which computer?

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malgovert

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Would an 'extreme' gaming computer be a good buy for making and recording music? I want to get the highest tech specs possible for my new set up and it seems to be mostly gaming computers that have them. Otherwise HP have some very powerful ones, which they just label 'high performance'...

M.
 
Gaming computers are what's really driving the technology these days but then, I'm sure you know that.
To answer your question. "Too good" can be a problem in some ways and a blessing in many others.
You will be limited to whichever software and hardware has kept up which also means, you will be limited to how much you can buy.
I see it as a positive.
What do you have for an O.S and what DAWs and Hardware are you thinking of using?
 
malgovert said:
Would an 'extreme' gaming computer be a good buy for making and recording music? I want to get the highest tech specs possible for my new set up and it seems to be mostly gaming computers that have them. Otherwise HP have some very powerful ones, which they just label 'high performance'...

M.
Click to expand...

Graphics cards and audio interfaces found in "gaming" PCs are absolutely useless for music.

Gaming PCs are also loud and sound like jet engines. That is the last thing you want for recording purposes.

If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, go for a Core i7 27" iMac , a dedicated DAW PC like the ones Sweetwater sells or something from Rain/Carillon:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB953LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc2NjA
http://www.sweetwater.com/c859--PC_Desktops
http://www.rainrecording.com/products/
 
i think with an extreme gaming machine you will be paying for video and sound cards you probably wont use....

Id go with a high spec home computer and use the change to buy a decent audio interface....motherboards and ram can all be upgraded when necessary but it'll take a while before you push the limits of a quad core on 4gigs of ram....let alone an i7...

I use a fair amount of softsynths/drum programmes on a dual core 2.66 with 3 gigs of ram and rarely find myself having to freeze or bounce to audio...in the end most of my songs run at around 20 or so tracks...
 
brzilian said:
Graphics cards and audio interfaces found in "gaming" PCs are absolutely useless for music.

Gaming PCs are also loud and sound like jet engines. That is the last thing you want for recording purposes.

If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, go for a Core i7 27" iMac , a dedicated DAW PC like the ones Sweetwater sells or something from Rain/Carillon:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB953LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc2NjA
http://www.sweetwater.com/c859--PC_Desktops
http://www.rainrecording.com/products/
Click to expand...

beat me to it ;)
 
Thanks for the responses. I think I am so fed up with my Pentium III/Windows 98 freezing up and coming up with "fatal exception" messages (remember that old blue screen?) that I wanted to go for the highest specs possible so it would buy me the longest time... I was going to use it with a Presonus FireStudio AI and pick a cheaper graphics card. I also have Genelec monitor speakers. The following set up was one I put together. Is it OK or not suitable (too 'extreme'?):

Mainboard : ASUS Rampage II Extreme ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 PCI CrossFire SLI
CPU : Intel Core i7 Extreme 975 3.33GHz x 4 with HyperThreading 6.4GT/s FSB 8MB cache
Cooling : Stage 4 Air Cooling: Enthusiast-grade vertical heatsink with 120mm fan Ultimate air cooling
Memory : 12GB Triple-channel Corsair XMS3 : 6 x 2048MB DDR3 1600MHz
Video Card : ATI Radeon HD5870 850MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.8GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E
HDD # 1 : Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 32MB 7200RPM SATA2 Dual-processor ( For Window Installation )
HDD # 2 : Western Digital Caviar Black 1500GB 32MB 7200RPM SATA2 Dual-processor
Optical Drive : LG 24X Super Multi SATA DVD Writer
Card Reader : Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader
Sound Card : On-board high-definition sound system
PSU : Corsair HX1000 1000W modular Active PFC
Casing : Antec Twelve Hundred
Accs : Maximum number of quiet fans
O/S : Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD OEM


Thanks.

M.
 
You have received some good advise. The only thing I would add to it is, if gaming is NOT going to be a BIG priority with the machine, look for a "silent" video card - one without a fan.

I recently purchased a video card based on a Radeon 3670 chipset, the fastest I could find that requires neither a fan nor a dedicated power connector. No noise and its pretty decent for playing games - I'm playing the Starcraft II Beta right now on full graphics detail and it works fine.
 
What are you planning on doing

Tons of computer power over and above what you need doesn't make music sound any better.

