If you're ok with using macOS, definitely go with a MacBook Pro. Otherwise, I'd pick a Framework laptop. If you really need a strong GPU, the Framework 16 is perfect for you. They're very upgradable and repairable, only the CPU is soldered in and can't be swapped.
this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
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I get that this is the pcmasterrace community, but I would highly suggestions considering a MacBook Pro for any kind of media production. You can find refurbished ones with warranty within your budget. It’ll handle any track out and plugins you throw at it like nothing.
Maybe we can keep all the 'whubout macs' comments contained as replies to this comment 😆
I've used a little M1 macbook air since they came out for music production stuff and they're just so unreasonably good. That and Reaper will get you very very far. Audio stuff isn't such a heavy lift that you need crazy hardware like gaming or other graphic intensive workloads. Mine is finally starting to show its age when really piling up the more modern VSTs, so I'll probably get an M4 air when they come out.
I use a UA Apollo X6 as an interface, but I'd probably go for one of the more capable MOTU ones if I got another one. The MOTU M2 is a great little interface that I use on both my mac and PC as well, and I'd highly recommend it.
While true, and it is great hardware, but... MacBook is just completely off the table. For numerous reasons but won't go onto that rant here.
I wouldn't look to hard for a decent gpu. Matter of fact, you might even get one without a discrete gpu but one with decent integrated graphics. You'll be fine with a Ryzen 7 or whatever Intel's equivalent currently is. Get a 9 if you want it to have some extra oomph. But save yourself the cost of getting something with a 4070 or 4080.
Been looking at a Thinkpad X1 Gen 11. It has pretty good everything (can spec it myself via their website) however it "only" has a Integrated Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics. I'm not too familiar with how these integrated graphic-cards work so im not sure it will fit my workflow or not. As far as I've understood it will be sufficient but if I were to want anything a little more graphic heavy then it will limit performance. What's considered the middle ground between Integrated graphics and a 4070?
As a fellow music producer, you definitely don't need a discrete graphics card if this machine is purely for music production. Definitely better off spending that money on an audio interface and some studio monitors, or some plugins
4060 or 7600XT but that's still very pricey. It really depends on what you call graphic heavy. The latest video games will not run on an Xe. Then again, they'll not run great on a 4070 either. If you need to do stuff like video editing, especially rendering, will take longer on an Xe but will work. A 4070 will be quicker but you'll be far better off with a Quadro or whatever they call their professional series now. They do add to the price but you can settle for a lower model. If you're looking at just stuff like photo editing, an Xe will do fine.
Yeah the option to do more heavy lifting tasks with a GPU is there actually, so going to go with a discrete card.
Leaning towards this laptop right now, but customised with i9 CPU and 32GB ram.
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=83DFCTO1WWGB1
For some things, the i7 works a bit more efficient than the i9, the i9 is a beast but that also makes it bulky. And power hungry.
32 GB RAM is solid, I wouldn't go for 16.
And for the graphics thing, well... If it's photo/video editing and you don't plan on using an external display as a default, you might want to consider the 3rd option for a screen. DCI-P3 is much broader than sRGB.
Edit: oh and I don't know what the upgradability is on this thing but you might wanna go for the 1TB drive just in case.
And if I can give you a bit of Windows advice: see if you can chop up that disk in two partitions before you start installing stuff. Keep your Windows partition, the part of the disk where you only keep Windows, at around 120GB. This will cause Windows not to create tens of gigabytes of cache files on the disk, freeing up space for more content. And something I always immediately do is turn hibernate off (powercfg.exe /hibernate off) in order not to get a hiberfile.sys the size of your used RAM.
Great tips - appreciate it a lot! The display tip especially as it wont be connected to any extra displays most of the time. The PC also won't be for any photo/video editing. Strictly making music but also the occasional games here and there - nothing too heavy, but enough to require a discrete card.
sRGB is fine for gaming and your DAW, DCI-P3 is only useful if you want very accurate colours. The DCI-P3 one has higher frame rate, but it'll have more latency. You could go for the HDR variant, but HDR is mostly bad on laptop screens. Apart from that it uses a lot of battery power.
Whatever you get, invest in a decent quality USB audio interface with ASIO support. You'll notice the lag with WDM drivers if you ever try to hook up a controller.
AFAIK music production is a huge variety and often requires special hardware. What are you planning to do with it? My SO started with FL Studio a few months ago and is trying to make some EDM. At the moment she is not even close to putting a strain on the laptop. It's a Lenovo V15 G4 with an Intel 13420h, 16GB Ram and a 1TB Drive.