Old 12-11-2018, 02:26 PM   #1
monty
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Default hardware recommendation?

can anyone recommend a good (not too expensive) HW setup (mainboard & CPU, graphic card) for a new linux DAW?
I've always used AMD so far, it's probably time for Intel now ;-)
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Old 12-11-2018, 06:15 PM   #2
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Just about anything will "work". I can run it on a crappy netbook just fine. (Just like the Windows version.) It's a matter of what performance you expect for the size of projects you plan to make, the plugins you're going to run, how many external synths you'll be connecting in JACK (and what they are), how many GB of samples you plan to load into RAM, etc. Mention some things you plan to do. Try to be specific.
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Old 12-12-2018, 12:39 AM   #3
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I can easily work with 24 tracks at the same time, but when many VST plugins in use the AMD FX-4300 (4x 3.8ghz) comes up against its limits ...
my MSI mainboard would also be suitable for a Octa-Core f.ex.
AMD FX 8350 (4GHz, Socket AM3+, 16MB Cache, 125 Watt) 8 x 4GHz
what do you think?

Maybe that would be a better solution than a Intel CPU & mainboard ... so the aim should be, using as many VST tracks as possible, if Reaper can handle w/ 8 core CPU ...
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Old 12-12-2018, 01:03 AM   #4
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That'd be better, around 30%-50% more power. Would that be good enough for you?

You only said "many VST plugins", so I have no idea what you need. (That wasn't specific at all. )
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Old 12-12-2018, 01:14 AM   #5
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I'll try w/ the octa core it should be at least improve the situation a little ;-)
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Old 12-12-2018, 02:04 AM   #6
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CPU hungryness depends on VST pluguns You use and operating sample rate too.
By example i find airwindows no GUI Linux VST plugins very light on CPU. i can work even on my weak Celeron laptop with 4 - 8 plugins on each of ~16 tracks.
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Old 12-12-2018, 06:10 AM   #7
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Oh Crist, no one has asked the most important question. How much memory you have and what OS are you running? 32 bits or 64 bits?

I'm running Reaper on a HP core duo with only 8gb ram and I have mixed 40 tracks with no glitches or problems but I'm using 64 bits OS.

Before I was using Av Linux 32 bits and couldn't do much, once I changed to 64 bits everything changed.

So no matter how fast your CPU is if you're not using the correct OS, it simply won't use all the available resources.

Linux 64 bits will work well even if you only have a core-duo with 8gb ram.
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Old 12-13-2018, 06:32 PM   #8
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I run an amd 970 chips series board with FX8320e this CPU is dirt cheap. I under clock it so it runs cool to the touch. Plenty power with 8 cores to run 100+ tracks effects and 10 youtubes or web pages going at same time. I got mine for $60 new 2 years ago. Extra cores help a lot or hyperthreading; 4 cores is cutting it close IMO. gl
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Old 12-13-2018, 06:37 PM   #9
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Yes 64 bit could help... that GPU nvidia 630... don't cut it IMO - would seem to bottleneck? Lower level nvidia GTX is fine... say a GTX 650... 10x better vs 630.
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Old 12-13-2018, 11:57 PM   #10
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If you want to stay with AMD and buy new (I am fanboy) ck out MicroCenter. Get a nice Ryxen 7 1700x 8core 16 thread and mobo for around $200.
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Old 12-14-2018, 03:26 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s wave View Post
If you want to stay with AMD and buy new (I am fanboy) ck out MicroCenter. Get a nice Ryxen 7 1700x 8core 16 thread and mobo for around $200.
Wasn't the Ryzen been found to produce lots of bottlenecks in sound applications? I could be wrong but that's what I've read before. It could only be with Windows cause I saw a video of Rick Beato singing its praises as a Hackintosh machine.

