First DAW HELP! a newbies dillema

C

CAM1

New member
Hi everyone

Im trying to figure out the right specs for my first dedicated DAW. For the last few weeks I have been using a second hand slightly abused laptop which is not up to it and is driving me nuts.
Im using a Steinber UR44 interface and running Cubase Elements8.
I will be recording up to Three live audio tracks at a time with a max of about 15 tracks total using various vst instruments, plug ins and effects such as reverb, eq and compression on each track. Im not totally sure yet about the proper use or implications of these on my system so hopefully people will keep me right when needed.

Im looking at a Scan EL97 system configured as follows:-

Coolermaster Silencio 550 - Dimension
Asus Z97-K, Intel Z97
Intel Core i5 4690 / Intel Core i5 4690- 4.4GHz Overclock / Intel Core i7 4790
Thermalright Macho Rev.B + Ultra Low Noise TY-147A PWM Fan
8GB Corsair LP 1600MHz
500W be quiet! Straight Power 10 80+ Gold Rated PSU / 600W be quiet! Straight Power 10 80+ Gold Rated PSU
120GB Samsung 850 EVO, Read 540MB/s, Write 420MB's
1TB Western Digital Blue, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache
Windows7 64bit / Windows8.1 64bit

Which CPU would give me the best performance without it being over kill ?
Will I need the 600w PSU (particularly with the i5 4690k overclock) ?
Which windows version is best ?

Is there anything that im totally missing.

One consideration is that I will have to transport the system by air from the UK to Oman where I am living for the next three years so a smaller footprint might be more convenient (maybe a Micro ATX based system) as ideally I dont want to have to check it into cargo but at the same time dont want to compromise on performance and noise etc.

Any and all comments and advice are really welcome

Many thanks

Cameron
 
Hi there,

You can use an online calculator like this to work out the required PSU wattage.

There's quite a leap between the i5 and i7 chips you mention but they're both still high end chips.
I've no doubt that either would be capable of what you're asking.

If you're using a lot of VST instruments then HDD speed and total memory are probably more important. Still though. 8gb should be more than adequate for 'average' home recording use.

I'd reconsider the hard drive layout.
Personally, I'd want sample libraries and sessions on an SSD and 120gb might not leave a lot of room for that.
Spinning discs are still the massive bottleneck in modern computing so, if possible, avoid them for day to day use.

I'd want a small SSD for system and a separate one for sessions+libraries,
then maybe a TB spinning drive purely for backup/safety?

People generally advise against using the same drive for system, libraries, and sessions, but sata III speeds are so hot, I do wonder if that advice is still good.

Possibly a single 256gb SSD could cover-all if you're keeping the budget tight.
It depends on the VIs in question, I guess.
 
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I agree with Steenaudio, 120 GB may not cut it for your SSD, remember, your OS will reside there too. If you get virtual instruments or other libraries, they'll eat up your storage real quick. For your HD, optionally, clouded storage shouldn't be too bad if you're into that. Amazon's rates are great and they have an unlimited plan, and dropbox is just convenient. As far as processor goes, I don't even bother with i5's any more. My recording desktop is a 2nd gen i7, and my gaming laptop is 4th gen i7, and both feel slow at times. My i5 Dell laptop I gave to my girlfriend.
 
I ran an i7-3770K with a 128GB SSD And after two sessions was just about full. Upgraded to a 256GB SSD and a 1TB Barracuda HDD for storage and works awesome. Definitely the way to go. Use two SSD's if you can afford it. One for OS and DAW. One for VST's, loops, and samples etc. if you can afford it you will have a smoking system for a reasonable price. Look at the Sansung EVO series. They rock.
 
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