Hi,
I Have to Upgrade My System My Main Work is as Follows
1)Composing Virtual Orchestration for Films (with Loads Of VSTI and my Project comprises of 1500 to 2000 tracks with Dialogues,Sound Effects, Music etc) My Main DAW is CUbase Pro 13 & Ableton For Composing.
2)Mixing And Mastering In Protools with Cpu intensive Plugins like from Acustica Audio..
3)Editing and Color grading 4K 60 DCI Footage in Da Vinci Resolve..
Please suggest a Computer Build for my above need so that i can be rest assured for 6 to 8 yrs in future.. and also comment and Guide for my Probable Tech Specs:

CPU: i9 14900K
MoBO: Z790(Please suggest which to use as I need inbulit Thunderbolt FOR my UAD Interface)
Ram: 192Gb 6400Mhz (48x4)
GPU: Please suggest the GPU
Storage: Nvme 2 (2tb x 4) ( How many Nvme2 drives can i attach without bottlenecking my GPU and Nvme2 drives)
PSU:Corsair RMe Gold 1000watt
Please Guide me Folks...

 

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-c...ity-issues-drive-game-server-providers-to-amd

 

https://audiosex.pro/threads/latency-culprit-found.71191/

 

Hey, welcome.
A "cheap" top of the line desktop build simply won't cut it.
Only AMD Threadripper will do this track count along with fx and instruments. You need an HEDT (Threadripper) or Workstation (Threadripper Pro) class cpu for this. I could say Xeon Platinum as well but it falls short when compared to AMD's implementation. It sits better in server land. Anyway, no simple desktop cpu will suffice for anything beyond 700-800 channels. Whoever claims that a Core i9 or Ryzen 9 will do 2000 tracks with fx and instruments, i challenge them to prove it.
The Threadripper 7970X with its 32 cores will do the job. Goes for about 2.3K dlrs. Supports up to 1tb of ECC DDR5. It has a base clock of 4ghz and boosts to 5.3 ghz. It sticks into the str5 socket in TRX50 mobos like the GIGABYTE TRX50 Aero D, and yes the mobo has dual USB4/Thunderbolt4 type C ports based on the top notch Intel JHL8540 chip. The cpu will give you 88 usable pci-e lanes. 48 @ pci-e 5.0. Stick all the nvme ssds you like. The mobo has 4 nvme slots out of the box. And you can use cards like the Asus Hyper m.2 (v.2) that can hold 4 nvme ssds and stick the card into any of the 3 x16 slots and off you go. It also has 8 Sata ports for your further storage needs. You won't be needing anything higher than Nvidia RTX 4070 as the cpu is a killer in rendering tasks. Unless of course you got money to spend. Your choice of PSU is just fine.
The ram you should be going for is at least 256gb. This is a 4 channel platform so you need at least 4 sticks there anyway. I'd recommend 512 tbh but 256 will probably do the job. Oh and its ECC RDIMM DDR5 that you will be going for.
At this point, excuse me in advance for doing so, but i see you 're new, i 'll stop here since i don't know if you are really serious or just throwing numbers like a 2000 track count to impress. Just so you know apart from being a musician/producer, i am also an independent system builder & advisor specializing in audio/video workstation builds. If you need more info & details on the proposed build or have questions just let me know.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2024

Bad time to consider intel.

4060 RTX with 16GB VRAM. Or second hand 3090 with 24GB VRAM.

 

What you really need is a Workstation Class system. Not an over-priced, over-volted consumer system. @taskforce gives some sage advice.
Current gen AMD Threadripper/Threadripper Pro or Intel W3400 series with a minimum of 16 cores. Preferably 24 to 32 cores is ideal. 128GB of RAM.