Anyway I would say in Linux you can get results with almost any machine from lower specs to a big monster.
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Old 12-14-2018, 11:05 AM   #12
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thank you Guys,
I guess the FX-8350 (8 x 4Ghz) shoud be OK for a while ;-)
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Old 12-15-2018, 12:02 AM   #13
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The 8350 should be absolutely fine. I would think a gt 630 might be a major drawback. I might be wrong. But I would think that would be the weak link. (even a gtx650 out performs it) I would make sure you keep an extra fan on the mobo near cpu they can run a little hot. gl
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Old 12-15-2018, 12:14 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s wave View Post
The 8350 should be absolutely fine. I would think a gt 630 might be a major drawback. I might be wrong. But I would think that would be the weak link. (even a gtx650 out performs it) I would make sure you keep an extra fan on the mobo near cpu they can run a little hot. gl
yep, I have ordered a special CPU fan which can handle w/ 400W
for about $25 ... I will keep it running as default without any over-clocking,
will check for an additional case fan later if needed
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Old 12-15-2018, 02:46 PM   #15
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Dude that should be so fine for linux that would border in overkill. Just make sure you have more than 8gb in memory and use a 64 bits OS.

As a piece of advice use a distro created for audio production like avlinux or KX studio that will make your life 150% easier.
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Old 12-15-2018, 03:30 PM   #16
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If you're going to use KX Studio or avlinux, I recommend doing some research. KX Studio is currently outdated (although that'll probably change soon), so you'd be using an older kernel (not patched for spectre/meltdown mitigation, maybe not as efficient a kernel, etc.) Avlinux has its own concerns too, although at the moment I forget what they are.

Any distro that's very specialized can end up leading to "dependency hell", among other things. So be ready to deal with it, if you're using a very specialized (and not very common) distro. You can probably make any distro work for you, but be ready to do more work if you choose a specialized distro.

From what I can tell, most current common distros are fine for audio, not requiring "low latency" kernels. I can't even tell what difference that makes on my setup, other than (to my surprise) noticeably increasing CPU load. Current stock MX Linux and AntiX kernels work great.
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Old 12-15-2018, 07:08 PM   #17
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I have 8gb or ram running 100 tracks using only 11% ram load. Works fine for me but yea if you can do it more ram more better...
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Old 12-15-2018, 10:36 PM   #18
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yeah, MX-Linux maybe ... I could setup some tweaks to get closer to KDE (dolphin file browser) with pcmanfm-qt and devilspie + gdevilspie for the window management, I use 3 monitors and I want to use fixed window positions (editor left, mixer right, plugins top), also the file browser needs a filter for a fast filtering of filenames. I will do some tests in VirtualBox w/ MX-Linux.
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Old 12-16-2018, 03:16 AM   #19
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The german magazine ct' gives pc-recommendations each year. All parts are well combined and bios settings are proposed.

To me this pc (intel allrounder) looks quit optimal for my daw-needs:

https://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/...74872&hocid=ct

full article:

https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Der-...8-4236869.html
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Old 12-16-2018, 04:28 AM   #20
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Now everything works perfectly I can use many VST plugins without overloading or jerking ... just tested w/ 32 tracks all well ;-)
also the new fan is very quiet ...
CPU: AMD-Octa-Core FX-8350 (8x 4Ghz)
FAN: Ben Nevis Alpenföhn 120mm

I guess I'll keep my KDE Neon 5.14, it's very fast (lots of tweaks built in) also it's faster than WIN 7 or WIN 10, the only thing that bothers me is systemd, because sometimes my midiports are changed or better some USB IRQs do not keep always the same ID for the ports.
If there is a solution I would be very happy ... I have already created UDEV rules, but they seem to do nothing.

Code:
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-usb-serial.rules
# control surface
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1604", ATTRS{idProduct}=="8008", ATTRS{serial}=="0000:00:13.1", NAME+="tascam2400"
# midi interface
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="fc02", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0101", ATTRS{serial}=="0000:00:12.1", NAME+="mididev1"
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Old 12-17-2018, 09:32 PM   #21
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Glad to hear that Monty you had to power through that. GJ
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Old 12-17-2018, 09:33 PM   #22
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Thats good news Monty. You had to power through that. GJ
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