Music Composition Workstation

[Liammontgomery43]

Hi there, I'm looking to configure a PC for use in composing film and game soundtracks. I would like to go with AMD however I have heard rumors of incompatibility with various pieces of music hardware/software. Is there any merit to these rumors or should I go ahead with AMD

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi there, I'm looking to configure a PC for use in composing film and game soundtracks. I would like to go with AMD however I have heard rumors of incompatibility with various pieces of music hardware/software. Is there any merit to these rumors or should I go ahead with AMD

Have you got any links to those rumours? I haven’t heard anything about DAW incompatibility.

 

[Liammontgomery43]

Hi, thanks for the reply. The rumors are more word of mouth I have had a quick look around online and there are several forum posts but I cant find anything that says specifically what exactly wasn't compatible, which does of course put doubt that there is any truth to it at all. However the PC I am planning will cost around £1500 which of course is wasted if the system isn't compatible.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi, thanks for the reply. The rumors are more word of mouth I have had a quick look around online and there are several forum posts but I cant find anything that says specifically what exactly wasn't compatible, which does of course put doubt that there is any truth to it at all. However the PC I am planning will cost around £1500 which of course is wasted if the system isn't compatible.

What DAW/s do you use?

 

[Liammontgomery43]

I use Reaper

 

[Liammontgomery43]

Here's the planned build, I already own a gtx 1060 so plan to move that to the new computer

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't worry about the RAID, an external backup would be a FAR better option. Drives rarely fail nowadays so periodic backup and cloud storage are a better preventative measure.

The rest looks excellent. I don't know if DAW products make good use of a cache drive? Just worth considering.

 

[Liammontgomery43]

Oh great that will save me a few bucks, what's a cache drive? learnt about all this stuff over the last day or two aha

 

[SpyderTracks]

I use Reaper

The only thing I can see mentioned is that Thunderbolt is only available on Intel motherboards as it's an Intel product.

But no, there's no compatibility issues on any DAW with Ryzen 3000 that I've heard of, none whatsoever.

The only area's I've heard of possible issues is with the ASMedia USB controller that's on some lower range motherboards sometimes not playing nice with USB controllers and soundcards, but you'd have to check that on your particular hardware.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Here's the planned build, I already own a gtx 1060 so plan to move that to the new computer
View attachment 15627

I would say if you can stretch to the 3700x it would be well worth it, especially if you're multichanneling above say 64 channels.

 

[Scott]

I would say if you can stretch to the 3700x it would be well worth it, especially if you're multichanneling above say 64 channels.

That's a very fair point actually. For a build of this budget I would even consider the 3800X which isn't that much more expensive now. It's the same chip, just better binned so you get better frequencies (it's more efficient).

 

[Liammontgomery43]

Ah I use over 200 channels aha I'll definitely look into the 3700x

 

[Liammontgomery43]

I write mainly orchestral film/game music. I've started using template to speed up the workflow unfortunately my current rig just isn't anywhere near fast enough to take advantage

 

[SpyderTracks]

I write mainly orchestral film/game music. I've started using template to speed up the workflow unfortunately my current rig just isn't anywhere near fast enough to take advantage

With the 3700x and the RAM you’ve selected, I think that would show a phenomenal improvement.

let me just research the usb controllers on the motherboard you selected.

 

[Scott]

Oh great that will save me a few bucks, what's a cache drive? learnt about all this stuff over the last day or two aha

A cache drive is a drive that gets used when the memory starts to get full. Your primary drive only has 2 lanes..... one in and one out. If you have a secondary cache drive, it gets 100% utilisation by the program rather than having to allow for the OS and all background programs.

It's effectively an over-spill for the RAM and can make a big difference with video editing etc. I don't know audio though so @SpyderTracks will know much better than me.

 

[Liammontgomery43]

I have a lot of issues with running out of memory currently, I recently upgraded from 8gb to 16gb but while I saw a massive improvement it still isn't quite enough.

 

[SpyderTracks]

A cache drive is a drive that gets used when the memory starts to get full. Your primary drive only has 2 lanes..... one in and one out. If you have a secondary cache drive, it gets 100% utilisation by the program rather than having to allow for the OS and all background programs.

It's effectively an over-spill for the RAM and can make a big difference with video editing etc. I don't know audio though so @SpyderTracks will know much better than me.

I’m not aware of DAWs using a cache drive, a friend of mine is an audio engineer working in ProTools and he live records 256 channel orchestras and he’s never mentioned requiring a scratch drive, but I’ll check it out also.

 

[Scott]

I have a lot of issues with running out of memory currently, I recently upgraded from 8gb to 16gb but while I saw a massive improvement it still isn't quite enough.

32GB would definitely be recommended..... also.... check the 3800X over the 3700X. The difference in price is minuscule now.

 

[Liammontgomery43]

Hot damn, I've always said ProTools only makes sense in a professional studio

 

[Liammontgomery43]

wow £7 difference I'll take it