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[Resolved] Will a better/pricier audio interface (and driver) improve playback for larger projects?

Tbh, I don’t know that much about hardware. I just use PC Part Picker and select whichever components are powerful enough, relatively affordable, and compatible with one another. As it is the i9-10900K is already totally overkill for my needs (since I don’t use a template with hundreds of tracks or anything), so I’m not too worried about getting the latest & greatest on the market.
Just a quick tip. If you plan on buying libraries in the future you will regret this decision. I am not sure what you use or what your plans are but I have seen some libraries released recently that can easily bring a top spec machine to its knees rather quickly. So it’s not always a matter of how many tracks or how big of a template but, a matter of what is being used at the same time. You’re already making a big investment. Make sure you do a little extra study on the AMD vs Intel info on here.
 
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Just a quick tip. If you plan on buying libraries in the future you will regret this decision. I am not sure what you use or what your plans are but I have seen some libraries out out recently that can easily bring a top spec machine to its knees rather quickly. So it’s not always a matter of how many tracks or how big of a template but, a matter of what is being used at the same time. You’re already making a big investment. Make sure you do a little extra study on the AMD vs Intel info on here.
Precisely. Spending an extra couple hundred dollars now will save money in the long run, because you'll get another couple of years out of your build before needing to upgrade again.
 
I have seen some libraries released recently that can easily bring a top spec machine to its knees rather quickly
What libraries?

For what it's worth, even a regular i7 10900 is going to be a beast for years to come, even an i7 10700 (non-K), which is what my new slave contains. I can assure you, these processors are no slouch. Even the 2020 iMac i7 is a 10700K.
 
What libraries?

For what it's worth, even a regular i7 10900 is going to be a beast for years to come, even an i7 10700 (non-K), which is what my new slave contains. I can assure you, these processors are no slouch. Even the 2020 iMac i7 is a 10700K.
i am in no way saying the processor is a slouch. off the top of my head some libraries that give me high cpu usage pretty quickly are abbey road one, bbcso, eric whitacre choir, pharlight, straylight, slate and ash cycles...

also one thing to take into consideration(i notice you are using a mac) i had better luck on cpu usage out of a mac than a pc, he says he is building a pc so i am commenting on that configuration.
 
i am in no way saying the processor is a slouch. off the top of my head some libraries that give me high cpu usage pretty quickly are abbey road one, bbcso, eric whitacre choir, pharlight, straylight, slate and ash cycles...

also one thing to take into consideration(i notice you are using a mac) i had better luck on cpu usage out of a mac than a pc, he says he is building a pc so i am commenting on that configuration.
My PC is an i7 10700 (slave). I have nearly the entire BBCSO Pro loaded (along with many other VI's including Hollywood Orchestra Diamond), not even a hiccup. I can't speak for AR1.
 
My PC is an i7 10700 (slave). I have nearly the entire BBCSO Pro loaded (along with many other VI's including Hollywood Orchestra Diamond), not even a hiccup. I can't speak for AR1.
thats great to hear, i hope i can get mine to function like that. i have been optimizing it little by little and maybe when i am done it will perform as well as yours. i am i9-10980HK CPU with 64gb ram. i am noticing that i run out of cpu on these things before i run out of ram.
 
Tbh, I don’t know that much about hardware. I just use PC Part Picker and select whichever components are powerful enough, relatively affordable, and compatible with one another. As it is the i9-10900K is already totally overkill for my needs (since I don’t use a template with hundreds of tracks or anything), so I’m not too worried about getting the latest & greatest on the market.
A very refreshing - and wise - attitude.
 
@Noc you don't really need to get an expensive CPU, if you're not going to need it. Any decent modern CPU for desktop will seriously outperform your laptop's i7. For example an AMD Ryzen 3700X has 4 times the performance of your 4700HQ.

Also, think about noise. Big CPUs need lots of cooling. That can be expensive if you want a silent machine.

And you can always upgrade the CPU later on if you really need it. That's the beauty of desktops.

In terms of noise I'd recommend getting one of those Asus Strix GPUs which basically turn off the fans unless you're gaming. Also, don't skim on the power supply or the motherboard.
 
