Need a Windows PC for recording

Piing said:
I did all that special configuration for DAW (e.g.: preference for background processes, disable Hyper-Threading, special power plan, set fixed virtual memory...) on old computers. On new ones I've never had to tweak any setting to improve performance
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This is exactly correct, nowadays. The difference between a gaming computer and a DAW computer are just minor things now that computing has come to where it is.

I have not had to prioritize background processes for 9 or 10 years (since the series 4 Intel I7 4770 chip came out). I haven't had to disable multi/hyper threading in forever. I used to use Macs up until 2008/9 then I started building my own computers (again) and doing the hackintosh thing (dual boot). I did that until about 2017 when I was having a very hard time with the new firmware loader program for the hacckintosh stuff. I just went windows 10 and never looked back. My latest build I only turned off USB sleep, computer sleep, drive sleep, and tuned my NVME drives.
 
MisterE said:
DAW needs to be set up for background processes, game PC's need to be set up for highest performance.
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Not anymore. DAWs have not needed to prioritize background tasks for a long time now, like more than 10 years. Both Macs and windows systems have only needed to have minor tweaks to get a system ready for a DAW since like 2014 or so. The hardware finally is able to handle task switching fast enough for DAWs.
 
That's good news. I'll try it on my game PC then.
BTW.... my 5 year old PC (i7 with 32GB ram and a couple of SSD's) still runs fine
 
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any 2020 computer is most capable. with m.2 drives everything is crazy fast. get something with a dedicated graphics card. onboard Intels don't cut it anymore. take into account how many usb ports you will require. this is a big deal. usb hubs should not be the standard. if your external interface uses usb-c, you may want to make sure that is covered too. go to cpubenchmark.net and look for cpus with scores over 20000. many i5 cpus are well over that now. 16 gb mem minimum, 32 for more optimal. windows 10 is a pig.
 
MisterE said:
That's good news. I'll try it on my game PC then.
BTW.... my 5 year old PC (i7 with 32GB ram and a couple of SSD's) still runs fine
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Yeah, I used a gen 4 I7 until about Nov of last year, only built a new one because the MB started having an issue and I could not get it to boot to the bios so I had to scrap that one.

Here is a guide for tuning windows 10 for a daw. I know it is presonus and studio one, but it is the same for pro tools and others they all use the same settings for the most part.

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-...Optimizing-Your-Computer-for-Audio-Windows-10
 
The only place where a DAW may put a strain on a modern PC these days is when running large footprint, VI instruments at very low buffers and this in the area where clock speed is king.

My main recording rig still runs on an lightly overclocked, coffee lake, i5-based hackintosh. That machine rarely even breaks a sweat unless I load a ton of VIs and then try to track with super low latency. I have an M2-based mac mini on order to replace it, but it's hardly a necessity.
 
Rock Chalk said:
Did you head on over to Micro Center yet?
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Nope. Still buried in work, and feeling (relatively speaking) financially indisposed, but it'll definitely have to happen at some point, and I super appreciate everyone's ideas and advice.

Spent roughly $5k on medical stuff for my daughter's cats in the last month. Bang.

Never a dull moment.
 
I Always build my own but something like this would work fine-You don't need more than 16GB ram to start off. You can always add another 16gb down the road. I have tons of VSTS. I do have 32gb ram, but I was fine with 16gb.
Doesn't take a whole lot to run a daw. At least with a desktop you can Upgrade things and add stuff. The mortherboard is important with regards to slot etc.
Amazon product ASIN B08DDCPYH2
 
dean701 said:
any 2020 computer is most capable. with m.2 drives everything is crazy fast. get something with a dedicated graphics card. onboard Intels don't cut it anymore. take into account how many usb ports you will require. this is a big deal. usb hubs should not be the standard. if your external interface uses usb-c, you may want to make sure that is covered too. go to cpubenchmark.net and look for cpus with scores over 20000. many i5 cpus are well over that now. 16 gb mem minimum, 32 for more optimal. windows 10 is a pig.
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Well, you really do NOT need a graphics card for a daw. Yes, I have one, but my daw runs fine without it. Depends on the graphics chip itself on the board.
 
jamesmarshall said:
Not anymore. DAWs have not needed to prioritize background tasks for a long time now, like more than 10 years. Both Macs and windows systems have only needed to have minor tweaks to get a system ready for a DAW since like 2014 or so. The hardware finally is able to handle task switching fast enough for DAWs.
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Exactly. I mean if someone is doing symphonies with 100 tracks, yes, tweak away. But, like you state, most modern cpu's can handle a daw easily.
 
