i want to build a new pc! where to look?

soundsubs
questions:
1.) what is better, i7 or two quad xeons?

Personally, unless you're doing some heavy film scoring or something similar, I doubt you'll probably need anything more than the processing power of the latest i7's.  The performance jump from your dual core, will be, in short, astounding.

2.) i think i might have to finally upgrade to win7. is there any reason not to?

I don't think there's a reason not to.  I haven't had any problems.  I'm puzzled as to why you would see Win 7 be slower than Win XP SP3 on anything, but it could be if it was memory constrained.  To me, Win 7 just does seem faster.  I also think that Win 7 64-bit will be where you want to go.  You will then be removed from most of the memory constraints that Win XP has.

3.) where do you check for win7 tweaks and tips for audio?

Well, I guess you can tweak it, but I haven't really needed to do this at all. 

4.) what did you do when in this same scenario?

Built an i7, with GigaByte Motherboard, 8 Gig DDR3 Ram, Samsung HDD Drive, running Win 7 64-bit. Mine's not even Sandy Bridge, and the thing just flies.  I don't think I've ever seen it go above 15-20% CPU on my projects, but I haven't fed it anything monstrous yet. 
 

Read-Up on i7 2600 or 3930 . tell me what you want to build !

the new dual processor see here are out soon:

http://www.cpu-world.com/...el-Xeon%20E5-2620.html

few would need 16 cores 32 threads even 12 cores 24 threads is very powerfull: 3930 6 cores 12 threads  would cover most needs !

TigerDirect.com is a good place to buy parts/components. 

I bought some parts from Tiger and built one....based on the i5 chip...

But... go check out Jim Rosenbury's site   www.studiocat.com because he is a builder of custom DAW's and knows what he's doing. 

If you want to know what you are buying, check this out: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html CPU's, HD's Videocards, etc.

thanks (all) for the replies. im investigating each.

for "more power" can you have multiple i7 chips on the same mobo?

please correct me if im wrong but as it stands, two ea. of the 6 core Xeons would theoretically be the max you could squeeze in a desktop (ie non-server) chassis.
also in theory, i could buy a mobo with two slots and a single Xeon, adding another later if necessary. right?

I forgot to mention.  If you are going with two physical processor you need Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.
Serge

SoundSubs: new processors ,
http://www.cpu-world.com/...el-Xeon%20E5-2620.html

look at the new processors there 6 and 8 cores, very powerfull
as for the motherboards 2 processors, as to weather you can use 1
processor and add 1 later , you used to be able todo that , but it might be a special order board..

 and do understand  this can be built at any local shop or with a talented friend, at home..
there is no  need to special order from some Pro builder adding extra cost, for nothing !!

Arp Avatar would look nice sitting next to my old ARP 2600 !!

Hey -

FWIW

If it's an option you would consider, I also strongly suggest looking at Jim Roseberry's equipment. I'm a happy customer of his. Since he has already thought out his builds, he can save you the trouble and at what I found to be competitive pricing.

His link: http://www.studiocat.com/

Good luck however you go !

Sam

Startekh - I didn't mean any personal attack on you. I just disagree with your assessment of building a DAW yourself because parts are cheap. I have done that for many years and once I hired ADK Pro Audio, I will never build another audio/video machine again. 

Part of my disagreeing with you is that since time is our most valuable asset in life, (and is quite limited), I'm of the mindset to let professionals do their job so I can focus on what I do that makes me income. I can work on my car if it breaks down because the parts are cheaper but it costs me time - and the older I get, the more value I see in not trading time to save some money.

Peace!

I'm currently torn between building my new DAW or getting it built for me.

In the UK, for the system I want, I'm looking at parts list of about £1,400
I can get virtually the same thing built, tested and with warranties, guarantees & support for about £1,900

I'm not one to turn down £500, but for the peace of mind involved - AND avoiding the hassle of building, let alone correcting what could be costly mistakes, and the time involved, I think I'm going to opt for getting it built professionally.

DAW builds are not for everyone, although it's accessible to more users today, especially those who enjoy tinkering with hardware and have more than a basic understanding of what makes a computer tick. On the other hand, when dealing with "your primary source of income" as is the case for some, the added 25 to 30% $ that a pro DAW builder will cost you is reasonable. In fact, the after-sale service is where the extra money is put to good use by giving you access to a whole lot of experience in the audio field. That's worth its weight in gold, again for some.

So... what kind of user are you?

You can read in my signature what I have. I spec'd out the parts with quality in mind (Power supply, MB,CPU and ram being at the top of the list), the I looked at price points (at the time, the i7 950 was the best value). A few things, like the vid card, case and the power supply had rebates. I got parts from Amazon, Newegg, MicroCenter, Fry's for my current DAW.

Read up on your parts and see if anything doesn't play nice (vid cards and firewire cards can wreak havoc).

Just know your scope of what you do and give yourself computing/performance headroom. Keep in mind what your endgame is (quiet, max performance, compatibly and cost), and have fun building it.

thanks all. i have done a little research, now im back!

a friend and i were having a debate as to whats "better"--- win xp, win7 x32, or win7 x64. i am traditionally a person who goes with "biggest/best out of the box" because it has paid off in the past. i want to get my facts straight on this one. 
however, in this situation, i prefer the "100% trouble free" approach. 
mind you, with win xp (sp3) i have had almost 0 problems with my current system and i am frankly skeptical of win7. the only thing i am "missing" is more cpu power-- which quite frankly i am not missing. 
in the last week since this thread i bought 2 different laptops-- neither for sonar but both for audio--- but stick with me!
1: Lenovo netbook. upgraded to 80gb ssd, formatted with win xp, sp3. yay. 

to be used as a quick-on playback device for open mic nights. boots in about 16 seconds. worked out of the box with the mackie blackjack drivers. as a test, i close the laptop during playback, unplug the usb cable, etc, and so far, its been amazing. resumes audio whenever possible, comes out of standby resuming audio. no problems at all. 

2: dell 6420 laptop with win7 x32 bit. 

to be used with NI Traktor for dj'ing gigs i have. this is where i needed hd space and cpu power. my 3600 songs analyzed in about 40 minutes or so. after i tweaked the win7 settings, it has been pretty rock solid. however, the mackie blackjack drivers plain and simply dont work on their own-- i have to use ASIO4ALL for it to work. BOOOO!

...this whole thing made me wonder what the difference is between 32 and 64 bit... if the difference is ONLY that the OS can access > 3.xx Gb of RAM, with the added trouble of "some" plugins not working and some drivers being new-ish and not fully baked, well then i remain unconvinced as to why someone in the DAW space would go with x64. 

so what does this have to do with Sonar??? well im still in the market for a new PC, and i dont want to go with x64 bit if all i get is that i "can now access 8 gb of RAM... "
the biggest Sonar Bundle i've ever made is about 450mb. During a project, I often hit ctrl-alt-del and see how much RAM Sonar is using. It rarely goes above ~250mb. 

so now educate me. please correct my errant thinking.