Maybe better to get a more middle of the road machine that will still probably be much more power than you'll need and use the left over cash to put toward something that actually makes a difference to the music you want to make.

i7 975 very nice CPU but way more than you will probably ever need.

Also I don't think Asus are using texas instrument firewire on their boards anymore which is something to consider.

Antec 1200 not a terribly noise gaming case but an Antec p193 is much quieter and therefore better for an audio machine

Way more Graphics power than a DAW needs, get something older and passive cooled so as not to add more fan noise.

Win 7 64bit nice OS. However make sure all of your VSTs are available in 64 bit versions or they will not work anymore. bit bridges such as Jbrige can help but are still quite glitchy on many plug ins.
 
Bristol Posse said:
What are you planning on doing

Tons of computer power over and above what you need doesn't make music sound any better.

Maybe better to get a more middle of the road machine that will still probably be much more power than you'll need and use the left over cash to put toward something that actually makes a difference to the music you want to make.

i7 975 very nice CPU but way more than you will probably ever need.

Also I don't think Asus are using texas instrument firewire on their boards anymore which is something to consider.

Antec 1200 not a terribly noise gaming case but an Antec p193 is much quieter and therefore better for an audio machine

Way more Graphics power than a DAW needs, get something older and passive cooled so as not to add more fan noise.

Win 7 64bit nice OS. However make sure all of your VSTs are available in 64 bit versions or they will not work anymore. bit bridges such as Jbrige can help but are still quite glitchy on many plug ins.
Click to expand...
Yuppers. Scale back to the i7 920. Great processor and overclocks like a champ.

Second the Antec p193 recommendation. Nix the stock fans and install some Noctua's instead. They make a great heatsink for the i7 line as well.
 
why are we recommending Intel?

sure they have better straight speed, and as such will make rendering faster

however they also have a much slower memory controller than the AM3 chips from AMD. They also have larger caches and therefore higher latency.

My theory is that lower latency means that I mix better and record things better. I'm prepared to wait an extra 30 seconds for a project to render if it's going to sound better.

AMD are also remarkably cheaper.

I would also look at using a thermalright passive cpu cooler, as it is possible to leave noisy fans out of a set-up altogether.

just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks for all the tips. There's a bit for me to ponder there. Meanwhile I am looking at the sweetwater site - I think that is much more what I am looking for - I hadn't realised there were dedicated 'music computer' sites -sweetwater also said they would ship out here so I am waiting to hear back from them. Still I am keeping an open mind. Thanks again.

M.
 
what about AMD Phenom II?

I have been looking at Rain recording site and it seems the choice between the Home Studio Plus and the Element Pro Studio boils down to the processor: the former uses the AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 Ghz 8MB Quad Core while the latter uses the i7 920 2.66 Ghz. The price difference for the package is about $600, with the Pro Studio being the more expensive but having less RAM. All other features are the same. Any opinions? I've always gone with Intel but for $600 I am wondering. Thanks.

M.
 
How about the i5, 3.33Ghz?

How about the i5, 3.33Ghz? Sweetwater offers one with this processor. Thanks.

M.
 
help me choose?

OK - I have narrowed my search for upgrading my system down to three choices:

Windows 7 32bit, i5 661 3.3Ghz, 4Gb RAM
Windows 7 32bit, i7 920 2.66Ghz, 3Gb RAM
Windows 7 64bit, i7 920 2.66Ghz, 6Gb RAM

The price is about the same in each case. The i5 is a rack ather than a tower, which might survive the international shipping better. However,I am inclined to go with the i7, but is 3Gb RAM enough? If, on the other hand, I go for 6Gb RAM, I need to get Windows 7 64bit OS, which I fear might be more of a hindrance than a help because of incompatibility issues.

I would really appreciate your thoughts and advice on this. Thanks.

M.
 
If, on the other hand, I go for 6Gb RAM, I need to get Windows 7 64bit OS, which I fear might be more of a hindrance than a help because of incompatibility issues.
Click to expand...
I've only changed my mind about this in the past few days but if you are starting from scratch, go with 64 bit and don't buy anything that you're not sure is 64 bit compatible.
If on the other hand, you already have a set up, then I agree, stay with 32 bit.
 
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