Hi all I need to build 7 audio computers for an audio lab at the audio school. The main purpose of this computers is to use them to teach software like Pro Tools, Reaper and Reason mainly. So we don't need to build a super power, high end computer configuration, but a system that will serve our basic needs well. Building around an Intel i7 is not in our plans, it's too expensive. i5 may be expensive too. So the options are either build them around an i3 Intel CPU or a AMD Phenom II X4. Which CPU do you think would give us the best performance/reliability/price ratio? What about the mainboard and chipset? Any hints from builders or experienced user will be of great help. Thanks Ed.

Well I am a AMD man myself. I have built my last 5 systems using AMD & ASRock MB's with no problems whatsoever. What I have now is a & I placed a AMD Athlon II 435 X3 2.9 with no L3 cache in it. This MB allowed me to unlock the CPU to a AMD Phenom II X4 2.9 with 6mb of L3 cache. This can be done with certain x3 CPU chips, my chip has the CACYA AC code that most folks list, so I can not say if this will work for any of the Athlon II X3 CPU's. This MB supports DDR3 memory up to 16gb across 4 slots, and can handle AMD x6 CPU's up to 3.2GHz, so it is upgradeable in the future. When I built this system the cost was a little south of $200 including a new case & 500gb WD SATA HDD. I have had a lot of problems with Corsair memory that last few years in various builds, but Kingston memory has worked flawlessly. Their Value Range is a great deal IMHO. And of course this is a IMHO, YMMV, yada yada type of post! :cool:

It's going to be hard to beat an i3 for both cost and lowest power consumption. But forget about a PCI soundcard.

The i3 2100T model is going to give you the lowest power consumption you're going to get, while still having some decent power available. Alternatively, if you really are looking for serious grunt in a new machine, the Core i7 2600S is the one to get. 60W at idle with 8GB of RAM, and a GTX560. Powered by a 520W power supply. I know because I built a system like that for a customer about a month ago. Alternatively, I think it's the 2130T, but either one is good enough. I would be wary of Integrated Graphics though, lots of waveforms at once could prove problematic. I haven't had the chance to dump a huge session on one of those computers to see the performance. Any recent PCI-E graphics card with dual DVI outputs should be more than enough for this if needed. The new Ivy Bridge platform coming out "eventually" will lower those numbers even more. Honestly, I run both Intel and AMD machines, I have less trouble with the Intel machines. I know AMD has the 6 cores in a budget friendly price bracket, but AMDs are troublesome in my experience. In their most recent CPUs, it's been less of a problem, but if you're going to be running Pro Tools a lot, I would honestly suggest going Intel over AMD. I know that the problems have been mostly hammered out, but for some time, Pro Tools didn't work on AMD processors, and once in a while, there's still an ugly glitch. I put a lot of Kingston RAM in computers, and I don't have problems with it, Samsung currently makes 32nm low profile/low wattage RAM, the price is not much different, I would suggest it if you're looking for lowest power consumption as possible. I would run i3's on the H67 platform if you can, otherwise the P67 platform. Both are rock solid and should last a long time, with lots of features. I think it's the Q67 platform as well that's got a lot of backwards compatibility if needed (for PCI), but as Lcipher said, don't look to buy PCI sound cards at this point. Go for external units (USB or FW), or just go for PCI-Express. ESI makes a good 10 channel PCI-E card, otherwise just about any company USB or Firewire units will work great. Watch out for USB3 drivers when using a USB interface though, I have heard of problems, but I don't have much to back that up with (As I'm at school, with none of my usual tools available). If you're going to be looking to save on money, low power consumption will be the long term reason to opt for i3. AMD's are not low power once you get into the x4 series. Their idea of low power is a 65W manufacturing tech, when Intel's i7 2600S is 65W, quad core + hyperthreading. Not much reason to go for AMD when you look at those numbers.

Ask all the questions you need, that's what these forums are here for. 1) I prefer Intel over AMD. I find they're more stable for a wider variety of usage than AMD. They run cooler, and more efficiently as well. 2) I don't trust the integrated graphics in the new Intel Core i* series, so I would recommend using a dedicated card. The one you linked should be more than enough for a DAW build. 3) I tend to use MSI, Gigabyte, eVGA and Asus. BioStar, ECS and Asrock are companies I have little, or bad experience with. I've never had an issue with MSI or Gigabyte for DAW builds. 4) H67 is a good chipset, to answer two questions at once, you must use the LGA1155 socket, to match the CPU. You cannot use mismatched sockets and CPUs. The combo you linked to with motherboard and CPU I think would work fine. It's not a very immense machine, but from the sounds of it, you don't need a lot. The lower power consumption means that you can use a lower wattage power supply, yes. It also means that the electrical consumption will be lower, and the bill will go down. That in mind, compared to a much higher powered computer, you'd see a difference, but having several of them running at once will use similar power to one or two larger machines. Running i5 instead of i3 will give you some more power, but not knowing the future of the machines, it's hard to suggest one over another. The combo you linked to is not something I would consider well equipped for the future, lacking USB3, firewire, and I personally feel like the layout is bad. That said however, I want you to understand that if it's meant as a basic machine, this board should have everything that it needs to be a basic machine. It doesn't have a whole lot to go wrong, and that can be a good thing.

Great! I'm refining my configuration with your suggestions. As I mentioned in the initial post the machines will be used to teach students audio software as ProTools MP9, Reaper, and maybe Reason 5. There will be a home network but no access to internet. The interfaces I will put on them will be cheap Fast Track Mobile Pre or similar from M-Audio. Very few recording will be done with this system. I think that the most DSP demanding use will be running mixing sessions with 24 to 32 tracks and using VI's for music creation. I will post the configuration to let you know. Thanks Ed.

Funny JGrabowMST, I have had nothing but problems with Intel based systems, and fantastic luck with AMD & ASRock....goes to show everyone has different demands for their systems!

pcmusicpro, I ran 7 & 8 M-Powered for about a year with no problems on my old AMD x2 2.8 with 4gb memory with no real problems. My projects averaged 23 tracks, sometimes up to 30. I mainly use the native effects in every DAW I use, so there was very little VST - VSTi wrapper stuff going on at the time I just did not like Pro Tools. I am now running Studio One V2.03 & Reaper with no problems on a 4 core, and with much higher track counts...gotta love progress! LOL And JGrabowMST, I fully agree that everyone's mileage may vary...none of use uses our systems for the same things for sure!