Help me to build a nice PC for Music Recording, Mixing and Live Tracking!

Nov 22, 2014
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Hello Guys, first of all thanks in advance for all the help u could give me.

The thing is that I want to invest around 800 to 1000 USD in a computer for music recording, mixing and live tracking, I dont need it for Gaming or Video editing whatsoever... The only thing that I might need a fair video card for is to use a 32" TV as a monitor... but thats outside the budget, the 800-1000USD are just for the tower itself.

I was thinking going maybe for AMD processor to save some money and as far as I know (please correct me if I am wrong) AMD doesnt have any issues software or hardware related in the music application business...

I have plenty of experience with DAWs but I have never build a PC in my whole life, so this is going to be my first try and I wanna make the best out of it!

By the way, Everything I am about to say are just aumptions.. so pls let me know if I am completely wrong! 😉

I read somewhere that having more cores and Ghz helps while I make use os VSTs and the ASIO meter load. Also that the RAM helps to the way the DAW manage everything related to the Virtual Instruments too... So in my ignorance I would say a nice 8 core processor with 4.7 Ghz should work like a charm (I was looking at AMD FX-9590 processor), maybe I could learn and overclock it to make it even better huh? (does it really helps to OC in this application?)

As far as the other components I was thinking to get the most recommended to take out the best out of this processor, along with a 128gb or 256gg SSD with at least a 1TB HDD.

I already got my nice Focusrite Saffire Pro Audio interface with a LaCie PCI Card with a Texas Chipset, so, I would not need to get any other thing for that matter.

I would really appreciate any help you could give me, please keep in mind that is for a serious music production and mixing, I will be really glad to read your comments and thoughts on this matter!

Thanks a lot in advance!









 


Hey Karsten75!!

Thanks for that quick reply...

Well... actually I have to take the time to dig into that article tonight, I just kind of looked at it a lil bit and it sounds awesome... let me read it and I will get back to you...

Anyway, just wanted to note something; No, I dont mind about the noise or something like that, the recording booth is not in the same room as for mixing or producing honestly I dont mind about the noise... maybe that is something that could help me a bit with my budget huh? 😉

anyway, if you maybe have another solution I can take a look at it would be great... still I am gonna read the whole articule u sent me cuz it really looks nice...

Thanks a lot and I really appreciate ur help, and if u can help me more I will appreciate it more!! 😉
 
I'm not really sure what other help I can provide. Here is a hand-picked configuration at the lower end of your price range.

You really don't need much of a video card to drive a TV monitor - it's not the size, it's the number of pixels and how intense the calculations to display the pixels - neither of which is high in your case.

Choose any case that appeals to you and will fit a ATX-sized motherboard (or replace the ATX board with a micro-ATX and then choose a smaller case).

I only added one mid-sized SSD for the operating system and a reasonable complement of installed programs. If you need lots of storage, add another large hard drive or bump up the size of the SSD, depending on how much storage you need.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: *G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($121.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Sandisk Solid State Drive 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: *XFX Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card ($63.66 @ Mwave)
Case: *BitFenix Comrade ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: *XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: *Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($90.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $827.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 09:35 EST-0500
 
Hey K!

Well.. that config sounds nice... I tried myself to make one using yours for some features in it...

Would you mind to tell me what do you think of it?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ffQFHx

**CPU** | [AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd9590fhhkwof) | $219.99 @ NCIX US
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr910htx3g1) | $14.99 @ Micro Center
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga990fxaud3) | $93.00 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d16gsr) | $121.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-internal-hard-drive-sv300s37a240g) | $94.98 @ SuperBiiz
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001) | $76.72 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [XFX Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r7240aclf2) | $51.98 @ Newegg
**Case** | [NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-s210e001) | $41.99 @ Directron
**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b10750vr) | $49.99 @ Micro Center
**Optical Drive** | [Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe) | $13.99 @ Amazon
**Wireless Network Adapter** | [Rosewill RNX-N250PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-wireless-network-card-rnxn250pce) | $16.58 @ Amazon
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $796.20
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-26 10:22 EST-0500 |

I believe in my enviroment I would only need the things I have put in it... I hope this could fly haha!

Please let me know what are ur thoughts on this...

 
You ever game someone a recipe for nice cake and then they come back and say "hey L, I added some delicious mud into it, try it and tell me what you think?"

