Powerful Music Computer

[acurajonathan]

Hi, first time builder here. I'll cut right to it. I'd like to have a computer that can run ableton 9 and logic pro 9 also be able to run various vst's. From what I understand they consume a lot of cpu. Im stuck between going with a high end custamac pro (intel 3770k i believe) or one of the sockets, it seems from what i've read that there is some minor issues with the socket. Will I get that much more performance out of a socket machine, and if so how fast does my processer need to be and at what point might it be overkill? Thank you for your time.

 

[acurajonathan]

I searched a little bit further, and for the price I am thinking about getting the socket setup with the 3930 hexa core processor. Thank you in advance if you think that will be adequate.

 

[Ultima2876]

All way overkill. For a music production computer even an i5-3570k will be absolutely excellent. Unless you're running hundreds of tracks at once, with OSX even a processor half that powerful will be absolutely sufficient. No need to consider xeons at all - if you want to go a bit mad then get an i7 but you will not notice the difference.

Get lots of RAM. You want at least 8gb. Also an SSD; not for your samples but for your OS/apps. This will make a much bigger difference than any processor or any amount of RAM.

I use my MacBook Air - dual core i5 1.6ghz with 4gb RAM for Logic Pro and I've yet to have any latency, glitches or problems. I tend to run about 20-40 tracks all loaded with verbs, compressors, other AUs: the works. So an i5 quad core with 8gb of RAM will absolutely kick ass dude! An i7 might give you more 'peace of mind' but you're probably wasting cash!

 

[Nathan991]

You don't need a socket 2011 CPU. Socket 1155 CPUS like the i5 3570K will work just fine with Music production.