Building An Audio PC - Advice Please

pmk19

OK. So I've finally got some money together. Can spend up to €1500

I have a case picked out, its about €140, its not cheap as cases go but it looks slick.

So the rest I need help with. Im not a complete dummy when it comes to pcs but I just wouldnt know what exact models to go for etc.

Well i was thinkin about 2gb of ram, nothing fancy in terms of video card, just something that you run two monitors together off (oh i have 2 monitors already, one good one bad )

So what do I need in terms of cpu, psu and all the rest. I would like a mobo that can take a lot of hard drives, because Im going to use this pc for storage too. Thanks guys

frobisher

Maybe check out what people like carrillion put in their PCs and copy that?

Anima

If your gonna use a load of VSTs and plugins, make sure you get a decent cpu and a ton of ram. I'd say a nice dual core would work a treat.

squibs

A silent rig will be hugely important if you track and monitor where the PC lives. Power supply fan, cpu cooler and HD will all contribute to noise. See what the pros (like carillion) use as components.

Consider using 1 HDD for applications and a second HDD for audio data.

The biggest consideration will be the sound card - and there's a huge amount of choice. Rackmounts with external converters will work best, but will cost you. Some factors to consider are:
no. of inputs and outputs needed, MIDI I/O requirements, phantom power needed, sp-dif capability, sampling rates, word size, latency, drivers, reputation of company, bundled software, forward compatibility (if it's new and ships in volume the manufacturer may provide drivers for the forthcoming Microsoft Windows offering, if it ever actually ships).

pmk19

thanks all for the info.

Well carillion pcs tend to go with intel processors, but i get the impression that AMD ones are preferred, by boardies anyway. Is one particularly better than the other.

As for hdds, the carillion site doesnt go into great depth about the actual models they use. Would faster hdd be louder than slower ones, do you think?

Likewise with the ram, they do not specificy a model, will any ram do? Is faster ram louder.

As for the soundcard, (silly question coming up), say i get a usb/firewire soundcard, do i still need to get an internal one too. If i was just playing music cds, would I put that threw the usb/firewire soundcard.

SouperComputer

Well carillion pcs tend to go with intel processors, but i get the impression that AMD ones are preferred, by boardies anyway. Is one particularly better than the other.

Its a tough one to call as the latest offerings from intel are heavy on juice and produce a lot of heat. More heat=more cooling=more noise.

A dual core AMD would do no harm

s for hdds, the carillion site doesnt go into great depth about the actual models they use. Would faster hdd be louder than slower ones, do you think?

Seagate are generally the quietest, they also run very cool. They are not the fastest, but still very fast and adequate for your needs.

Likewise with the ram, they do not specificy a model, will any ram do? Is faster ram louder.

RAM does not generate any noise (yet). Faster RAM is a good idea, there is also latency to consider. However with the higher clock speeds of today its les important than before. PC3200 would be your entry point.

Martyr

As for the soundcard, (silly question coming up), say i get a usb/firewire soundcard, do i still need to get an internal one too. If i was just playing music cds, would I put that threw the usb/firewire soundcard.

You don't need an internal soundcard, but an audio interface can take alot of work off the cpu.
Firewire is faster than USB 1.0, but afik USB 2.0 is bit faster than firewire.

i would get an amd processor mainly because if you want to upgrade to higher model using the same motherboard, its not as difficult as with intel.
amd are better value for money & if you can afford it, get a dual core cpu.

if not that, try the amd64 range.

you should get atleast 1GB of ram, but more is better if you want to work faster.

consider having 1 hard disk drive dedicated to all your audio samples(if you use them), then 1 hdd for operating system & applications.

like, i have 80GB for O/S & apps, 200GB for samples.

this seems to work very well for me, because i've got 512MB RAM & sometimes its not enough for loading many large sample libraries at once & virtual memory is needed, when the samples are on the same hard drive as the pagefile for VM, it can take along time.

then main things you should prioritise are the speed of the cpu, the amount of ram & the size of hard drive.

it doesn't really matter about case so much(just as long as its powerful enough)

noh showband

A couple of 'beware's. First, Via chipsets. Motherboards using these need fixes to correct latency problems. Pity, cos they're all over the place and it can be hard to pick up a PC not using them.

Secondly, beware any Windows OS. If you're forced to buy Windows with the PC, ask why. It's a couple of hundred of the price and not necessarily the best OS for music. Macs have led the field since the start on multi-media, the platform is much more stable and there are interfacing benefits as well. If it must be a PC, think of Linux as an OS. You will save the mortgage on software favourably comparable with all the ones you've heard of (Cubase, Soundforge etc) but you might have to double check your sound cards are being supported.

If you must go PC and Windows, steer clear of Intel (at the time of going to press). They have high-speed processors, but the limitations on the bus leave you with reduced processing power. An AMD of equivalent specs will actually give you greater speed and stability. Try to keep your multi-media/sound PC off the Internet at all costs. Those Windows XP updates are invasive and sneaky. Background operations can cause interrupts and jitters in sound record/playback.

Oh, and watch out for those copy-protected CDs. Sony is in trouble at the moment for putting spyware on PCs to protect their copyrights. Nasty.

Loads of RAM, but be sure your motherboard can handle it all. Some boards will actually slow down if you put too much memory on. Large hard drives, recommend SCSI or SATA drives.

But try to get a sensible recommendation from someone in the biz if you can. They're no less opinionated and they all have their favourites, but at least they'll help you make an informed choice. I think you might do well to avoid buying anything off-the-shelf, though, but that's just my opinion. I've had three computers built for me, one for sound (I'm using Widows 98 and Linux) one for video (Linux) and one for graphics (Windows XP because I still like Photoshop best). I use Linux and Opera for web purposes.

pmk19

Thanks Supercomputer, Average Joe and noh showband. I got a much better understanding of what will serve me best. Im going to go off and suggest some motherboards and cpu and ill get your opinions on them. Thanks alot guys.

oneRoom

Go with the suggestion to copy carrilion PCs. Intel or AMD is up to you. I went for the Intel, and it runs fine.

Best Regards,
Brian Gardiner.