You chose an AMD processor that uses 220W as opposed to the 80W of the Intel processor for a mere 6% increased overall performance, at a degradation of 20% performance for each individual core.

=2014&cmp[]=2246]http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2014&cmp[]=2246 (copy and paste or the link will truncate)

You chose a Kingston V300 SSD: This one, that sells with slower NAND than when they released it for benchmarking and reviews.

The case is a matter of taste and preference.

You found a good value, Tier-2 power supply at a good price.

I hope it works out well for you.
 





Hey K!

I am sorry, I am just trying to bring something to the table and know ur opinion, by ur awards in this community I understand that u have a big time knowledge on this stuff and you helping me is something that I really appreciate.. So I am not trying to "destroy your recipe", Im just considering possibilities.... if you dont mind I'd like that we put pros and cons and see what works best.. shall we?

CPU: for what I've read in many places where people work with DAWs and Important websites about soung engineering, they tell that if a CPU got more physical cores and a faster processor that will translate in better performance in this softwares... that's the main reason why I looked at the AMD, cuz it comes with 8 cores at 4.7Ghz (5Ghz turbo and 5,14Ghz overclocked), so, In my ignorance I was thinking that maybe that would work better in this kind of situation, but again, the Intel Xeon u showed me is pretty cool, I understand that it is better for single core processing, but in these DAWs I will be using every core avaliable during mixing and editing, So I believe that u can tell me that it got a degradation of 20% in each core, but Intel Xeon only got 4 cores right? very opposite the AMD got 8 cores that would let me handle more instances of plugins, DAWs in ReWire, and so...

pls check this link; http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-E3-1231V3-vs-AMD-FX-9590

Pls keep an eye on "reasons to consider the AMD... over the Intel..."

As I said before, I am not trying to argue with u, I am just trying to choose the best that I can to make my money worth.

Could you pls help me out and tell me why should I stick with the Intel Xeon u showed me instead of the AMD I found?

I understand its a 80w vs 220w, does it really matter in other way than electricity bills? Cuz where I work I guess that wont be much of an issue...

*now, about the SSD, if you tell me I should stick with the one u told me, then I will.. cuz that article got me really thinking and thanks a lot for showing it to me, I will buy the Sandisk SSD

*The case; I chose that case just because I saw it came with the usb ports on the top haha, and also that it kind of got more "holes" to let the heat come off the case (I dont know if that is relevant due to the 220w)...

*Power Supply; so then I can go with the one I found? so is it good idea?


Again, thanks for all ur help, I know u guys sometimes have big time argues because of the processor's brand, but I dont have a preference between one to the other, I only want the one that work better for me and thats it...

You are really helping me, please let me know your thoughts on this and I hope I am not making u waste time on this matter, I really appreciate every comment u got for me...

Best regards!



 


This isn't necessarily true. My PC is NOT in the same room as I track in, so it's loudness doesn't matter.
OP, are you planning to do this professionally, or are you just using a single mic/USB interface kind of setup?
 
As a producer and studio owner, I'll give you the same advice I gave everyone who asks me this question:
A vast majority of MP software will NOT utilize more than 4 cores (but Hyperthreading will help spread the load anyway) and if you're doing anything at the professional level, you're most likely using Pro Tools HD, wherein the processing is all done on the cards, so it's really the gaming that's gonna be the only real tax on your CPU.

If you plan on using plug-ins (to any REAL degree), you're going to want to keep the load OFF the CPU (regardless of what CPU you choose) as much as possible. Some ways of doing this:
Pro Tools HD (the industry standard) does all processing in hardware (on the cards) — more compatible with Macintosh, but runs fine on PC's as well.
SSL Duende — 32 channels of formidable processing power "OUTSIDE the box"
Universal Audio UAD-2 (or older UAD-1) goes inside the PC (and is therefore susceptible to digital clock noise within the PC), but gives you oodles more processing power.

I m not a fan of running Plug-Ins "natively" — it causes too many problems with latency and severely limits mixing overhead. If possible, run an EXTERNAL audio interface (USB/Firewire/X-Bus) to keep the audio away from the clock signals within the PC (and offer 0 latency) and run a PowerCore, Duende, UAD, or other separate DSP.

