Building An Audio PC

This is my thread for building an audio PC.

• I will ask for advice here
• I will post info here
• Tips and Tricks

I will purchase one item at a time, leaving the CPU and monitor until last (these items are most likely to drop in price with time)

The build process will be spread over 2-3 months.

should we stay out?

  kokoon said:

should we stay out?

All welcome to participate. Especially those interested in building their own PCs.

This thread is like an empty shell (or PC case in this case). Bits will be added gradually, until it is a fully fledged multi-thread.

QUESTION ONE: What wattage of power supply should i get for the case? (I want to use something like an AMD 3800 x 2)

i'd say go for a hefty unit, somewhere around 600W. also, try to keep away from the cheap ones, they're probably shit. PSU should be expensive.

reading and writing to the hard drive is more important than processing speed as I only run a few vst FX (and those are send-return type) + EQ on each channel.

it needs to run up to 32 stereo audio tracks. so the disk speed is the single most important thing

  kokoon said:

i'd say go for a hefty unit, somewhere around 600W. also, try to keep away from the cheap ones, they're probably shit. PSU should be expensive.

thanks!

what are you going AMD? they are far behind in the game as of late, especially with the latest release of intels santa rosa. If disc speed is important, grab a few 10,000 RPM raptors and RAID 0 them *drools* that is if you have the cash. A 3 month build though?? my gawwd how could you do it? the antispation would be eating me alive even after only have the tower.

fascinated in this thread ive got 2 grand to blow on an audio PC. nice!

i agree on Intel being the better option at the moment. and in close future nothing's to change. go for a nice core2duo (or maybe even quad) and you're set.

if any of you have done any case "quieting" like special fans, case lining, sound dampening material, i'd love to see what you've done.

With regards to disk speed, you'd can get 32 stereo tracks running from an old 5400 rpm laptop drive, so I wouldn't worry too much. Get 2 decent quality 7,200 rpm drives, one for system/programs, one for audio. No point faffing about with 10,000 rpm raptors or RAID set ups.

No point buying it over 3 months either. You'll get value for money buying it all in one go. Building a PC is relatively easy, just one afternoons work.

  Adjective said:

if any of you have done any case "quieting" like special fans, case lining, sound dampening material, i'd love to see what you've done.

I built a new audio core2duo PC last year. Just went for an Antec P180 case which is sold as a 'silent' pc case, and replaced the stock intel fan with a custom Zalman. Its not 'silent', but its a huge improvement. I did end up with an annoyingly loud CD burner which the case doesn't do a very good job of muffling, but its rarely used.

RAM, RAM, RAM and more RAM

mix with a bit of RAM and then a nice sprinkle of RAM on top.

Sit back and enjoy a big sweatpants boner....or whatever it is you girls do.

Also, don't bother with an integrated graphics card. Get a dedicated one. It'll get real annoying when the screen lags a little when you've got shit loads running otherwise.

I would also agree with kakapo with regards to hard drives. 2 decent 7,200rpm drives will do the trick.

get 10k disks, they're not that expensive anymore. RAID complicates things quite a bit. RAID0 is fast but you get higher failure rate. RAID5 you need a decent controller (expensive) and at least 3 drives, RAID10/1+0 you need a shitload of disks and 50% of space wasted...

don't go RAID, go 10k.

and i agree on RAM. 2gig is absolute minimum for such machine, if you can, go for 4gig.

thanks, lots of info here.

I was going to spread it over 3 months so that i could spread the cost, also the delay before getting the processor would mean I would get a better deal than buying it all tomorrow.

The processor only needs to be dual core, not quad core. One can be used for the GUI and the other for audio.

Also, it needs to work as a whole to keep audio latency to a mimimum as I want to monitor my synths and wotnots through ableton (with fx and eqs).

it's all so confusing - far too many options!!!

don't say 'mac' though. cos then i can't use 'liveslice' to slice up my life.

is liveslice like a "live" recycle?

ami missing out on something awesome? haven't tried it yet

nevermind, i see your responses in the in the loop editors thread

  ۞ Syntheme ۞ said:

thanks, lots of info here.

