PC for professional audio editing and production - new build!

[jemm]

A friend of mine is building a PC for professional audio editing and production, and some light video editng/rendering.

His budget is around US$ 1800 (monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc NOT needed).

I´d appreciate your suggestions!

Thank you!

 

[AndyC53]

A friend of mine is building a PC for professional audio editing and production, and some light video editng/rendering.

His budget is around US$ 1800 (monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc NOT needed).

I´d appreciate your suggestions!

Thank you!

Intel Core i7 4770k: http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-4770K-Quad-Core-Processor-BX80646I74770K/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725479&sr=8-1&keywords=i7
Hyper 212 EVO: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385726018&sr=8-1&keywords=hyper+212+evo
GTX 660: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SUPERCLOCKED-Graphics-02G-P4-2662-KR/dp/B00966IREK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725962&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+660
8gb 1600MHz RAM: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-12800-1600mHz-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B/dp/B004QBUL1C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725590&sr=8-1&keywords=8gb+1600MHz+RAM+2x4
Gigabyte Z87: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-1150-CrossFireX-Motherboard-GA-Z87-D3HP/dp/B00CU4L4M2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725613&sr=8-3&keywords=1150+motherboard
650W PSU - 80 PLUS: http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-ModXStream-Modular-Performance-compatible/dp/B001EYV690/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725668&sr=8-5&keywords=600w
CASE - Zalman Z9: http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-Black-Tower-microATX-Computer/dp/B008RTDZM6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725800&sr=8-6&keywords=zalman+z9
250gb SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725841&sr=8-1&keywords=250gb+ssd
1TB HDD: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD1002FAEX-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385725890&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+caviar+black
Total Cost: $1070 Approx.
You dont need to spend more money than this, this is a very good PC for your purposes.

 

[Draven35]

What audio interface? several other components hinge on that.

 

[jemm]

What audio interface? several other components hinge on that.

Yes, he´ll be using several other components on that.

 

[Draven35]

I don't understand what you mean. I'm asking what he's using for an audio interface, primarily because if it is firewire-based, the system needs a texas instruments-based firewire chipset in it for optimal performance. If he isn't planning on getting a professional audio interface, then he needs to roll some of the budget into one. I'd also replace the GTX 660 suggested above with a cheaper lower end fanless video card, because he's more likely to need a quieter work environment than graphics card performance. The system also needs more drive space than suggested above, and more memory wouldn't hurt either.

Many people thing "oh audio doesn't need that much space" but have obviously never installed most modern instruments and sample libraries. A full install of Native Instruments Komplete is 250 GB.... there goes a quarter of the data drive he suggested in one fell swoop.

 

[jemm]

Thank you Draven35 for your reply,

Yes, it will be firewire-based.

He will be using Saffire 56, DAW( digital audio workstation), Reaper e Protolds, keyboard and controller, and tons of audio plugins.

What video card would you suggest as it will be used for some light editing/rendering too.

Do you see any need for a SSD, or just some more room for storage?

 

[Draven35]

SSDs are nice on DAWs, but larder sample libraries for audio plugins often preclude their use for everything. I'd use a SSD as a boot drive and for software installation, and at least a 2 TB drive for working files and sample libraries. 16 GB RAM is better than 8, many sample-library-based plugins can be set to dynamically use memory instead of streaming samples solely from disk.

With a firewire-based audio interface, as i mentioned earlier, he'll need a TI-based firewire card, preferably one that is PCIe based. IT will help with stability and performance.

If he is using REAPER, he may or may not need ProTools. Is he planning on using ProTools-specific plugins? Doing a lot of scoring for long-form video projects? Keep in mind that things are reversed from how they were a few years ago, its much more likely that a plugin will *not* have a pro tools version than it be ProTools-only. If he is using a lot of VST plugins, he'll either need a bridge for ProTools or to use ReWire to run them in REAPER.

please define 'light editing/rendering'... that can entail more hard drive space as well.

 

[jemm]

Hi Draven35,

The primary use of the PC is for audio, but he also want to editing/rendering videos -- eventually he wants to use the audios he produces to make some videos, but nothing professional.