Personally, I do very little (except editing) on my studio's computer, but I can honestly say that processing power (I had an i7 860 up until recently) has never been an issue. Hard drive speed is EVERYTHING. The time it takes to get files onto and off of your HD's is the most (by far) time consuming process.
Use as many Samsung 240/256GB 840 EVO's (they are scads more reliable than any other SSD I have used and offer significantly better performance than most, including the 840 EVO 120/128GB models) as you can in RAID5 or RAID10 arrays and back up (optically) OFTEN. (Get a FAST optical drive too, as you'll be doing a lot of burning for backups and for clients).
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask futrther questions; I'll help if I can.
 
P.S.: If you want a computer PROFESSIONALLY built for audio production, I can do that for you, but it will probably involve 45min to an hour of phone conversation first (to determine your needs) and will cost you $50 to $100 (on top of the cost of hardware). Just sayin'.
 

This is something I've noticed on ALL forums. AMD owners are always gonna recommend AMD; Intel owners are always gonna recommend Intel.

The truth is, depending on application, either one (or even VIA) might be the best CPU choice for music production — (are you doing live tracking, looping, both? Do you run plug-ins, or analog outbaord? Are you mixing in-the-box, through a summing mixer, or through a full console?)
Fact is, there are a hundred variables which will determine the best hardware to use. I wish more people understood that.
 


Thanks a lot for the reply Digitrax, I really appreciate your help.

Well, you are absolutely right, I have my PC in a different room too, so thats why I stated before that "quiet" is not relevant to me at this moment.

I do this professinally BUT, this is going to be for my "home studio" and I use the ".." because I am going to be in the box all the time, I will only have a midi controller, two screens, my trusty monitors (decoupled off course), my mixing headphones for checkings and my Focusrite Saffire pro 40 conected to a LaCie PCI with Texas chipset (so its good to go!)

I dont have and I am not planning to get analog gear soon because this is just a studio that I am going to be using for my own productions and clients productions but I wanna keep it all ITB cuz these are just for Demos, I gotta be honest and tell u that sometimes things we record here in my home studio have enough likeability to clients and other people and so they finish using big part of this on their final product (that's their choice but I'm pretty glad to hear that). After that, we take it to the big Studio were those demo ideas and all the stuff get really better.

I like to keep it ITB in my home studio cuz it gives me the facility to move it all around to somewhere else without messing with external gear (also, plugins are really handy nowadays, I've tweaked myself a lot of things that I really find impressive at the end of the day because of these plugins). maybe I will get a nice tube preamp next year, but for now its not in my early plans.

Also I will use this PC for live venues (why?) because with my band we like to use light plugins live and help us to keep our individual mix real nice with in ears... so, thats also a pretty cool thing to do.

So, in resume, that is why I want the CPU to be power enough, sometimes the plugins over consume resources and my old pc holds but not for much, so its time to upgrade it!
 


Well, In the big Studio we use Pro Tools HD, but here at my home studio I'd like to use Cubase 7.5 with ReWire and Reaper (I just happen to like Cubase the most, dont ask why, I just feel more comfortable in it 😉 ).

I use Cubase to handle my main session but I use ReWire to handle all the VI's through Reaper and put them into reaper as a separated process so each one of them uses their own ram (mainly because some of the plugins I have are only 32 bit, so ReWire and Reaper makes them work like a charm for me, and also that way I dont put in risk my main session of breaking appart because of a crash.

Well, I believe that the part of the External Gear is already covered on my last response, but still, maybe later I will add an small mixing console. I really like the way today u can make nice and cool music and doesnt necessarily need a big external gear.

For the Audio, well, my Focusrite interface have been really really great in this couple years, I can tell you that is one of the best investments I could have done and well, it really let me handle the Plugins really cool and its great overall...

For the HDD and SSD, I really like that suggestion, its something I will definitely keep in mind, I already knew that everything with SSDs works better, but suggestions about brands and experiences are always good to receive specially in this MP area.




 


Thanks a lot for the offer !!!

I will keep that in mind!! 😉
 


I really understand what you are saying cuz I also get people talking about that a lot, but well, in my case I wanted to have a powerful CPU because I will to everything related to the mix and edit ITB.

I do live tracking but when I use it live I dont use a whole lot of plugins, just a couple to handle some dynamics, room effects, EQ and so cuz most of our musicians have their own equipment.

I only use plugins, I dont use analog gear at all.

As I stated before, I do everything ITB and that includes mixing.

I happen to know some things about routing and saving power ITB but still, every comment and advice is well received.

