I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise?

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Merwyn
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2016/06/29 19:25:43 (permalink)

I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise?

Hello All
 
Long story short...I need to get a new audio PC. I'm going to buy from PCSpecialist.co.uk but before I do I am putting out a request to all you lovely sonar people to advise me.
 
1. What PC components do you recommend?
 
Of particular importance is the PSU...I need a branded, first-class unit. I'll be running at least two HDD as well as the OS drive.
 
2. If I buy a PC with windows 10, (was previously using windows 7 pro 64-bit) do the following programs / Instruments work?
 
- Sonar Platinum and all bundled instruments, FX etc.
- Garritan: GPO5 / World Instruments / Aria Player
- Kontakt 5
- Kontakt Factory Pack
- Cinematic Strings
- All Realitone Instruments
- MusicLab's Realguitar
- Addictive Keys
- Addictive Drums
- East West Symphonic Orchestra Silver
- Best Service Shevannai
- Best Service Medieval Era Legends II
- Engine 2
- Complete Orchestral Collection
- Embertone's Violin, Viola, Cello & Double Bass
- 8Dio's Misfits
- Isotope Ozone 5
- Action Strings
- Spitfire's Albion
- Sony Movie Studio Platinum 13
- Ableton Live 9 with launchpad pro
 
I realize this list is long but would really appreciate any pointers to compatibility problems I may have. I've had 16 months of hell with my previous PC and have barely touched a lot of this software. I intend giving Sonar my full attention once I'm up and running again.
 
Many thanks!

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU: Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS® Z170-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
GRAPHICS: 4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 380X
RAM: 32GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz
STORAGE:
Disk 1 = 500GB Samsung 750 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Disk 2 = 2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
PROCESSOR COOLINGNoctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
AUDIO INTERFACE: Steinberg UR22
 
#1

9 Replies Related Threads

    tomixornot
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/06/30 01:31:23 (permalink)
    Is the system mainly for DAW use, where basic graphic card or built in display will do. Or with gaming / video editing in mind that requires higher end graphic card ? This will basically decides how much power the PSU needs.
     
    How about using SSDs instead of HDDs ? Check out the test below - SSD offers a huge performance boost compared to HDD. You can use a larger capacity / lower rpm HDD for internal or external backup.
     
    http://forum.cakewalk.com/Test-i7-2600K-vs-i7-6700K-HDD-none-Raid-vs-SSD-Raid-0-m3439971.aspx
     
    Regarding Windows 10, running your existing plugs should be no problem if it's running well in Windows 7 - but do check the authorization process as you're required to do so for a clean install.
     
    Alternatively, you may use a disk transfer utility to transfer your Windows 7 data to the new HDD or SSD and then upgrade Windows 10 on top of the existing Windows 7. 
     
    (edit : transferring OS across different PC probably won't work.. my mistake suggesting - there may be some work around that I've read somewhere.. but requires lots of tweaking - but this is regarding plugs authorization that you still have to do since it's a different motherboard, etc)  
     
    http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3429879
     
     
    post edited by tomixornot - 2016/06/30 03:23:46

    Albert


    i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz / MB Intel DP67BG / 16GB Ram
    - ADATA 250GB SSD (Boot)
    - Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD (Samples)
    Audio interface : Motu 828 MK ii
     
    i7 6700K @ 4.00GHz / MB Asrock Z170 / 16GB Ram
    - Samsung EVO 850 120GB / 500 GB SSD

