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Music Production / Gaming Machine

  • 13-01-2014 2:32am
    #1
    benway
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭


    See there's already a very similar thread here, but I'm not sure of the etiquette of piggybacking someone else's build, so here I am.

    Looking to build a machine for music production primarily, although I will probably end up spending as much time using it for games and general. It's going to be an ongoing project, will probably get the parts in dribs and drabs as I have the cash spare. In no great hurry, current setup is adequate and I've got enough on my plate for the next six months that the build / music are both going to be very much on the back burner.

    1. What is your budget? Ideally, trying to come in at around €1500, give or take, fair bit of wriggle room. That's not including peripherals - mouse, monitor, soundcard, etc.

    2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Music production: Cubase, Ableton Live, etc. Some live recording. Latency is a major issue with my current setup, seems that a hell of a lot of processor grunt is the only way around it. I've seen xeons suggested above i7s, unclear as to whether they'd be adequate for the task at hand, but anywhere that money could be saved would be a bonus.

    Already have some pretty demanding plugins, even aside from latency when recording, my i7 laptop tends to creak once I've got a bit going on, ends up that the process isn't feasible/enjoyable. Can't say how much of that is down to overheating, but that's another story.

    I also do quite a bit of pc gaming - likes of Borderlands 2, Binfinite, GTA V, Civ5, indies. Laptop handles them reasonably well, most of the time. Don't play online much, not overly pushed about having the most extreme graphics card or anything, but I do want a card/system that's going to be comfortably able to handle the newest games for the next 3-4 years.

    3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes. Windows 7 Premium 64 is presumably my best bet here? Don't fancy the look of 8 in the slightest, tbh, although it has been suggested that it may offer better performance for audio applications.

    4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

    5. Do you need a monitor? Yes

    5a. If yes, what size do you need. 24-27" I guess?

    5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Also have an old Grundig plasma HD TV that I'm using as a second monitor with my current setup, intend to leave that in place for the short/medium term.

    6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard, mouse, wireless card.

    Will also need to probably get a decent Firewire/usb card(s) for the sound card. I'm currently using a Focusrite Saffire through an express card on the laptop, seems that the trend is towards external firewire/usb cards e.g. newer Saffires or Fireface - although there are some pci / external box solutions. Again, the fastest, cleanest possible setup is required to keep down latency.

    Also have quite a few usb peripherals - midi controllers, Maschine, couple of synths that support midi over usb, usb midi interface. Currently using a couple of USB hubs with the laptop, can't imagine it's helping with latency.

    I have seen that the UAD Apollo now comes with a thunderbolt option - would I be right in saying that there's no reason in principle that I couldn't install a thunderbolt card in my build at some stage further down the line? Will certainly be looking to get a UAD pci dsp card in the medium term.

    7. Are you willing to try overclocking Might be willing to try further down the line, but not at the moment.

    8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

    9. When are you purchasing? From here to eternity. Probably will pick up the case, psu and motherboard more or less straight away, will pick up all the rest on an ongoing basis.

    10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin, north city centre.

    Item|Price
    Intel Core i7-4820K, 4x 3.70GHz, bx|€283.01
    ASRock X79 Extreme6, Sockel LGA2011, ATX|€187.57
    16 GB-Kit Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 CL9 DIMM HyperX black Series|€146.01
    Corsair Vengeance C70 PC Gaming Case, Arctic White, ohne Netzteil|€103.71
    Gainward GeForce GTX 760, 2GB DDR5|€217.94
    be quiet! Power Zone 750W ATX 2.4|€109.51
    Seagate Desktop SSHD 2TB SATA 6Gb/s NCQ 8,9cm (3,5") SSHD (8MB)|€102.68
    2 x Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|2 x €147.99
    Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 Dual Band 3x3 HMC|€29.86
    MS Windows 7 Pro 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€124.37
    Cooler Master Seidon 240 Watercooling System|€92.20
    Total|€1,692.84


    Two ssds, one for win/apps, one for samples/recordings, 2tb for music/movies/general files. Should probably allow for an optical drive while I'm at it, think I might need more bays here?

    Sorry about the essay, completely new to all of this, would be very grateful for any advice - shooting in the dark a wee bit at the moment, especially when it comes to graphics cards / motherboards. Obviously noise is something of an issue, so I am looking at a liquid cooling system, have to say the prospect kinda terrifies me, though.

    (Btw, is it me or is the hardwareversand configurator thing hellishly slow?)


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