So, I am buying a new Studio Computer and Thunderbolt Audio Interface

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#1

And I am trying to get the most bang for my buck, of course.

My current i5 laptop system is dated, slow and unable to process more than 5 plugins simultaneously.

My current USB3 based TASCAM US20x20 interface should be better than this, and I will try to use it with the new computer system before I commit to buying the Thunderbolt device. A computer upgrade might unleash the TASCAM unit and improve overall system throughput.

I decided it should have a nice i9 processor and a Thunderbolt-ready motherboard with mucho RAM and SSD space, and around $2500

This is where I stand: I really don’t know much about the latest cooling stuff, for instance, or details of the various i9 processor configurations … I just picked what I thought was best for the money

Thoughts?

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1 Like
#2

Specs for your PC look good, if I can add a tip, grab your self
a dedicated video card, Nvidia and a dedicated sound card with multiple outs.
any 7.1 soundcard should give you 3 stereo (or 6 mono ) outs and also kills
the CPU noise intergrated audio has.

up the PSU to atleast 750w. make sure
PSU has the connecters for the video card power.
550w for a 16 core might be a bit under rated.

IMO, intergrated audio and video for any desktop is bad news,
I’ve never believed in intergrated anything for a PC mobo.
I’m a little “old skool” in my thoughts and far as PC building goes.
In that respect my win 98 system is still running after 23 years :smiley:

#3

I missed the part about audio interface, ignore my soundcard idea.

#4

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the replies … No problem about the internal sound card. I disable my current internal laptop sound and I would do the same in this case.

I haven’t built my own system in a decade or more, so I am not current on the accessories like CPU coolers … I am going to have a little learning curve, but that’s why I’m here.

Tell me; What is the benefit to using an external video card? I have a version of GeForce GTX950 on my laptop, but I have never seen any benefit when using it. No improvement of processor availability was noted when I tried it. If an external video card actually relieves the loading of the main processor, that would be significant. I need to investigate that further.

I am also realizing that SATA 6gb/S may be underpowered compared to other PCIe x16 based SSD options. As usual, computer shopping is a complex challenge. Thanks for your help

#5

Adding a video card and larger PS added $260 … I’ll need to make sure the PS can run the whole system as configured - I may need to change that … It’s still close enough to my target cost

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#6

For a desktop PC, a dedicated video card
relieves the CPU of most of the graphics processing
4gb nvidia should be good or even 6gb dependes on how hardcore you want to go.

the major reason I suggested addon Video card is,
should the video card die in the future, you only need to replace the video
card (or the caps if they blew) and not the whole motherboard, and often replacing
the motherboard as you know means replacing the ram, CPU and cooler if there are
any significant changes in hardware since the purchase of the original mother board,
then having to reinstall windows and software all over again.

A long way of saying redundancy :slight_smile:

When you putting the cooler on the CPU chuck the stock thermal past out
and using something like Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. or MX4 thermal paste

Definitly consider SSD drives, super fast load times you’ll be able to stream
samples straight from the disk. the Nv disks (i forget the name of them)
would be better again.