Cyberpower PC

Ericlingus

Ericlingus

Prettiest Hair Around
Oct 31, 2006
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I am getting a new PC pretty soon for audio recording. I am starting to get into film scoring so I will be running lots of VSTis (although not as ridiculous as some of the really serious guys). I don't really want to build it myself and was wondering if Cyberpower PC is any good. They let you customize PCs. Other sites like Pc Audio Labs are too expensive. What do you guys think? Do you make good computers? My budget is about 2000 USD.
 
Build yourself, sink into processor, memory and a SSD. The i7 intergrated GPU seems to be just fine for graphics if you aren't gaming. Also look for a mobo with TI FW chipset if you will be going firewire.
 
+1

It's really not too complicated once you get over what you may at first think is a hurdle (putting it together yourself). You'd be essentially paying them extra to do this for you. You'd basically learn the gist of assembling your own system in the span of an afternoon.

I know my next build will be an intel - that new 8 core is just delicious looking... meanwhile my amd system has served me very well!

You have a budget, can we assume you have no parts leftover from a previous system?


EDIT: Just a few things that I've noted along the way in case you do DIY or decide to hand over a parts list to someone else.

Your main system drive should be an SSD of course, but (and others may think otherwise) if ALL you're doing is treating the system as a workstation, you really need no more than a 60gb ssd for the main system drive. Once you've eliminated page filing (in the case of Windows), you're left with even more storage that you'll likely never need. A DAW PC doesn't really take up much space, at least ime.

I bought an old refurb 500gb ssd for my sample drive. If you're using kontakt, I think it's the 'batch-resave' option or some other feature that makes loading times much more quick, to where an ssd for sample storage may be unnecessary. I've seen moderate improvement with loading times in other samplers.

Scratch disk helps. When I upgraded my system ssd from 60 to 250gb (because I use my system for more than just audio), I relegated my old 60gb as a scratch disk.

Will update later if it helps, I'm on a time crunch, gl!
 
thanks for the replies. I have a firewire card already that I can just add to the MOBO if it doesn't come with one already. Most of them don't come with firewire anymore. I am considering building my own but I'm still thinking about it. Cyberpower PC seems to be a good deal. Other websites specializing in DAWs are such a rip off. Do the newer 2011v3 MOBO work with firewire cards? I would still be able to just add a card right? I don't see any really that have one built into the newer MOBOs. Do you guys have a recommended PSU that is really reliable and quiet that I can use for a DAW? This PC btw, is not just going to be a DAW. I'm using it as my everyday PC. I'll be going online and watching movies, listening to music, etc. Is a decent video card necessary if I want to get into film scoring? I've never dealt with video in Cubase 6.5 before. ALso, how important is the brand when buying SSD and HDD?
 
I've built a ton of PCs over the years and I've also purchased from CyberpowerPC. I had no issues and that system is still running great.

I would price out the components on the CyberpowerPC site and compare with something like Newegg. You will pay a premium through them but overall I would use them again if I didn't want to build it myself.
 
I know it'll cost more through them. I was just wondering how much more. If it's just a couple hundred extra then I'd have no problem with that. I'll just have to take your advise and compare the parts with newegg prices.
 
I caught one of their sales from Cyberpower and it was actually cheaper to get it from them when I spec'd everything out individually.

One problem though, is their customer support isn't very helpful. When I got it, when I'd choose restart from the windows menu, it'd act like it was going to restart, but then just shut down. Sometimes it'd get hung in a turn on, turn off cycle until I pulled the plug on it. It still does it and they blame it on Windows 8 or some other bull crap.

I also can't let it run in a powersave mode that saves electricity when not being used, because when I try to wake it from sleep it shuts down and goes into that turn on turn off cycle. They said that the computer was just too powerful and not compatible with anything, but "always on" mode. Again, a bunch of bull crap.

PS If anyone knows what or how to solve my problem, please tell me. Thanks.
 
Delitzsch said:
I caught one of their sales from Cyberpower and it was actually cheaper to get it from them when I spec'd everything out individually.

One problem though, is their customer support isn't very helpful. When I got it, when I'd choose restart from the windows menu, it'd act like it was going to restart, but then just shut down. Sometimes it'd get hung in a turn on, turn off cycle until I pulled the plug on it. It still does it and they blame it on Windows 8 or some other bull crap.

I also can't let it run in a powersave mode that saves electricity when not being used, because when I try to wake it from sleep it shuts down and goes into that turn on turn off cycle. They said that the computer was just too powerful and not compatible with anything, but "always on" mode. Again, a bunch of bull crap.

PS If anyone knows what or how to solve my problem, please tell me. Thanks.
Click to expand...

