• Registered: 2009-11-02
  • Posts: 19

Topic: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Hi all

Well I'm about to do what I should always have done; get a bare bones PC together just for audio.  No emails, no net, no games or anything - just my workstation and a few plug ins.

I'm looking for suggestions for a rock solid well proven desktop PC please.  Motherboard, CPU, RAM, and Operating System?

I am using a Fireface 800 with Lavry Blacks for A/D/A.  My main workstation is SawStudio.  Also use SoundForge and Word2Wav.

This used to run just fine on my previous PC, which was XP by the way.  Only since going over to Win7 have I had problems with my software crashing and messages like; ASIO driver re-set, shutting engine down.  For that reason I'm tempted to go back to XP but I like the idea of using a lot of ram and I think XP only sees up to 8 gig doesn't it?

So if anyone can point me towards some components that are known to "play nice" with my FF800, I'd be very grateful.  I need this system to be useful for at least a couple of years and I don't have a particular budget.  I'll spend whatever it takes to get something that I can rely upon.

Thanks very much in advance for your time.

  • Registered: 2008-12-03
  • Posts: 182

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Send an email to ADK ?

-----------------------

Various ADK computers :-)
  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Hi,
Those messages have nothing to do with the Operating system. That is from incompatible or malfunctioning computer hardware and/or drivers.
You can contact ADK for a whole new system or to setup/repair your current system.
If your in the US it is worth looking into.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website

  • Registered: 2009-11-02
  • Posts: 19

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Thanks for the ADK suggestion.  That won't work for me since I'm in the UK.  Plus I have an existing box that I'd like to upgrade from if that's possible.

Can anyone from RME chime in with at least a motherboard suggestion please?

  • Registered: 2011-05-31
  • Posts: 21

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

If I were you, I would wait until April/May when the new line of CPUs from Intel will be available to consumers. Also, there will be new chipsets for them.

Future configuration:

Motherboard: New Z75 or Z77 chipset (the difference between them is the Intel SRT)
CPU: New Intel i5 3570 or i5 3570K (K -> if you want to do some overclocking)
RAM: 16 GB DDR3 1600 Mhz Dual Channel - CL9 latency is ok (Corsair Vengeance, G. Skill Ripjaws, Kingston HyperX)
Optional: Firewire PCIe card with a TI chipset - if the motherboard doesn't have a TI one (example: SIIG FireWire 2-Port PCIe, product code NN-E20012-S2)

Asus or Gigabyte are the top manufacturers for MBs. I'm an Asus kind of guy, but either way you can't go wrong. Some of Gigabyte's current line of motherboards have a TI firewire chipset (example for Z68 chipset: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3), so you don't need to buy a dedicated firewire card/controller that has a TI chipset. The current Asus ones only use VIA firewire chipsets.

Present configuration:

Motherboard: Z68 chipset (Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 or Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3)
CPU: Intel i5 2500 or i5 2500K
RAM: Same as above
Optional: Firewire PCIe card with a TI chipset, if you go with an Asus motherboard

Hope it helps.

  • Registered: 2009-11-02
  • Posts: 19

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Thanks for the in depth reply. Assuming this should play nice with FF800? Can't wait till April I'm afraid.  Any point in going i7?

7 Reply by JimmyHoffa (edited by JimmyHoffa 2012-02-21 14:44:21)

  • Registered: 2011-05-31
  • Posts: 21

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

If you go the Gigabyte route, you have 2 options:

1. GA-Z68XP-UD5
2. GA-Z68X-UD5-B3

As you can see here the difference is that the XP model has HDMI output, so you don't have to buy a dedicated graphics card for your system. Simply connect your monitor to this port and using the GPU integrated in the i5 2500 CPU, you'll have graphics! smile If you're planing in using a dedicated graphics card (which I would recommend - it could be an entry level graphics card, nothing fancy) you can buy either one. The point in buying a dedicated graphics card is because it will minimize the stress on your CPU (lower temperature, extended life time) and you'll have better graphics and multiple video outputs (say you have 2 displays).
Both MB's have the same TI chipset (TSB43AB23) which is very good for your FF800, so it should play nicely with it! smile
Tip: After building your system, ALWAYS get the latest MB firmware from the manufacturer's website and flash it!

The difference between the i5 and the i7 is that the i7 has hyper-threading (each physical core has a virtual one). This is useful when the software knows how to use this function. I don't know much about SawStudio and its ability to use hyper-threading, you should ask them if this feature will have any impact performance wise. Personally, I don't think that the i7 is worth the extra of minimum 100 euros. The i5 2500 is a beast!
Here is a nice post about HT. Some people even said that HT decreased the performance, so they turned it off. I don't own an i7, so it's impossible to tell you my point of view in this matter.
In my opinion, you'll gain much more performance when using a SSD for your OS, say 64GB Crucial M4 series or Samsung 830 series (SandForce controllers - OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, etc. - aren't reliable!), and 2xHDD in RAID for the large media files. If money ain't a problem for you, then buy a larger SSD with SLC memory. tongue

Best of luck.

