[Tech Advice] Building a PC for Music Production

Get an iMac. Those are nice. Mac Pro is nice too, only if you can afford it though.

 

A processor without the K is the same processor, but its cheaper and can't be overclocked. I made this mistake when buying CPUs thinking that the K was like a factory superclocked model or something, lol. There are also slight variations with how each processor turboclocks, but its negligible in a real-world environment.

Also micro center has nice CPU-MOBO combo deals that you could take advantage of to save some money.

GPU choice Nvidia is nice. Not sure how audio editing is in regards to utilizing NVIDIA's CUDA cores but apparently its helpful for video editing which I do once in a while.

The SSD will be your most noticeable upgrade. There are rumors Samsung 840 models degrade rapidly (write speed wise) over time. Not sure if this affects all 840s or if its just getting an unlucky unit. I have an 850 evo, so no way to know for sure. Samsung's Magician program is perfect for optimizing your OS and such. Never use more than 80% of your SSD's total storage.

Also with the SSD you will need to buy a mounting bracket unless your case comes with a built in slot. (2.5" bracket) The SATA III cable should come with your mobo and obviously the power pin will come from the power supply.

Building a PC is easy, the hard part is diagnosing individual issues if they arise.

 

What type or genre of music? If all you need are vocals, you don't need much computing power at all.

 

Also wanted to know what genre u make.

 

Figure out what software you use, and check supported stuff with the software company. If you are using unsupported HW they won't support you if you have a problem.

I hate Macs with a passion, but it is easier to do music on macs.

You start seriously suckling down CPU when you have multiple inserts (eq, comoression, effects, virtual instruments) on multiple tracks. You can offload that on external hardware, but that starts getting really expensive quickly. The pro tools HD hardware option is like $10k in the most basic setup.

So unless you throw money at it you will probably at some point have issues. Then, if you are recording multiple channels simultaneously , you start looking at a control surface, and and an interface, etc.

If you are just mixing you and a guitar, your processing requirements will be a lot lighter, of course.

Really what I'd do if you haven't been doing it is figure out the software you'll use and play with it on an existing computer to make sure you are comfortable mixing on screen or whatever.

The most common basic hardware setup i see is a UA Apollo and a Mac w/ thunderbird, but that may be was out of your price range. If that is true, you will run into issues as some point of running out of processor. The key is learning to use the software well, more than anything about the computer. Someone recording by themselves at home, mic and interface would be more important that getting a "bleeding edge" super computer.

Maybe I could be more specific if you say how you are going to be using it

Check out http://www.gearslutz.com, particularly the "low end" sub forum if you aren't planning to throw money at it. They will be able to help you with getting best value and specific gear more than anybody here.

Also I wouldn't overclock. Stability in the end is probably more important than speed. Nothing sucks as much as recording a great take, only to have the machine lock up in the middle.

Also you can check out my wife's studio at http://smileyfacerecords.com.

 

You sell beats? We can trade... My current PC build for beats... Comes with I7 8 gigs of ram, 4 hard rives, Graphics card, Asus MB, ugh.... Spent too much money on this thing... Depressed now ..... Anyways, post some of your stuff and Ill post my recordings ... Curious now...

 

Also don't listen to the guys talking up MAC.... Nothing wrong with mac's but they are not superior to PC in any way for production. I've worked on both and tbh I wouldn't trade my desktop for any mac out there..... INVEST your money on equipment vs a MAC.... You can build a PC capable of handling your workload with very little money and use the rest that you would have used on a MAC to get some nice equipment......... Also Presonus makes good stuff, I used to be an MAudio guy but recently completely switched to Presonus...

 

Just a little more on what I said earlier.

When I was buying equipment, I was going to buy a bad ass dual processor motherboard and two high end processors. Then, I checked with Avid and discovered that their software categorically wouldn't support multiple processors. I would have spent $1k on the second CPU, and an additional $400 for a high end server motherboard, and at best gotten exactly the same performance as not spending. At worst, it would have been buggy because the server chipset wasn't supported.

So that is back to check with the software manufacturer. You are buying a PC to run one piece of software - the recording suite. They know better than anybody else what will work.

The other thing is Moores Law. Computer processors double every months. Whatever you buy is an antique in 2 to 3 years. You will look to upgrade every software revision, and you have to keep current, or software becomes incompatible , and clients wonder why you are using a program 10 revisions out of date. Computers loose value about 10x as fast as cars. Half of your money is gone the moment you open the box and turn it on.

So don't spend on a super high end up front, expect to upgrade every couple of years, and if you get something that matches software suggestions and it isn't enough, you know who to blame.

And again, and computer you can buy is going to have issues if you are running 40 channels, each with individual eq and compression. The only way around that is to buy a couple of 24 tracks and spend 6 months learning how to bias tape. Or you can learn to work around it. You can't buy a computer that is so powerful it will brute force through anything. That computer doesn't exist. Maybe you can buy $70k of Pro Tools HD cards and do that, but short of that...