    Audio interface : Roland Quad Capture
     
    Win 10 Pro / Sonar Platinum
    #2
    tzzsmk
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/06/30 07:09:53 (permalink)
    what's your budget?
    for reference, this is what I have and why:
    Intel Core i7-5820K - overclocked to 4.3/4.4GHz, cheapest professional tier cpu, better thermal interface and bigger size means better cooling, cpu socket has screws and not some crappy holes, 6 cores 12 threads for very reasonable price, supports 28 PCI lanes (all cheaper cpus only up to 16 PCI lanes),
    Noctua NH-U14S - cpu cooler big enough to cool well even passively, and at loads the huge 14cm fan kicks in while not being excessively loud, by default it spins at around 250rpm on my machine
    ASUS X99-S - cheapest X99 chipest 2011-v3 socket mobo with wise PCI layout, decent overclocking power phase design, ability to control speeds of fans by dynamic voltage adjustments directly on motherboard fan headers (so you don't need PWM fans)
    4x8GB Kingston HyperX Fury 2666MHz DDR4 - since X99 platform supports quad channel memory, and prices are not so high, there is no reason to go for anything less, plus I can still plug another 32GB to have 64GB in total, which is really neat especially for large projects where lots of RAM gets handy, Kingston ram sticks never disappointed me
    RME HDSPe AIO - fairly basic yet professional tier PCIexpress audio interface, aside from stereo balanced XLR I/O it offers also phones output, AES/EBU digital stereo I/O, MIDI, optical ADAT 8in/8out, but what I really love is RME perfect drivers and ASIO Hammerfall DSP, TotalMixFX with its limitless routing capabilities and loopbacks, plus zero latency monitoring of course
    EVGA Supernova G2 750W - 80+GOLD efficiency, great performance and reliability, fully modular power supply, plenty of long-enough cables for great management inside the case
    Samsung 850 EVO 500GB - SSD is a must for operating system and software these days, it's not just about speed of read/writes, but most importantly seek times and total amount of operations it can do within a second, honestly SSDs are very similar at similar price points, 500GB models are probably best for price/performance ratio
    Seagate 7200.14 2TB - I have 2 of them, 2TB capacity is biggest you can format as MBR, which means less problems, 7200rpm offer decent performance, Seagate and WesternDigital products are of similar reliability, so it's just a matter of taste, actually brother has 2TB WD Blue which is practically same, and interestingly one of my Seagates has 2 platters and second has 3 platters although supposedly being exact same models being sold under same product number, performing indeed practically same
    EVGA GTX980Ti Classified - overclocked to 1450MHz, since I do also video rendering and other graphics-intensive tasks, I really needed dedicated graphics card, 980Ti is a beast, EVGA is probably best nVidia manufacturer, Classified model is particularly interesting because of serious power phase design, and great cooling performance thanks to well-thought heatsink and two 10cm fans (which don't spin at all unless card temps go above 60°C and so it doesn't generate any noise at all!)
    Fractal Design Define R5 - version without side window of course, this case looks stealthy, no teenage-gamer-bullsh!t; well-thought cooling and silence (sound dampening on side panels and sleek custom designed front doors panel) were clearly primary goals when designing the case, as a result case is fairly heavy yet totally sturdy enough, comes with preinstalled 14cm fan in front and 14cm fan in back, I put another 14cm fan in front, dust filters on all fan intakes are included of course
     
    now for the matter of operating system, sadly I definitely cannot recommend Windows 10, can't understand why everyone is so happy with it, so far it appears unfinished, unpolished, tacky at current stage - I am not saying I hate it, I just feel it's far from being ready to replace my Windows 7 Pro as primary operating system - we'll see what the so-praised "Anniversary Upgrade" brings on the table :)
    post edited by tzzsmk - 2016/06/30 07:31:01

    Core i7-5820K, ASUS X99-S, Kingston 32GB DDR4, EVGA GTX980Ti Classified, Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
    RME HDSPe AIO, RME Fireface 802, RME Octamic D, Seaboard RISE49, Presonus Eris E8, AKG K240 MKII, DELL U2713HM
    #3
    Merwyn
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/06/30 13:22:49 (permalink)
    Hello tzzmk

    My budget is approx. £1,200.

    Thank you so much for such a detailed reply, your system sounds wonderful. There is much to think about there, I really appreciate your input.

    OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
    CPU: Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
    MOTHERBOARD: ASUS® Z170-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
    GRAPHICS: 4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 380X
    RAM: 32GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz
    STORAGE:
    Disk 1 = 500GB Samsung 750 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
    Disk 2 = 2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
    PROCESSOR COOLINGNoctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
    AUDIO INTERFACE: Steinberg UR22
     
    #4
    Merwyn
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/06/30 13:31:28 (permalink)
    Hello Tomix

    Many thanks for your helpful reply.

