I built an intel system recently with the same goals, i went for the i7 series CPU on the LGA 1366 platform.

The LGA1156 platform you mention is intels mainstream chipset, so if you are building a system for maximum performance and upgradability in the future i would consider the LGA1366 chipset as that is intels 'enthusiast' platform. They will release the highest performing CPU's for this chipset, and the unlocked extreme edition overclocking chips. A 1366 motherboard will be a tad more expensive, but it will mean a couple of years down the track you can stick a ridiculous extreme edition chip in it and it will be an awesome upgrade, rather than building a new system again from scratch.

Also there are a couple of performance advantages like hyperthreading, turbo mode and a triple channel memory controller that i'm not certain the 1156 chipset supports.

With a triple channel memory controller your best bet is to go for 6GB of ram in 3x2GB sticks (one stick per channel). Also 6GB gives you a bit more headroom than 4 if you want to use a lot of sample based instruments. Corsair/g.skill/OCZ memory designed for overclocking is a good start, CAS8 or lower, 1600mhz. It's not that expensive at the moment.

Motherboard wise Asus/Gigabyte/EVGA are probably your safest bets. If you are going to overclock you probably want to consider an aftermarket air cooler like the prolimatech megahalems or true 120 etc. Instability in a DAW is a real pain so building the system to be powerful enough without overclocking it to far is a good idea, and if you do overclock it do it properly with a lot of testing or you'll end up frustrated with crashes while you're trying to produce.

You haven't mentioned a disk system, there's too many options to go through here like raid etc, but i simply went for a 300GB Velociraptor (operating system & production s/w disk), and a terabyte storage drive. With the aim of later moving the operating system to a solid state disk and using the velociraptor purely as a production disk. (Not ideal having them on the same drive as i currently do, but i've had no problems) It will be good as a production disk since it's a very fast drive and is still big enough to hold all my DAW software and sample library.

Lastly don't get a chingchong powersupply, go with corsair/seasonic. If you get a good one it will be more efficient, stable and outlast your system living on in your next build.

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Look for reviews on the Dell Studio XPS 9000. It seems like a pretty solid machine at a pretty reasonable price, plus you get a hardware warranty with it that you normally wouldn't get with a self-built system. Looks like it's built for "high performance" purposes.

Go Quad or don't bother.

Intel also has a six core CPU now. $1,100, though.

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Alan remember I use Ableton, no Quad-Core support. Useless to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Osmodiar I built an intel system recently with the same goals, i went for the i7 series CPU on the LGA 1366 platform. The LGA1156 platform you mention is intels mainstream chipset, so if you are building a system for maximum performance and upgradability in the future i would consider the LGA1366 chipset as that is intels 'enthusiast' platform. They will release the highest performing CPU's for this chipset, and the unlocked extreme edition overclocking chips. A 1366 motherboard will be a tad more expensive, but it will mean a couple of years down the track you can stick a ridiculous extreme edition chip in it and it will be an awesome upgrade, rather than building a new system again from scratch. Also there are a couple of performance advantages like hyperthreading, turbo mode and a triple channel memory controller that i'm not certain the 1156 chipset supports. With a triple channel memory controller your best bet is to go for 6GB of ram in 3x2GB sticks (one stick per channel). Also 6GB gives you a bit more headroom than 4 if you want to use a lot of sample based instruments. Corsair/g.skill/OCZ memory designed for overclocking is a good start, CAS8 or lower, 1600mhz. It's not that expensive at the moment. Motherboard wise Asus/Gigabyte/EVGA are probably your safest bets. If you are going to overclock you probably want to consider an aftermarket air cooler like the prolimatech megahalems or true 120 etc. Instability in a DAW is a real pain so building the system to be powerful enough without overclocking it to far is a good idea, and if you do overclock it do it properly with a lot of testing or you'll end up frustrated with crashes while you're trying to produce. You haven't mentioned a disk system, there's too many options to go through here like raid etc, but i simply went for a 300GB Velociraptor (operating system & production s/w disk), and a terabyte storage drive. With the aim of later moving the operating system to a solid state disk and using the velociraptor purely as a production disk. (Not ideal having them on the same drive as i currently do, but i've had no problems) It will be good as a production disk since it's a very fast drive and is still big enough to hold all my DAW software and sample library. Lastly don't get a chingchong powersupply, go with corsair/seasonic. If you get a good one it will be more efficient, stable and outlast your system living on in your next build.

Thanks Os, you know your stuff. My friend told me the exact same thing about power supplies and stuff, how one major Taiwanese manufacturer makes pretty much all of them and then knock off (ching chong) brands purchase them and stamp their logo on them before shipping them out. And of course the RAM which I want to be good too. Things should come together with this I'm not too worried now. That pretty much answers my question so thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn Look for reviews on the Dell Studio XPS 9000. It seems like a pretty solid machine at a pretty reasonable price, plus you get a hardware warranty with it that you normally wouldn't get with a self-built system. Looks like it's built for "high performance" purposes.

$900... I can get what I want for 2/3 less.

quote:

Originally posted by Evolve140 Alan remember I use Ableton, no Quad-Core support. Useless to me.

lemme know if i'm off-base, but wont quad core give your OS more leeway to work in the bg while Ableton is chugging?

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yeah, don't go for an i3 dude. Its not worth your trouble. Quad core i7 or don't bother IMO. You want that triple channel bandwidth.

I'd get a good i7 CPU, even if the clock's a lot slower (2.something is fine) and 4 gig of ram in a dual channel config to start, with some asus motherboard and a cheap graphics card, then upgrade the graphics and RAM later if you get the cash. You can also start out with just one terabyte disk or a 500 gig one or something if your doing it on the cheap.

Just get the CPU and motherbaord sorted properly or you'll regret it.

quote:

Originally posted by No Left Turn Look for reviews on the Dell Studio XPS 9000. It seems like a pretty solid machine at a pretty reasonable price, plus you get a hardware warranty with it that you normally wouldn't get with a self-built system. Looks like it's built for "high performance" purposes.

Build your own or don't bother IMO. Its much cheaper.

quote:

Originally posted by Evolve140 Alan remember I use Ableton, no Quad-Core support. Useless to me.

What are you talking about? Ableton has good multithreading AFAIK.

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i3 is a base processor. Even an i5 won't give you what you want. Got for the i7.

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wouldnt bother with an i3, i7 all the way

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What if they release a new version of Ableton this year with quad-core support? Or the next year? I'm sure your not planning to buy another computer next year so might as well get something that'll last. aka i7

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