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Hey All,

I'm looking at putting together a new workstation for recording. My current one is an older intel based machine, quad core/8 threads, 16Gb Ram and SSD drives. For the most part it's working fine, but as I add more tracks, and more plugin's the machine is begging to show it's age, and strains on the CPU. This leads to crackles, which leads me to increasing buffers and latency. Mind you, I bought it 7+ years ago, so not to bad actually. =)

So that said, anyone bought or built anything lately that they're loving? Care to share the specs?

In looking at options, it's not super clear I need as many cores as I can cram on to a processor, as if you read the fine print, audio streams are processed by single threads on a single core; likely to minimize latency. So clock speed and more threads is key, but I may be fine with an 8 core vs 10 or 12 core.

Anyway. If you have a MAC, PC or other system you purchased, and don't mind sharing the specs, it would be appreciated. I'm still figuring out what I'm going to build.

Cheers,
Brad

I built mine around 12 months ago now, I already had some of the parts and a Windows licence but I spent about £1k :-

Ryzen 3900x ( 12 core )
Noctua NH D15s cooler
Radeon RX550
32gb DDR4 3600
500gb NVME Drive
2 x 1TB SSDs
2 x 2TB Spinners
Win 10

It's fast and powerful, my DAW ( Cakewalk ) , runs at sensible temps and can scale to use all 12 cores, I wouldn't say it's silent but it's quiet enough for me - I haven't got a silent case or anything but the cooler helps keep the fans spinning low.

You may struggle at the moment as the demand for CPU's and GPU's is outstripping the supply chain, as PC sales have jumped during lockdown after years of dwindling so some of the most popular chips are out of stock or being bought by scalpers.

If I was building today, I'd look at the Ryzen 5000 chips - the 5600x looks great but you can't buy them for love nor money right now. Or if you do see them they are overpriced.

If you can hold of a couple of weeks the guy over at Scan Pro Audio is doing a big new test roundup on all the latest CPUS, this was the last one they did.

http://www.scanproaudio.info/tag/dawbench/

Mark

Thanks!

I can wait for the reviews, not in a dramatic rush at the moment. I was looking at the i9 processor yesterday, different model. Also AMD has kicked ass when it comes to price and performance, but I have read some issues with compatibility with some plugins; though no specific examples were provided.

You have some great specs below. I was looking at that AMD one as well. Nvme and SSD all the way. =)

I'm still doing some various online homework too. Only thing I really don't need is a beefy video card.

Cheers,
Brad

100% on the NVME boot drive, SSD's for working on and Spinners for backing up or storing large sample collections.

If you go Intel their latest integrated graphics is fine and removes one more thing to worry about. AMD don't have onboard graphics but the RX550 is a popular budget model and used by a lot of DAW builders because the drivers are better for us musicians than the Nvidea stuff which seems to be a cause of DPC latency.

Mark

You employ crackheads at your studio?

https://translate.google.com/#de/en/spinner

Sorry, I had to look up the term, having never seen 'spinners' used for HDD before.

AlanHall wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 29, 2021 1:15 pm

Sorry, I had to look up the term, having never seen 'spinners' used for HDD before.

Short for Spinning Rust

BradGray wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:17 pm

Hey All,

I'm looking at putting together a new workstation for recording. My current one is an older intel based machine, quad core/8 threads, 16Gb Ram and SSD drives. For the most part it's working fine, but as I add more tracks, and more plugin's the machine is begging to show it's age, and strains on the CPU. This leads to crackles, which leads me to increasing buffers and latency. Mind you, I bought it 7+ years ago, so not to bad actually. =)

So that said, anyone bought or built anything lately that they're loving? Care to share the specs?

In looking at options, it's not super clear I need as many cores as I can cram on to a processor, as if you read the fine print, audio streams are processed by single threads on a single core; likely to minimize latency. So clock speed and more threads is key, but I may be fine with an 8 core vs 10 or 12 core.

Anyway. If you have a MAC, PC or other system you purchased, and don't mind sharing the specs, it would be appreciated. I'm still figuring out what I'm going to build.

Cheers,
Brad

I also plan to build a new computer, but it is just awful how expensive at the current time. Due to COVID, there is a shortage of components production, which led to overpricing. I do not know when prices will begin to decline and whether they will start, but it seems to me that now is not the best time to buy electronics.

Featuring high-end components and a thin, sleek exterior, this ASUS model is something that is sure to take your breath away. Music producing has never felt any better than it does with this 17-inch Asus Vivobook F510ua laptop for music production and recording. The build quality is in par to many other upmarket pieces, but the price point is significantly lower than other music production computers. Some have even stated it’s the best PC for music production, and we’re definitely not disagreeing. I also use this Vivobook F510ua PC for music production and it worked efficiently for me.

Thanks Mariabella,

Asus has long made great motherboards that have been in endless PCs. They've always been of high quality and a good brand name since I've been in the IT Industry. That said, I don't think a laptop will fulfil my workstation needs, as portability is not really all that important to me in this case. The main tradeoff between desktops and laptops is price and power. You just get more out of a desktop for the same price as you do a laptop. But like anything, it depends on what your needs are and what your workflow is.

For me I believe I will just build my own, and with an Asus motherboard. Still working out the parts list, but pretty close to what I think will work best for me. =)

Appreciate the input!
Brad