Suggestions for new desktop PC setup?

[bj nick]

I'm seriously considering acquiring a new desktop PC. My existing one is ~8 years old, intel i3 though still decent RAM (12), etc. I want to stop having to make compromises and more or less "have it all." That means a powerful system that will: easily run high-level sampling; plenty of storage, RAM, etc.; a DAW that is well-capable but not overly complex, and will work nicely with Finale in allowing me to efficiently export/mix things on a regular basis to hear how things "should" sound. Generally this will be "okay, let's see what this section sounds like properly mixed and not just HP".....in order words, export the tracks to the DAW, some simple levels/balancing, done.

I'm guessing the $$$ range will be wide, depending on how serious I want to get. I'm not an audiophile and not looking to spend a fortune, but I know that quality costs. My main interest is composing using Finale; I'm retired, study orchestration with a top guy, I spend my mornings/afternoons composing. I'd like to think I could get a decent setup: desktop PC/quality DAW/selected sampling sounds (I know it's a bottomless pit) for maybe......couple grand or so? (I understand with the DAW, there are many, many options including online versions, and maybe I don't consider it part of the PC itself?)

I look forward to any suggestions/wisdom/warnings/etc.

[miker]

Start with a Mac? <Covers head and runs for nearest exit>

[motet]

I don't know from DAWs, but any new PC will be fast enough to run Finale. I suggest at least 16Gb of memory and a solid state drive. If you get a fast but not the fastest CPU, they are fairly inexpensive. Maybe $1,500 with a nice monitor, several hundred less if you already have one.

[ttw]

I have to replace an old PC (about 6 years old) for which parts are no longer available (I'll replace it when it dies.)

I have been looking at an HP OMEN 30 with lots of stuff, 65g memory (the largest available and biggest additional cost), an 11th gen I7 (or i9?) cheep (next to the cheapest), 1tb SSD (I used to work with these in the early 1980s on Crays), and a 2tb spinning disk. Fancy ($10 WIFI and $25 or so keyboard) and no warranty or 365 (I got that for the whole house). I'll use the old monitors (until these break).

Total cost was $2600 or so. Last year I replaced a laptop similarly. I waited until one of HP's holiday sales (Memorial day, July 4, etc.) and the price went from 1800 to 1400. I hope fo similar savings next year. (Assuming chips are still being made.)

[bj nick]

Start with a Mac? <Covers head and runs for nearest exit>

Haha......NOT a MAC guy....not at all. Funny that I did IT help for my school back in Imac days....but that was back when dinosaurs roamed.

[bj nick]

I realize I may be asking sort of the wrong question. What I really want is ALL OF THIS: Solid, capable PC with latest chip (I believe that's i9), maybe 16-32G RAM(64?), ss 1TB drive, orchestral sampling libraries a la "Cinebrass," "Session Strings Pro," and the like, and a really good DAW. I already have a good monitor, and would get another besides to mount vertically to make large ensemble scoring convenient.

PLEASE, any suggestions, etc. more than welcome.

[motet]

I think you need to do some research yourself and find out what sort of resources a DAW and sampled sounds need. Unlikely someone here will be able to say "buy this." Finale itself doesn't take advantage of multi-core processors and likely never will. You'll pay a high premium for a i9 system; make sure you need it first.

I've had good luck with Dell over the years. They're reliable and reasonably priced. You might browse their XPS business desktops. You could chat with a sales person there if you want someone to advise you, though they won't know from DAWs or sample libraries.

[bj nick]

I've done a LOT of looking and researching.......just trying to educate myself especially about sampling libraries and the like......very wide variety out there and it's something I don't know a lot about. It'll run into some money and I want to get top-notch stuff. Good point about i9, but the way I figure it, won't be that long before it's middle of the pack--or less-- so better to at least start ahead of the curve. Regarding multi-cores, an area I know little about, and I accept Finale won't make use of it, but the DAWs I've looked at sure seem to. Happy to hear I'm wrong about any of this....part of educating myself.

[bj nick]

I've had a few Dell's and they've been good for me. I would definitely consider one again.

[ebiggs1]

Start with a Mac? <Covers head and runs for nearest exit>

...

.. to get a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a $4000++ Mac that won't do anything any $1500 off the shelf Dell won't do.

I'm retired, study orchestration with a top guy, I spend my mornings/afternoons composing.

I don't think you need any super computer just get a high end stock Dell with lots of RAM. What I would highly suggest, however, is for you to get the biggest monitor you can. I have a 32" monitor and it sure makes composing a lot easier for our old retired eyeballs.

[bj nick]

Excellent suggestion, especially vis a vis old eyeballs. I like my 26" newer monitor, but I've been to a friend's studio and he has two large monitors, one of them he has vertical which makes it wayyy easier to do large ensembles. Maybe I could get a 32" and use the 27" vertical......or heck, vice versa. Re "high end Dell," yeah.....that sounds about right. i9, 10-core, 32G RAM will handle any sampling packages. I just don't want to make compromises where I hear later on, "Well, if you had bought THIS, then you could have gotten THAT."

Re MACs: pretty much.....

