PC Options

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 1:22 pm

flapmaggot wrote:I am also noticing that PCs are now being made without PCI slots. I see PCIe, but not PCI. My RME Multiface is PCI. Though I can change it out to a PCIe, it would cost another $500 for an new card. PC Audio Labs and Sweetwater do build units with PCI.

Last I checked you could still find a few motherboards with PCI...been awhile. Not to be condescending at all, but I do think PCI has been essentially abandoned for the last 10 or so years? That's why you can find cheap PCI/PCI-X Pro Tools boards.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 5:08 am

After the DIY build computer I did with a knowledgeable friend ran its course ($350 with some hand me town parts and 6-7 years of recording was a good deal), I bought a pre-fab Dell.

It's one of their more spec'ed out models with their highest available processing/RAM they had at the time I purchased it. It has been reliable. I record only at 24 bit and often have 5 or 6 takes with 10- 40 tracks up at once. It can hang.

I do notice that if I pile on the plugins, or if I try to record at a higher sample rate the performance is not as consistent. This may be a shortcoming for the machine.

mrclean · Post by **mrclean** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 7:04 am

FWIW - I have been using a PC Audio Labs computer for over 2 years and have had no issues. I would recommend them.

When my old Dell died I was not interested in putting together my own.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:30 pm

I've been using a Dell Inspiron 660. Before that I had a Inspiron 650 (I sold that to a friend when I upgraded and its still working for him). Mine has an i3 and 8GB RAM running Windows 7 x64. I'm running Pro Tools 9.0.6.

I added a couple USB3 cards (for connecting backup drives) and a FW800 card to connect to my Apollo16. I also added a 2nd internal SATA disk. oh yeah, and a dual-port video card (although mine is a pretty old Nvidia -- no fan -- with dual displayport) because I use a dual-monitor setup.

It's very quiet and works great for me. I never run out of CPU and I don't even use the UAD plugins that much. I record to one disk and then bounce to the other (which is also the system boot drive).

the biggest reason this works great for me--- I do not connect it to the internet. In fact it's completely standalone. I use USB sticks to move data back and forth to another system. Seems like a pain in the ass? maybe, but this is what makes it stable.

CraigS63 · Post by **CraigS63** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:08 am

There's a whole forum for this!

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewforum.php?f=17

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:39 am

CraigS63 wrote:There's a whole forum for this!

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewforum.php?f=17

Given the relatively small amount of active forum members, does anyone really view anything except for Megaboard (and BST)? I am not the OP but I am kind of under the impression that nobody browses those sub forums individually?

Drone · Post by **Drone** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:03 pm

I do, I read some of the sub forums and never touch megaboard

Studiodawg · Post by **Studiodawg** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:27 am

I always check out the Megaboard and occasionally do a search...I'm also a recordist that feels any newer computer can work for production.

flapmaggot · Post by **flapmaggot** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 1:27 pm

Thanks all for the replies which have all been very helpful. The Dell was my first thought along with PC Audio Labs. I currently have a sweetwater creation station which has been okay but they are expensive. There have been a few clunky moments that may have attributed to Sonar, not necessarily the machine itself. I would hope to continue to use my PCI RME interface than use an adapter from PCIe to PCI so my choices are limited unless I upgrade my interface too$$$$$$

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