Building your own Music
PC
Selecting the right music PC parts for your needs as a
musician
Motherboard
The most important part in the whole computer aside from your audio card, the motherboard coordinates every single
part in the computer, from the CPU to the audio card. The motherboard determines how fast and stable your system is
and also determines upgrade paths you have available in the computer. As a result, it is important to purchase an
excellent quality motherboard that's based around a good quality chipset.
AMD or INTEL chipsets are by far the best brands and it is important to note that for the best performance and
reliability you should only ever use a motherboard that's based around a chipset made by the same company as the
CPU. This yields the best results. A few years ago now AMD have stopped production on their range of 76x chipsets.
Cheaper chipsets to avoid are VIA, SIS and especially ALI.
CPU
The CPU determines the maximum number of plug-ins and virtual instruments that you can run at the same time. The
CPU’s speed determines the amount of power available to run reverbs and also controls other CPU intensive effects
like VST and DirectX instruments in your projects. Intel is an excellent CPU for a Digital Audio Work Station.
Currently, there are many different model P4 CPUs which at first appear the same but will contain different amounts
of cache and other features. Computer stores typically sell the cheapest model, which may or may not be the best
CPU to select for reasons which are constantly changing every few months.
The two most common types of CPUs are the Dual Core also known as a Pentium D and the newer P4 design called the
core 2 duo. These two types are vastly different and a core 2 duo 2.13 GHz CPU may appear at first to be a slower
CPU when compared to a Dual Core 3.2 GHz; however, the core 2 duo with the lower GHz value is slightly faster. It’s
ultimately faster for audio because the ram and other parts around the CPU run at a much greater speed.
RAM
Another crucial part of the, the ram speed and the closely related FSB affects the speed of the machine and the
amount of plug-ins a machine can run, as everything a computer does goes through the ram at least once. The ram is
as important as the CPU and motherboard for the speed of the machine.
Hard Drives
The hard drive is responsible for storing your audio programs and files. It is also a key part of your computer
that allows it to record and playback large track counts. Even 300 MHz Celeron can easily achieve 60 tracks of
audio playback with two fast hard drives in its system installed correctly. Having 2 physical hard disks in a
computer for audio is essential for reliable playing for over ten tracks.
Sony S-Air Wireless Multi-Rm PC Music System ALT-SA32PC
IBM Music Feature PC card (ISA)
NEW Sony Creative Acid Pro 7.0 Music Loop Creation PC
Dell Custom Pro Recording Studio Music PC Computer
Sibelius 5 EDUCATIONAL Music Notation Academic PC MAC
EMCEE PRO instant replay music software & Dell pc $ 360
MusicXPC C6x Pro Recording Studio Music PC Computer
Ableton Live 8.0 Music Production Software Mac/PC
Music Studio DAW PC w Cakewalk Sonar 8.5 & extras!
Optimized music pc's to get your sessions running smoothly.
| 
