Want to build a new DAW Monster for use with Virtual Instruments? Need DAW advice please!

rockoman

LpMike75


I would invest in more than 6 gigs of RAM if you are using large sampling libraries.

Does 12Gig sound better to you? Do you think it's worth sacrificing other areas of the build to stay within budget? Say, go with 16MB hard drive caches instead of 32MB, 500gig hard drive sizes instead of TB, etc... in order to make buying more memory possible? 

10Ten


Get the 930 (newer/faster), WD 1TB/32mb FAEX drives (new black series), NVidia is less of a pain in the ass and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, any decent power supply. I use Sonatas for cases because they are quiet.

Thanks for the reply. I've done more research and you really don't get a ton more processing power with the 930 VS the 920. I think I might just wait for the 950 price cuts if they happen as they are rumored to. Looks like a great hard drive. Do you recommend going 32MB over 16?

tyacko


If you can afford it, I'd suggest getting a solid state hard drive for your OS drive.

Here is a good one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023

As for video, I would suggest a fanless video card as combining this and the SSD drives will allow for a much quieter recording experience when recording mics.  However, I have to admit that the case you've chosen is probably not the best with regards to recording quietly.

For the power supply, I'd again look at getting enough wattage (probably 650w or greater).  But, I'd also look at how loud they are.  You can create a "monster" PC, but the problem is that it can also sound like a jet engine when you turn it on if you aren't careful with your purchase.

Hope this helps,
Tom

Thanks for the reply! Man, those SSD's look incredible!! I just can't justify the price vs space right now. Maybe in the future; I'm going to wait till their prices drop. I'd like to put most of the budget into core components that will be more than enough for right now.  Fanless it is! Any recommendation on the amount of video card onboard memory needed for a DAW? Do you agree that Nvidia are less "problematic"?


Thanks for the replies everyone! Keep them coming!

tyacko


Per Video Cards, I've used Nvidia as well as others with my Sonar DAWs and didn't run into issues that others are experiencing.  IMHO it probably depends on the hardware components that are chosen, how the OS picks the IRQ channels, as well as what PCI/PCIe slots you use that really cause a lot of conflicts, and lastly how good the video driver works with other applications as well.

As for more RAM or not, I'd also say that you can freeze synth tracks if you hit the RAM limit of your PC.  I've only gone over 4gigs with my projects once because I was building a symphonic part with individual instruments.

If it were me buying the PC, I'd try to get a very good motherboard (with the ability to future upgrade the CPU) that has sufficient PCI/PCIe, and USB 3.0 slots that will allow you to expand going forward.  Get a good CPU (which I think you've chosen) to run with for a few years, get enough RAM to be productive, a silent 1G Video card, and use the rest of the money on hard drives (and an external backup hard drive) for your projects.

I'd definitely ask other Saffire users what motherboard/CPU they picked and if they like it because bad driver conflicts there could ruin the experience.

Hope this helps,
Tom

Thank you Tom for the detailed, helpful reply. I feel more confident especially with my motherboard.  Curious. Did you use the included/downloaded video driver or did you use "windows generic"?