Whether Intel or AMD, you need the a Workstation for the following basic reasons:
All day system stability & performance (components designed for this purpose)
More PCIe lanes connected directly to CPU
Re-Drivers for PCIe lanes coning from PCH
4 to 8 channels/lanes for memory for system Data throughput
For full use of workstation class GPUs & accelerators
More than 2 full x16 PCIe slots (usally at least 6)
Built in Thunderbolt via rear ports or board header for PCIe Thunderbolt add-in card
Connectors for U.2 storage devices
Flex connectors/trays for adding more I/O or storage

Take a look at the Dell, HP & Lenovo Desktop/Tower Workstations to get an idea of what is available & the options offered. Even if you plan to build a system yourself, this will give you a clear understanding of component & feature choices to look for.

Pre-Built systems currently range from $8,400 to $12, 000 from the top three vendors & custom builders. Memory & workstation class GPU are where Dell, HP & Lenovo add extra costs. Custom builders tend to charge extra for storage vs memory.

For the cost of an over-priced NVidia 4070 to 4090 that draws way to much wattage & produces excess heat, you are better off with a Workstation GPU that offers the same performance at usually better operating temps & wattage (usually at a cost savings for NVidia A4000/A4500).

 

let's clarify some things then:
1) Intel fucked up 13th and 14th gen during manufacturing process, I would stay away from it, because no firmware/BIOS upgrade can fix it
2) Thunderbolt is clunky in Windows, you will never get trouble-free experience, I'd rather throw away UAD interface to be honest
3) forget running FOUR ram sticks on consumer cpus, DDR5 is not stable, even at much lower frequency than 6400MHz
4) whatever you need, RTX 4070 Ti with 16GB ram is reasonable compromise, or if you want to save PCIe lanes, then RTX 4060 Ti with 16GB as it only uses 8 lanes, not 16
5) you can have only one M.2 NVME drive, because all the consumer platforms haven't enough PCIe lanes to be fully dedicated - 14900K offers 20 lanes total - with AMD, you may have two M.2 NVME drives, but do note it depends on motherboard layout because manufacturers cheap out and connect multiple M.2 NVME slots via chipset which itself (including all the motherboard I/O like usb, network, sata ports..) is hooked to cpu via 4 lanes only
6) 80+Gold rating is the very minimum for a high-end system, modularity is nice, silent operation is desired too

if you can afford to spend the money and you'll be doing it for a living, I'd rather look at workstation platforms that offer more PCIe lanes, quad- or octa- channel RAM support, ECC RAM support, faster network connectivity (if you're using local NAS):
see motherboards like ASUS Pro WS W790-ACE and ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE
matching reasonably priced cpu being Xeon w5-2465X or w5-3435X respectively (main difference being 64 vs 112 PCIe lanes and 4 vs 8 channel RAM support)
- do note there platforms require physically different RAM sticks too,
if you can afford to spend on gpu, RTX Quadro series are nice, make sure it's ADA series (same gen like 4000) and not just A series (gen 3000), so for ex. 4000 Ada and not A4000,
HP prebuilt workstation like Z4 G5 should meet the above, but do note HP cheaps out on motherboard feature set and overall compatibility (custom power supply, custom motherboard, custom coolers, custom power delivery...)

 

why? for AI?
it's probably cheaper to get two (or more) RTX 4060 Ti's where you get much more VRAM for bigger models:

 

that one's cool, but daaamn look at the newly announced Gigabyte TRX50 AI TOP
https://www.gigabyte.com/eu/Motherboard/TRX50-AI-TOP#kf

 

Davinci Resolve will be the biggest factor in computer requirements, suggest you start by evaluating those requirements. I would suggest you peruse the forums on BlackMagic website, to ascertain your hardware needs, below are some information gleaned from there. Once you have a system robust enough to run Resolve properly, come on back to audiosex and we'll discuss your DAW needs, though most likely any system robust enough for 4k Resolver, should handle Audio Production very well....


Please check our Supported operating systems, Hardware System Requirements and Drivers and Updates sections below to ensure you’re on a supported configuration. Many users choose to list their configuration in their forum signature to provide context in all posts. We highly encourage you to include your hardware and software configuration (including driver versions, other video/audio workflow tools) in your signature too.

