Buying new pc, looking for a bit of advice

[3DW]

Im about to spend a fair bit of cash on a new system and want to make sure i get it right.
I currently have an intel core 2 duo running with only 2gb of ram and one hard disk.

I run my machine pretty hard so its time for an upgrade as the old boy can't keep up these days.
I was torn between the i7 quad and i7 6 core.
I have found a few threads discussing this and think i may be happy with the quad.

The sales team have recommended buying as much ram as i can afford but i was going to go with the minimum for this system which is 16gb. This is purely as im aware that Live will only be able to use up to 4gb in 64bit.
My main gripe with my current PC is the performance within Live and not so much with other programs.

My main confusion is the hard disks. I was going to go with a 180GB SSD system drive And a 1TB audio drive.
I have now been advised to go for three drives with adding a separate sample drive being the recommendation.
I would obviously run all the programs and operating system on the SSD system drive and the sample drive would hold all my sample libraries.
Can someone explain how i would set up the third audio drive so that it would handle all read/write operations.
It makes sense but can't get my head around how i would need to set it up with Live.

Any help on this would be really helpful as i have unsuccessfully tried to find more on this online.

Thanks in advance.

Ryan

[ark]

I understand that it is possible to configure some PCs with two or more rotating drives on a RAID configuration and an SSD as an automatic cache for the RAID array. That would seem to be an ideal configuration for a music computer, as your frequently used files would quickly migrate,to the SSD and you would have RAID reliability.

[Schmidi]

Hey 3DW, I just built a new production rig in late December. It's a tower, so if you're going for a laptop, I can't really help you there.

My philosophy on DIY builds is:
- spend the extra $ on the motherboard now. Get one that is made by a trusted brand (I went Asus, but have also built Gigabyte in the past. Intel would be a safe bet too) These are your high end "enthusiast" boards, with a lot of extra in/outs and features, and usually the newest CPU socket type. (If you need FW, make sure it has a T.I. (Texas instruments) chip)
- Buy the most basic CPU that will fit in it! Reason: it will still be a big upgrade from your current CPU. it saves some $. Most importantly, you have a nice mobo that will last through to the next time you want to upgrade and can then throw in the current high end CPU (in 2-4 years it will be much cheaper!).

So, I run an i7 3820 (4 core) on an ASUS P9x79 LE mobo. Huge performance upgrade from my core2quad. I can run more plugs than I realistically need and not exceed 50% CPU.

For RAM, I've had great luck with Kingston HyperX line. They are not THE absolute fastest, but the always are highly rated for performance and stability (more important to me!).

For HDs, I think a main OS SSD ROCKS! Win 7 installed in 12 minutes and boots in 12 seconds! Shocked the hell out of me! (bear in mind I'm started building on win95 which was a 5+ hour affair!). I run Western Digital 7200rpm drives. One for VSTs, one for audio (samples/recording destination which is set in Live's preferences) and one large HD that is a backup.

Good luck to you, PM if I can further assist.

Schmidi

[3DW]

Hi Schmidi,

That was very useful info there. Thanks alot. I am selecting the parts available on the website and they are going to build it for me.
Heres the list of components.

Define R3 Black Tower Case
ASUS P9X79 - Intel X79 Pro Chipset
INTEL i7 3820 - Quad Core 3.60GHz
Gaia Ultra Quiet Copper Pipe Cooler
16Gb DDR III 1600Mhz Quad Band Kit
ATI Radeon HD6450 1024Mb Dual Head (Silent Fanless)
Corsair 180GB GS Series SSD Drive
1000GB SATA 7200RPM (Audio)
1000GB SATA 7200RPM (Sample)
Single DVD Writer
800w Ultra Quiet Power Supply
Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit
3 Port Firewire Card - Texas Instruments Chipset 1394a (TI Chipset)
Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Firewire Audio Interface

My main issue is how i use the three drives effectively. I always used one drive in my machine but i know this has to change
Thanks again for the advice.

[justchris86]

get as much RAM as you can for sure! 16 GB will do it for sure.

I was running 4 and when I had massive and some izotope vst's running the CPU would max out.

I have 16 now. can run all sorts of VST's and not hit anywhere near %50

[3DW]

thanks justchris,

If someone can explain how to set the three drives up i will be sorted.