He couldn´t tell me if he is going to use ProTools-specific plugins, but he said he wants to use ´heavy plugins´, while using other progams at the same time. He said he wants a solid build with speed and performance for professional audio editing and production.

 

[Draven35]

Hi Draven35,

The primary use of the PC is for audio, but he also want to editing/rendering videos -- eventually he wants to use the audios he produces to make some videos, but nothing professional.

He couldn´t tell me if he is going to use ProTools-specific plugins, but he said he wants to use ´heavy plugins´, while using other progams at the same time. He said he wants a solid build with speed and performance for professional audio editing and production.

Audio editing really doesn't use much GPU at all because attempts to do GPU-based audio processing have resulted in unwanted latency. the 660 above or even a slower clocked 660 will be fine... even something like a 650 would be.

 

[jemm]

Hi Draven35,

The primary use of the PC is for audio, but he also want to editing/rendering videos -- eventually he wants to use the audios he produces to make some videos, but nothing professional.

He couldn´t tell me if he is going to use ProTools-specific plugins, but he said he wants to use ´heavy plugins´, while using other progams at the same time. He said he wants a solid build with speed and performance for professional audio editing and production.

Audio editing really doesn't use much GPU at all because attempts to do GPU-based audio processing have resulted in unwanted latency. the 660 above or even a slower clocked 660 will be fine... even something like a 650 would be.

Could you suggest a build then? Thank you!

 

[Draven35]

Could you suggest a build then? Thank you!

Substitute from list above:
GPU- ASUS Geforce 640 GT Silent GPU: http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-DDR3-Graphics-Card-GT640-DCSL-2GD3/dp/B009TORML8/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&qid=1386935444&sr=8-36&keywords=Geforce+silent
16 GB RAM: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936683&sr=8-3&keywords=16gb+1600MHz+RAM+2x8
2 TB WB Black HDD: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936728&sr=8-2&keywords=2+TB+WD+Black
PCIe firewire card: http://www.amazon.com/SIIG-FireWire-2-Port-PCIe-NN-E20012-S2/dp/B000G6U8VY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936780&sr=8-2&keywords=Texas+instruments+firewire

 

[jemm]

Thank you all for the help!

 

[Draven35]

Thank you all for the help!

you're welcome 😀

 

[ranger2992]

Could you suggest a build then? Thank you!

Substitute from list above:
GPU- ASUS Geforce 640 GT Silent GPU: http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-DDR3-Graphics-Card-GT640-DCSL-2GD3/dp/B009TORML8/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&qid=1386935444&sr=8-36&keywords=Geforce+silent
16 GB RAM: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936683&sr=8-3&keywords=16gb+1600MHz+RAM+2x8
2 TB WB Black HDD: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936728&sr=8-2&keywords=2+TB+WD+Black
PCIe firewire card: http://www.amazon.com/SIIG-FireWire-2-Port-PCIe-NN-E20012-S2/dp/B000G6U8VY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386936780&sr=8-2&keywords=Texas+instruments+firewire

Reading through your advice on a computer has been very helpful. I followed the build pretty closely, but have a couple of questions. First, do you think an I7 processor is needed, or will an I5 handle things fine? Next, do you think 1 2TB drive, or do you think 2 1TB drives would be better for redundancy? I dropped down to a 650 GPU. I also am wondering if 32 gb of memory would be helpful.

My plan would be the same, which would be to use the focusrite safire 24 audio interface. Also plan on using a dual monitor set up. Thanks for all the great info

 

[Draven35]

Reading through your advice on a computer has been very helpful. I followed the build pretty closely, but have a couple of questions. First, do you think an I7 processor is needed, or will an I5 handle things fine? Next, do you think 1 2TB drive, or do you think 2 1TB drives would be better for redundancy? I dropped down to a 650 GPU. I also am wondering if 32 gb of memory would be helpful.

My plan would be the same, which would be to use the focusrite safire 24 audio interface. Also plan on using a dual monitor set up. Thanks for all the great info

Depends if you are using truly huge sample libraries that support RAM buffering. If so, then the additional memory bay be useful. If not, then he won't see any benefit.Beyond a certain range, more RAM in a DAW isn't giving you any benefit.