CakeAlexS
Now considering my Dell XPS 8100 has rarely been pushed above 60% of its total resources I would question if such as system is really necessary unless you 200 plugins and 128 tracks on the go

Well, there are other reasons, too. Here is an example of a single Reaktor ensemble that I built in 2010 and I still can't run it fully in my PC.
It has 10 stages of acoustic dispersion with individual controls on 10 bands for each stage.
I can get up to 9 stages before my PC tops out.
 
I routinely use large chains of exotic stuff like this to make my weird stuff and I could easily use double the horsepower, if it were possible.
 

 
I made a package of effects a few years back for Ableton Live called "Overload!" because that's what it did to people's machines. 
 

You still seem to have an ASUS machine driving all this....

So in the unlikely event your machine does not have the horse power, and that a custom build manufacturer supplies faster CPU configurations than and "off the shelf" sure go with him in these rare scenarios... :) I'm sure a 5% improvement in CPU may make all the difference... and so will your wallet! Or (as is my point) wait another year and get the same thing as it will be a lot cheaper.
 
Admit it, people buy custom PC's because they think it's cool not because they have a real need.... The fact some of these PC's look like a work of art pretty much subscribes to the point of view that some people like the idea of driving a Ferrari even though there is a speed limit on their highway.
 

CakeAlexS
You still seem to have an ASUS machine driving all this....

So in the unlikely event your machine does not have the horse power, and that a custom build manufacturer supplies faster CPU configurations than and "off the shelf" sure go with him in these rare scenarios... :) I'm sure a 5% improvement in CPU may make all the difference... and so will your wallet! Or (as is my point) wait another year and get the same thing as it will be a lot cheaper.
 
Admit it, people buy custom PC's because they think it's cool not because they have a real need.... The fact some of these PC's look like a work of art pretty much subscribes to the point of view that some people like the idea of driving a Ferrari even though there is a speed limit on their highway.
 

I never bought a custom PC, I built this myself. I picked all the parts after careful consideration - no one told me what to buy. And I didn't do it because it looked 'cool'. I did it because my older PC wasn't powerful enough to do the things I wanted to do. I don't play computer games on it, I experiment with sound.
 
http://www.arachnaut.net/images/Building-Morbius.png
 

 

I can't resist this. We used to have to build our own gear. Who could afford to buy a Moog or Buchla? So in 1979 I started building a PAIA 8700c computer-controlled, 3-voice analog synth. It had a 6502-style microprocessor, touch pad hex programming, programmable drum kit, Pink Tunes fractal music generator. A wonderful piece of gear.
 
It took about a year to build. Prior to that I built lots of Heathkit gear that you can see in the background. Obscured by the lamp is a Heathkit dual-trace oscilloscope.
 
This was before MIDI, before Apple, before CDs, before the dawn of modern civilization.
 
If anyone want to hear some of my music made on that, here is one I made in 1982, called "Meteor":
 
http://www.arachnaut.net/audio/Meteor.mp3
 

 
 

The Apples I've seen open were well made, and the ones I've been around used decent hardware. You can definitely buy better for less by assembling for less.

Yeah I used to build my own PC's for DAWs as well. Thought it might be cheaper and better (it wasn't). I realised they're all the same you just gotta look carefully for what you want....

CakeAlexS
> When you build your own machine at least you know what is in it.
 
Yup and then you may become pig in the middle if something goes wrong.
I've had it before when I've built my own system (I've done that two or three times, and I've built hundreds for others) whereby there would be an incompatibility issue with the motherboard and graphics card. Even after firmware updates etc the motherboard manufacturer would blame the graphics card manufacturer, and vice versa... Effectively I am pig in the middle.
 

I know where you are coming from. Over the years I built 30 or so systems and worked on computers too. I remember researching chip sets and components to find parts that were compatible and that would not cause any hardware conflicts. I have been the pig in the middle or effectively the the one stuck on two builds that had faulty parts. One was due to a chip set and faulty bios code. There was no new bios code to flash to fix the problem. I had to wait a until the manufacturer put out a bios update to get the computer to play nice with the other hardware. This was many years ago
 
I thought I would retire from building these things and I sold off a ton of spare computer parts and accessories. I thought I would leave it up to the pros to build my next machine. At least I would know that the hardware was compatible right?
 
Maybe I am expecting to much. I was expecting Dell to build a machine to my standards. The way I would build a computer, and one that would last. I did not expect hardware conflicts and issues with factory assembled products. I would say 3 strikes and they are out. Now I will go back to building my own computer or contacting a builder like Jim to do it.

arachnaut
 
If anyone want to hear some of my music made on that, here is one I made in 1982, called "Meteor":
  

They could have used that on the film "Forbidden Planet"!
 
I also built many Heathkits, including the scope you have. My first was a Power Amp using real fire bottles! (Vacuum tubes).
 
Walt
 


 

> They could have used that on the film "Forbidden Planet"!
And this is the PC that was built 30 years later...
 

CakeAlexS
> I have had three dells and they have been nothing but trouble for me.
 
I've bought three Dells myself. Also as an IT manager in the past I've also managed about 300 workstations.
They were pretty darn reliable, I think we may have had 3 hard drive failures (all within a few weeks of buying, clearly a batch issue) over two years and a couple of monitor issues.
 
Just my angle, and if you have a warranty (my machine is on 4 years I think) they just swap out the hardware for you (saves you searching around for parts).

I have had DELLs that were great, My wife has three at her office and we have a Demension 8300 with XP that just keeps on running. That line of laptops from a few years ago, with the integrated motherboards were real crap. I still have an old laptop from before those POS lappys that runs XP. It fires up whenever I want to use it but it maxed out at 2G of RAM... but it always works. It has a slot in the side some card that I used to connect to the net,can't remember the name of the slot or the card but they have made some good machines. I will NEVER EVER buy another computer with an integrated motherboard/video card or any other component than may need replacing integrated into the motherboard, what a bad idea. I think the ones that were a problem were XPS M something or another. The one that just keeps going (I did replace the lid and screen because a hinge broke) is a Inspiron 5100. Solid computer just not enough computer for today, but for surfing or simple games it works.
Actually I have been very happy with this HP Pavilion dm4 I am typing this on. I have to be careful about the letter "o" but other than that, it gives me no trouble and runs Sonar X between 90 and 100ms latency with the right configuration. Turn off WIFI and I get no spikes... no it isn't going to replace a desktop DAW but for hat it is... I like it. I just ned to learn to make an image of my drives... I woud feel SO much better then.
 
J