HELLO there
i use Cubase pro 11
and i would like to know the best desktop to build for cubase and electronic music
production on windows system so as not to crush ever again!
Almost impossible to answer directly. Imagine the amount of all the potentially existing combinations of mobos / CPU / Disk units / Graphic cards / RAM.
So, and to partially answer, I guess it’s probably better to report back what’s our current one. FWIW, here is mine, even if it is already nearly two years old :
- Mobo & case : Asus Prime X470-Pro + Zalman Z9 Neo Plus case + Zalman EBT 650W power supply
- CPU : AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + Noctua NH-U12S cooler
- Disk units : two SSDs (WD Black m.2 - 512 Gb + Corsair Force MP300 - 1 Tb)
- Graphic card : AMD Radeon RX550 (used with an AOC Q3279VWF monitor - 2560 x 1440, no HiDPI involved)
- RAM : 32 Gb (2 x 16 Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 - 3200 MHz)
- Windows Pro 10 (currently 21H1 - Build : 19043.1288), installed by myself from its 1903 USB version.
Has been working perfectly since day one (this, as an answer to eventual wonderings about an AMD based setup…), november 2019, but since, water has flowed under bridges…
thank you for posting your opinion!
I’d recommend a Threadripper 3970 based build for now. Putting less than 64 GB in any new computer is not recommended. You don’t need anything amazing in graphics – whatever they have in the store for an add-in card will be fine. (Allegedly NVIDIA cards are slightly better compatibility than ATI, for what that’s worth.)
Make sure to jam a M.2 NVME drives in there, though. 1 TB for the system drive, and another 4 TB SSD or NVME for your plugins and sample libraries and recording. (If you do a lot of tracking/sessions, consider an external SATA port and buy a bunch of smaller SSDs, one for each project.)
Do not go with any interface that suggests “hardware plugins in the interface” – e g, the “Apollo” bullshit is nice for monitoring or whatnot, but totally not a good idea for actual working. You have the CPU for a reason, it’s 100x more powerful than the built-in DSPs. But do get a good, low-latency, audio interface.
Also, good desktop monitors, and good acoustic treatments for your walls / room. Worth a lot!
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I’ve been using the fanless PCs from Fanless PC. I love the fact that they are truly fanless, meaning, they are completely, 100% quiet - absolutely necessary in a critical listening environment like a studio. Just pick the fastest CPU and SSD you can afford, load it up with RAM (it’s cheap these days, I’d recommend at least 32 GB), and don’t worry about the graphics card. The built-in GPUs that come with modern CPUs are fine for what Cubase does, and presents less compatibility issues.
They also make (expensive) dedicated DAW PCs (DAW PC | Audio Workstations (Computers)), but I have no experience with them - they don’t seem to be fanless so that’s a dealbreaker for me.
And no, I have no association with this company, except for loving their products.
Also, I second @jwatte’s comments regarding good monitors and acoustic treatment. I use two 4K monitors (one for the main window, one for the mixer), and I spent way more on acoustic treatment of my studio than the cost of all the gear combined several times over. Even though it’s a “boring” investment, it was totally worth it!