Advice for new DAW PC

WaveLab
#1

Hi all.
I’ve read a lot of posts, so I have the following offer in my hands…
Every comment is welcome.

  • Tower: Midi-Tower, ATX, 4x 5.25", 1x 3.5", 5x 3.5" Black
  • Power: 650W, 80 Plus, ATX 2.3, 2x PCIE, 12 cm Fan, 6x SATA
  • MB: Asus Intel X58 Chipset (Sabertooth), 1366Pin, PCIE, DDR3, SATA3, USB3, Rain, GLAN, FireWire
  • CPU: Intel i7 960, 4x 3.20 GHz, 4.8 GT/s, 8 Mb, 45 nm
  • RAM: Apacer DDR3, 8 GB, 1600 MHz, PC12800, 240Pin, CL9, (2x2GB), Dual Channel
  • HD1 (OS+C4): Corsair SSD 2.5", 60Gb, SATA3, 550 Mb/s
  • HD2 (Proj.): Western Digital 3.5”, 500 Gb, SATA3, 7200 Rpm, 32 Mb
  • DVD±RW 24/24/12/8/6, Sata, Black, Bulk
  • Video: Gigabyte HD6750, 1024 Mb GDDR5, 2x DVI/1xVGA

The plan is:
Windows7 HP, 64bit
Cubase 4, 32bit
Typical project:

  • a lot of audio tracks (20-40)
  • few Midi tracks (2-6)
  • a lot of FX pugins (EQ in every channel, some choruses,…)
  • 10-20 compressors
  • 4 reverbs
  • 2 delays
  • project length goes from 6 minutes to 24 minutes

Feedback is appreciated.

Kind regards from Switzerland.

Andy

#2

Sounds smexy!
Last time I checked 2x2 wasn’t 8 though :wink:

#3

:smiley:

#4

…I forgot to mention that HW-wise (see my signature), I’ve already purchased a MotU Midi Express 128, since the Midex8 will be used as a “empty-rack-space-filler”…

#5

You do know about the new W7 64-bit drivers for the midex?

#6

…you are kidding, right?

#7

http://www.steinberg.net/en/newsandevents/news/newsdetail/archive/2011/08/05/article/discontinued-products-revived-1642.html

…why has that never been posted on the steinberg.net, why no announcement? :question:


Now I have 2 Midi interfaces… :unamused: …still don’t know if I should sell the Midex or the MotU…

A big THANKS to the engineers who developed the Win7/32-64bit drivers for the Midex!

#8
  1. 8 gig is incorrect for an X58 build it should be 3 x 4gig or 3x2gig (triple channel)
  2. i would buy a sandy bridge system 2600 its much faster than the 960.
    that memeory is dual channel…
#9

Thanks for your feedback.

By incorrect, you mean that the configuration they offered is wrong (does not work)?

I noticed that the sandybridge 2600 has different PIN number, does it mean that this does not work on that MoBo?

Andy

#10

8 gig is not correct while it will work its not right
the X58 boards are triple channel so they require 3 sticks or 6 sticks to run in triple channel.

the 2600 will not fit in that board you need a different board.

#11

Reading up on this thread I can makeup that you’re not a PC hardware genius/expert (not to meaning to be rude, but English isn’t my motherlanguage and this is the best I can come up with).

I’ve build many systems for DAW usage with various results.

If i will replace my system I will buy a DAW certified PC from a specialist, I do not have the resources anymore to replace a component which has faulting or doesn’t work well with your specific brand soundcard, done this so many times so hoping to spare you from this endless thing. This is the main dis-advantage of the windows world in comparising with Apple. We have so bloody much hardware options that it’s a big tasks to filter out the good from the bad ones.

#12

Hi all.

Thanks to all your information.
Reading a lot of other posts, i changed the config a bit.
This is what I am going to get delivered next week:

• Midi-Tower, ATX, 4x 5.25", 1x 3.5", 5x 3.5" Black
• 650W, 80 Plus, ATX 2.3, 2x PCIE, 12 cm Fan, 6x SATA
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68 UD5 B3
• CPU: i7-2600 sandybridge
• RAM: Apacer DDR3, 8 GB, 1600 MHz, PC12800, 240Pin, CL9, (2x4GB), Dual Channel
• OS & Application Disk: Corsair SSD 2.5", 60Gb, SATA3, 550 Mb/s
• Project Disk: Western Digital 3.5”, 500 Gb, SATA3, 7200 Rpm, 32 Mb
• Optical drive: DVD±RW 24/24/12/8/6, Sata, Black, Bulk
• Video Card: Gigabyte HD6750, 1024 Mb GDDR5, 2x DVI/1xVGA
• MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit



I’ll give you a feedback as soon the new system is up and running.

Have a nice day.

Andy

#13

Get Windows 7 Professional 64bit. If you ever need to use Networking you will find this a better OS.

DG

#14

Thanks DG for your advice.
I have no network access in my studio, no wireless, even GSM has no reach… by the time I’ll install a network cable in my studio, we’ll see Win8, or Win9… :smiley:

I’ll upgrade later when it’s needed.

Have a nice day.

Andy

#15

OK, but I was thinking about the possibility of adding a slave PC as an FX rack at some point. If you know you will never need this, then fair enough.

DG

#16

Did I miss some news? How do you do that? With external tools or native with C6?

Can you give me some key words or links?

Thank you in advance.

Andy

#17

Using Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 (soon to be released) you can connect a number of computers via LAN and use them as FX racks, if your main PC runs out of steam.

Many people are are already using VEP4 for sample hosting, but VEP5 accepts audio input, so a virtual FX rack on another computer is now possible over LAN (a bit like FX-Teleport in the old days, but much, much better).

DG

#18

Or hardwired midi connections, if you have midi interfaces on both machines connect them!