Looking for a top PC system for my studio

[foogermooger]

Starting to look around now for a new studio pc....seen the ones on www.dv247.com and www.inta-audio.com but they seem a little over priced for what you actually get....

Some wicked looking systems at www.scan.co.uk as well...

My budget is under £1000 but i reckon for a top class PC i should be paying around the £600 i think.

I even had a look at new systems on Ebay and found this one with the new Intel i7 processors...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0338114343

I would however like a sielnt pc so not sure yet if this is completely (or virtually) silent...

Im just interested to see if my fellow Ableton heads can recomend me a system and maybe guide me in the right direction a little bit.

I use the UAD 1 cards so they take a lot of the current weight off my system as well...

The only software i use really is Ableton, hardly any VSTS and i have the Motu 828mk3 interface.....i run mostly hardware into my current system...

No cracked software at all...and i will most probs keep this new system off the net as well..

At the moment my system is amd athlon dual core, something like 2ghz and 2gb of ram...cant remember exactly...I mean i get by with this, its a decent system......and XP home as well (dont want Vista)

Any advice? Apart from the "Go Mac" usual boring comment...for the specs i think macs are a little overpriced...but yeah the O/S seems far better.....

[andydes]

Agreed, I will hunt down the first person to say get a mac. For the simple reason everyone knows about macs. We get it, we just want to see what other viable options are out there out of the millions to choose from.

ANyway, back to the question at hand, I think you'll find the i7 on ebay isn't actually a system, it's a processor, motherboard and ram bundle. You still need something to put it in, amongst other things.

I myself am looking at dell quads at the moment, but keeping an eye out for alternatives.

[bosonHavoc]

research and build it

or find a friend to build it
i bet you have at least on nerdish friend
its like leggo's man it easy
plus you dont get vista shoved up your butt
but you do have to worry about doa's and incompatibility issues.
so always check return policies and do good research


the q6600 chip is under 200 usd right now


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =CP-210-IN

for prices checks
uk right?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

for info google, gearslutz and the gem http://www.ocforums.com/

also you may have a local shop that will do custom builds
like 7 years ago i bought all my parts from one shop and they offered to build it for $50 ... i was like hell ya lol

edit...

wow check out this little smoker

that price doesn't include the os.. but it has the option to choose os and upgrade the case.. i bet you can find what you need on that website

[foogermooger]

research and build it

or find a friend to build it
i bet you have at least on nerdish friend
its like leggo's man it easy
plus you dont get vista shoved up your butt
but you do have to worry about doa's and incompatibility issues.
so always check return policies and do good research


the q6600 chip is under 200 usd right now


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =CP-210-IN

for prices checks
uk right?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

for info google, gearslutz and the gem http://www.ocforums.com/

also you may have a local shop that will do custom builds
like 7 years ago i bought all my parts from one shop and they offered to build it for $50 ... i was like hell ya lol

Never been keen on building my own system, the thought scares me if i get something wrong u know.....Still i will research these links and see, maybe it would be cheaper to just buy all the parts and get my local nerdy bloke to do it.......Maybe if i just order exact parts from some of the systems on www.scan.co.uk would be a better idea..plus the advantage then being im learning about the system im making my music on...

Cheers

Thanks

[bosonHavoc]

edited to slow.. check out what i added
come to think of it at those prices i dont think i would bother building from ground up lol

[rikhyray]

I only use notebooks but if I was to get regular pc I would go for this one.
Acer aspire M5201, AMD phenom x4, 4 gigs ram, vista sp1
Why? Simple reason there is post on SOS from the owner and it is the only pc or Mac running Vista with such low DPC. I personally wouldnt bother why, as long as it works, my notebook has 10-20 times higher DPC and it is very good mostly for Vista standards, people with Vista have 100 times higher then that Acer
check the thread, it is one of the latest posts.
http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showf ... o=&fpart=8

[suspended childhood]

i think you should consider building it yourself...its not as tough as some may think. in the end i think youll be glad you did. theres enough people around online that can steer you in the right direction.

i have an MSI motherboard and absolutely love it. I recommend www.newegg.com their customer support is great.

i would look for a quad core with a fast bus speed and about 4 gigs of ram.

you should be able to get this within your budget.

also, check out www.xoxide.com for cases.

[gjm]

i think you should consider building it yourself...its not as tough as some may think. in the end i think youll be glad you did. theres enough people around online that can steer you in the right direction.

I agree whole heartedly.

I asked a similar question a while back and got this answer.