Finally, I already have an Intel processor with me but I dont preffer one or another, just the one that works best and thats it. So, my top decision is wether what CPU should I get for doing things like I just told u about...

Should I stick with the Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor, or to the AMD FX-9590 4.7GHz 8-Core OEM/Tray Processor? or should I look at a different one?

will my DAWs make use of every single procesor of the AMD I chose? or should I stick with the Intel quad core with 4 physical cores and 4 virtual (Hyperthreading)?

How much effect is the speed of the processor going to take into this process? 3.4Ghz Intel or 4.7 Ghz AMD?

I really appreciate all the help u can provide, I am always trying to learn new stuff and I am really happy that u guys are giving me support on this.

Thanks a lot for your help Digitrax, and I will be looking forward for more of your support on this thread.

best regards!
 


Hello mlga91! thanks for your help!!

Well.. I already own an audio interface... so that wont be an issue, I have a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (Firewire) and its connected to a LaCie PCI Card that comes with a Texas Chipset, which are perfect for each other.

So, thanks God I already have that covered 😉

Thanks a lot for ur help and if u got more advices please let me know

Best regards
 


Get a Macbook Pro. That is what real audio pro's use. Apple makes the best pc's you can buy. Whether you just run OSX or a flavor of Windows on it.
 
ok well... a Macbook pro wont work for me, sorry. I was considering an iMac but with all the issues regarding OS X towards DAWs I tend to dont like it, plus they cost me a lot more money, so...

I guess I will pass...

Thanks for the suggestion anyway
 


CPUBosss is in my opinion not reliable - they seem to base their assessment off the Passmark site. I linked you to a direct comparison of the two processors there. If you look at the benchmark numbers for single core performance, I cannot see how CPU Boss can arrive at the near equivalence for that measurement in their assessment.

You cannot compare clock speed (GHz) across Intel and AMD (or even different Intel architectures, or AMD architectures).
It would be like trying to compare the RPM of two automobiles - one with a gas engine and one with a diesel engine. The much TDP of the AMD machine is directly attributable to the higher clock speed. Good luck overclocking that, using more Watts and trying to cool that. You will need a much better cooler and even then you may have to try and get rid of upwards of 250W or more. TDP rises faster than clock speed rises.

Inherent in the way a processor works, there are times when it is idle, waiting for data to be fetched, decoded or it has a cache miss or some other thing. That's where the Intel Hyperthreading comes in. It can dispatch the work of another core on the same core while the core is in those wait states. SO essentially the 4-core Intel can do as much work (or within 6%) of the AMD.

There really is no competition between Intel and AMD at the high end - Intel has it all sewn up.



I think I addressed most of those. I have not done this, but you may want to look around for a reference for cooling and power consumption for an AMD FX 9590 overclocked at 45% as that site states. You won't do it with the components that you selected, I think. I will tell you that this is, however supposition.

Quick search brought this: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/AMD-2014-FX-Refresh-FX-9590-FX-8370-and-FX-8370e-Review/Power-and-Overclocking

"The FX-9590 is already essentially overclocked out of the box. Running at 4.7 GHz base with a turbo speed up to 5 GHz, it is sitting at the bleeding edge of what AMD silicon can do without going into meltdown. Hence the reason for the 220 watt TDP. With the cooler blasting as hard as it could, I was able to hit 5.1 GHz on all cores with a 0.04v offset. This is toasty territory."

As I said before, I am not trying to argue with u, I am just trying to choose the best that I can to make my money worth.

Could you pls help me out and tell me why should I stick with the Intel Xeon u showed me instead of the AMD I found?

I understand its a 80w vs 220w, does it really matter in other way than electricity bills? Cuz where I work I guess that wont be much of an issue...

If you need higher throughput, then I would recommend looking at the higher core Intel Xeons. There are I believe up to 15-core (at a humongous price!) with a tremendous throughput - at still less than the 220W TDP of the AMD.

If money is less of an object we can take a page from the Apple playbook and configure a dual-processor Intel Xeon workstation. I don't usually play in those exalted leagues, and I'm not going to offer to build one for you for $50 or $100 over component cost, but it can be done relatively easy.