 

I was going to spread it over 3 months so that i could spread the cost, also the delay before getting the processor would mean I would get a better deal than buying it all tomorrow.

I mean buy it all in 3 months time , once you've saved up. I really can't see the point, you're going to have a half-built pc clogging up a room for 3 months otherwise. And it won't make the build any easier doing it bit by bit. Plus if there's a fault with one of the components, you may not find out until 3 months after you bought it...

  ۞ Syntheme ۞ said:

The processor only needs to be dual core, not quad core. One can be used for the GUI and the other for audio.

 

Also, it needs to work as a whole to keep audio latency to a mimimum as I want to monitor my synths and wotnots through ableton (with fx and eqs).

 

it's all so confusing - far too many options!!!

With regards to the dual core thing, thats not really how it works. Just make sure you use a host that supports dual-core and you'll get the best out of it. Cubase & Ableton both have decent dual-core optimisation, not sure about anything ele.

And with regards to latency, the single most important factor is the quality of the software driver of your soundcard.

how much is it to put 4 gig of RAM in a computer, and get all the motherboard and bits that you need to support it?

depends on what ram you choose. ddr3 is expensive, i'd go with 4gigs of ddr2. decent motherboard costs $200-$300.

i agree with kakapo - if you buy some things NOW you'll see after 3 months (when you finish buying all the parts) that some components' prices you bought 3 month ago went down for like 20%. instead, write down NOW the configuration you aim for. then save up and after 3 months you'll probably see you can afford one class better CPU than you thought. not just because CPU's price dropping but some other components' as well. or at least you hope so.

what about soundcard? RME fireface? you need it babe, you know it.

  kakapo said:

And with regards to latency, the single most important factor is the quality of the software driver of your soundcard.

This, really.

I have nothing special at all, a Core2Duo E6400, 1 gig Kingston DDR2, and a 500gig SATA2 7200rpm Western Digital, using an M-Audio Delta-66, I get <1ms latency in Renoise, and I can keep that up running several Waves plugs + a few other assorted bits. If I want to some something really hefty and I really need some horsepower, I can bump the latency to 2ms, which is still much faster than I can ever imagine needing it, and I've yet to come across a situation where I needed more plugs/etc running. Obviously the most you can afford is still the best, but you don't need an insano setup to get great latency.

wow, i'd forgotten about this thread!

I bought my monitor (using it on my laptop ATM). It's 1440 x 900. I have the operating system (XP)

today i'll buy a keyboard. then when i have more money, i'll buy a premade base unit from here: http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/systems/in...51980_conf.html

edit: will a duo or quad core work with XP? I don't want to use vista just yet

what is a good 4(minimum) input soundcard? . my sound box keeps freezing my computer so i'll need to get a new one.

Nothing fancy - i.e. no surround sound, just 16 bit 44khz is all i want.

get a nice crunchy mid-90s soundcard, like a 3rd hand budget terratec or creative card. the noisy outputs and all the clock jitter will give you the extra lo-fi edge that you need to sell more records. look at chris moss acid, mixing down to cassette definitely gave him the edge over the legion of his ableton-using contemporaries. in this business its all about character and identity, and a soundblaster 16 will give you all the character you need.

  iep said:

get a nice crunchy mid-90s soundcard, like a 3rd hand budget terratec or creative card. the noisy outputs and all the clock jitter will give you the extra lo-fi edge that you need to sell more records. look at chris moss acid, mixing down to cassette definitely gave him the edge over the legion of his ableton-using contemporaries. in this business its all about character and identity, and a soundblaster 16 will give you all the character you need.

the outputs don't make a difference, just the inputs as my final mixdown is done digitally.

I have enough noise from my gear and mixer, so i don't need any more from a soundcard!!!

of all the members of this board i would've expected you to be the last one to miss sacrcasm in a post