# What brand is best for premade pcs Dell,HP or Lenovo if use is focused music?



## JPQ (May 31, 2019)

What brand is best for premade pcs Dell,HP or Lenovo if use is focused music? soemtimes thinking getting such not machine which is uild for me.(money reasons i think this). Apple is too pricey today when i need ast sample hardrives,memory and cpu for synths.


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## xanderscores (Oct 4, 2019)

I'd love to hear some advice on this, too. 
My current system (which is kind of worn out) is a Dell XPS One with an i7 and 16 GB RAM. It has never failed me as long as I kept to VSL software. Running many (Spitfire) instruments in Kontakt didn't go too well, but I guess 16 GB is not enough for those.
That's why I'm looking for a new system. At the moment I'm considering buying a HP Z2 with 64 GB (HP Z4 is too expensive for me), but I'm still hesitating because I have no experience with HP devices.
Also grateful for any advice on this.


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## Mornats (Oct 4, 2019)

If you're in the UK then Scan build their own-brand pro audio laptops https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/daw-digital-audio-workstation-pcs/form-factors#anc


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## xanderscores (Oct 4, 2019)

Mornats said:


> If you're in the UK then Scan build their own-brand pro audio laptops



Thanks. Unfortunately I'm not and prices in GBP don't transfer well into EUR.


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## vitocorleone123 (Oct 4, 2019)

If at all possible: save some money OR get more for your money by building your own PC. If you're talking laptops, then that's just a bit harder to do  Generally, it's easy to put a PC together. However, people new to it have the hardest time if something doesn't go right (in my experience, it usually goes right but definitely not always).

If I were choosing from among the brands listed by OP... I wouldn't care about the brand. I'd look based on specs and price. I suspect an "entry level gaming" model that you then up the CPU and RAM in would suffice (not a high-end gaming model necessarily as you'd start paying $$$ for the GPU). On all of them, you have to take the time to remove any crap the manufacturer installs by default or as a "free bonus".

Apple - you end up with less computer for the money in most cases.


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## JamieLang (Oct 4, 2019)

People don't want to build their own. They just don't. It's why Apple is so successful. I don't fully understand it...BUT...suffice to say I understand computers beyond the average bear. It REALLY is like a Lego kit at this point. But, there IS...some underlying knowledge that you're gonna have to be ok with learning.

To me--the benefit of a "home built" PC is the long term parts....they are non proprietary--like Legos. ...whether ti be for upgrading them or repair/replacing parts. As soon as you go with more OEMs, that's off the table. if you think the CPU fan or power supply fan is too noisy in an OEM (including apple)--you're F'd. In a non propriety build, you can swap them for silent ones. Noisy magnetic drive? Same. So it's not just about "repair"...OEMs do things to save PENNIES like removing SATA ports and PCIe slots...etc...because those pennies add up when you're building 50k of them in a run.

...at any given point in time there's usually an OEM using non proprietary parts (except the case usually is--but that's not as big of a deal)...because if the parts are non proprietary and you need a new case, you buy a new case and put everything into it...they just make those "Special" for branding. I feel like maybe CyberPC or something was last I looked...someone was using ASRock mobos on Newegg...best advice I have is to buy one of those with the lowest GPU option you can...and add SSDs RAM and SATA cables to the cart.

Apple is easy. Easy. I can go to the Apple store right now....drop by Guitar Criminals after...and have a working new DAW tonight. Working pretty WELL. I can go buy an iMac and an MOTU Thunderbolt interface...and be up and running in an hour.


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## JamieLang (Oct 5, 2019)

I will also point out that while it obviously depends on what "a lot of Spitfire" means, I suppose, Kontakt is configurable as to how much RAM it uses....I have mine set to the smallest RAM buffer they allow--which means a spitfire legato violin doesn't take 50MB. I would have to look....I feel like something the other day shocked me by using like 120MB. But, if the libraries are located on a fast access time SSD, you need a tiny fraction of the RAM you do "by default". 

That's for Xander, rather than the OP....but, if that's "the only reason" you need a new machine....well--I think that your issue is that Spitfire uses 500x the CPU that VSL does. VSL, particularly I the default player, uses TEENIE TINY CPU. Spitifre has all the input scripting that has to analyze what you play as you play it--so you may still need a new machine to use them well....BUT....it's not likely because you "only" have 16gb. You can load a CRAP TON of orchestral samples in 16gb if they're on an SSD. 

But, you can also SEE that. Right? When you load what you need into Kontakt by default--what does Windows RAM use look like? RAM is luckily, one of the few things you need to "guess" at with this pursuit. Where most things are "under the hood" and hard to diagnose bottlenecks....you CAN tell if you need more RAM than you have.


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## Wunderhorn (Oct 5, 2019)

I would look into Deltatronic. They offer PC workstations that don't need stupid noisy fans. You tell them what you need and they put it together for you. Easy peasy. And it's quality.


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## KarlHeinz (Oct 5, 2019)

Deltatronic.de leads me to spam site ?????

Strange, only the main site, if you choose /silent for example it works and leads to regular site


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## dzilizzi (Oct 5, 2019)

I've had decent luck with HP's, but that is because their 17" version allows for 2 drives and they are fairly easy to switch out. 

The Lenovo flex 5 also will do 2 drives but one is an m.2 SSD. Also easy to switch (YouTube video on their website of how to do it.


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## dzilizzi (Oct 5, 2019)

In a laptop, you want an i7 with at least 16 GB RAM. I forgot to mention that. 

If you are talking desktop, get the best specs you can afford.


