New PC advice needed!

[lastresortuk]

Hi all,

I am about to order one of two different systems and I'm just wondering which of the two you would recommend for purely audio purposes. Please keep in mind that I already have a monitor/mouse/keyboard etc, Windows 7 64bit license, Steinberg CI2 audio interface, 1x 2TB hard drive, 1x 500GB hard drive, 1x 320GB external drive and 2x DVD writers so will be putting those straight in. Any input would be great as I'm a little torn as to whether the £115 extra is worth it or not!

System 1 -

System Specification
- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case
- Power Supply: OCZ 600w StealthXStream II
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz Processor
- Motherboard: nForce 630a (AM3) Motherboard
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drives: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 6GB/s SATA-II 16MB Cache
- Graphics Card: On board
- Sound: 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
- Cooling: x2 White LED 120mm Fans

from overclockers.co.uk £405 (£389 + £15 delivery)

System 2 -

- Case: Random case
- Power Supply: 600w Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1075T (3.00GHz/9MB Cache) - Black Edition
- Motherboard: - Asus M4a78LT-M Motherboard
- RAM: 16GB Samsung DDR3 1333MHz (4x4GB)
- Hard Drives: 500GB 3GB/s SATA-II 8MB Cache
- Graphics Card: 512MB NVidia GEFORCE 210
- Sound: On board
- Optical drive: - None
- Cooling - 1x 120mm Case Fan (as above with PSU) + Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe CPU Cooler

from pcspecialist.co.uk £520 (free delivery)

Thanks ever so much!

G

[VirtualMark]

Well for a start, i would go for an Intel system as the new Sandy Bridge chips are by far the fastest out. They also have built in graphics which'll be fine as you don't need a lot of graphics power in an audio pc. They also overclock to 4.5ghz+ really easily!

Secondly, the 6 core system isn't really necessary. For audio its more important to have faster clock speed than multiple cores.

Have you thought about building your own system? Its not difficult, and sites like scan.co.uk and overclockers are usually very helpful about what parts go with what. Case, power supply, ram, motherboard and cpu.

Also bear in mind that a 32 bit app can only ever use 2gb of ram, so whatever daw you're using, if its not 64 bit then theres no need for 16gb ram. Just some things to think about. For the sort of money you're looking at i'd recommend getting a core i5 system. And if you want to spend more then i7 is the way to go.

[gen_]

If you don't want the stability issues that come with OCing ( not saying that OCing isn't stable, but some audio drivers, particularly ASIO have fits in my experience) stick with your setup, but get a cheap GPU with its own memory. Onboards more often than not share memory with the OS (using RAM for graphics) and this can vastly slow down your RAM speed as the OS waits for the GPU to access memory.

[dubmatters]

I would normally stick with intel, however that Phenom II X6 1075T looks quite good value.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

[BevOh]

If you are looking for value, you cant go past the i5 2500k. I have always been an AMD guy but you just cant deny the 2500k. Put one in my new system, been using it for 2 months now and im very pleased with it. 8GB+ ram would be advisable. It's wierd because i can consider 8gb necessary these days for things such as graphic design, producing and gaming but with that said i think anything past that amount is kinda overkill. Dont splash out on a graphics card if your not gonna use it.

[AxeD]

How can 8gigs of RAM be necessary for gaming? Or did I miss something.

Whoa just saw one of those systems has 16gigs you'll need an octocore 3.0 to get something out of that right

[gen_]

8GB of RAM is useless for both DAW's and gaming. There are probably 5 PC VSTs you own that have 64bit variants and the bit bridge to all your 32bit plugs will eat far more CPU cycles that you gain from 64bit. Plus no windows app can take more than 2-3GB memory space and most (like Ableton 8, FL7) conk out at 1.5. If you want 64bit and huge amounts of memory, get a Mac , but only if you have deep pockets.

[mks]

My last three machines have been AMD's and I cannot complain about them at all. You will probably get more power for cheaper going that route. In fact my current desktop is similar to the cpu of package one, a Phenom II Quadcore. No complaints about it, although no doubt the i5's are good too. Probably a lot more though. AMD's have always designed their CPU's for multi-media applications in mind.

[VirtualMark]

Amd used to be better than Intel, that all changed a few years back when intel released the core 2 duo, which practically stomped the shit out of amd's entire line up. Since then amd have been playing catch up in the performance area. True tho, for some of the lower budget systems(and lower performance) amd can be better value.

Remember that with an i3, i5 or i7 you don't need to buy a graphics card as the gpu is now integrated on the cpu. And the integrated graphics have got a lot better over the years, absolutely fine for light gaming and audio use. No good for serious gaming tho, but thats not what this is about.

And as for overclocking, these chips are rock solid. People are hitting nearly 5ghz on air! They're based on the 32nm manufacturing process, which is a generation ahead of amd. 32nm vs 45nm means that they run cooler and use less power, but are faster!

[VirtualMark]

I would normally stick with intel, however that Phenom II X6 1075T looks quite good value.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Remember in that benchmark, the amd 6 core is being beaten by 30 odd intel 4 cores!

[BevOh]

How can 8gigs of RAM be necessary for gaming? Or did I miss something.

Whoa just saw one of those systems has 16gigs you'll need an octocore 3.0 to get something out of that right

Did i not mention that i play crysis 2, black ops, a guild raid in wow, beat off to 1080p porn and produce tunes on FL simultaneously?

I guess i must have forgotten.

Nah its just that sometimes il find myself with FL open with a cuntload of vst's, might have reason open or ableton aswell + 10-20 tabs in web browser. Possibly youtube videos. Maybe itunes + IM. I dno I just prefer to have 8gb to be safe and make sure things are always quick, but as i said i wouldnt go any higher than that.

[BevOh]

8GB of RAM is useless for both DAW's and gaming. There are probably 5 PC VSTs you own that have 64bit variants and the bit bridge to all your 32bit plugs will eat far more CPU cycles that you gain from 64bit. Plus no windows app can take more than 2-3GB memory space and most (like Ableton 8, FL7) conk out at 1.5. If you want 64bit and huge amounts of memory, get a Mac , but only if you have deep pockets.

Please don't get a Mac and keep in mind I say that while im currently sitting at work in an Apple Service center.

[gen_]

Don't get it twisted, I run Mac, work in a entirely Mac based Academy, and genererally see Macs more than I see windows, but I run Bootcamp whenever I'm not producing. Its just a fact that Windows is not designed for 8GB of RAM and trying to use that much will make your DAW unstable, providing its 64bit and has the 64bit apps to do it, which most DAWs don't.

Take Ableton for example, run it anywhere near 2GB on windows and it will die. No reason, it just does. On Mac, it will run right up to the 4GB limit and stay stable. (FL and Reason are the best for this but by no means bulletproof)