Hi! working on a B room for a friend of mine, we're looking to build a PC - im a lifelong Mac user, very little experience with PC's. Can you guys please help point me in the right direction of where to educate myself on PC's for music production, or can you post here what your "Dream PC" would be? Lets assume budget is unlimited.

Goals are, Speed, Power (RAM?), Storage, Reliability, LIfespan, would also like to be able to connect to a Mac in another room via Audiogridder and use as additional processing.

 

On the same boat... if the budget is unlimited ( but still sensible ). Obviously other can correct me if im wrong

CPU- Ryzen 9950x
Ram - 6000 mhz ram (64-128 gb)
Storage - gen 4 nvme ( as much storage as you want)
Motheroard - x670e msi

these would be the "best" music production wise. Other peripherals, you can figure it out according to your needs, as they might not be super important for making music.

 

This guy read my mind exactly. This is the system you want. Windows 11 Pro and Linux will run good on it. I have the previous generation architecture (x570s) and I have no desire to upgrade until Qualcomm introduces some desktop chips to compete with Apple.

 

Spent an unhealthy amount of time trying to research for the best PC build myself. For my personal PC, i might switch from 9950 to 9900 though.

 

great! thank you for the tips!

 

Friend contacted me about building new PC and while I researched, decided to build one for myself too, was set on AM5 with 7700 and seriously considering Intel i5-12400 build, back and forth and ultimate AM4 one made most sense:

Mobo: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with DEEPCOOL AK620
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 3600Mhz CL18 Kit
SSD: Crucial P3 Plus 1TB M.2
GPU: XFX AMD RX580 (used for 40 bucks)
PSU: Seasonic S12 III 650W

+ new case and it should be around 700 bucks for a build

Edit:

Yeah, future proofing is kinda the point of getting desktop, so probably best thing to do would be to go for AM5:

Mobo: ASROCK B650M-Hdv/M.2
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with DEEPCOOL AK620
RAM: G.SKILL 32GB Ripjaws DDR5 6000MHz CL30 KIT
SSD: Crucial P3 Plus 1TB M.2
GPU: XFX AMD RX580 (used for 40 bucks)
PSU: Seasonic S12 III 650W

We both don't really do that taxing projects, but recently I got into AlexB 9K SSL and whole project (emulating console path) with it is now closer to limits of my modest machine (mind you this is 256 buffer with everything in MIDI and mixing chain on 2buss).

Here's how most demanding project consumes, I can actually get by with this, probably few bounces or rising buffer size, but dream is to have machine where I don't have to bounce anything, can get back to it and tweak almost everything, so yeah, great times really.

 

Last edited: Sep 30, 2024

you should first look into NAS (network attached storage) and proper network infrastructure, maybe also some server(s) hosting web apps,
interoperability between MacOS and Windows is something to keep in mind from the start, build upon that,

my dream build would include separately wired audio "network" to allow audio routing between Mac(s) and PC(s), and ability to use multiple computers simultaneously for specific tasks, without network congestion or need for QoS,

if your Mac in the other room has 10Gbe network (Mac Studio or custom Mac Mini) then I'd definitely look into PC motherboards with 10Gbe network interface(s) onboard, and high enough PCIe lanes (from cpu and motherboard) to futureproof expandability (check Gigabyte TRX50 AI TOP to understand what I mean)

 

https://www.xda-developers.com/best-motherboards-for-amd-ryzen-9950x/

they recommend this
https://www.amazon.com/MSI-X670E-GO...1&tag=xdadev04-20&ascsubtag=UUxdaUeUpU1011531

this motherboard is Godlike and only 1,247$ from amazon

 

Before i can truly answer this you should mention what will this pc be doing.
Typically, contemporary genres, be it acoustic or electronic or hybrid, can be covered with a top of the line desktop pc nicely and with a good lifespan and reliability. The latter is always a factor depending on selecting quality products for the whole build. Symphonic Classical and Film scoring though are different type of "beasts" and need more expensive machines (HEDT/Workstation class, which is close to being a server but with desktop perks) due to a huge number of sampled based instruments in discrete channels. So be a little more specific as for the musical purpose of this pc mate.
PS: Oh and no you don't need Godlike honestly... Godlike is a mobo geared towards overclockers, testers and really serious competitive gamers. I will explain all once i know what this pc of yours will be doing

