Sooo I'm looking to get a new PC for recording

[coreysMonster]

I've been recording on my Toshiba laptop for the past year, but the more I learn about recording, and the more complex my mixes get, the less my Toshiba is able to handle all of it.

Soo, I've decided to get a new PC only for recording.
What should I be looking for? What are the minimum requirements I should look out for?
I really don't know what I should get.
My price-range is around 700 euros.

 

[Paulie!]

that's what about 900 us.. I'd build it if it were me.. Let me think on specs, I'll be glad to post something if you'd like

-paul

 

[coreysMonster]

that's what about 900 us.. I'd build it if it were me.. Let me think on specs, I'll be glad to post something if you'd like

-paul

yup, around 900.
I was thinking about building my own, but I honestly have no idea at all about this stuff, and am too busy atm to get into it. Thought it'd be easier to ask around for people's opinions thanks!

 

[kev]

Try the search, there have been a few of thee recently. I7 920/930 is a good way to go. You should be able to include a MLC drive for your OS as well with your budget.

 

[JeffTD]

You should be able to include a MLC drive for your OS as well with your budget.

Kevmo, does running an SSD for just your OS really help that much, especially if all your audio projects/samples are streaming off other, non SSD's?

 

[kev]

Three reasons for me Jeff - For booting off of, file system, and all applications - its worth its weight in gold IMO for the read access alone. That and you dont have to worry about defragging the bastard. For larger sample libraries, still the only way to go unless you have major budget is obviously HDD, but at least when the samples have finally been loaded into memory you're ok.

If anyone has some megabuckidge to spend, get a 1TB RAID SSD card that plugs straight into your PCI express socket, those things are lethal. Lethal on the wallet too, and will set you back around $1000.

 

[coreysMonster]

Three reasons for me Jeff - For booting off of, file system, and all applications - its worth its weight in gold IMO for the read access alone. That and you dont have to worry about defragging the bastard. For larger sample libraries, still the only way to go unless you have major budget is obviously HDD, but at least when the samples have finally been loaded into memory you're ok.

If anyone has some megabuckidge to spend, get a 1TB RAID SSD card that plugs straight into your PCI express socket, those things are lethal. Lethal on the wallet too, and will set you back around $1000.

holy shit, I didn't even know those things existed :O
And I was worrying about spending 70 bucks on a 1TB external

 

[abt]

If anyone has some megabuckidge to spend, get a 1TB RAID SSD card that plugs straight into your PCI express socket, those things are lethal. Lethal on the wallet too, and will set you back around $1000.

I think you're missing a zero. I've not seen anything solid state in that capacity anywhere near that price.

To the OP what Daw are you planning on running?

 

[dmmi]

If you choose to build, there are many places that will mount your CPU and RAM for you if you're buying a complete package. Then your faced with really easy installations.

Also note, if you build you have to buy your OS. This is good, because you'll be left with a clean install once done, instead of a purchased computer and their "backup" disks that just restore your purchased state of your computer. Those are terrible, because there is usually a lot of crap on a purchased machine.

Trust me....build....build....build. It's really easy nowadays, and there are many here to help you

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Don't be fooled by anyone who says building your own is hard. to have RAM and CPU installed is $70 a pop for just the RAM alone, unless sits offered for free when you buy it at the store. Installing those components literally takes 30 seconds and unless you don't know your own strength its downright impossible to break anything, and all the parts go together like legos. Plus with an OEM copy of your OS, clean install with no junk, parts go bad and they are a lot easier and cheaper to repair than a brand name (in some cases if a brand name component goes bad, you HAVE to replace it with the same one that went in, and they get expensive and aren't that great). With DIY you get the best bang for your buck, in terms of quality and performance.

specs to look at:

CPU: Dual core or quad core that is compatible with DDR3 (even dual cores are hard to push to the limit if you are doing audio tracks and a few VSTi's like SD2.0)
RAM: 4GB to 8GB DDR3 aim for at least 1600MHz
MOBO: ASUS and Gigabyte are great brands, look at their $100-200 boards
HDD: Western Digital's OEM packaged Caviar Black 1TB drives are $100, best and cheapest in the market (one HDD that is not in a RAID configuration is still too fast to bog down)
GPU: Anything NVIDIA or ATI that is cheap that works if you are not gaming it really doesn't matter how fast it is.
PSU: At least 500 watts for the above setup 600-750 is best, I would recommend Corsair and Antec above all others, they are reliable and have excellent efficiency. If you have big bucks, enermax 1000watt will last your for life.
DC Drive: you just need one that can read and burn DVD's, nothing fancy

As the debate for Intel vs. AMD, its up to this, your budget and the bang for the buck. AMD will give you better specs for the price and a slightly lower performance compared to the much more expensive Intel equivalent (the Intel wins by marginal results and are 50-100% more if not greater in price)

a whole build will take you on average about three hours from opening the package to first turning on the computer and about another two hours for the OS and software, expect it to be about 5 hours to go from in the boxes to recording music, its quick and actually more fun that it seems.