[login]

I disagree with Schmidi. First becasue Intel drops sockets and each one will serve two generations of CPU, so it will only last ONE CPU upgrade. Better to go with the best CPU you can afford right know. save on the motherboard, you dont need SLI, or Crossfire, configuration.

About RAM 8 is plenty, unless you use large orchestral libraries where 16 make sense.

I would put more attention to the case, a silent one (Antec pXXX series is quiete good), the PSU (a slient one too).

RAM doesn't help with VST's that dont use samples, it's all dependant on the CPU.

Also, right now I would wait 1 month and some days for the new Intel chips to come out (Haswell).

[john gordon]

Don't get a PC if you want to run Ableton smoothly,it will crash every second. Mac is made for making music. If you want to be a pro stay away from Pc. Please.....

[Donnie]

Don't get a PC if you want to run Ableton smoothly,it will crash every second. Mac is made for making music. If you want to be a pro stay away from Pc. Please.....

It always makes me laugh that there are still people who subscribe to this sort of dogma. Especially considering how notoriously unstable Live 8 was on Mac (at release) vs PC.

[Donnie]

The sales team have recommended buying as much ram as i can afford but i was going to go with the minimum for this system which is 16gb. This is purely as im aware that Live will only be able to use up to 4gb in 64bit.
My main gripe with my current PC is the performance within Live and not so much with other programs.

Do you mean 32 bit? Because this isn't true with 64 bit, it can use much much more than 4gb.

https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/64bit-myths-facts/

[3DW]

The sales team have recommended buying as much ram as i can afford but i was going to go with the minimum for this system which is 16gb. This is purely as im aware that Live will only be able to use up to 4gb in 64bit.
My main gripe with my current PC is the performance within Live and not so much with other programs.

Do you mean 32 bit? Because this isn't true with 64 bit, it can use much much more than 4gb.

https://www.ableton.com/en/articles/64bit-myths-facts/

Sorry Donnie i got that wrong. I was too busy thinking i would only have the 4gb available on 32 bit. I dont think i could change to 64 bit as i read that M4L doesn't run on it.
I wondered how long before the mac police came in lol. I have used pc's all my life and am fairly content sticking with them.
The big thing is i can only run about 4 or 5 big vst synths and about 20 small audio tracks before i start getting crackling and dropouts. Im looking for something a bit more solid that can take a bit more punishment
Thats interesting about waiting on the new intel chip as i wasn't aware there was one on the way. Don't know how long i can wait as this is stopping my creativity.

[3DW]

I disagree with Schmidi. First becasue Intel drops sockets and each one will serve two generations of CPU, so it will only last ONE CPU upgrade. Better to go with the best CPU you can afford right know. save on the motherboard, you dont need SLI, or Crossfire, configuration.

About RAM 8 is plenty, unless you use large orchestral libraries where 16 make sense.

I would put more attention to the case, a silent one (Antec pXXX series is quiete good), the PSU (a slient one too).

RAM doesn't help with VST's that dont use samples, it's all dependant on the CPU.

Also, right now I would wait 1 month and some days for the new Intel chips to come out (Haswell).

Thanks buddy,

The only thing is on the website that motherboard is the only option available unless i build my own but not really wanting to go down that road.
I will probably go with 16gb as that will be plenty and is a massive step up from my current 2gb.
A bit torn now about the new intel chip.... I have had this pc for about 8 years and has served me well, Im just a bit concerned i will get it and be a bit dissapointed. Seems to be mixed views on how dramatically the performance boost will be.

[Sibanger]

I was too busy thinking i would only have the 4gb available on 32 bit. I dont think i could change to 64 bit as i read that M4L doesn't run on it.

Are you using Live 8 or Live 9 ?

[3DW]

I was too busy thinking i would only have the 4gb available on 32 bit. I dont think i could change to 64 bit as i read that M4L doesn't run on it.

Are you using Live 8 or Live 9 ?

Im using 9 mate.

[3DW]

Ok ive read a bit more on the 64 bit version. Seems i got that wrong as max does run with 64 bit in Live 9
I think i was getting mixed up with Live 8 and the fact that you need a bridge for 32 bit VST's to run in Live 9.