Dave- An important point, since you opt for an "off the shelf" desktop. Dell, HP and other BIG name brands at least let you go to the website and you can usually see how many ports and slots it has and what they are. That's all important (essential) for upgrading it down the road.
Good Luck!
 
Stratman68 said:
Dave- An important point, since you opt for an "off the shelf" desktop. Dell, HP and other BIG name brands at least let you go to the website and you can usually see how many ports and slots it has and what they are. That's all important (essential) for upgrading it down the road.
Good Luck!
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Thanks. Maybe off the shelf, maybe semi-custom Microcenter, maybe see if one of you experienced DIY folks would be up for building one for someone else. Less likely, do it MYself, or buy one from a pro DAW builder.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Thanks. Maybe off the shelf, maybe semi-custom Microcenter, maybe see if one of you experienced DIY folks would be up for building one for someone else. Less likely, do it MYself, or buy one from a pro DAW builde
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Do you mean https://www.magicmicro.com/13694/ ? This is what I did for years, I had them put the motherboard in, mount the cpu and cooler. The rest is gravy, hour or 2.
or https://www.studiocat.com/ That's Jim rosenberry - Killer daws but not cheap.
 
I have a magicmicro build that is about 6-7 years old. W10 4 core 4.0 GHz 16GB ram and 3 HD, 2 are SSD and one HDD. Studio One Pro 5 with loads of Waves, Plugin Alliance VSTs and NI VSTIs, Presonus USB 3 Studio 192 Interface.
I have been having issues with it over the last 9 months.
On a whim a couple days ago I bought this:
Amazon product ASIN B0BG2SHPBS
I loaded up an older version of Studio One 4 pro with my 192 interface and just used the stock plugins and it actually handled it fairly well. I was very surprised. I ran 9 tracks of virtual insturments, 3 tracks of ampire and 2 tracks from my Axe Fx and the processor was only reading about 25%.
I did have one issue that kept recurring though. Every now and then my cursor would be gone. I could restart S1 and then it would come back.
But, no crackles no crashes.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Rough total cost?
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Michael R said:
I have a magicmicro build that is about 6-7 years old. W10 4 core 4.0 GHz 16GB ram and 3 HD, 2 are SSD and one HDD. Studio One Pro 5 with loads of Waves, Plugin Alliance VSTs and NI VSTIs, Presonus USB 3 Studio 192 Interface.
I have been having issues with it over the last 9 months.
On a whim a couple days ago I bought this:
Amazon product ASIN B0BG2SHPBS
I loaded up an older version of Studio One 4 pro with my 192 interface and just used the stock plugins and it actually handled it fairly well. I was very surprised. I ran 9 tracks of virtual insturments, 3 tracks of ampire and 2 tracks from my Axe Fx and the processor was only reading about 25%.
I did have one issue that kept recurring though. Every now and then my cursor would be gone. I could restart S1 and then it would come back.
But, no crackles no crashes.
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Much like the Geekom I mentioned. Mini PC
I7 W 32GB RAM.
Running everything fine so far.
 
markwayne said:
I would strongly second the desktop option. Laptops are always a compromise and, unless you truly require the portability won by this compromise, you will get better performance and longer life out of a desktop/tower.

As for what to buy, this will sound a tad geeky, <opinion> building a PC has gotten so easy these days that I would just spec out the processor and amount of RAM you want and work backwards from there. What you learn in doing the build will also serve you well in troubleshooting down the road.</opinion>
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The crux of the issue is whether OP wants a mobile solution. I 100% agree with your comment since desktops are modular whereas laptops fall victim to planned obsolescence. I'd even urge OP to consider building it himself but if he just wants to go out and buy something and be done with it then there are perfectly good prebuilt options - you just have to ask and shop around.
 
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