It sounds like a BIOS setting. I can't recall them all at the moment but there are various settings in there as far as what peripherals will wake the PC and also how it will act when placed in suspend or sleep mode. If they are off it can make the PC act really weirdly when trying to place it into sleep.

It can also be various peripherals causing the issue. This might be relevant: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/1272-73-windows-immediately-restarts-sleep-shutdown
 
Ericlingus said:
thanks for the replies. I have a firewire card already that I can just add to the MOBO if it doesn't come with one already. Most of them don't come with firewire anymore. I am considering building my own but I'm still thinking about it. Cyberpower PC seems to be a good deal. Other websites specializing in DAWs are such a rip off. Do the newer 2011v3 MOBO work with firewire cards? I would still be able to just add a card right? I don't see any really that have one built into the newer MOBOs. Do you guys have a recommended PSU that is really reliable and quiet that I can use for a DAW? This PC btw, is not just going to be a DAW. I'm using it as my everyday PC. I'll be going online and watching movies, listening to music, etc. Is a decent video card necessary if I want to get into film scoring? I've never dealt with video in Cubase 6.5 before. ALso, how important is the brand when buying SSD and HDD?
Click to expand...


PSUs are pretty standard as far as I know. Just get one with the power rating necessary for your system (and over what you believe your system will use overall if you intend to have a robust gfx card.) Their gradings are based on their efficiency. I would pay more attention to warranty than anything else concerning PSUs. 5 years is a pretty good start, and 750w is another good starting point. I had an enermax PSU that went bad three years in, I returned it for repairs. When I received and it still exhibited the same symptoms (shut-down on power draw), they sent me a new PSU asap when it appeared it could not be repaired, plus my specific model was discontinued - so I received a new one ^_^

PSUs won't be your major concern when it comes to noise. Case fans, CPU cooling, and if you get a hefty one, your gfx card will be your main culprits. gfx cards however won't be seeing much use unless you're gaming or something.

Branding in terms of SSDs? I spose it comes down again to whichever manufacturers' warranty policy appeals to you. Drives slated to be the fastest in the market are only marginally better over other SSDs with similar overall spec. Nothing that will benefit a workstation very much is my guess, so long as AHCI is on in BIOS with SATA III drives, etc - you'll be gtg.

I would steer clear of HDDs whose marketing claim even hints at 'green' or such. I would purchase Western Digitals drives when I was in a pinch for a backup, and more often overlook their 'green-friendly' save the earth shit and in turn have a horribly bad-performing drive :p

A robust GFX card isn't necessary for film scoring, unless you were also editing out footage with fx and such - and still, that's more dependent on CPU first. I would base my gfx card on the number of outputs you needed to feed your displays, again warranty, and efficiency (nVidia wins out here, no?) for idle and load in terms of power usage.
 
Ericlingus said:
What about the mobo compatability with firewire cards?
Click to expand...

doing a custom build is always a pain in the ass because of this. You have to make sure every component is compatible with everything else, AND you need to make sure a few of the components will play nicely with your interface.

Most interfaces will have a set number of firewire cards they support. You then have to make sure those firewire cards will work nicely with your motherboard.
 
I always lucked out with onboard firewire and interfaces, never went all too deep in concerning myself with it because I never experienced an issue with the 3-4 mobos I've gone through and tested over the years : /
 
the problem is I don't see any of the new mobos having firewire anymore. I havent seen any of the 2011v3 socket mobos with it. I do have a firewire card though and was wondering if it would be compatible with it.
 
anyone know about whether or not the new 2011v3 mobos, especially the ASRock X99 Extreme6 motherboard is compatible with firewire cards? I have a SIIG 3-port 1394 (FireWire) PCI adapter and was wondering if it will work with the motherboard or not.
 
If your firewire card is PCI, just get a PCIe one with a TI chipset. Done.


I already have a PCI firewire card. Is that what you are talking about? Or are you saying I need need a mobo that can hold a PCIe card with a TI chipset?
 
Ericlingus said:
If your firewire card is PCI, just get a PCIe one with a TI chipset. Done.


I already have a PCI firewire card. Is that what you are talking about? Or are you saying I need need a mobo that can hold a PCIe card with a TI chipset?
Click to expand...

Almost every single mobo is going to be able to accommodate a firewire card.

Some interfaces have issues with certain chipsets and TI is generally recommended as the most chipset reliable brand.

A new firewire card is like $15 so I'd just try what you have and see how it works. A Google search shows your card as having a TI chipset (if I found the right one) so you're probably set. As you mentioned, most new interfaces have shifted to USB anyway. I find them generally more stable for what it's worth.
 
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