[Jetcopy]

Reading similar threads on VI- Control, which is focused primarily on DAWs, many users won't have less than 64 GB of RAM. But this depends on your usage and needs. If you're earning your living with a DAW, then you need anything that will speed up your workflow. I have 16 GB of RAM and for the most part, I can use whatever samples I need. If I do get into trouble, you can freeze tracks or purge samples in Kontakt in your DAW to free up resources.

[ebiggs1]

I like my 26" newer monitor, but I've been to a friend's studio and he has two large monitors, one of them he has vertical which makes it wayyy easier to do large ensembles.

I did the two monitor dance for a while. I can tell you that one 32" beats that set up hands down or maybe eyeballs! I have never run a DAW and I likely never will but I do have three Garritan instrument packages and NotePerformer 3 plus some reverb add-ons and my years old Dell I7 runs them just fine. It's your money so you can buy whatever you want but make sure you get what you really intend on doing.

Any off the shelf Dell especially a I7 up wil run Finale just fine. I do suggest at least 16GB of RAM. However I just replaced my laptop with an ASUS, off the shelf, on sale, all they had, with a I5 latest version with 20BG of RAM and it is running all my Finale stuff just fine also.

[ebiggs1]

BTW, the ASUS I5 laptop was only $450 ! Plus $80 bucks for the extra RAM to bring it up to 20GB.

[bj nick]

Reading similar threads on VI- Control, which is focused primarily on DAWs, many users won't have less than 64 GB of RAM. But this depends on your usage and needs. If you're earning your living with a DAW, then you need anything that will speed up your workflow. I have 16 GB of RAM and for the most part, I can use whatever samples I need. If I do get into trouble, you can freeze tracks or purge samples in Kontakt in your DAW to free up resources.

Sorry for my ignorance: Please define "VI Control." Looked all over, can't get a definition.

[bj nick]

BTW, the ASUS I5 laptop was only $450 ! Plus $80 bucks for the extra RAM to bring it up to 20GB.

Thanks, ebiggs, good stuff. Yeah, I want to get everything I need to "do things right," no compromises, but I don't want to way overspend, either. To be clear: Finale runs fine right now on my old i3 w/12G RAM. But I want MORE: I want high-level orchestral sampling sounds with no compromise. After several suggestions from people here I started using NP3, and the results are generally MUCH better, especially the flute (writing an extended flute work)......but there are some things I hate about the flute sound, and I don't want to make the compromise any more. Having said that, I can't afford many thousands of dollars either, so there is always going to be some compromise.

[bj nick]

I like my 26" newer monitor, but I've been to a friend's studio and he has two large monitors, one of them he has vertical which makes it wayyy easier to do large ensembles.

I did the two monitor dance for a while. I can tell you that one 32" beats that set up hands down or maybe eyeballs! I have never run a DAW and I likely never will but I do have three Garritan instrument packages and NotePerformer 3 plus some reverb add-ons and my years old Dell I7 runs them just fine. It's your money so you can buy whatever you want but make sure you get what you really intend on doing.

Any off the shelf Dell especially a I7 up wil run Finale just fine. I do suggest at least 16GB of RAM. However I just replaced my laptop with an ASUS, off the shelf, on sale, all they had, with a I5 latest version with 20BG of RAM and it is running all my Finale stuff just fine also.

32" monitor is a good suggestion; thanks for that perspective.

[Zoots]

If you get something like an i7, try the on chip (part of CPU) graphics first. The current offerings are a far, far cry from the original on-chip graphics. Unless you are doing action gaming or something like Flight Simulator 2020 you may find it is all you need and save a few dollars since graphics cards aren't cheap.
Having said that, I'll let the Finale users who manipulate very large scores provide some real-world-Finale comment.
Zoots

[Jetcopy]

Sorry for my ignorance: Please define "VI Control." Looked all over, can't get a definition.

vI-control.net is a music website dealing with DAWs, sampling, etc...

This thread touches a bit on your situation.

https://vi-control.net/community/thread ... ve.105901/

[bj nick]

My post was from several years ago.

[BuonTempi]

AI Bot?

Obscure link hidden in the text, and "Finale 2020" in the signature.

[bj nick]

Wow I think you are correct. I deleted my response and just noted that it's years late. What is the upside on this? What would be the motivation/purpose?

[BuonTempi]

Having links from 'legit' sites raises the search ranking of the target site.

[bj nick]

Yeah I checked on the supposed user and they apparently joined the forum at the same time they created the post with the nonsensical "Finale 2020" designation. The post itself reads like a typical AI-generated comment/review you often see these days, which I should have recognize right away. I can only plead brain cramp since it was very late at night.

My big wake- up call on AI was when I saw a recent news clip of a foreign leader making a speech in Spanish. With subtitles. Then soon after I saw the exact speech with the foreign leader speaking in English with an appropriate foreign accent. His actual mouth/lips creating the words on the video as if that's what you were actually seeing. I realized at that moment that literally nothing can be trusted any longer unless the person is standing right in front of you speaking to you. So creating a totally phony but realistic post on a music notation forum is obviously no challenge at all. And to my question, what would be the purpose? I would imagine to spark an interaction intended to create an opportunity to hack/scam/all of it.

Last thing I ever in a million years figured would come up on a forum like this. If moderators think this is out of line even mentioning, feel free to delete.

[miker]

And….

Poof! They’re gone.