Best build for audio editing and conversion

[confusedtechguy]

Hi Everyone!

I'm planning on building a new system for a friend. He says that he will be using it mainly for audio recording, editing, and conversion to different formats. I have never really used audio editing software and I'm not sure what kind of hardware would be suitable for it (CPU type and speed, how much RAM to install, etc.) I looked at some audio software hardware requirements and it showed the normal 1GHz processor and such. I was looking to see what would get it to work efficiently.

Thanks to all in advance!

 

[michxymi]

Hi Everyone!

I'm planning on building a new system for a friend. He says that he will be using it mainly for audio recording, editing, and conversion to different formats. I have never really used audio editing software and I'm not sure what kind of hardware would be suitable for it (CPU type and speed, how much RAM to install, etc.) I looked at some audio software hardware requirements and it showed the normal 1GHz processor and such. I was looking to see what would get it to work efficiently.

Thanks to all in advance!

You haven't told us, the budget.

 

[jmsellars1]

The things you want to aim for in audio editing software is at least:

-Dual Core @ 2Ghz+
-4GB+ RAM
-7200rpm Hard Drive

If you have the budget though:

-i7
-16GB RAM
-SSD
-HD 5670 or something cheap to run 2 monitors.
-TI 1394b Firewire

 

[jmsellars1]

If the budget can stretch to just over $700, this would be a great build.

Intel Core i3-2100 - In rendering/editing/conversion and the like this is effectively a quad core because of the hyperthreading and it maintains low power consumption which will make for a quiet PC.

$124.99

2x4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X - 8GB of RAM will be plenty and will be useful for audio software, especially when you have lots of VST's open.

$49.99

ASRock H61M-VS - Cheap motherboard which will fit all of your parts, you don't really need any more or less than that.

$59.99

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - A nice fast drive with plenty of storage, stuff like conversion is much faster on a fast HDD.

$59.99

Crucial M4 64GB - Install your OS and audio software onto this drive and everything will just feel a lot faster, also means the mechanical drive will be idle most of the time and therefore not making any noise. Not to mention that conversion and bouncing etc. will be super fast.

$114.99

Corsair CX-430 - A good quality and very quiet PSU with plenty of power. Nuff said.

$44.99

Scythe Shuriken Rev B - A nice quiet low profile cooler, keeps the CPU cool and makes less noise than the stock cooler.

$34.99

Fractal Design Define Mini - Really cool looking case with some nice features, should also be super quiet, especially with these parts.

$99.99

LG DVD Burner - $18.99
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - $99.99

Total before shipping and rebates - $708.90

If your friend can afford that it would breeze through anything you throw at it in terms of audio software, just make sure his audio interface is USB and not Firewire. As an added bonus the power consumption will be nice and low and it should be very quiet.

 

[confusedtechguy]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I've decided to go with jmsellars1 config, except with 4GB RAM, A 40GB SSD, and without the Scyth Shuriken.

It's going to total to about $530, which is a bit above budget, but still works out.

Thanks for everything!

 

[jmsellars1]

No problem!