My audio production build - critique!

Docaroo

Docaroo

Docaroo

Soldato
Joined
27 Jun 2005
Posts
2,863
Location
Aberdeen, Scotland
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £141.99

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
£99.99

Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive
£96.34

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black
£37.99

To this, I'll add a Gigabyte Sandybridge mobo when they are out next Sunday. I have a PSU, monitor, etc!

Hows that look chaps? :)
 
Did think about going for an AMD Phenom II Hexcore but I don't think audio software wont take advantage of all 6 cores? So the i5 seems a good alternative if I overclock it? :)

should also say, will need a CPU cooler to add to that list!
 
An i5 760 is a socket 1156 CPU and will not be compatible with a sandy bridge 1155 motherboard. Wait for the sandy bridge CPUs and get an i5 2500k and then overclock :)

Cheaper alternative : AM3 motherboard + 1055/1090T 6 core.
 
Correct, but only the mainstream ones (i3 replacements etc).
I would be looking at i7 + soundcard tbh
 
soundcard isn't required - i have an outboard recording interface with it's own ASIO drivers... ;)

i7 would be nice, but worth the extra money when you can overclock the i5 nicely??
 
I'd go lower spec myself, 4gb would be enough unless you like every VST plug in the world loaded at one.

i3 will run cooler so you can use a quieter cooler, a quiet computer is a must for audio work.

SSD is a good choice though, very quiet, fast, you may need more storage if you're using lots of samples...
 
4gb would be enough tbh, depends what kind of audio stuff your doing tho :)

defo get as quiet as you can, ive had to put mine in a cupboard cos it was too noisy!
 
Thanks for the input chaps!

I have another room for recording that is seperate from the tracking room (where the computer is) so computer noise isn't a big issue for me at the moment, but I will keep in that in mind (maybe have a "silent running" mode haha).

In terms of memory, I have a 2Gb machine right now and it's not even close to enough. I often load large samples into memory (think drum samples and EastWest Symphonic Orchestra) so I'm gonna load up on memory - once you start adding resonace reverb plugins it gets pretty hungry :)

I'll probably add a 1TB hard drive to this as well later (I have 2x 250 Gb drives at the moment) - and it's soo cheap right now it's a no brainer really.
 
The argument in favour of X58 i7 chips for your build is the triple channel ram. Everything goes in multiples of sixes rather than fours, so 12gb of ram is readily available and you can have 24gb if you wish. If 8gb (or 16gb) is enough then cool; dual channel (which sandy bridge is) will be excellent.

I'm not sure you'll see a benefit from the ssd, it probably depends on how often several gb of data are loaded into ram. I saw so little benefit from a ssd on my workstation that I've put it into a netbook instead, but that was mathematics rather than audio.
 
I think having OS, Cubase and my big sample packages on the SSD will be really useful and should save a bit of time on sample load!

And MeatLoaf I have an outboard audio interface device so no need for X-Fi banter :) There are dedicated harware options for recording (with Mic pre-amps built in) e.g. M-Audio and Presonu (I have a firewire Presonus box) :)
 
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