PC Build for Ableton Live

SweetCaliber

Hi all,

1. What is your budget? €400 ideally, 350 even if that's possible.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Ableton live/music making/hd videos.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

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

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need:

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1920 x 1080 and no.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No

8. How can you pay? Credit Card, paypal? CC, Paypal etc..

9. When are you purchasing? Near Future

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? No

Thanks!

As said above I'll be using it for Ableton live, I have a Midi keyboard and a synth that connect via usb then monitors that go out through an aux. I'd like to be able to stream HD videos on youtube and that also.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (€119.84 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€74.53 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€57.37 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€80.49 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 PLUS MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€25.13 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: XFX TS 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€44.84 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €402.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-11 15:46 CEST+0200

IRAC War

You could shave that down even more by using a H110 chipset board, 8GB ram and a hard drive.

Does that software need a soundcard?

K.O.Kiki

IRAC War wrote: »

You could shave that down even more by using a H110 chipset board, 8GB ram and a hard drive.

Does that software need a soundcard?

That B150 mobo is the cheapest on PCPartpicker with 4 RAM slots, which will be handy for the future.
From what I gather, programs like this can eat through RAM, therefore 16Gb right off the bat is my recommendation.
The Crucial MX300 275Gb is at a good enough price/Gb that I will be putting it into recommendations; use it as a fast system drive & buy external HDDs in the future for backups, etc.
PCI (gaming) soundcard is a waste of time for most builds.

IRAC War

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

That B150 mobo is the cheapest on PCPartpicker with 4 RAM slots, which will be handy for the future.
From what I gather, programs like this can eat through RAM, therefore 16Gb right off the bat is my recommendation.
The Crucial MX300 275Gb is at a good enough price/Gb that I will be putting it into recommendations; use it as a fast system drive & buy external HDDs in the future for backups, etc.
PCI (gaming) soundcard is a waste of time for most builds.

Fair enough on everything but the sound card - it will really depend on what the OP is doing. Granted he/she won't want a gaming one but one might be required depending on what they're at.

ED E

It the OP is serious about his music then he should buy a proper standalone DAC that's suitable. That in itself is €100-200 of a purchase but is more in the music production forums remit than PC B&U. This means onboard sound doesnt matter at all.

IRAC War

ED E wrote: »

It the OP is serious about his music then he should buy a proper standalone DAC that's suitable. That in itself is €100-200 of a purchase but is more in the music production forums remit than PC B&U. This means onboard sound doesnt matter at all.

I think you'll be lucky to find decent DACs at €200 but it's not really my field. I take it that thinks like MIDI interfaces etc. aren't required anymore?

ED E

Depends on what you need.

A basic low latency ASIO unit for DJing go as low as €60.

SweetCaliber

ED E wrote: »

It the OP is serious about his music then he should buy a proper standalone DAC that's suitable. That in itself is €100-200 of a purchase but is more in the music production forums remit than PC B&U. This means onboard sound doesnt matter at all.

It's an Ableton Push 2 MIDI Controller. It's plug and play usb that works with ableton live. I have a MIDI keyboard also, again USB, cannot remember the name of it though, I have it on loan to a friend at the moment. The two monitors I have are the KRK Rokit RP5's. The connection I use is in theory an aux but also connects the monitors together.

I have been using my laptop up to now, and to be honest the built in soundcard has done fine, the monitors themselves allow for a lot of different adjustments (bass, treble etc..).

ED E

You have €250 monitors, IMO running them of a ****ty onboard is like putting cooking oil in an F1 car.

I use this boys predecessor, its great:
http://fiio.net/en/products/27

SweetCaliber

ED E wrote: »

You have €250 monitors, IMO running them of a ****ty onboard is like putting cooking oil in an F1 car.

I use this boys predecessor, its great:
http://fiio.net/en/products/27

Yes, that's why I'm open to suggestions, if you guys think I should add a sound card then that's cool, I'm only getting into music.