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

noob questions for you gurus:

1 DAW doesnt matter in order to project a PC? Hmm...
2 rest of peripheals? Unless you dont really have anything I'd really care about:
3 how many PCI ports availabe and how many USB3 ports?

these are some of my nightmares when I think at a new machine...maybe these are no more problems

 

I bet my right hand they haven't built a single audio pc in their lives hahaha... Plus you don't couple a new gen cpu with a previous gen mobo even if they are compatible! Never! Only if you come from an upgrade and you already had the board. Sheesh what else am i gonna see, too old for this hahaha.

No DAW doesn't matter in general. There are a few quirks for people who select latest gen Intel cpus as some daws can utilize the efficiency cores some don't. Honestly i wouldn't go for Intel atm, unless you want endless headaches. Pci-e ports are on the "out" on pcs atm. Anyway, most audio tech is moving either towards pci-e over usb C, which is USB4/TB4 or pci-e over Ethernet, much like Dante/AVB and of course traditional USB. Try searching for a pci-e audio interface and you 'll be lucky if you find one or two from RME and a couple of legacy products. So most desktop mobos come with 2 or 3 pci-e slots, in some rare occasions 4. There is of course the HEDT variant (i.e Threadripper mobos) which is fkn costly but that will give you even 7 pci-e slots if you are hungry for them hehehe. Newest top of the line or near top X870E mobos come 8-10 USB 3 ports of various speeds like 5/10 and 20 gbps and one or two USB 4 (out of the box compatible with TB4) 40gbps ports.

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

Daw absolutely matters. Something like a Reaper will be extremely easy on your CPU compared to something like an Ableton. But with modern hi-end CPU's its less of an issue than it used to be. Rule of thumb, Higher Single core will always be better than Higher Multicore, as DAWS usually utilize single core.

2-3 pcie slots are usually the norm. But for usb ports, id say Minimum 6, so that you never have to worry about ports being less. Id personally go for 8-10, but thats just becasue im overcompensating for the 2 ports i have on my present Macbook. :P

 

Hmmm. Let's speak numbers. The difference with the same project loaded only with 3rd party plugs from Reaper to Live is at 1% for a project of about 30-40 tracks, perhaps 2-3% if the test project has too many tracks and plugs. In audio pc performance this is negligible. Or simply put we say there is no real world difference. And the same goes for the rest of them daws. So yes, Reaper is the easiest on the cpu but in the grander scheme of audio production it makes no real difference. If it did the whole planet would have switched to it.

Sure. With something like Cubase SX in 2002 lol. Right now DAWs will handle as many cores as your operating system can support, give or take. Now if your DAW has your whatever cpu 90% load on one core and 10% on the others you are definitely doing something wrong.

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

lets consider, there is no perfect computer. to search for perfection is to endure failure and frustration.
in life good enough is often better than perfection, as it allows one to focus on the things that matter and must be as perfect as our imperfect minds and lives allow.

Whatever you get will probably fail you in some way some times. You will need to learn how to work around that.
The important thing is to get started and make mistakes so you can learn and move on

What will be as important as, or more even, is the software, as no one buys hardware to have hardware except carpenters. you buy the hardware to run the software. you will need assistance in tweaking windows 11, its a tricky bastard that wants to own you instead of the other way around. search this site, its been discussed many times with many good tips on how to neuter the pyscho bastard so it will do your bidding without phoning home every other second.

so in summation, set a deadline, do your research until you hit the deadline, make your purchase. learn to live with it.
Fix the software, make backups, keep tweaking until you have a great system. Wait for some upgrade to fuck it all up, but enjoy it until that day happens..

rinse
repeat..
welcome to the technology treadmill.. it will keep your wallet thin...