Regarding PC vs Mac, a good example is that UA supports thunderbird on Mac but not PC. If you buy an Apollo and run on PC, it's basically neutered of half the bandwidth . There are a thousand little things vs like that. The high, high end programs are all Mac native. They were only ported to PC after. There is a big pro Mac bias among professional engineers and it shows in the gear. I hate it, but it's true. For the record, my wife uses PC, but is constantly hitting limitations. She uses PC because she didn't want to learn a whole new OS, so there are valid reasons for PC, but there are disadvantages, too.

 

To add to this, you can still overclock the non K, but it involves messing with bus speeds, it's better to go K if you did decide to overclock. One other point is on the K versions it's so easy to overclock, back in the old days it took some amount of knowledge, but basic overclocks now (not extreme ones) are easy with a K series since the multiplier is unlocked. You basically can get an extra 500+ mhz just adding 5 clock cycles (sometimes it does take a bit more/less voltage etc.)... But the chip yield from Intel is so good you don't even have to worry about messing the proc up or shortening the life. Just buy a $30 cpu heatsink/cooler and you're golden on an OC. New motherboards even do it automatically for you and yield great results (MSI/Asus etc.)

Another thing to note is that K series procs resell a lot better (like in 2-3 years) good chance only will have depreciated like $100 or less. Obviously that might not be for your needs with the audio, but just adding in case you ever planned on gaming/upgrading.

Red brings up great points on Nvidia Cuda (I'm also not sure on this for audio editing, but if possible it would be nice) and SSD. SSD's can make an old computer run like new.

Also don't listen to everyone on Mac vs PC, if you really had Mac software you wanted to run there are ways to make a regular pc run OSx (or whatever it's called). Also I have read about real musicians in the field using pc applications now. Mac is over priced in most cases, especially since they use the same hardware... Also building your own you know what parts are in it. Mac and every pc manufacturer are in it to make money will use all kinds of vendors, just unfortunately Mac can get away with it easier because they market it as such.

I'm not against Apple/ its users, but when you can build a machine with double the hardware for 1/2 the price why go Mac... I mean your system you build will be using the exact same processor as a Mac. Macs don't build anything but nice designs "look my notebook is so shiny and small"!!!

 

Did it! .... Choppin time.....

 

I just wanted to add that I have overclocked my non-K processor just fine with the aid of my motherboard

 

there are tons of forums that live and breath this stuff. even forums dedicated to specific hardware are pretty savvy with pc builds. i went from pc production(reason in reaper via rewire) to hardware(mpc) but eventually found myself still having to use pc in post production. i do this stuff out of hobby now really, even though my boy who i produce for signed to a fairly large indie east coast-based label all the way down here from houston. the producers he has been introduced to in the process make me want to give it up for good tbh...

 

Would you care to elaborate on this?

 

my buddy is currently under a label called enemy soil, fronted by underground rapper vinnie paz. vinnie paz has created his own empire as far as underground music is concerned. he gets label submissions from the best of the best hiphop producers globally. this vinnie paz guy relays beats across his label for his artists, ive had a chance to hear the stuff he gets to pick from and wow. these guys are impressive to say the least. its crazy hearing stuff from overseas, some of the best ug hiphop music(beat wise) ive heard has come from places like sweden and finland. their production, at least what gets submitted, is top notch, from sample choice to post production, its like they studied the culture than got audio engineering degrees, while mastering multiple instruments. its not even fair.. not to mention the guys they have on their label already and the freelance guys that make their rounds in that east coast scene.

tl;dr im not as good as i thought.

 

Just have a few comments on component selection.

1)Proc: like the other poster said, no need for K processor unless you plan on overclocking

2)Cooler: I would stay away from AIO close looped coolers. They don't cool any better and often sound louder than high end air coolers (unless you step up to 240-280mm radiators). It has also more points of failure than an air cooler. For $50, I would get the Thermalright True Spirit 140 BW Rev A . Amazon used to sell it, but it's OOS right now. It'll be quieter and work better than the Corsair h60.

If you don't care noise that much and is not overclocking, then I would just save the money and stick with the stock cooler.

3) RAM: The GSkill ram you picked out is currently selling for $114 on Newegg until 2/5. I would just pick the cheapest name brand RAM at the time when you're buying.

4) Storage: Is 1TB enough? Any need for redundancy? I would definitely step up to a bigger SSD since it's not that expensive any more and you wouldn't want to deal with not having enough temp space or have to run your software on a HDD. I would value space more than performance (so no need for Samsung EVO). Crucial MX100 512GB is only $200 at newegg.

5) How necessary is a graphics card? Integrated intel graphics is not good enough?

6) I like that case, but no cd drive?

 

I don't produce music but...headphones? You should consider what is import with production: sound. Spend the money and get a set of decent studio monitors (speakers). Also, you should look into Ableton Live. I was kind of under the assumption that all serious music producers use Ableton.