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  1. #1

    Default best pc

    What could you recommend as a solid configuration for SAC/SAW host PC? What are the most important parts?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: best pc

    Andrew,

    "AC"!

    Anything but a Chrome Book.

    I am presently putting together a new system for a client...here are the specs...

    Chassis: be quiet! PURE BASE 500 Black
    PSU: Corsair SF Series SF450
    Mobo: ASUS Prime B460M-A
    CPU: Intel Core i5-10400. 12th gen
    CPU Fan: Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler
    RAM: G.SKILL Aegis, 2x8GB
    SSD - Boot: M.2 nVME, WD Blue SN550 250GB PCIe
    HDD - Data: WD Black 1TB
    SSD - Libraries: WD Blue 3D NAND SATA 500GB SSD
    Monitor: LG 27" 27BK400H-B TN FHD Display
    Monitor cable: iCAN HDMI 28AWG
    Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK120 USB Combo, cabled
    OS: Windows 10 LTSC, 2019
    Total: $1301.85 CND
    Last edited by mr_es335; 08-25-2021 at 08:25 AM.

  3. #3

    Default Re: best pc

    Quote Originally Posted by mr_es335 View Post
    Andrew,

    "AC"!

    Anything but a Chrome Book.

    I am presently putting together a new system for a client...here are the specs...

    Chassis: be quiet! PURE BASE 500 Black
    PSU: Corsair SF Series SF450
    Mobo: ASUS Prime B460M-A
    CPU: Intel Core i5-10400. 12th gen
    CPU Fan: Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler
    RAM: G.SKILL Aegis, 2x8GB
    SSD - Boot: M.2 nVME, WD Blue SN550 250GB PCIe
    HDD - Data: WD Black 1TB
    SSD - Libraries: WD Blue 3D NAND SATA 500GB SSD
    Monitor: LG 27" 27BK400H-B TN FHD Display
    Monitor cable: iCAN HDMI 28AWG
    Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK120 USB Combo, cabled
    OS: WIndows 10 LTSC, 2019
    Total: $1301.85 CND
    What card does it matter?

  4. #4

    Default Re: best pc

    The soundcard does matter... you need fast and stable drivers... I recommend the RME products or the UMC Behringer interfaces.

    Bob L

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    Default Re: best pc

    andrew,

    What card does it matter?
    ... As Bob has stated, the audio interface is one of the keys to overall system performance.

    RME is more-than-likely...the best and preferred overall choice.

    However, form my present needs, I am using the Behringer UMC404HD interface...and this unit is working very well for me and will be a constituent component of the above system.
    Last edited by mr_es335; 08-25-2021 at 08:25 AM.

  6. #6

    Default Re: best pc

    Quote Originally Posted by andrew b View Post
    What could you recommend as a solid configuration for SAC/SAW host PC? What are the most important parts?
    Andrew, there is an old theory that since both SAC and SAW mostly only use one core, it's a good idea to choose a chip that can optimize what that one core can do. A lot of chips today are more powerful than others simply because they have more cores. So, you can't equate overall chip power with what it can do for SAC/SAW because those cores might well be relatively weak individually. Traditionally, one way to overcome the lack of knowledge about how fast a chips individual core is, has been to choose chips that run at a high clock speed with as few cores as possible. However, nowadays, there's a site that ranks chips by their single core performance. Some of us think that this is helpful.

    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

    Single core speed is not the only variable though. Another issue is that Windows shares some services with all of the processes that are running on the machine, and can only serve one process at a time. Music can't wait longer than the length of time it takes to fill up its buffer - which is not long. And, there seems to be variation among chips as to which ones work better for this than others - but not a lot of reasoning for the consumer to use to choose by. One strategy is to use a chip and motherboard combination that has already worked well for someone else to avoid the the potential of bad random voodoo.

    My machine is several years old now, but Bob recommended an Intel I5-8500 at the time. I paired it with a Gigabyte Z390 Designare motherboard - and that combination has worked very well for me for SAC/SAW 64. Others have gotten very good results with even less powerful components - although some have also reported good results with considerably faster single core performance as well. If you spend a few hours going through old forum messages, you can find reports from people. Dave Labrecque chose a laptop with extremely fast single core performance that he seems to be very pleased with.

