I just built a DAW PC from the ground up, it’s the quietest PC I ’ve ever owned by far, quieter than a Mac Pro. (I put them side by side and did a noise test in the same room)
I researched this heavily before buying.
If you have the patience to build it yourself (and it’s really not that hard at all) – you can save quite a bit of money (and use it to buy another SSD )
I run a similar sample-heavy setup to you (Hollywood Strings / Brass, Symphobia, all 8Dio/Tonehammer stuff… etc.)
Case – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163161
Brilliant case so far, great airflow, quiet fans, LOTS of room. 5 hard drive bays with 1 additional SSD bay. The hard drive bays can be converted to hold 2 SSD ’s, giving you a potential total of 11 SSD ’s.
SilentPCReview has this as the Editor’s Choice for computer cases this size.
When choosing your case, if noise is an important factor to you – then remember that the smaller the fan the harder it has to work to push air through your computer. The bigger the fan, the slower it needs to rotate, and thus…less noise.
- The Antec P150 /160/180 lines is pretty legendary for DAW computers. Lian-Li also make some nice classy stuff, and Zalman make good cases too, but I think they’re butt ugly.
Motherboard- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701
Asus P8P67 Deluxe. Solid motherboard, I’ve always stuck with Asus for motherboards. Also good are Gigabyte and MSI .
Processor – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Intel 2600K @ 3.4 Ghz. It’s proven. I’ve taxed this very heavily and it doesn’t bat any eyelid. I can run up to 30 instances of 2CAudio Aether with samples (Aether is a CPU hound for reverb) and that’s when it starts to have problems.
NOTE :
If you really want to go 6-core, then obviously get the X79 platform, it’ll give you more RAM slots as well (if you get an Asus motherboard). I would wait a year for Ivybridge-E processors though, as it will just be a more efficient version of the power-hungry uber-expensive current-generation 6-core processors.
Right now, the X79 platform does not represent value for money.
N.B. Do NOT go for Xeon processors. More cores/threads does not equal better performance so much for DAWs these days (graphics computers are a different beast altogether). You’re better off going for a balance of decent clock speed, decent RAM , and fast hard drives.
Power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
Corsair HX line is a really robust series of power units. Unless you’re running multiple graphics cards (and a monster processor) you should be fine with their 850W unit.
<RAM> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211457
I bought 2 of these kits. 16 GB might not seem like a lot if you’re running a sample-based setup, but I offset that with running SSD ’s.
It is possible to run 32GB of RAM with the older setups, but the 8GB RAM kits are EXPENSIVE . If you get SSD ’s you won’t need so much RAM for sample streaming. I struggle to reach 12 GB with a full orchestral template.
MAKE SURE YOUR RAM IS COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR MOTHERBOARD !
System HD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167050
Intel 320 is not the fastest SSD , but it is the most reliable.
Sample SSDs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443
Crucial M4 drives are the best balanced between speed and reliability. I am LOVING these – I purchased 5 of them. 8Dio’s Requiem patches load up in no time at all.
Data HDs I didn’t buy these, but I either use Hitachi Deskstar or Glyph drives.
CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
It’s an ugly brute of a cooler, but it is REALLY quiet and very good at what it does.
<GFX Card> – GTX 570 – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593
Quiet top-of-the-line card with two video outputs. I use this card because I am working on an array of videogames and am sent over test builds weekly. You don’t need something this powerful, but …this is a quiet card and I can recommend it. It only has two video outputs though. To convert 2 to 3, just get one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815106011
OK, that’s about it on component buying if you were to build it yourself.
If you don’t want to build your own PC though (these are based outside UK but will ship abroad…...
RECOMMENDED MANUFACTURER 1 :
ADK Pro Audio: http://adkproaudio.com/
I know a LOT of composers who use ADK Pro Audio. I’ve seen their computers in Christopher Young’s studio, and Ed Shearmur (just off the top of my head).
RECOMMENDED MANUFACTURER 2 :
VisionDAW: http://www.visiondaw.com
There client list says it all, but I don’t like their limited choice of component selections. I’m sure if you get on the phone with them though, they will talk you through it all and give you whatever you want.
RECOMMENDED MANUFACTURER 3 :
BoxxTech: http://boxxtech.com/products/mediaboxx/mediaboxx_Overview.asp
If they’re good enough for Hans Zimmer….... (source is a friend who works at Remote Control Productions)
There are no manufacturers in the UK that I would recommend. Inta-Audio look decent enough, but you’re overpaying. Stuff like ‘Windows tweaks’ etc… are rendered pretty pointless once you’ve got an SSD running your OS, because you won’t notice the speed differences (the whole point of having an SSD in the first place!). Windows 7 is also much better built for audio production (and content creation in general) than previous versions of Windows. So their touted ‘audio tweaks’ are all a bit of a myth, performance gains will be nominal.
My advice, build it yourself, and spend the money you save on more SSD space and/or a decent backup HD system. If you don’t, I’m sure Inta or whoever you go with will do a decent job, but meh….
Anyway, hope it’s helpful info, I’m sure others will offer their own thoughts. Good luck!
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