Workstation Advice

[andy_composer]

Hi everyone! I'm new :)

 

I am a composer and need a powerful Audio Workstation. The amount that websites are charging for the setup i require is out of my budget. 

 

The most important part of my setup is i need at least 128GB Ram and 4 x SATA 3 ports for 4 very fast SSD's.

 

My Budget is about £2500 (UK - Pound) or $3842 (US - Dollars)

 

Any Help would be great! 

 

Thankyou

 

[amas]

128gb of RAM for audio? I guess I'm just ignorant on the software but what do you do to need that much?

[andy_composer]

128gb of RAM for audio? I guess I'm just ignorant on the software but what do you do to need that much?

Yes, the software (DAW) i use is Cubase and i use an orchestral library called East West Hollywood Strings, it loads all the samples into the RAM so i can be played instantly (comes of an SSD too), Just the String Library is 320GB. The Brass Library is about 160GB. The Woodwind Library is about 160GB. Percussion isnt released yet but will be about the same. 

 

My projects are very large and thats why i need all that RAM

[CouchSloth]

MSI X79A-GD458D supports 128GB of ram. It's socket 2011.

[brownninja97]

Yes, the software (DAW) i use is Cubase and i use an orchestral library called East West Hollywood Strings, it loads all the samples into the RAM so i can be played instantly (comes of an SSD too), Just the String Library is 320GB. The Brass Library is about 160GB. The Woodwind Library is about 160GB. Percussion isnt released yet but will be about the same. 

 

My projects are very large and thats why i need all that RAM

holy well damn(that didnt make sense my bad) i might be wrong but id say the price your looking at is closer to £3000. Look at the this motherboard.http://www.asus.com/Commericial_Servers_Workstations/Z9PED16/

Two sets of this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-64GB-Vengeance-Memory-Module/dp/B008KSHY2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368869575&sr=8-1&keywords=128gb+ram

And any old samsung 840 pro 512gb

 

That alone is closing in on about £2000 or even more. The dual processors may break the bank as well. Sorry about this bad news

[andy_composer]

MSI X79A-GD458D supports 128GB of ram. It's socket 2011.

Cool ill check it out :)

[Guest]

Having worked with similar programs, I would recommend starting with less RAM and seeing how you go from there. 128GB is going to cost quite a lot and may not be needed. 

 

To get a better idea of what you need, what are you doing for storage? How do you plan to compile? Straight to an SSD and then copy across to say a RAID 10 array of 2TB drives? Are you using the program standalone or from a desk? If so, what are you using for link?

 

Also - where are you planning to purchase from?

 

BTW - moved to NB&P

[andy_composer]

Having worked with similar programs, I would recommend starting with less RAM and seeing how you go from there. 128GB is going to cost quite a lot and may not be needed. 

 

To get a better idea of what you need, what are you doing for storage? How do you plan to compile? Straight to an SSD and then copy across to say a RAID 10 array of 2TB drives? Are you using the program standalone or from a desk? If so, what are you using for link?

 

Also - where are you planning to purchase from?

 

BTW - moved to NB&P

 

I only need to stream from the SSD's (where the samples will be) i will be saving project information and audio onto large mechanical hard drives. The SSD's will only be written to once when I install the Sample Library. They will not need to be edited or re-written, just read only. 

[andy_composer]

if i get the ASUS Z9PE-D16

 

can i just get one processor for now and 8x8GB Ram Sticks just install 64GB then it will run. then in the future upgrade to a second processor and another 8x8GB Ram Sticks?

[Guest]

if i get the ASUS Z9PE-D16

 

can i just get one processor for now and 8x8GB Ram Sticks just install 64GB then it will run. then in the future upgrade to a second processor and another 8x8GB Ram Sticks?

It'll run with a single CPU. Aside from that motherboard and Xeon CPU setup that you can afford, I would look at either a single 512GB Samsung 840 Pro, 2 256GB versions or wait and see what the new Asus RoG PCIe SSD has in terms of price to performance - it may be worth its cost. For bulk storage - 6 - 8 2TB Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 10 will be a sweet setup for you. I'll have more for you later, just a bit strapped for time.

[andy_composer]

It'll run with a single CPU. Aside from that motherboard and Xeon CPU setup that you can afford, I would look at either a single 512GB Samsung 840 Pro, 2 256GB versions or wait and see what the new Asus RoG PCIe SSD has in terms of price to performance - it may be worth its cost. For bulk storage - 6 - 8 2TB Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 10 will be a sweet setup for you. I'll have more for you later, just a bit strapped for time.

thankyou thats great, i like the fact i can save up now and still have a machine then double its power in the future :D

[andy_composer]

What ram would anyone suggest?

[andy_composer]

Can somebody recommend a power supply compatible with my motherboard please?

Also what coolers should I get for the CPU's that will fit in the case?

 

This is the desired system...