    I will be using PC mainly for daw but need good graphics as I do a lot of music to picture and video editing. Yes agreed, definitely SSD. Thanks for the link I shall take a look.

    My work PC runs Windows 10 successfully...one small blip after an update and easily sorted. I don't know how this would translate to an audio production PC. Unfortunately I did not receive a copy of Windows 7 pro when I upgraded last year, but I do have product key. I will see if I can source a copy so I have it to fall back to.

    OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
    CPU: Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
    MOTHERBOARD: ASUS® Z170-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
    GRAPHICS: 4GB AMD RADEON™ R9 380X
    RAM: 32GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz
    STORAGE:
    Disk 1 = 500GB Samsung 750 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
    Disk 2 = 2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
    PROCESSOR COOLINGNoctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
    AUDIO INTERFACE: Steinberg UR22
     
    #5
    dwardzala
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/06/30 16:59:07 (permalink)
    I would strongly recommend against overclocking your CPU.  First, Sonar doesn't tax an i7 enough to warrant overclocking.  Second you will be generating excess heat which will cause your cooling fans to run more or faster, generating noise.
     
    For the same reason, I would also recommend against overclocking your video card.
     
    You can also upgrade your SSDs to EVO 950s and see an significant increase in performance.

    Dave
    Main Studio- Core i5 @2.67GHz, 16Gb Ram, (2) 500Gb HDs, (1) 360 Gb HD
    MotU Ultralite AVB, Axiom 49 Midi Controller, Akai MPD18 Midi Controller
    Win10 x64 Home
    Sonar 2017.06 Platinum (and X3e, X2c, X1d)
     
    Mobile Studio - Sager NP8677 (i7-6700HQ @2.67MHz, 16G Ram, 250G SSD, 1T HD)
    M-Box Mini v. 2
    Win 10 x64 Home
    Sonar 2016.10 Platinum
     
    Check out my original music:
    https://soundcloud.com/d-wardzala/sets/d-wardzala-original-music
     
     
    #6
    Jim Roseberry
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/07/01 09:27:49 (permalink)
    dwardzala
    You can also upgrade your SSDs to EVO 950s and see an significant increase in performance.



    FWIW, Motherboard's typically only have one M.2 Ultra slot.
    Use it wisely...  (512GB 950 sustains 2500MB/Sec - massive polyphony for disk-streaming sample libraries)
    Many motherboards have a 2nd (standard) M.2 slot.  A standard M.2 SSD will yield the same speed as SATA models.
     
    Need a second x4 SSD?
    You can add a PCIe card that's an x4 SSD.
    ie: Intel 750 series sustains 2500MB/Sec.
     
    If you want to combine multiple higher bandwidth PCIe peripherals (x16 and x4) in a "loaded" machine, make sure to read the details.

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #7
    jamesg1213
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/07/03 07:27:27 (permalink)
    Merwyn
     
    I'm going to buy from PCSpecialist.co.uk
     
     




     
    I hope your experience with them is as good as mine was. Bought my new DAW from them last November, communication, service, packaging, delivery and after-sales was superb.

     
    Jyemz
     
     
     



    Thrombold's Patented Brisk Weather Pantaloonettes with Inclementometer
    #8
    brabtle38
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/07/03 10:56:21 (permalink)
    On pcspecialist I saw a lot of models you like
    #9
    tzzsmk
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    Re: I need a new audio PC with windows 10...can you advise? 2016/07/04 12:18:21 (permalink)
    "My budget is approx. £1,200."
    for that price you should aim for Core i7-6700 based build, I checked PCspecialist and shouldn't be a problem to choose proper parts navigating "configure desktop" -> "intel based" -> "top spec core"

    Core i7-5820K, ASUS X99-S, Kingston 32GB DDR4, EVGA GTX980Ti Classified, Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
    RME HDSPe AIO, RME Fireface 802, RME Octamic D, Seaboard RISE49, Presonus Eris E8, AKG K240 MKII, DELL U2713HM
    #10
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