Best Specs

Gene Flo

"Current Events" OUT NOW! www.TheVerbalImage.com
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 32
Ok Ok I need to upgrade my setup and I am just curious what are the best specs for a PC that would be appropriate for recording/production etc. basically for any audio application? My budget is pretty open and im willing to buy the pieces I need for the uprade...thanks in advance
 

Gene Flo

"Current Events" OUT NOW! www.TheVerbalImage.com
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 32
for example.... I want to know if I should get the Intel i7, the Quad Core or should I get the AMD fx 64... is 4 gb ram good enough or should I get 6 or 8? I'm learning as I go...I never took the time to learn about the specs and what does what on a computer... this old man built the computer i'm usin now and I paid chump change... now its 2 gb ram/160 gb HD (originally 1gb/80gb HD) and some old intel processor....
 

7thangel

7th Angel of Armageddon
ill o.g.
here's a short thread at gs http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/438288-building-new-daw-cubase-5-help-needed.html

gs is a good place to search fpr threads or start a few with the added bonus of a few pro daw builders being members and giving advice and a few recommendations

make sure to account for the interfaces, controllers, and external gear. choosing an i7 (or i5, i3) motherboard without making sure that you have enough of the right pci slots (for soundcard, external hd, firewire adapter, etc), usb and firewire not only for the now but for the future too.

i don't think you have to worry about x86/x64 support for i7.

keep in mind about the price for the ddr3 mem whether you go dual channel or triple channel
 

2infamouz

Mad Beats, No Angry Vegetables
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 10
im workin with a hp .. bought this bundle , 1 terabyte HD, 8 GB memory, 2.8 ghz dual proc...Runs great neva had a problem, besides a week after i bought it the harddrive fried n i hadda buy a new 1? shoulda got the warranty ima dumbass. came w/ a big ass monitor too, only dropped like 800, so i guess i'd recommend HP but get that warranty! 50 dollar warranty beats buyin a new terrabyte HD along w/ a OS
 
T

Translimits

Guest
I would get the i7intel with at least 8 GB of ram and upgradeable on ram. Get a 3.00Ghz or better. Period. These days, the more ram the better. If you can get the dual monitor video card so you can spread what you're looking at(DAW, etc.) I would do it. For instance, on the left monitor you have your DAW, on your right monitor you have the mixer, etc. Invest in a PC or MAC that will last you for a good 3-5 years.

"Let's keep this shit real. It's supposed to be all about the talent."
 

konceptG

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
mainly for FL8 and Cubase LE

if that's all you're using then an old P4 could do the trick. I know my 3GHz P4 runs FL 9, Sonar 7, and ProTools 7.3 quite well.

Now... unless you're doing stuff with massive plugin counts and a trucklooad of streaming sampler plugins, most garden variety PC's out there will be just fine. If you ARE looking for something that can handle a gang of plugins and whatnot, then we need to be much more specific as to what it is you should buy.
 

konceptG

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
"I would get the i7intel with at least 8 GB of ram and upgradeable on ram"

Fail

not necessarily.

If you're running Win64, then starting with 8GB ain't a bad idea, but only "because you can"; you still don't NEED 8GB for anything. BTW, it's always upgradeable even if you use up all of your slots.
 

konceptG

ILLIEN
ill o.g.

thedreampolice

A backwards poet writes inverse.
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 21
"not necessarily.

If you're running Win64, then starting with 8GB ain't a bad idea, but only "because you can"; you still don't NEED 8GB for anything. BTW, it's always upgradeable even if you use up all of your slots."

There is still not good plugin support for Win64 I would stay away a bit longer so your ceiling is 4gb.
 

7thangel

7th Angel of Armageddon
ill o.g.
for future considerations with a company that makes rock solid mobo's, especially for audio use, you can't go wrong with gigabyte whether it's a p35, p45, i5 or i7. the newest i7 boards have usb 3 support so you'll benefit when it finally gets full release and acceptance and supports the new sata 3 as well. giga gets high marks from pro daw builders.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx
 

konceptG

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
for future considerations with a company that makes rock solid mobo's, especially for audio use, you can't go wrong with gigabyte whether it's a p35, p45, i5 or i7. the newest i7 boards have usb 3 support so you'll benefit when it finally gets full release and acceptance and supports the new sata 3 as well. giga gets high marks from pro daw builders.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Default.aspx


I've used a lot of Gigabyte boards in the past, but my last one has me off of them for good. Gigabyte used sub-standard electrolytic caps for the VRM's on AthlonXP and early Athlon64 motherboards. I know this because I have one with 4 bad caps that I'll have to replace myself and apparently is was a common issue. MSI had the same problem. Not sure about now, but I know I won't be going back to them any time soon.
 

7thangel

7th Angel of Armageddon
ill o.g.
sorry to hear about you last giga board but right now and for quite some time they have one of the more rock solid intel boards and for i7 boards have been getting praises.

to the op, i don't know if you'll end up going to i7, i5, p45 or amd, but whatever choice you make, try to make sure that the cpu officially supports virtualization (to be able to utilize xp mode in win 7) and supports x86 and x64. another thing to look out for is hyperthreading but the juries still out about it's benefits for intels i7/i5
 
Top