- Feb 24, 2013
- 4
- 0
- 10,510
Hi all.
I am new to the forum.
Thought I would turn to you for your valued advice on a build I am currently considering for a semi-pro bedroom based music production machine. Sorry if this has been raised before, I've trawled the posts and tried to learn as much as I can before asking the following; so apologies if some of it is elementary stuff. FYI I built a PC years back -so understand the essentials and can construct the machine-but the technology has moved forward so much and I'm baffled by the options and various configurations available now. Also to note that budget is £1500-£2k. Sorry if there's any specifics i've missed out here.........just let me know if so and I'll come back to this post with updates.
All thoughts and views appreciated. Thank you in advance. Jon.
Operating system
Needs to be rock solid. It will be geared toward launching and operating DAW software and applications only. I noticed Windows have updated from v.7 to v.8. Are there any other platforms such as linux or similar that are considered perhaps more suitable? Also it needs to be 64bit as most recording software seems geared in this direction these days.
Processor
i5 or i7, would I benefit from dual, quad or hexa cores? Music production software does tend to be processor and memory intensive from my understanding so naturally I am thinking the processor would be where most of the money would be spent?
Hard disk
SCSI SSD or conventional ATA? I guess speed would be an important issue here. Please can you advise on how best to configure the system too, I.e would I be wise to have a HDD for the operating system, another for file storage and a third for backup? Havent a clue on this. I see there are hybrid drives available too?? Also RAID configs? Are there any advantages given my application?
Soundcard
This will be external type and connected by firewire.
Memory
16 or 32gb, which are the better brands for non-gaming related performance?
Graphics Card
I will be running 3 monitors in total. 2x 15" and 1x 22". Please can you advise if theres a single VGA card that can facilitate this many monitors or would I have to purchase 3 different VGA cards to do this? The cards don't need to be powerful in any way, I shan't be gaming and if there's a suitable card out there that could run the monitors and blue ray-as it would be quite cool to watch movies on the monitors too but not the end of the world if I can't.
Motherboard, PowerSupply[, Cooling/b]
Please consider the above requirements and recommend a suitable motherboard, power supply (low noise as poss) and a cooling system-would I need liquid cooling or similar?
Just a few other thoughts here I need to better my understanding on.......
overclocking? It used to be high risk, but now seems like its the done thing? Would I benefit from overclocking my machine once its built or it is likely to compromise reliability?
Virus's!! Windows seemed a vulnerable nightmare the last I built a computer and put it online. It was bugged out in a matter of 24hrs. I am hoping it has come along way since then. Is there there anyway to take the updates needed from an online source for my software etc through one of the hard disks only without the risk of corrupting other valuable data placed on other drives or am I making no sense? Basically is there any there anyway I can safe guard and minimise damage to my machine from web based virus other than the obvious antivirus and firewalls?
Thanks again.
I am new to the forum.
Thought I would turn to you for your valued advice on a build I am currently considering for a semi-pro bedroom based music production machine. Sorry if this has been raised before, I've trawled the posts and tried to learn as much as I can before asking the following; so apologies if some of it is elementary stuff. FYI I built a PC years back -so understand the essentials and can construct the machine-but the technology has moved forward so much and I'm baffled by the options and various configurations available now. Also to note that budget is £1500-£2k. Sorry if there's any specifics i've missed out here.........just let me know if so and I'll come back to this post with updates.
All thoughts and views appreciated. Thank you in advance. Jon.
Operating system
Needs to be rock solid. It will be geared toward launching and operating DAW software and applications only. I noticed Windows have updated from v.7 to v.8. Are there any other platforms such as linux or similar that are considered perhaps more suitable? Also it needs to be 64bit as most recording software seems geared in this direction these days.
Processor
i5 or i7, would I benefit from dual, quad or hexa cores? Music production software does tend to be processor and memory intensive from my understanding so naturally I am thinking the processor would be where most of the money would be spent?
Hard disk
SCSI SSD or conventional ATA? I guess speed would be an important issue here. Please can you advise on how best to configure the system too, I.e would I be wise to have a HDD for the operating system, another for file storage and a third for backup? Havent a clue on this. I see there are hybrid drives available too?? Also RAID configs? Are there any advantages given my application?
Soundcard
This will be external type and connected by firewire.
Memory
16 or 32gb, which are the better brands for non-gaming related performance?
Graphics Card
I will be running 3 monitors in total. 2x 15" and 1x 22". Please can you advise if theres a single VGA card that can facilitate this many monitors or would I have to purchase 3 different VGA cards to do this? The cards don't need to be powerful in any way, I shan't be gaming and if there's a suitable card out there that could run the monitors and blue ray-as it would be quite cool to watch movies on the monitors too but not the end of the world if I can't.
Motherboard, PowerSupply[, Cooling/b]
Please consider the above requirements and recommend a suitable motherboard, power supply (low noise as poss) and a cooling system-would I need liquid cooling or similar?
Just a few other thoughts here I need to better my understanding on.......
overclocking? It used to be high risk, but now seems like its the done thing? Would I benefit from overclocking my machine once its built or it is likely to compromise reliability?
Virus's!! Windows seemed a vulnerable nightmare the last I built a computer and put it online. It was bugged out in a matter of 24hrs. I am hoping it has come along way since then. Is there there anyway to take the updates needed from an online source for my software etc through one of the hard disks only without the risk of corrupting other valuable data placed on other drives or am I making no sense? Basically is there any there anyway I can safe guard and minimise damage to my machine from web based virus other than the obvious antivirus and firewalls?
Thanks again.
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