My recommendations:

1. Asus motherboard with your firewire and usb built in, but not wireless networking (add this later)
2. Intel Q6600
3. 2 or 4gb of matched paired RAM
4. 2 SATA3 hard drives - Seagate is my choice - if you get 500gb or higher, make sure they have 32mb of cache and they MUST be 7200 rpm drives!!
5. Video card without fan if possible - you don't need a ton of graphics power, even to run vista, but then why would you run vista?!?!? I like Nvidia series 7 cards - can still get them without a fan - less heat, less noise, less energy required. Make sure you get 2 outputs - having a second monitor is awesome, and moniters are cheap these days. Keep in mind that two 19inch monitors will give you an effective resolution of 2560x1024, and will likely be cheaper than a 24 inch screen that gives you 1900x1200.
6. Get a USB wireless network card that you can just take out to disengage - I'm a big fan of turning networking completely off especially during recording sessions.
7. Huge fan of Antec Sonata cases - very quiet.
8. DVD burner - Sony makes good ones.

General principles - stay conservative with your OS and your components. No need to overclock - the CPU is fast enough. No need for additional fans - the stock CPU fan works great if you don't overclock, and the stock sonata fans are great for the case.

I've built all my desktops for the past 10 years, and my system now is rock solid.

This proved excellent advice when I was shopping for my desk top. I had a friend help me put the physical gear together while I looked on. I do not consider my self a computer nerd (I am more comfortable with a hammer, grinder, fiberglass and resin). It's not as mysterious as you think. Just network with somebody who can teach you to put it together or do the work for you. I traded time by helping my friend lay a hardwood floor in his kitchen. We both benefited.

In the end I went with the following items:

Asus P5Q Pro Mobo
Intel Q6600 (Quad)
2 Gig 1066 mhz Extreme RAM
Asus Nvidia EN7200GS graphics card
1 x Western Digital HD to spec's mentioned.(will get 2nd later)
Asus DVD burner
XP Pro SP3

Use this list as a starting point and see what comes back pricing wise. You can change here and there, but at least you will get a feel for the costings.

I also picked up 2x 19" Samsung LCD's (2nd hand)

The case was the only thing I couldn't match on my budget. I ended up with a no name brand that had been being used by my friend in his computer leasing company with good results.

Only thing I might have skimped on was the 350watt power supply. (I will upgrade this to maybe 500watt at a later date, when I add more hard drives to the case).

I added an after market PCI Firewire card for my Alesis io/14 sound card (and disabled the onboard FW chip).

The whole experience of putting a machine together and getting it set up for Audio was both frustrating, but very rewarding. It was frustrating from the perspective of finding information and help. I have no one locally to turn to so I relied on this Forum and Google. I have really appreciated the help received here, but it took a while. Its been very rewarding as I now have a set of tools, habits and information that I never had before, which enables me to help myself.

Now that I am up and running, there is very little maintenance and upkeep to be done.

Cheers. G.

[djsynchro]

Build a Quad core and with the money you save stick in a UAD2 while you're at it.

[foogermooger]

Build a Quad core and with the money you save stick in a UAD2 while you're at it.

Funny you mention that...i just purchased the UAD 1 Studio Pak with a plethora of plugs for a super sweet deal...gonna see how that works in the next week or so, and i will either buy a 2nd uad 1 card, perhaps thats all i will need right now...or maybe just get the uad 2 and bite the bullit as i really fancy some of their fortchcomin plugs and i dare say they will be fading out the uad 1 compatibility soon enough.......wont affect me and the plugs i have though so i think i scored.

Some really interesting replies in this topic..going through all the suggestions and links now...

Thanks to all for the help so far.

[djsynchro]

Oh yeah that was you I saw your post on the UAD forum. When you want more UAD power, which will be very very soon I'd go UAD-2 you can even add a Solo or a Duo, with the new software the old and new cards work together flawless, and with Live on a Q6600 - perfect. You got a really cool set of plugs - that'll do ya for a while (or not as the case may be)

[Suede Subway]

Dear GJM

Do you find the WD Hard drive quiet enough?

Ian

[adventurepants_]

Dear GJM

Do you find the WD Hard drive quiet enough?

Ian

new hard drives are the least of your noise worries. the CPU fan and case fans are greater offenders. The best first investment you can make is a proper steel case. Some of them dont even need to be insulated to be quiet, its amazing how much noise a solid case can absorb without doing anything else.

[Suede Subway]

Understand re the case. But once you get your op system loaded etc. it's a bigger pain to swap the drives. All of the other outboard stuff is relatively easy to change/tinker with. The CPU cooler is a minefield because there are so many options and few test results seem to back up some of the claims made by suppliers in terms of low Db.

The silent power options seem to be more limited so in some ways the decision is made for you.

The Barracuda's in my existing system aren't too bad and aren't noisy, but in researching a new machine I found they are not the most highly rated drives. It's a challenge - quietness vs efficiency. The WDs have been noted for their quietness in a number of the reviews I have read.

Ian

[gjm]

Dear GJM

Do you find the WD Hard drive quiet enough?

Ian

Yes. The Case fan makes the loudest noise. I NEVER hear the HD's in either the case or the external cases. My wife has a 120gig Lacie ext drive that drives me nuts with its noise.

Cheers. G.