Old 08-17-2022, 01:56 AM   #1
virelai
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Default Yet another PC building thread!

Hello everyone!
I'm in the process of building an audio production computer, and I need some help choosing the right hardware for the right amount of money.
So let's say the budget is not an issue at this point, but let's also say I'm not willing to spend like 30k for a pc, like these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_IHSRPVqwQ.

The first question, I answered myself: PC or MAC? And the answer is PC. As it's always been, you can get a cheaper AND faster machine going with the pc option. The only thing I really like, and would get for my pc if I could, is the mac pro rack mountable case that it's currently on the market, because yes, my idea is to get a rack mountable case for my pc. My idea is to be able to put it inside a flight case and be able to carry it around for mobile recording, and the options for rack mountable pc cases are definitely nowhere near the fancy and super organized mac pro case. Anyway, I'm also thinking of building a custom flight case and put all the components directly there, it's an option, it's probably cheaper,cause I'd save on the pc case itself, and it's lighter, and it's probably what I'm going to do. THOUGH IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTION ABOUT THIS TOPIC, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR THOUGHTS!

Enough about the case, let's move on. Next station, CPU.
It's basically down to EPYC or threadripper Pro. AND IT'S HERE that i need some help.
What is the most important thing in an audio production cpu? Clock speed? Number of cores? Number of threads? maximum GB ram support?

The very first job of this pc is going to be the LIVE recording of my band's album. But I'm willing to use it in the same exact way for other bands in the future, plus of course it's going to be my mixing station. For now, it's going to be an 18 tracks recording maximum, cause i only have 18 mic pres right now, but each track is going to have plugins, like eq and/or comp, plus effects, like reverbs and delays, plus some kind of mastering on the stereo bus of each headphone cue (it's 4 of us). So all this, while recording, needs to be monitored by the musicians with the least possible latency!
I have a tascam ML-32D AD/DA converter, which I will run with a dedicated PCI express dante card, probably the focusrite one, if it becomes available again!
But I want to build a pc which I can forget about for quite some years, I don't want to have to upgrade in 3 or 4 years.

So, here where I live, right now, for some reason, I can find the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX for 2.752 euros, and I'm really tempted to go for it, BUT, is it really what I need? Would I be ok with something less powerful? OR should I go with something even more powerful like an EPYC, maybe in a dual configuration! Do I need single-threaded or multi-threded power for the job I just describe above? And also, do you think the 256 gigs of ram limit of the threadripper pro going to be an issue in the (near) future? EPYCs go up to 2TB of ram, while the mac pro can get up to 1,5TB, it's quite a big difference, isn't it?

So yeah, like all my threads, it's a long long one, hope you don't get discouraged by it, feel free to post some ideas on the various topics, especially the cpu one, and what's the most important thing in a audio production pc.
Cheers
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Old 08-27-2022, 10:18 AM   #2
mlprod
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@virelai

EPYC or Threadripper for those tasks, sounds like a complete waste of money. You don't need a server chip to record and mix 20 tracks with plugins!

I'd either go a M1 or M1 Pro Apple laptop (yes even the M1 would be enough) or if you want a PC desktop something like Intel 12700 would be way enough and also much faster clock speeds than those AMD multicore monsters you don't need.
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Old 08-27-2022, 11:18 AM   #3
norbury brook
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having ben through this in the last year my advice will be:

Your needs will depend on what you want your computer to do. By that i mean , do you want low latency monitoring and stacked single core capability. Or, do you want a machine that will handle 100 track mixes? or perhaps a bit of both.

I have a ryzen 5950x machine and an intel 12900 laptop and depending on the project one or the other will be king. Yes the laptop will outperform the 5950x desktop machine in certain projects.

If I were you I'd wait a few weeks and see what the final figures on the new AMD cpu's are. otherwise I'd go for the new Intel 13900 cpu.

I can still max out either machine in mixes with acustica audio aqua plugins and loading a single channel(master) with high cpu use plugs along with bussing will bring either CPU to it's knees at times when low latency is needed, so go for the latest gen AMD or intel that are about to drop with DDR5 ram to make sure you're covered.

If you're doing modest projects and have an interface with direct monitoring and not much need for low latency then anything available now at the top end will be fine.

I was going to go Apple M1 but on firther research i decided against it. The current 5950x and intel 12900 out perform the M1 and the new generation AMD and Intel CPU's will definitely out perform anything from Apple with the added bonus of expandability and customisation. The ONLY are the M! is king is in it's ability to work at a low power consumption, but to be honest is that really an issue?


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Old 08-31-2022, 11:41 PM   #4
BrentHarmon
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I would say wait a little bit because there is new AMD Chip 7000 Ryzen CPU and AM5 motherboards that will allow you to use DDR5 memory with AMD CPU.
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