  • Registered: 2009-11-02
  • Posts: 19

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Thank you JH - you're very kind.

I like the idea of a solid state drive for the OS.  I have one in a my little Dell notebook and it's completely silent.

  • Registered: 2011-05-31
  • Posts: 21

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

You're welcome, Studmuffin!
May the Gods of audio protect your system! smile

  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Hi,
Gigabyte and ASUS boards with the latest BIOS will work fine. Any of the i5 or i7 will be more than fast enough for the vast majority of users. You will need adjust the BIOS from it;s defaults if you want full performance.
Otherwise the already well documented Windows 7 tweaks.

The Socket 2011 and 1366 i7 are best for people do large VST instrument work or video work. For more audio work the 1155 and 1156 are more than adequate.
If you mainly doing audio recording then the SSD drive would be far more useful as the audio production drive than as the OS drive.
All it will do there is make the OS boot faster and some programs load faster. It will have minimal effect on how many tracks you can record and playback.

Other than this Windows 7 home or pro 64 bit with 8 gigs of ram and you good to go.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website

11 Reply by JimmyHoffa (edited by JimmyHoffa 2012-02-21 17:02:40)

  • Registered: 2011-05-31
  • Posts: 21

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

ChrisLudwig wrote:

If you mainly doing audio recording then the SSD drive would be far more useful as the audio production drive than as the OS drive.

True! But considering the prices for the larger SSDs... sad Who wouldn't want a 512 GB SSD? I'm not yet ready to sell a kidney! tongue
Second point of view: SSD technology it's still in its early stages. Even though they have been available for many years, I still don't trust them to store my entire work! If your SSD dies, no more data to recover...

  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Hi,
An 80 gig or higher drive is more than enough for a couple album worth of tracks. I never keep inactive projects in the system anyways. I end up archiving them. Standard hard drives can already do deal with high track count and high sample rate just fine with no need for raid arrays. Just be diligent with backing up your projects and your fine.

Audio program in general do not benefit greatly from and SSD drive since most of their activity other than opening and closing a project is keep in ram. The drive speed is only really helpful for raw track count. Which is is overkill for even most big studio people.
SSD drives would be of the highest benefit as a sample library drive but of course they are still far too mall and expensive for this.

Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website

  • Registered: 2009-11-02
  • Posts: 19

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

ChrisLudwig wrote:

Hi,
Gigabyte and ASUS boards with the latest BIOS will work fine. Any of the i5 or i7 will be more than fast enough for the vast majority of users. You will need adjust the BIOS from it;s defaults if you want full performance.
Otherwise the already well documented Windows 7 tweaks.

The Socket 2011 and 1366 i7 are best for people do large VST instrument work or video work. For more audio work the 1155 and 1156 are more than adequate.
If you mainly doing audio recording then the SSD drive would be far more useful as the audio production drive than as the OS drive.
All it will do there is make the OS boot faster and some programs load faster. It will have minimal effect on how many tracks you can record and playback.

Other than this Windows 7 home or pro 64 bit with 8 gigs of ram and you good to go.

Thanks Chris

Thank you Chris.  Is there a definitive reference for Win 7 tweaks anywhere?  And how about BIOS tweaks - anything I can send to my tech guy?

  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Hi,

http://www.tweakhound.com/2011/07/27/2460/
http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/index.html

The BIOs setting will depend on what motherboard you end up with.

Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website

  • Registered: 2011-05-31
  • Posts: 21

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

ChrisLudwig wrote:

Hi,
An 80 gig or higher drive is more than enough for a couple album worth of tracks. I never keep inactive projects in the system anyways. I end up archiving them. Standard hard drives can already do deal with high track count and high sample rate just fine with no need for raid arrays. Just be diligent with backing up your projects and your fine.

Audio program in general do not benefit greatly from and SSD drive since most of their activity other than opening and closing a project is keep in ram. The drive speed is only really helpful for raw track count. Which is is overkill for even most big studio people.
SSD drives would be of the highest benefit as a sample library drive but of course they are still far too mall and expensive for this.

Chris

When I said 2xHDD in RAID, I was talking about RAID 1 (mirroring -> safety for your data). If Studmuffin has a big library of samples, projects, etc., then 2xHDD 1TB (or even 2TB, 4TB) in RAID 1 it's perfect, at a fraction of the cost of the same-sized SSD. There's no more need to archive or backup your valuable data on external disks/drives. For me, it's the perfect fail proof & medium budget solution. And combined with a 64GB SSD for your OS... ROCK and ROCKET! smile

16 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,599

Re: FF800 - Help me spec a PC that will be rock solid?

Note that with an SSD there is no need to have an audio data and an OS drive anymore. No fragmentation, full speed guaranteed, both can be on one drive. And with the prices for a reliable drive like the Crucial M4, I see no need to buy '80GB'. 256 GByte is the best starting point, IMHO.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website