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## X-Bassist (Oct 5, 2019)

Much of the heavy crunching in music DAW’s is dependent on CPU speed, not number of cores or even RAM (to a point). I would just get the highest speed CPU you can get (regardless of core numbers). 4GHz or better if you can, though my 3.5GHz 6 core Mac Pro does pretty well. And I rarely get past 64GB ram, even on big projects (I loaded it with 128GB ram). The CPU is usually the first thing to fail when playing back (though using more DFD ram buffer than normal sometimes helps).


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## Wunderhorn (Oct 5, 2019)

KarlHeinz said:


> Deltatronic.de leads me to spam site ?????
> 
> Strange, only the main site, if you choose /silent for example it works and leads to regular site



I have not seen any spam content there. They are completely legit. My sister and her boyfriend (programmer and musician/designer) have each one of their machines and they work like a charm. Completely silent, and no dust accumulating inside the machine that contributes to reducing the lifespan of some components.
I am not affiliated with Deltatronic - but if I was to buy a PC today, this is where I would go first. Hands down.


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## xanderscores (Oct 7, 2019)

Thanks to all of you for your invaluable advice. I've been working with large sample projects for quite a while, but I never realized that CPU could be a bottleneck (unless I'm using lots of DSP). I always thought that having enough RAM was key when it comes to virtual instruments. Very good to know - thanks!


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## JohnG (Oct 7, 2019)

I build my own. If you've never done it you can consider looking at a Youtube video. Our own @josejherring helped me with the first one or I don't know if I'd have had the confidence to do it.

I bought some off-the-shelf brand name computers when I was starting out. They weren't terrible (although they had a shocking amount of BS bloatware). They seemed always, however, to have some component that was incredibly cheap / weak quality. They all had headlines "intel inside" and all that, but there was always a weak link: motherboard, power supply -- something.


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## dzilizzi (Oct 7, 2019)

If you decide to build your own, and it actually isn't that hard, two places I would suggest are https://pcpartpicker.com to make sure all your parts are compatible (and links to places where you can buy the parts) and Gearslutz's "Today we build our PC" thread - https://www.gearslutz.com/board/mus...today-we-build-our-studio-pc-quot-thread.html

There are at least two DAW computer builders that regularly visit and offer advice. They were great when I had questions about things. My DAW build worked great. I only got the Dell I have because it was 64 GB RAM (I had 32) and came be Windows 10 Pro and was on a really good sale. My build is 32 GB RAM and Windows 7. Similar i7 CPU. I'm thinking about seeing if I can change it to a Hackingtosh. If that doesn't work, I will load Windows 10 and eventually upgrade the RAM or use it for something else.


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## José Herring (Oct 7, 2019)

@JohnG Good times for sure!

*@JPQ*

There are some good off the shelf computers but you usually have to go up into the server class of computers which unfortunately I find isn't that great of a solution for your typical home studio. Maybe at the project level studio if you can have a dedicated room for servers.

The other option is to go with a DAW computing company like Vision DAW. They are great offer support but are expensive.

Building your own PC is a good idea. It takes a little to get it right. The first one I built really took me a year to get it right. But, once it was right it was solid and reliable and one that I built has lasted for 15 years now. I don't still use it but it still boots and works.

After that initial year it gets way easier. Now unlike then there are so many sites that are dedicated to computer builds that these days I can build a computer and have it up and running perfectly stable in less than 2 hours. And, some guys that have youtube vids on computer builds would consider more than 20 minutes to be excessive.

So don't be daunted on building your own. You have plenty of help here and plenty of help online via computer forums and youtube.

The advantage of building your own computer is that you can build it so good and so stable that it really becomes set and forget. I've had one machine now working for over 10 years and it never crashes, is totally stable and I never have to tweek anything anymore. Well, once about 3 years ago I lost my overclocking for some reason and had to learn how to do that all over again. And, the cpu fan froze on me once. Computer still worked but was giving me CPU fan errors on start up. I pulled out the CPU fan and heat sink used some canola oil my wife uses for cooking because I learned that canola oil comes from the rapseed and they used that on airplane props. Canoloa oil worked like a charm and the fan started working again.


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## vitocorleone123 (Oct 7, 2019)

My current PC build, including a fresh download of Windows, with 64GB and a 9900K running all cores at 5GHz, was up and running over a weekend, hardware and software. 95% (the rest took a few more weeks to iron everything out). I honestly no longer enjoy building PCs - shakes fist like even-older man - but there's no way I'd get one off the shelf after 2 decades of doing it myself. Mind you, that's only a few PCs as I keep them at least 5 years. Plus some friends/family awhile back.

But I know what every part is since I picked it, and any issues that come up in the coming years are easier to diagnose because of it. The only thing I plan to upgrade, maybe next year, is the GPU, as it's still using my old 970GTX as I don't game much anymore. Maybe go back to ATI, er, AMD (my last from that tech/brand was the original ATI Radeon).

Mostly it comes down to how much time you have before you need a working computer (I recommend building a brand new one rather than rebuilding an existing so you can have the old one going while working on the new - I learned that the last time and it made it easier this time), how much patience you have, how much of an ability to troubleshoot you have, and, finally, money.


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## dzilizzi (Oct 7, 2019)

I'd say the worst part about building a new computer is loading all the software, but really? Any new computer will have that issue. doing it part time ( I travel a bit for work and also am on the computer all day so sitting in front of one all night isn't always fun) it took me about 2 months to load the programs and plugins, reconnect all the libraries, etc... Partially because I have libraries across multiple drives and SSDs. I think the less you have the quicker it will be.


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