Looking for a new PC

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guest4254
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Looking for a new PC

Post by guest4254 » Tue Oct 27, 2020 12:47 pm

I'm ready to upgrade to a new more powerful tower PC. My present PC is still running Windows 7, and I have some older programs on it that I don't want to lose, or take a chance of not getting back by upgrading this PC to Windows 10. (I plan on keeping the old computer as a backup or to run the older programs) Regardless of that, I need something with more fire power, that won't give me the latency issues etc, that comes with a 12+ year old computer.
I've done a bit of searching, but am wondering if it's better to go with a unit specifically made for recording, or a commercial PC aka Dell, HP...?

If anyone has any suggestions. I've got around $1500 set aside for this, and at my age, it'll probably be the last computer I'll need.

Thanks,

Harry

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:33 pm

guest4254 wrote:
Tue Oct 27, 2020 12:47 pm
I've done a bit of searching, but am wondering if it's better to go with a unit specifically made for recording, or a commercial PC aka Dell, HP...?
You'll likely get a less powerful machine for the money and maybe some weird custom parts that may make it harder to upgrade down the line by going with on of the big name brands.

You don't say if you want off the shelf or build your own , if you don't want to DIY I would look at some of the DAW system builders. Best bang for the buck currently is the Ryzen 3000 series processors which are winning the processor war against Intel at every major price point.

Depending what you want to do I would say there were some " must haves " that I wanted when I upgraded earlier this year I wanted a machine to last a good 10 years. My list was :-

8 cores ( I went with 12 in the end )

32gb Ram at least 3200mhz ( I went with 3600 in the end )

An NVME Drive for Windows and Programs ( I went with 500gb )

Good Cooling ( I went with one of the Noctua coolers )

A Radeon Graphics card as Nvidea seem to be a cause of DPC latency ( I went with the RX550 )

Plenty of storage ( I have 2tb of SSD and 4 TB of old style spinning rust drives )

Persoanlly I bought a base configuration of a local system builder them customised it , but if that doesn't appeal I think the DAW builders are a much better bet than Dell etc.

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by guest4254 » Tue Oct 27, 2020 9:36 pm

Thanks cosmicdolphin for the reply.

Your post just showed me how behind the times, and how little I know about what's out there today. The Dell computer I'm using now is somewhere between 12-15 years old, if not older. I'm going to stay away from the big brand names, so the next thing is finding out who the "system builders" you mentioned are.

Just a side note, before the pandemic, I was working anywhere from 40-90 hour work weeks. On the few off days, or free time I got, family and things around the house kept me away from my little studio for large chunks of time. Now that I've had free time I've been spending time daily in the studio, and have come to the realization that I need to upgrade my system. That said, I have no clue what's out there, so the items you've mentioned/suggested are an eye opener, as well as an education.

So, did you put your machine together yourself, or did you pick the items you wanted and have a system builder put it together for you?
What you have sounds impressive, and pretty much what I'd be interested in putting together, though I have no idea what the price tag would be for something like that.

Any direction you can point me to would be appreciated.
I'm also assuming you don't have an internet connection hooked up to your unit. I don't have a problem not hooking up to the internet, except for when it comes to adding apps, and/or getting upgrades to programs that seem to be a hassle trying to do without being able to connect to the internet.

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by guest4254 » Tue Oct 27, 2020 10:05 pm

I just realized that DAW Builders is an actual company. I thought it was just a generic name for places that put together computers....Duh!

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by guest4254 » Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:11 am

Upon further review...DAW Builders is a construction company, not a place that customizes PC's.

Still could use some recommendations for where to shop for DAW PC's...

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by cosmicdolphin » Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:07 pm

guest4254 wrote:
Tue Oct 27, 2020 9:36 pm
So, did you put your machine together yourself, or did you pick the items you wanted and have a system builder put it together for you?
What you have sounds impressive, and pretty much what I'd be interested in putting together, though I have no idea what the price tag would be for something like that.
I found an off the shelf PC from the local system builder that was more or less what I wanted and then did my own upgrades

No I meant DAW builders in the generic sense , I'm in the UK so it will be quite different - I have no idea who the main players are in your part of the world sorry.

The internet is hooked up via the network card..Wifi cards can be bad for audio and induce DPC latency

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by davidr » Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:33 am

I am very happy with my computer from pcaudiolabs.com
It is expressly designed for music production. There is no unnecessary bloatware shipped with the operating system. The prices may be a bit more expensive than PC's from Dell etc. But you get a computer for which all the components are matched. Also, you get personal technical support. PCAudioLabs can answer questions like "what configuration should I buy to run Cubase (or any other DAW) with 20 instantiations of Kontakt and 10 GB of VST instruments?"

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Re: Looking for a new PC

Post by guest4254 » Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:20 pm

davidr wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:33 am
I am very happy with my computer from pcaudiolabs.com
It is expressly designed for music production. There is no unnecessary bloatware shipped with the operating system. The prices may be a bit more expensive than PC's from Dell etc. But you get a computer for which all the components are matched. Also, you get personal technical support. PCAudioLabs can answer questions like "what configuration should I buy to run Cubase (or any other DAW) with 20 instantiations of Kontakt and 10 GB of VST instruments?"
Thanks for your post davidr. I did end up going with a new computer from PCAudioLabs.com I had it narrowed down to them and another company, then chose them as I was able to mix and match components that suited my needs.
Now just hoping I don't have to go through the usual hell of having certain programs behaving badly, or not work at all when I try and re-upload them to the new system....dealing with manufacturers of older programs can be a nightmare if they don't upload properly...so I'll be keeping my old computer handy if need be...

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