. Most quiet PC I've owned. But...quiet to me may be loud to you.

[McQ714]

here's what i bought:

Core i7 950, 3.06 GHz processor
Zalman quiet CPU fan
Asus P6X58D-E motherboard
Samsung 256 GB SSD
GeForce 9500GT 1.0 GB DDR3 PCI-X silent graphics card
16 GB 1333 MHz memory - dual channel, (4X4GB)
Antec BP500U quiet power supply
Antec Sonata case

I don't think I'm going to do a bluray drive because I use USB key drives, though I may end up adding a USB 3.0 card

thanks for everyone's help!

this is frustrating...
first off, why would you get that mobo and a cpu that screams "push me harder", and then just go with a might-as-well-be-obsolete PCI-X video card? does that mobo even support PCI-X cards??? PCI-X is not the same as PCI Express! you could've gotten a better silent video card.
secondly, i7 processors and the mobos that support them love triple channel memory. you should've gone with 12gb of triple channel.
and lastly.. i guess the zalman is ok but i really think you would've been better off with a noctua cpu cooler. the NH-D14 is more quiet and cools better.

should've done some more homework, buddy!

one last note... 256 gb is not going to be enough hd space unless you will only use factory content and will not install many sample libraries.

[tz41]

here's what i bought:

Core i7 950, 3.06 GHz processor
Zalman quiet CPU fan
Asus P6X58D-E motherboard
Samsung 256 GB SSD
GeForce 9500GT 1.0 GB DDR3 PCI-X silent graphics card
16 GB 1333 MHz memory - dual channel, (4X4GB)
Antec BP500U quiet power supply
Antec Sonata case

I don't think I'm going to do a bluray drive because I use USB key drives, though I may end up adding a USB 3.0 card

thanks for everyone's help!

this is frustrating...
first off, why would you get that mobo and a cpu that screams "push me harder", and then just go with a might-as-well-be-obsolete PCI-X video card? does that mobo even support PCI-X cards??? PCI-X is not the same as PCI Express! you could've gotten a better silent video card.
secondly, i7 processors and the mobos that support them love triple channel memory. you should've gone with 12gb of triple channel.
and lastly.. i guess the zalman is ok but i really think you would've been better off with a noctua cpu cooler. the NH-D14 is more quiet and cools better.

should've done some more homework, buddy!

one last note... 256 gb is not going to be enough hd space unless you will only use factory content and will not install many sample libraries.

I really don't do any video, so I just went with a cheap video card. If it doesn't fit I can return it. Also, I've taken your advice and will swap out the Zalman for the Noctua. As for hard drive space, I have 3 terastations so most of my audio storage is external, the local storage is just for O/S and apps.

Thanks!
-Tal