@Noc you don't really need to get an expensive CPU, if you're not going to need it. Any decent modern CPU for desktop will seriously outperform your laptop's i7. For example an AMD Ryzen 3700X has 4 times the performance of your 4700HQ.

Also, think about noise. Big CPUs need lots of cooling. That can be expensive if you want a silent machine.

And you can always upgrade the CPU later on if you really need it. That's the beauty of desktops.

In terms of noise I'd recommend getting one of those Asus Strix GPUs which basically turn off the fans unless you're gaming. Also, don't skim on the power supply or the motherboard.
To be fair, I do want to splurge a little with this PC build, as it’ll be my all-in-one machine for gaming and other things and also because I want to future-proof it for the next decade. (Plus, the idea of an absurdly powerful PC at my disposal fills me with nerdy glee.) I’m just not concerned about buying the newest thing on the market, since that’ll likely cost a bundle more than the next best thing, which itself is already way more than I strictly need.

I’m also not too worried about noise; I literally have a standing fan blowing 24/7 nearby because I can’t stand silence (makes my ears ring). I think choosing quality fans with a decent loudness rating should be fine. Thanks for the recommendations though.
 
I'm still using my i7 5960x with 128gb of ram. And I'll be fine for probably another 3-4 years.

I regrettably upgraded from a 4930k because the 64gb of ram was just too restrictive. Even now I wish I had more ram - but what I got was feeasible enough of a purchase to avoid having to do a server build.

Now I'm likely to try to get a server build going next time ram hits absurdly cheap levels(i.e. if DDR5 came out or something and DDR4 became dirt cheap). I'm also still using a 980ti - with noctuas strapped to it because the fan assembly died. I'll coast on this even gaming for another few years - so do yourself a favor and by the most powerful you can reasonably afford, and then you won't have to replace it for 7-9 years.
 
do yourself a favor and by the most powerful you can reasonably afford, and then you won't have to replace it for 7-9 years.
That’s pretty much my entire gameplan right there. I’m perfectly happy skipping the “absolute best” and settling for the merely “very good”, if it’ll get me 95% of the way there without breaking the bank. Plus, as has been noted before, the advantage of a PC is I can upgrade anything at any time in the future anyway, so it’s not like I’m stuck with whatever I buy now.
 
That’s pretty much my entire gameplan right there. I’m perfectly happy skipping the “absolute best” and settling for the merely “very good”, if it’ll get me 95% of the way there without breaking the bank. Plus, as has been noted before, the advantage of a PC is I can upgrade anything at any time in the future anyway, so it’s not like I’m stuck with whatever I buy now.
you might have missed the point.

When I bought my machine, I spent quite a bit. The processor was the best non-server chip you could get*(just over 1,000 for the cpu), the mobo was ~550$ - and I spent ~1700 just in ram. It was an absolute beast, and is still quite a powerful machine simply because it was a beast of it's time. Had I went with 64gb and a 4790k(or even a 5820k) I would have already needed to upgrade by now.
 
@ProfoundSilence I haven’t missed your point. “[R]easonably afford” is key here; I have a bedroom setup here, not some pro studio, and even the $3K budget I have for this PC build is an extraordinary amount of money for me. I can’t afford $1K CPUs and $2K RAM, not when I have to budget for everything else too. Instead, I take stock of what I actually need, then aim as high as I can without getting into vanity expenditures. Even if I don’t get the absolute most cutting-edge stuff, it’ll still meet my every need for the better part of the next decade at the very least.
 
@ProfoundSilence I haven’t missed your point. “[R]easonably afford” is key here; I have a bedroom setup here, not some pro studio, and even the $3K budget I have for this PC build is an extraordinary amount of money for me. I can’t afford $1K CPUs and $2K RAM, not when I have to budget for everything else too. Instead, I take stock of what I actually need, then aim as high as I can without getting into vanity expenditures. Even if I don’t get the absolute most cutting-edge stuff, it’ll still meet my every need for the better part of the next decade at the very least.
Set aside for a year or two, or buy component at a time. Or just check places like craigslist for used servers. Those dell ones with the 12 core xeons and 128 gb of ram sometimes go for 6-700$

They sound like a jet engine apparently but still.
 
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