In our Support page, you can find:

• an extensive user manual for DaVinci Resolve, covering all aspects of using the software,
• a detailed configuration guide covering the topics of buying, building and configuring your system for optimal performance with DaVinci Resolve,
• a list of supported codecs and many other resources.

General Troubleshooting

• About System Requirements

Performance

• How can I optimize performance on my system?
• Why does Resolve run better on high end systems?

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support


back to top

About System Requirements
DaVinci Resolve works on a wide variety of platforms with performance characteristics based on hardware configurations. The general requirements are the same, whether you are using the free version or the Studio version, although some advanced features in the Studio version may require a greater system specification.

Some systems that are below specification may run Resolve, however we cannot guarantee compatibility, performance or stability. If you are experiencing any problems with Resolve, first make sure that your system meets the requirements.

These requirements include:

• A 64 bit operating system as detailed in the ReadMe file and configuration guide
• A minimum of 16GB of RAM is recommended, 32GB if using Fusion
• An NVIDIA, AMD or Intel GPU with a minimum of 2GB of VRAM that supports versions greater than either supports Metal, OpenCL 1.2 or CUDA 10. (CUDA compute 3.0)
• A modern quad core CPU or greater

We provide an in depth configuration guide for Resolve systems. In here you will find certified workstations and components for Resolve systems, as well as the performance expected from them.



Why does DaVinci Resolve run better on high end systems?
You may be interested in how Resolve works and this will help explain the system requirements and performance.

DaVinci Resolve performs its image processing with 32 bit floating point precision, not just for effects but all image processing, these are really big numbers! This allows DaVinci Resolve to work with incredible quality and colour accuracy, however it also requires more system resources to do this processing.

This is why performance is better on high power systems, while systems that have a lower specification may struggle to work in real time.

As DaVinci Resolve performs all of its image processing on the GPU the graphics card becomes a very important component in any DaVinci Resolve system. Graphics cards have on board memory called VRAM, and having more VRAM will increase performance, depending on the video you are working with.

For example, a GPU that has 4GB of VRAM might allow you to grade in real time for HD video, but you might need a graphics card that has 8GB of VRAM or more, to allow 4k real time, or even multiple GPUs! Note; VRAM is not accumulative if you have more than one GPU and you should not run SLI.

Typically, encoding and decoding of video and audio files, is done by the CPU or processor in the system. This means your performance will change, depending on your media and your processor capability.

For example, if you are using heavily compressed video codecs like H.264, then this will require much more CPU power to decode, than uncompressed video. There are exceptions to this rule with some of the latest GPUs.

Some codecs, like the new Blackmagic RAW are designed to be high quality and fast decoding at the same time, making them really easy and powerful to work with.

High quality video, especially uncompressed and some RAW formats, have large file sizes. This requires a high data rate from your storage solution, in order to access the video data in real time. Spinning disk HDDs offer slower data rates than SSDs, but you can use technologies like RAID to create fast disk arrays.

 

Νot on AMD builds. (Especially when its native USB4/TB4 and you make sure you don't have installed some stupid driver MS loaded for you.) Because on AMD's implementation, Thunderbolt gets its pci-e lanes from the cpu just like a proper pci-e slot thus it has the fastest communication possible. Connected compatible devices are correctly recognized and work unless they need a driver installed like UAD interfaces for instance. On Intel systems too many times devices were connected and although they were happily recognized, wouldn't work or wouldn't reach desired speeds, could have very low response times etc. Antelope interfaces although top notch sounding are a software nightmare lol. Anyway all this TB ordeal is very funny for Intel because they make TB but still on their systems Thunderbolt gets its lanes from the chipset. And there you have your sluggishness factor.

I like it a lot, seems like an updated model!
EDIT: It is a maxed out model actually, amazing! OMG they haven't left anything out. Dual 10gbE, dual USB4/TB4, 4 pci-e x16 slots, 4 m.2. I want one!

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2024