stxx
"Store bought" configurable machines can be awesome and if you make the right choices and you can save a lot of money too!

shmuelyosef
I, too, have been building my own since the 70s (my first was an Altair 8800 running Microsoft Basic!!) and have actually never bought a 'turnkey' desktop system. In the early 80s some of us at Hewlett-Packard got a version of a MIDI sequencer and Sysex backup going on a few of these. I have had experience with laptops and music and there are a couple of things that are not tweaks, but rather completely mainstream that are important:
1. Don't ever expect good performance with the system load from the vendor with all the advertising, teaser applications, etc. Do a fresh system load from an OEM loader disc...you can use the same Microsoft registration code, if you load up the same system...I have always used the Professional version systems, as there are always a few important capabilities available...mostly around networking/shares
2. Load only what you must....don't put Microsoft Office or Adobe products on the system, as they are ugly culprits. 
3. Disable all auto-updates, but make yourself a schedule of updating. 
4. Learn about page files, and set up yours as static (i.e. not resizeable) using 30-40% of your RAM. 
5. If you are going to use a browser, use Chrome...it is the most secure, and least evil. 
6. For me, audible noise is important, so I have, for the last decade or more, used high-tech internal cooling (i.e. heatpipes or monster heat spreaders with low-speed, variable speed fans of large diameter...these are the quietest and coolest. My Shuttle system puts a lot of stuff in a very small box, but it is silent with some of the lowest disk/CPU temperatures that I have managed to see. 
7. Get familiar with Mike Lin's startup management tools and use them slavishly to get clean system starts. http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml
8. Don't use encryption (you would be surprised how many people don't pay attention to this)
9. Don't make your expectation of building your own to be mainly about saving money...make it about getting the absolute best system you can while gaining the knowledge of why it is the way it is...
 
The list could go on....but these are some of the obvious ones

joden

Anderton

joden
A solid well spec'd off the shelf unit with later versions of Windows (7, 8.1 or 10) and you are pretty good to go.

Well I'd certainly agree a computer like that can be good to go, but it's not necessarily going to be acoustically treated, have a graphics card that doesn't use a fan, include an overrated power supply so you can run all those UA boards, incorporate enough RAM to stream all your Kontakt instruments from memory, etc. Granted, if you're savvy you can probably make those changes yourself, but sometimes it's a lot easier just to pay the extra bucks to get what you need as soon as you flip the power switch to "on." Think about it for a sec...Apple has pretty much built its business on "pay us more, and we'll take care of you." It's the same with custom integrators and Windows.

hahaha I don't disagree Craig - just saying I think it is all just a tad overblown! Personally I run my system with the "box" in another room...It's a drywall with a hole cut so that cabling goes through the wall to the box. All that is in the studio is monitor and keyboard/mouse. The distance between box and me is only about three feet, but the noise floor is practically zero. 
 
In regard to specs, well you do write it so that it sounds pretty heavy, but any decent off the shelf (OTS) unit with 8-16gig of ram and an i7 2500+ processor will handle that, and these days those systems are more or less pretty standard and not bespoke -  and further, decent OTS units also have "decent" power supplies and a non-fan GPU can be installed easily. If you want to spend $'s using these guys (or similar) then have at it, all I am saying is it is really not necessary. 
 
As a footnote, I have read tales of people getting PC's from companies such as this and STILL having a hell of a time with them, things not working, crashing constantly etc etc...all good m8, still love your work, just a friendly disagreement on this one

Anderton

joden

Anderton
............................I'll find out what's changed since Vista-64 was in vogue (which is when I got my computer, and it just keeps on going and going...).

  Vista 64? So I see you like to keep up with current trends then?! hahaha!

Well, the OS is Windows 7, which I guess isn't much better...I really need to update to 10. But the computer is from that era, and still kicks butt, so...I keep using it.

joden

brianobedia

joden

Anderton

joden
A solid well spec'd off the shelf unit with later versions of Windows (7, 8.1 or 10) and you are pretty good to go.