*now, about the SSD, if you tell me I should stick with the one u told me, then I will.. cuz that article got me really thinking and thanks a lot for showing it to me, I will buy the Sandisk SSD

The top-of-the line SSDs are Samsung and Intel. Most of the rest is a little bit lower, and then there are a few at the bottom,

*The case; I chose that case just because I saw it came with the usb ports on the top haha, and also that it kind of got more "holes" to let the heat come off the case (I dont know if that is relevant due to the 220w)...

Definitely look for ports and connectors where you need them. If you go for a 220W processor, I'd recommend you consider a closed-loop air cooler if you don't want to sit near a wind storm. :) While absolute quiet may not be a necessity, it really isn't fun sitting next to a noisy PC for many hours on end.

*Power Supply; so then I can go with the one I found? so is it good idea?

Yes, that PSU is just fine. Not sure if it will handle the load for overclocking, but if you go the AMD route, I'm out anyway as I've really not built a system with an AMD processor in many, many years. AMD just can't compete at the high end.


If I have time over the next few days, I will see if I can put together a dual-processor system configuration. You may want to consider that.
 

For the price of that Xeon (≈$250), you could get an i7 4790K - 4GHZ quad core (4.4GHz Turbo) which would out-perform it ($249 at MicroCenter right now) and IS unlocked (though I don't recommend overclocking for an audio machine). Core for core, Intel will do better than AMD in terms of throughput (provided Hyperthreading is enabled and supported by the MoBo). Will an 8-core AMD outperform a 4-core Intel? In many cases, it will, yes. But will it be as compatible? In Steinberg's case, there are reasons to suggest not — (more on that in a sec).

Yeah, in most cases they will. What is more likely a problem is scaling down to 1, 2 or 3 cores when 4 aren't necessary. This is an important power (and heat)-saving measure which is aided by (among other things) Intel's TSX-NI instructions, which Steinberg platforms (Cubase, Cubasis, Nuendo, etc.) do take specific advantage of in later versions.
Now, the looping stuff (Reason, FruityLoops, Ableton Live, etc.) will not demand as much of your processor, but will access the Windows pagefile quite a bit, so again, HDD speed matters.

That of course depends on track count and plug-ins. The good news is that most plug-ins have stayed fairly lean despite growing CPU power — (the average CPU is 57% more powerful than it was 3 years ago while the average plug-in requires only 15% more processing power).
Let's put it this way: if you're running enough plug-ins to bog down your CPU, it's time to get some SEPARATE DSP (PowerCore/UAD kind of stuff).

I was where you are now — (although when I started out, the "apprentice" system was still in place at studios like RPM and Criteria, and you started out by sweeping floors and fetching coffee, then moved up to making tape backups and aligning 2" machines) — and I know the importance of asking questions and soaking up as much knowledge as you can.

I'm willing to help anyone who's willing to learn.
I can only say in parting that I wouldn't worry TOO much about the processor; again, outboard DSP will help you more than ANY CPU can (if it ever comes to needing it).
Trust me: HDD throughput is going to be your bottleneck. If you're looping, mixing ITB, or editing, you're gonna want a fairly large pagefile (regardless of how much RAM you have, as many apps cap their RAM usage anyway so they don't over-consume resources) and I would spend $200-$400 of a $800-1K budget on a 2 or 3 840 EVO SDD's for your "C" drive and make sure the MoBo supports RAID (or buy a separate RAID controller, but it's a lot cheaper to get it on the MoBo).
Best Regards to you as well.
If you want to get into more specific stuff, contact me directly (the<dot>audio<dot>technician<at>gmail<dot>com) as I've probably already spent too much time here.

 



Dude,

There's not a processor alive that should be using it. Intel issued an errata after they discovered a bug in it and it gets disabled. If it is not there, then applications fall back on slower code.

http://hardware-beta.slashdot.org/story/14/08/12/182200/errata-prompts-intel-to-disable-tsx-in-haswell-early-broadwell-cpus
 


You do know that the Micro Center deal is walk-in only, you will pay sales tax (which you may not have to pay if one orders on-line) and is a limited-time deal, right? In usual circumstances, the Xeon is about $50 cheaper than the Core i7-4790K. In mail-order, right now, even with Black Friday deals, you cant order the i7-4770K for under $300.

 

Irrelevant. The point I was making is that certain software suppliers develop on certain platforms, and that using a CPU with that particular set of instructions and extensions may be beneficial in terms of compatibility and performance. When in doubt, ask your software supplier what THEY recommend.