    If you (wisely...) choose an RME converter, you can get consistently good results with the ones that plug directly into your motherboard. But, they also have models that make use of thunderbolt and USB3 (think laptop). I have no experience with their USB3 models, but their thunderbolt technology works very well. That said, if you choose it, be sure to read up, on the RME site, what it requires on the motherboard side. You can find it in the user manual for the converter (which is downloadable). Not all thunderbolt setups will work. It may have become harder to shoot yourself in the foot on this over the intervening years though.

    Lastly, Windows 10 is somewhat of an issue. Microsoft, without warning, periodically makes changes to it, that you cannot prevent. So, it's possible to get your system working perfectly - and then MS inadvertently changes it which screws it up. Some time ago, Del found us access to a version of Windows 10 that is made for applications that cannot fail (x-ray machines, et. al.). MS has chosen an issue of W10 that is very stable and has frozen it there. They do update it for security purposes, but they do not update it for any other reason. As a result, it overcomes this problem. It's called Windows 10 LTSC. Some of us think that it's superior for the reasons above. Also, there is the choice between 32 bits and 64 bits for the OS. The advantage of 32 bits is access to all the old VSTs. The advantage to 64 bits is not being limited by the amount of ram accessible to a 32 bit operating system (just having more physical ram in your computer won't help). I highly recommend the 64 bit version so that you are never in the position of running out of room for a VST or VSTi.

    Oh - and I would recommend at least 16 GB of ram.

  7. #7

    Default Re: best pc

    thank you very much !

  8. #8

    Default Re: best pc

    Quote Originally Posted by andrew b View Post
    thank you very much !
    In that case, although the combination of all above from everybody should give you a functional head start, here's a couple other things I thought of in the meantime if you are building a desktop machine.

    First off, hard drives have become so fast over the years that any old modern drive is fast enough to track anything you could throw at it. That said, Winchester drives (the ones with the spinning platters) all make noise, whereas SSDs do not.

    Some thoughts on tracking and noise... Although your machine may seem to make very little noise, if you record in proximity to it, ten tracks roughly doubles the apparent volume of it in your mix down. As a result, it might be worth your while to attempt to preemptively reduce the noise it makes ahead of time:

    Some cases are double-walled and will tend to contain the noise produced within better.

    Again, SSDs are silent.

    Big fans are quieter than little fans are because they push the same amount of air with fewer revolutions.

    Water cooled CPU coolers are quieter than air cooled ones because their radiators have big, and often multiple, fans. And some modern ones are completely self-contained sets - so you don't have to be a PC plumber to use them.

    When you fasten something with a motor to your case, the case becomes a sounding board for it. You can drastically reduce that by using stretchy silicone fasteners instead of screws for applications where stress and weight are not applied (like hard disks, radiators, and fans). These things both fasten the component to the case (without a screwdriver) and also separate the two with a layer of silicone. In a previous forum message conversation between Dave Labrecque and me, when he was researching a new machine, Dave left a link where they can cheaply be bought online. Highly recommended.

    Good luck!

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    Default Re: best pc

    Andrew,

    The chassis is a very quiet one.
    The CPU fan also a very quiet one.
    Though the HDD's is still a mechanical one - as I do not trust SSD's as of yet...the WD black series are indeed very quiet.
    As can bee seen I will be using Windows 10 LTSC.

  10. #10

    Default Re: best pc

    Quote Originally Posted by John Ludlow View Post
    The advantage of 32 bits is access to all the old VSTs. The advantage to 64 bits is not being limited by the amount of ram accessible to a 32 bit operating system (just having more physical ram in your computer won't help). I highly recommend the 64 bit version so that you are never in the position of running out of room for a VST or VSTi.
    And you can usually convert the 32-bit VST DLLs into 64-bit DLLs by using Chainer or similar. So you can have your cake and eat it, too.
    Dave "it aint the heat, it's the humidity" Labrecque
    Becket, Massachusetts

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