Desktop Computer Recs

  • This will probably sound a bit strange to many, but I've lately taken to buying refurbished Dell precision T3500 Workstation Windows 7 boxes off of Amazon. For around $250 I get around a 2.5 Ghz Xeon chip & 12 gigs of memory. The box only supports 24 gigs, so I max the memory, throw in a better video card (particularly if it's a video editing box) and for around 500 - 600 bucks have a workhorse full desktop that's easily upgradeable.


    My studio is running one now (with another hot swap spare sitting in the wings since they're so cheap). Haven't had any reliability issues from it being a refurb. For the classic rock oriented studio stuff I do (Cubase Pro), I'm not running 500 track sessions, so I can load SSL strips on every channel plus all the other plugins I need, and it's never squeaked once.


    Full disclosure, I'm a professional geek, so I'm comfortable with this sort of thing. That said, if you're okay with replacing some swap out components, this concept is certainly high in the bang for the buck category.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • This will probably sound a bit strange to many, but I've lately taken to buying refurbished Dell precision T3500 Workstation Windows 7 boxes off of Amazon. For around $250 I get around a 2.5 Ghz Xeon chip & 12 gigs of memory. The box only supports 24 gigs, so I max the memory, throw in a better video card (particularly if it's a video editing box) and for around 500 - 600 bucks have a workhorse full desktop that's easily upgradeable.


    My studio is running one now (with another hot swap spare sitting in the wings since they're so cheap). Haven't had any reliability issues from it being a refurb. For the classic rock oriented studio stuff I do (Cubase Pro), I'm not running 500 track sessions, so I can load SSL strips on every channel plus all the other plugins I need, and it's never squeaked once.


    Full disclosure, I'm a professional geek, so I'm comfortable with this sort of thing. That said, if you're okay with replacing some swap out components, this concept is certainly high in the bang for the buck category.

    Thank you, Chris. That's pretty resourceful and if I were a bit more proficient in that area I'd really consider it but now I think I'm looking for something out of the box.

  • Just ordered one of these, you can't beat this price for all you get, $999, free 2-day shipping:


    https://www.walmart.com/ip/OVE…-RAM-Windows-10/887474519


    17.3” 144Hz Screen

    Intel i7-8750H CPU with 2.20 GHz speed

    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB VRAM

    Mechanical RGB LED Keyboard

    32GB RAM with 2667 MHz speed

    2TB HDD

    256GB SSD

    Windows 10

    1080p/ 144Hz screen VR Ready 2 Year Warranty 1x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB C ports 1x SD Card Slot 1x HDMI slot 2x HDMI Port 15.5" x 10" x 1" 5.65lbs

    Kemper Powerhead w/remote & Kabinet
    Focusrite 18i8 (2nd Gen) - Windows 10 - Ableton Live - Yamaha HS-8's - DT770 80 ohms

  • That is an amazing deal for a six core powerhouse! I wish we had such deals over here in Europe!

  • I use an about 10 years old 1st generation i3 wih 8 GB, SSD, Windows 7 and Cubase 8. No problem to record 32 tracks simultaneously.


    For mobile recording I use an old Lenovo T400 with Core2Duo, works also great.

  • That is an amazing deal for a six core powerhouse! I wish we had such deals over here in Europe!

    I forget that constantly, because everyone speaks such good English here, that a lot of members are from the EU.


    There is an International shipper for Walmart apparently:

    https://borderoo.com/pages/buy…e-international-shipping/


    Countries That You Can Ship Walmart To

    Using a package forwarder, you can ship Walmart internationally to any country or region in the world including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (Britain / England / UK), Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Middle East, and Europe. It should be noted that there are personal shopper services that can help you buy from any store, including Walmart, even if they block or don’t ship to freight forwarders.



    I've never tried this, so I wouldn't know.

    Kemper Powerhead w/remote & Kabinet
    Focusrite 18i8 (2nd Gen) - Windows 10 - Ableton Live - Yamaha HS-8's - DT770 80 ohms

  • You might want to check out Intel NUC models. I have one with a SSD and it's very fast.

    What a contribution. How do I get the GAS attack under control now?;)


    At the moment I use Surface 3 (i5) with 128 GB SSD.

    The whole Software I need for recording, controlling the digital Mixer and play backings is at a 64 GB TF-Card and/or a 1 TB SSD Drive.

  • This laptop you can custom order to your specs, this is the same chassis I just bought, but this is out of the UK:

    https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/recoil-II-17/


    This particular laptop chassis is offered by many different builders, because it's inexpensive, easy to customize, and has great reviews:

    http://forum.notebookreview.co…/tongfang-gk7cn6s.825461/

    Kemper Powerhead w/remote & Kabinet
    Focusrite 18i8 (2nd Gen) - Windows 10 - Ableton Live - Yamaha HS-8's - DT770 80 ohms