Recommended Desktop Hardware for Reaper?

bruddahb · 11-12-2010, 04:45 PM

Getting ready to upgrade from an older pc that had been running PT LE 8.x/Eleven Rack interface, but I'm gonna sell the 11 rack, so no more pro tools - I couldn't find a sticky on hardware recommendations (if there is one, my apologies) so was gonna post to see if there was anything maybe I should stay away from,etc. Here's my current config that I'm going with;

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
(2) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 sata 6.0
(1) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 sata 6.0
Windows 7 Pro 64

I'm a hobbyist at best so if this is crazy overkill, feedback would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance!!!

ChaseEversole · 11-12-2010, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruddahb

Getting ready to upgrade from an older pc that had been running PT LE 8.x/Eleven Rack interface, but I'm gonna sell the 11 rack, so no more pro tools - I couldn't find a sticky on hardware recommendations (if there is one, my apologies) so was gonna post to see if there was anything maybe I should stay away from,etc. Here's my current config that I'm going with;

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
(2) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 sata 6.0
(1) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 sata 6.0
Windows 7 Pro 64

I'm a hobbyist at best so if this is crazy overkill, feedback would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance!!!

This is quite overkill if you are just a simple "hobbyist". However, just because you are a hobbyist, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't need that much power for your productions. If you use a lot of CPU intensive plugs, namely Massive, etc., you might need to at least go quad core. I use a lot of CPU intensive plugs, and I run two dual core machines (MacBook Pro, and a custom PC) and they run very well.. my productions sometimes exceed 50 some tracks when all said and done, with little issues.

You might be best off getting a lower end quad core system (like a Core 2 Quad, or an i5) and spend money upgrading your interface or monitors if needed.

Veneteaou · 11-12-2010, 07:35 PM

What Chase said about CPU-sucking plugs also goes for RAM-intensive software such as VIs. I'm barely managing 12GB RAM with the VI's I use (mostly EWQL stuff).

If you aren't planning on either, any computer running W7 is going to be overkill (same goes for Vista).

kachaloo2002 · 11-12-2010, 08:11 PM

If you're "just" a hobbyist (as I am) it may not be so crazy to have a pretty robust machine. Even when just tracking several guitar tracks, if you use lots of in the box effects you can come across significant latency issues. These will probably wind up making you a more informed reaper user, since you will be forced to learn how to deal with these and other horrible evils, but if just want to focus on performance and music and not by necessity become the sort of half-assed or maybe 1/4- assed engineer that computer music DAWism has made of some of us . . . get the best machine you can afford. It would appear that the folks posting above know of what they speak. And as a previous poster suggested, remember that the computer isn't the the only consideration -- an appropriate interface, good quality mics, monitor speakers and headphones are all pretty dang important.

Dual Screen monitor set ups with bigger screens can be very handy for various reasons.

ChaseEversole · 11-12-2010, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veneteaou

What Chase said about CPU-sucking plugs also goes for RAM-intensive software such as VIs. I'm barely managing 12GB RAM with the VI's I use (mostly EWQL stuff).

If you aren't planning on either, any computer running W7 is going to be overkill (same goes for Vista).

Very much so.

bruddahb · 11-13-2010, 08:42 AM

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the input...!!!!

DarkStar · 11-13-2010, 08:57 AM

Many people prefer Samsung Spinpoint disks to WD

Gunde · 11-16-2010, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veneteaou

If you aren't planning on either, any computer running W7 is going to be overkill (same goes for Vista).

Wait, what!?

d. gauss · 11-16-2010, 06:55 AM

along the same topic, any decent off-the-shelf, inexpensive (i.e. cheap) systems anyone can recommend? my ancient 2.8ghz single core p4 is getting reallllly tired. MUST have rock solid firewire though.

steveo42 · 11-16-2010, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d. gauss

along the same topic, any decent off-the-shelf, inexpensive (i.e. cheap) systems anyone can recommend? my ancient 2.8ghz single core p4 is getting reallllly tired. MUST have rock solid firewire though.

