Need a Windows PC for recording

I'm about due for a new machine as well. I've been cruising along with my old 3.5 GHz i5 quad core with 16 GB of RAM for nearly 9 years now. It's been stable and plenty fast for most of my needs over the years, but it's not going to last forever. I'm itching to move to NVME PCIe SSD drives as well since the OS SATA HDD I'm running now is quite slow in comparison. My work laptop (newer Dell) boots up in about 15 to 20 seconds. This old beast takes a good minute and a half or so.
 
I'm running a ryzen 3900x w/ 128gb of ram and NVME Drives. The computer boots up in under 10 seconds. I can throw my entire spitfire orchestra library at it at once and it hardly breaks a sweat. I would save up a little more money and really build a monster/future proof machine.
 
SHEPPARD said:
I'm running a ryzen 3900x w/ 128gb of ram and NVME Drives. The computer boots up in under 10 seconds. I can throw my entire spitfire orchestra library at it at once and it hardly breaks a sweat. I would save up a little more money and really build a monster/future proof machine.
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Built it yourself?
 
If using laptop and Windows, you should deactivate all unused hardware in BIOS and do some optimization settings for low latency and prevent artefacts (like energy settings and so on). There are hints for this on the net. I also use an old laptop with windows and its working.
But I also bought a used, 10 years old mac Mini 2012 model and replaced HDD with SSD and works like a charm.
And if needed the small thing and monitor is also portable to rehersal room or somewhere else.
 
Also tools for checking latency and may hardware causing problems are usefull.

https://download.cnet.com/DPC-Latency-Checker/3000-2094_4-75911432.html

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Like this or other similar free tools.
 
If you're looking at Laptops, the latest ones I've been purchasing for
my company for CAD work are MSI Gaming Laptops.
64GB RAM, I9 CPU, 2TB+ HDD, 4-8GB Video RAM. Stacked out nice for 1500-2k.
Ripping machines for music production as well.
While you're at it, pick up an external 5TB drive for storage.
 
You can do an amazing powerfull, long lasting, build your own.

I just did this since my motherboard died just before black Friday. I spent 800 and it kicks butt.

I would go for an I7 Intel CPU - the I7 12700K - $350
Motherboard - MSI B660M-A - $110
1TB Nvme drive (get 2, 1 for boot and SUP Drummer 120GB samples, 1 for your recordings) - $80-90 each
Memory - team group T-force Vulcan-Z 32gb - $80-90
Case - $50-100
Power supply - something with 700W should be good. About $60-80
CPU Fan - Thermaltake Ux200 - $30
Monitor - depends on what you want. I would guess around 200-250 will get you an untrawide monitor, or about 150 for a 27" referb monitor.

I use studio One 5 right now and I can do so much more than I would need with this build. This tells me that I could probably not have to build a new one for 7-10 years and be good.

It took me 45 min. To gut the parts from my old build from 2013 and install all the new parts (super easy, no more jumpers, or other weird things), pretty much plug and play (the nvme drives are basically like a stick of memory that has 1 screw to hold it in and it was fiddly. Other wise, Super easy. Just pay attention to where the cpu corner lines up when putting it in (still very easy).
I was able to get a copy of win 10 pro for $35 last year when my machine started having a lot of blue screens and I lost the OS drive and my license code. Upgrades are free to windows 11. Just poke around and you can find similar. With this build it took 10-15 min. to install win. 10.

This Motherboard has several sata slots. For other drives. Even with the Nvme drives I still have 2 sata drives and an ssd which I put all the SD add-ons on it since it was 256GB. I use one to backup my recordings to and the other is for storage of more songs kind of as an archive.

Just my thoughts.
 
I bought a Geekom-mini-it11-mini-pc for Christmas.
I7 119... processor
32 gigs of Ram.
1 TB SSD system drive.
I have a SATA 2.5 2TB coming today for it.
I'll be running all my music stuff on it.
I'll let you know how it goes
 
One of the most important decisions when building or buying a new computer is which Hard drive format & size to use, because this is where the most noticeable performance benefit is when it comes to recording/playing back (read/write speeds).
That's not to say all other components aren't equally as important but it's not good getting a motherboard that doesn't support the best performance format. 'Future proofing' is all about choosing the right motherboard.

SSD drives are the best, but they are not all equal performance wise, for instance M.2 NVMe v's M.2 SATA.
Personally I wouldn't bother with SATA.

Here is some info worth reading;
https://www.performance-computer.com/learn/ssds-compared/

I've built many computers specifically for DAW's over the years and if you decide to go down this route you must do your research on making sure the components you choose will work together for best performance (or to even work at all).
Throwing it all together is the easy part. The key is in the choosing of parts (whether building or buying ready built)...so take your time and learn while you go before committing.
 
