Sturdy rack-mounted audio PC?

[1llusion]

Hi,

 

I would like to ask for an advice on a rack-mounted PC that won't break the bank.

The computer will be dedicated to live audio, so I need as much processing power as possible. Plenty of RAM and high-speed read/write is also essential.

Graphics is not important and I should do fine with integrated graphics.

I will be using external sound cards, support for thunderbolt would be a bonus but is not essential. More important are plenty of high-speed USB ports.

 

I will be running Ableton Live 9 on that machine and that is all (except for some VST and related software).

The budget is around 300 - 500 pounds.

 

I would also like to ask for a recommendation what monitor I should get. Again, I don't need a lot, so a smaller sturdy monitor that will do the job would be ideal.

 

Thank you very much!

Chris

[Djole123]

You'll have to dig through Ebay or Craiglist, since there is no way you can get powerful machine at that price range.

[1llusion]

You'll have to dig through Ebay or Craiglist, since there is no way you can get powerful machine at that price range.

I probably phrased it wrong, I meant as powerful as possible within the budget. 

[Streetguru]

Hi,

 

and by live audio you mean, what? Just playing music files? Editing music files? Because like If I'm not mistaken you don't need a powerful PC at all to do music making

 

I'm also not sure why you'd need it to be rack mountable

 

you'd probably want to start here unless the software you're using isn't multi-thread optimized

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PXBRD3

Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/PXBRD3/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor  (£101.34 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  (£105.08 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£57.94 @ More Computers)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£37.98 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card  (£20.75 @ Aria PC)

Case: Xigmatek Recon ATX Mid Tower Case  (£22.78 @ CCL Computers)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  (£29.99 @ Aria PC)

Total: £375.86

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-03 22:07 GMT+0000

[1llusion]

and by live audio you mean, what? Just playing music files? Editing music files? Because like If I'm not mistaken you don't need a powerful PC at all to do music making

Using it with a band for gigs. Basically, I will have a midi controller sending signals to the computer that will either play back a music file or generate a sound from a software synthesizer.

 

The problem here is latency, which should be as low as possible. I could get around with a relatively weak PC, but it is good to have a lot of headroom. So when I play a complicated chord or when there is a fast part, the latency won't go sky high (my current problem).

 

EDIT: Rack-mountable option is just convenience so I can fit it in together with rest of the tech and keep it away from the stage.

Thank you for the suggestion!

[Streetguru]

Using it with a band for gigs. Basically, I will have a midi controller sending signals to the computer that will either play back a music file or generate a sound from a software synthesizer.

 

The problem here is latency, which should be as low as possible. I could get around with a relatively weak PC, but it is good to have a lot of headroom. So when I play a complicated chord or when there is a fast part, the latency won't go sky high (my current problem).

Well then the the FX 8 cores are going to be about your best bet for having a lot of headroom, possibly, unless you just wanted to get a laptop possible

 

you should also probably spend some money on a large SSD so there's basically no chance of it breaking as you move it about.

[1llusion]

Well then the the FX 8 cores are going to be about your best bet for having a lot of headroom, possibly, unless you just wanted to get a laptop possible

 

you should also probably spend some money on a large SSD so there's basically no chance of it breaking as you move it about.

I think this will be perfect. Thank you very much!