If fire wire is a need, nothing but a TI chip set fire wire controller will do.

Most Gigabyte boards have TI chip fire wire controllers.

Yes some people have had luck with other chip sets, but TI is the one known to work the best.

I just put together an i7 950 3.06 with 6g 1333(1066) on a Gigabyte X58a-UD3R and it screams compared to the Q9400 2.6ghz with 4G it replaced.

Drives are 4 Seagate 1TB 7200RPM drives.
Video is an ancient Nvidia Quadra FX540 PCIe card.
Good enough for what I do and the displays are crystal clear.
Gets a crappy 3.8 rating on Windows 7 though.

Construction wise this board is a monster.
It is HEAVY...

Overall I'm satisfied.

d. gauss · 11-16-2010, 10:22 AM

by "off-the-shelf," i meant something readily available from a best buy/staples/ etc.

woolyloach · 11-16-2010, 10:30 AM

Geez, I run Reaper on my Toshiba Satellite Turion dual-core with 8GB of RAM (Win7 64-bit) and I can get 40+ tracks of audio and a pile of plugins running without chewing up all my CPU.

That proposed config should last you a good, long while!

mixer · 11-16-2010, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseEversole

This is quite overkill if you are just a simple "hobbyist". However, just because you are a hobbyist, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't need that much power for your productions. If you use a lot of CPU intensive plugs, namely Massive, etc., you might need to at least go quad core. I use a lot of CPU intensive plugs, and I run two dual core machines (MacBook Pro, and a custom PC) and they run very well.. my productions sometimes exceed 50 some tracks when all said and done, with little issues.

You might be best off getting a lower end quad core system (like a Core 2 Quad, or an i5) and spend money upgrading your interface or monitors if needed.

kjhkjhkjh

mixer · 11-16-2010, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruddahb

Getting ready to upgrade from an older pc that had been running PT LE 8.x/Eleven Rack interface, but I'm gonna sell the 11 rack, so no more pro tools - I couldn't find a sticky on hardware recommendations (if there is one, my apologies) so was gonna post to see if there was anything maybe I should stay away from,etc. Here's my current config that I'm going with;

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
(2) Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 sata 6.0
(1) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 sata 6.0
Windows 7 Pro 64

I'm a hobbyist at best so if this is crazy overkill, feedback would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance!!!

Yes, it's crazy overkill and I just did the same thing and couldn't be happier. I took a giant leap from desktop PC to official DAW. Very similar to what you are looking at. i7 930, X58A, 12GB RAM, DDR3. I'm a hobbyist, but set to go and I don't worry about overloading anything. In time I'll add stuff and will undoubtedly want to upgrade. But that will be a while. In the meantime, I'm quite content. Waaaay content.

I agree with others about getting a decent interface. I didn't understand the necessity of this at first. The performance of a great DAW can be diminished by a cheap interface. (That's not news to most here on this forum, but it was a pearl of wisdom for me.) I stumbled across http://www.studiocat.com/2/index.php/Home after doing a lot of reading and research. Jim helped me understand interfaces. Very helpful guy. Bought my DAW and interface from him.

Best of luck to you.

Lawrence · 11-16-2010, 08:52 PM

Hey Chase. I'd agree with some the people above that if you are a hobbyist and are buying the computer mostly only for recording, it might be overkill.

OTOH, if you'll also put it to use for other tasks that require power, like editing HD videos or anything that requires a lot of realtime power, you may as well get all the "juice" you can reasonably afford and be done with it.

As to desktop hardware interfaces, I can only refer what I use on my desktop the Firestudio Mobile, no experience with the others but there are many great choices out there in that range. Don't get caught up in converters and pres and all that. Just get something decent and affordable and have at it.

bruddahb · 11-27-2010, 08:03 PM

Thanks everyone for your feedback, appreciate it..!