Looking to install Cubase 7 on a PC I might buy. Will everything function properly based on these specs? Is there anything that may be a problem?
Here is a link to the computer: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/1822305.p?id=1219065406199&skuId=1822305&st=pcmcat190000050009_categoryid$pcmcat143400050013&cp=1&lp=3#tab=reviews
Thank you in advance for any help.
Intel® HD Graphics 4600 should be fine.
i see in the specs it has shared video memory this usually means graphics are built into motherboard (not good ) also memory expansion is limited to 16 gig ( may or may not be a problem in the future )
Hi,
You need to find out how many PCI and PCIe slots the motherboard has, depending on your needs, this is important.
Mauri.
go to: i7 cpu - 16GB ram - vga 2GB - solid state hard disk - windows 64bit - intel or gigabyte motherboard that works properly with the i7 cpu
To ‘stratosean’,
Solid state drives are nice but expensive for the capacity, roughly a dollar per GB. You would probably need a large second internal hard disk drive for your projects, sample libraries and audio files to use Cubase.
In other words, solid state drives are cool but not necessary;).
Mauri.
Hard drives are now using 4K physical cluster sizes for large and efficient file storage.
SSD is not really necessary for Windows 8 using modern enterprise grade hard drives and will wear out much more quickly anyway.
Thank you so much everybody! FYI, I am not planning on trying to make Dark Side of the Moon; in other words I will mainly be doing demos and topping out at maybe 24 tracks with some reverb and compression. Nothing insane. Will this computer cut it?
An i7 based pc with 16GB of ram, would be fine for your needs. I might add another 8 gig of ram to the machine you picked just for the sake of having it. An SSD would be a nice option to place your OS and programs on, but it’s not at all a necessity. It’s always a good idea to keep your software on one drive and your media files on another for performance reasons, but again, not a necessity. Sorry if I missed it, but in many ways your audio interface is just as important as the pc you decide to use. What did you plan on using for your interface?
Bjones - a Scarlett 2i2. Once again, nothing fancy, just practical with no big foreseeable concerns
Then yeah, baring any strange issue you might run into hardware wise ( ya never know…), that system should be more than fine for your needs.
Thanks!
buy SSD drives !!! they are expensive but worth it
also make sure you have fire wire and lots of PCI slots & USB3 if you want to add stuff later
For much of what he’s doing this won’t be necessary, but you can always add later.
Funny, that CPU Core count hasn’t been brought up in this thread.
Anxious to see some opinions about this CPU specific point to consider in your buy.
CPU core count is 4.
That machine is fine. It sounds like you won’t be using many VST samplers? If so, then 8gb of RAM is more than enough. A quad core i7 is also more than plenty to run a few instances of “reverb and compression” plugins. If you are working with 16 audio tracks and a few VST instruments with a couple of basic plugins, then an i7 is actually slight overkill. But at least you’ll be future proof.
The hard drive will also be able to deal with 24 tracks without a problem.
You don’t need an SSD but the difference would be night and day in terms of loading times and overall ‘snapiness’. They’re also silent!
Oh, and the onboard graphics will not be a problem in your case.
Not likely with DAWs! Most blocks will spend their lives with the same data, occasionally getting deleted and recorded over. Likely to last for years before any blocks ever reach their 10k write limit.
Never regretted buying SSDs, even when they were twice the cost per GB. No heat, vibration nor head click/chirps, and light enough to mount anywhere. And no performance penalty due to non-optimal placement of data, because they are fully random access with no distance-dependant head seek time.
I have a very important question for anyone who has the knowledge. I am a long time Cubase 5 user and originally spent hours researching to find the right chip sets to go with a an i7 and MR816CSX - fantastic results and time well spent.
Big problem now, machine has all but died (32 bit Windows XP and I have tried Windows 8 and hate it). I am going MacPro - possibly 6 or 8 core with an upgrade to Cubase 7 - massive investment and the issue around no Firewire. I have to rely on people telling me the Thunderbolt II converter to Firewire will result in no clocking or latency issues. Anyone out there got any experience with the new MacPro and Cubase 7 with MR816CSX??? Really hope someone could help before I spend a few grand - my studio is my life (sad but true). I have had fantastic quality so far but this is almost like replacing the entire set up without any real testing. 
You are better off thinking in the direction of Server Farm technology, i.e. VST System Link, that way you can keep old machines going with new and NO clocking problems.
If your studio is your life, then you need to consider both the above suggestion as well as Ethernet technologies for audio sharing.