 

[BloodRedDawn]

Try novatech in the uk they do some awesome build your own kits for great prices, they do what they call a bare bones bundle motherboard and all usb's etc attached and hooked you just have to throw together your pci's, drives other hardware you want, its a good compromise between a full self build and a ready made unit

 

[kev]

BRD, are you a hull city fan? lol


@ abt- looking at prices today, i can get the OCZ colossus for about £2000 Ex VAT - little pricier than I recalled

 

[abt]

@ abt- looking at prices today, i can get the OCZ colossus for about £2000 Ex VAT - little pricier than I recalled

I was actually hoping you'd tell me I was wrong lol. I've been hanging out for way too long now for the price to become realistic. I've been testing a 64Gb at work, pretty sweet, but needing a dedicated audio drive and system drive, plus capacity for a large sample library make this impossible at this point. Bloody exciting though. I’ve seen the super talent 2Tb drive in action. Man, your head’s is going to spin when you get that bad boy ITB!
To the OP if you are worried about DIY build most places will sell a “barebones” system. This basically a matched cpu, mainbord, and ram. This will eliminate most hardware incompatibilities before you get started.

 

[BloodRedDawn]

BRD, are you a hull city fan? lol


@ abt- looking at prices today, i can get the OCZ colossus for about £2000 Ex VAT - little pricier than I recalled

no i'm not luckily!........ they really did suck balls this season though

 

[coreysMonster]

I think you're missing a zero. I've not seen anything solid state in that capacity anywhere near that price.

To the OP what Daw are you planning on running?

Cubase SX3 with Stev.Slate Drums and a couple of amp VST's.

EDIT: actually I might just start using reaper. Cubase has been giving me a fuckload of problems lately, so I'll probably just export all my tracks and start using reaper.

Don't be fooled by anyone who says building your own is hard. to have RAM and CPU installed is $70 a pop for just the RAM alone, unless sits offered for free when you buy it at the store. Installing those components literally takes 30 seconds and unless you don't know your own strength its downright impossible to break anything, and all the parts go together like legos. Plus with an OEM copy of your OS, clean install with no junk, parts go bad and they are a lot easier and cheaper to repair than a brand name (in some cases if a brand name component goes bad, you HAVE to replace it with the same one that went in, and they get expensive and aren't that great). With DIY you get the best bang for your buck, in terms of quality and performance.

specs to look at:

CPU: Dual core or quad core that is compatible with DDR3 (even dual cores are hard to push to the limit if you are doing audio tracks and a few VSTi's like SD2.0)
RAM: 4GB to 8GB DDR3 aim for at least 1600MHz
MOBO: ASUS and Gigabyte are great brands, look at their $100-200 boards
HDD: Western Digital's OEM packaged Caviar Black 1TB drives are $100, best and cheapest in the market (one HDD that is not in a RAID configuration is still too fast to bog down)
GPU: Anything NVIDIA or ATI that is cheap that works if you are not gaming it really doesn't matter how fast it is.
PSU: At least 500 watts for the above setup 600-750 is best, I would recommend Corsair and Antec above all others, they are reliable and have excellent efficiency. If you have big bucks, enermax 1000watt will last your for life.
DC Drive: you just need one that can read and burn DVD's, nothing fancy

As the debate for Intel vs. AMD, its up to this, your budget and the bang for the buck. AMD will give you better specs for the price and a slightly lower performance compared to the much more expensive Intel equivalent (the Intel wins by marginal results and are 50-100% more if not greater in price)

a whole build will take you on average about three hours from opening the package to first turning on the computer and about another two hours for the OS and software, expect it to be about 5 hours to go from in the boxes to recording music, its quick and actually more fun that it seems.

damn man, thanks! That's really a starting point of what to look for.
Also, I just found out that I can get Windows 7 for free from my uni, so there's really no point at all in buying a pre-built computer and having to pay for the OS as well.