 

Motherboard: ASUS Z9PE-D16

 

CPU: Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2643 x 2

 

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM DIMM 64 GB ECC Registered DDR3-1333 Quad-Kit x 4 (256GB Ram)

 

 

Storage:

Samsung 840 Series Pro 512GB 2.5 inch SATA Solid State Drive x 2 

3TB Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3.5" SATA III Hard Drive x 4

 

Case: SilverStone SST-TJ09S-W

[andy_composer]

Please Help me guys!  :wacko:

[WoodenMarker]

It'll run with a single CPU. Aside from that motherboard and Xeon CPU setup that you can afford, I would look at either a single 512GB Samsung 840 Pro, 2 256GB versions or wait and see what the new Asus RoG PCIe SSD has in terms of price to performance - it may be worth its cost. For bulk storage - 6 - 8 2TB Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 10 will be a sweet setup for you. I'll have more for you later, just a bit strapped for time.

Why not 3TB barracudas?

[Guest]

Please Help me guys!  :wacko:

I don't have a lot of time right now so if you can shoot me a PM and remind me to come back here - I'll be able to help you :)

[andy_composer]

I don't have a lot of time right now so if you can shoot me a PM and remind me to come back here - I'll be able to help you :)

Thankyou

[Guest]

Thankyou

Motherboard: Asus Z9PE-D16 - $500

CPU: Intel Xeon E5 2643 x 2 - $1100ea

RAM: Kingston Value ECC 64GB x 4 - $1000 ea

Samsung 840 Pro 512GB SSD x 2 - $500 ea

WD Red 3TB x 4 - $150 ea

Case: Silverstone TJ09

 

Starting with motherboard, 64GB RAM, single CPU.

In all honestly I wouldn't. What you've listed is in all honestly completely the wrong thing. That's more of what you would put in a Norco case and chuck in a data center. 

 

I would strongly urge looking at a 3930K or smaller xeons, 64GB of RAM and perhaps the new PCIe SSD from Asus under the RoG banner. You're looking basically at $4000 US for that list and that's before the PSU which for this board will be expensive. 

 

It may be a lovely thing to have everything loaded onto RAM but financially it's not worth it. You're looking at $1000 for 64GB of ECC value RAM alone. 

[andy_composer]

In all honestly I wouldn't. What you've listed is in all honestly completely the wrong thing. That's more of what you would put in a Norco case and chuck in a data center. 

 

I would strongly urge looking at a 3930K or smaller xeons, 64GB of RAM and perhaps the new PCIe SSD from Asus under the RoG banner. You're looking basically at $4000 US for that list and that's before the PSU which for this board will be expensive. 

 

It may be a lovely thing to have everything loaded onto RAM but financially it's not worth it. You're looking at $1000 for 64GB of ECC value RAM alone. 

 

But its really what I want, perhaps a system with 128GB Ram then?

[Guest]

But its really what I want, perhaps a system with 128GB Ram then?

That's getting slightly more realistic. But even then that's pretty expensive. A couple of systems I've seen running Cubase both only had 16Gb of RAM and managed perfectly fine according to their riders. 

 

I'd suggest starting with 32 or 64 GB and then buying more as you feel you need it. RAM in large amounts is bloody expensive. 

[andy_composer]

That's getting slightly more realistic. But even then that's pretty expensive. A couple of systems I've seen running Cubase both only had 16Gb of RAM and managed perfectly fine according to their riders. 

 

I'd suggest starting with 32 or 64 GB and then buying more as you feel you need it. RAM in large amounts is bloody expensive. 

I know thats why with my original setup i was saying ill start with 64GB ram, then every couple of months when i can afford it ill keep upgrading. Whats wrong with the setup i suggested then, other than cost?

[Guest]

I know thats why with my original setup i was saying ill start with 64GB ram, then every couple of months when i can afford it ill keep upgrading. Whats wrong with the setup i suggested then, other than cost?

That's pretty much it. You're looking at what is atleast $8000 worth of operating hardware and my concern is that will you actually notice a difference in performance? Is it worth the pricetag?

[andy_composer]

That's pretty much it. You're looking at what is atleast $8000 worth of operating hardware and my concern is that will you actually notice a difference in performance? Is it worth the pricetag?

Well I'm willing to pay it, the orchestral templates I require use a collosal amount of ram and power. It's not greed its because the software libraries do use that much power. So from the list I've got what else do i need? The orchestral library will be about 1.3TB of samples that will be loaded.

[WoodenMarker]

I was just wondering...

Would it really be that bad to instead get less ram and just get a massive ssd raid array with an awesome? How far off would that be from a ram disk?

[andy_composer]

I was just wondering...

Would it really be that bad to instead get less ram and just get a massive ssd raid array with an awesome? How far off would that be from a ram disk?

It still uses a lot of ram as well as fast hard drive access