Well I'd certainly agree a computer like that can be good to go, but it's not necessarily going to be acoustically treated, have a graphics card that doesn't use a fan, include an overrated power supply so you can run all those UA boards, incorporate enough RAM to stream all your Kontakt instruments from memory, etc. Granted, if you're savvy you can probably make those changes yourself, but sometimes it's a lot easier just to pay the extra bucks to get what you need as soon as you flip the power switch to "on." Think about it for a sec...Apple has pretty much built its business on "pay us more, and we'll take care of you." It's the same with custom integrators and Windows.

hahaha I don't disagree Craig - just saying I think it is all just a tad overblown! Personally I run my system with the "box" in another room...It's a drywall with a hole cut so that cabling goes through the wall to the box. All that is in the studio is monitor and keyboard/mouse. The distance between box and me is only about three feet, but the noise floor is practically zero. 
 
In regard to specs, well you do write it so that it sounds pretty heavy, but any decent off the shelf (OTS) unit with 8-16gig of ram and an i7 2500+ processor will handle that, and these days those systems are more or less pretty standard and not bespoke -  and further, decent OTS units also have "decent" power supplies and a non-fan GPU can be installed easily. If you want to spend $'s using these guys (or similar) then have at it, all I am saying is it is really not necessary. 
 
As a footnote, I have read tales of people getting PC's from companies such as this and STILL having a hell of a time with them, things not working, crashing constantly etc etc...all good m8, still love your work, just a friendly disagreement on this one

Firstly, off the shelf systems are ok,  but I guarantee we do it better.  Also, try calling Dell for Sonar support.  Please, try it.  Tell me your experience ;) Then, call my team -- and watch the difference.  
 
AS for "tales" -- we work to make every single customer happy, and it shows in our testimonials (thanks Craig!), and the customers we work with -- thousands of them. 
 
Self built is ok, but have you tested hundreds of components for hundreds of hours? Can you tell me what motherboard/RAM combo will have the lowest DPC latency numbers?  Can you tell me the highest track count you can get at 192k utilizing different audio interfaces, and different system configs?  That's what we do. That's why we're good at what we do.  That's why people  choose to work with us. 
 
If you can build your own, great -- but I've had plenty of customers call me for information on what we do, work to mimic it, then call me two months later, with a non-working system, or being unable to get what they need out of their system, out money, time, and work.  Want to get it done fast, and right the first time? Cool, call my team. Don't care to? That's fine. We work with plenty of great people who enjoy what we do. 
 
Thanks! 
 

Hey guy, no need to take it personally...it's all good

brianobedia

Anderton
I know Brian, he doesn't take it personally - guaranteed. He's just had to dodge too many Mac people telling him PCs are no good for music, and PC owners who say SONAR sucks because it has zillions of dropouts and can run only 3 tracks of audio   And yes, they really do work their butt off. When I bought my machine they asked what programs I ran, and installed and tested every one on the machine to make sure they would work together. They they deleted all traces of the programs so when I installed, there wouldn't be anything left festering in the registry. Companies like PC Audio Labs, Studio Cat, ADK, etc. aren't just companies...they're on a mission to save the world from bad Windows experiences. Most people aren't as technically savvy as many of the people on these forums...you know who they are, they're the ones who say "Yeah, I'm getting 100 tracks and it never crashes." 
 
It's a good thing Brian doesn't hang out much here, I think some of the people claiming SONAR crashes all the time would drive him up the wall. I can just see him yelling to the walls in a Sam Kinison voice -- "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!!! NO, YOU CAN'T USE INTERNAL SOUND CARDS FOR AUDIO!!!! JUST BECAUSE MICROSOFT SAYS "2 GB OF RAM" SYSTEM REQUIREMENT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO ANY USEFUL WORK WITH THE COMPUTER!!! NO IT'S NOT A GAMING MACHINE, IT'S A MULTITRACK RECORDER!!!!!!!"

This is EXACTLY how I've had to be on Gearslutz :P 

mgh
on the other hand, my £400 Ebay PC is still going fine after 4 years...i did make sure of some of the components (i5-750, fanless 1gb graphics card, Win 7 x64), but the hardware is essentially cheap (MSI mobo, no-name PSU etc). use onboard FW with an Echo Audiofire AI.
i don't do mega-intensive work, but 20 audio tracks, 5 softsynths, 50 FX+ on most projects, no sweat. and it's also an Internet PC, does video-editing, office work....
 
so you can make music on cheaper gear!