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I was wondering if there's a big difference in a PCI 3 vs a PCI 4 NVMe drive - would you notice the speed difference?
Also, which are the most reliable?
Another question is regarding a DAW- vs Game PC.
I have two separate PC's now but I'm thinking about adding some NVMe-drives to the Game PC and installing a dual boot system.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this or experience with such a setup?
Sorry for the hijack
 
bchulse said:
If you're looking at Laptops, the latest ones I've been purchasing for
my company for CAD work are MSI Gaming Laptops.
64GB RAM, I9 CPU, 2TB+ HDD, 4-8GB Video RAM. Stacked out nice for 1500-2k.
Ripping machines for music production as well.
While you're at it, pick up an external 5TB drive for storage.
Click to expand...

That is right. Gaming Laptops are beasts for DAW. I followed that advice about 8 years ago, even though I do not play PC games, and I am still using the same old ASUS ROG GL552VL (Intel i7 6700HQ 2.6 GHz Quad Core, 16GB RAM)

It doesn't have any hiccup, no matter how many tracks, VST FX and VST instruments I add on Cakewalk.
 
If you ever record acoustic instruments or voice, the noise of a laptop in the same room is problematic. Putting it outside your room works, but then you're getting nothing out of the increased cost and harder service and upgrades of a laptop over a tower.
 
MisterE said:
I was wondering if there's a big difference in a PCI 3 vs a PCI 4 NVMe drive - would you notice the speed difference?
Also, which are the most reliable?
Another question is regarding a DAW- vs Game PC.
I have two separate PC's now but I'm thinking about adding some NVMe-drives to the Game PC and installing a dual boot system.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this or experience with such a setup?
Sorry for the hijack
Click to expand...
As far as PCI3 vs 4 is pretty much price vs performance. There are not a lot of motherboards that have the PCIE4 spec at this point and way more have the PCIE3. If you get a good PCIE3 drive that can do 7k /sec you will do great. A 10k - 13k /sec drive is great, but the tech hasn't fully caught up just yet to make it where those drives work in everything and don't cost 200 dollars.

You can get a great 7k Western Digital black drive at 1TB for like 85-95 dollars at PCIE3 gen4 and they are 7k read and 5k write /sec. (mines tested out with just a little higher than both).
I have a pair in the PC I just built (replacing my 9 year old last build) back in Nov. It has no issues with handling DAW work and doesn't even break a sweat with a full project loaded with plug-ins (not that you need all that).

If you really want 10K+ reads and writes then you are best to wait, unless you use lots of VIs.

As far as noticeable difference all depends on exactly what you are using it for. For basic DAW recording with a bunch of plug-ins running you won't notice much of a performance difference. If you are building a movie score with 100+ tracks with a ton of VIs and build an orchestra, then yes you might notice the difference in the PCIE4.
However if you are a gamer it will be a good decrease in gaming lag.

There will always be a next tech on the horizon and right now the build I posted earlier for about 800 dollars (without a case) and just for DAW (no video card, just onboard Intel video) is kick ass and will last me 10 years for professional DAW work. Even current I9 Intel isn't the king for DAW work due to the performance cores basically being the same as the I7 I picked (the current one is about the same). You really want the best single core performance you can get and the I7 12700K has that, right now. The difference between it and the 13700 or 13900 are minimal at best for pure DAW performance increases with a much higher cost.

Hope this helps.
 
MisterE said:
I was wondering if there's a big difference in a PCI 3 vs a PCI 4 NVMe drive - would you notice the speed difference?
Also, which are the most reliable?
Another question is regarding a DAW- vs Game PC.
I have two separate PC's now but I'm thinking about adding some NVMe-drives to the Game PC and installing a dual boot system.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this or experience with such a setup?
Sorry for the hijack
Click to expand...
https://www.cclonline.com/article/2...ifference-between-PCIe-Gen-3-and-PCIe-Gen-4-/

SSD's are considered reliable because unlike 'spinning' drives, there are no moving parts.

DAW computers usually have an emphasis on CPU Drives & RAM. Gaming adds emphasis on the graphics card.

If you have 2 separate computers, why the need for a dual boot?
 
If you have 2 separate computers, why the need for a dual boot?
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Because I don't want to keep switching cables.
A KVM switch doesn't work with a 4K screen

DAW computers usually have an emphasis on CPU Drives & RAM. Gaming adds emphasis on the graphics card.
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Not only that, The OS needs to be set up totally different
 
MisterE said:
Not only that, The OS needs to be set up totally different
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How so, you should not have to set up a computer any different for gaming than you do for using a DAW they both require very similar things. You will not put USB to sleep for either config, the same thing with drives. You should prioritize things like networking and put priority on the apps that you are using so they get priority to MEM and CPU. You should be doing the same thing with your DAW as well. Networking does not mean as much in the DAW world as it does in gaming, same with Video cards. Everything else should pretty much be set up the same way.
 
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