PC for home recording/music production

Fingers Mcginty · 12-09-2019 5:03pm #1

Hi all, I'm looking for a windows based machine to run the aformentioned and also video editing. I won't be gaming. I neded something that runs quiet enough as my mics can pick up a pin dropping. My budget is 600

K.O.Kiki · 12-09-2019 6:46pm

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 35.14 CFM CPU Cooler (£19.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£72.26 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£97.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Silent Low Profile Video Card (£72.98 @ CCL Computers)
Case: GameMax Whisper MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£38.42 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 400 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£57.12 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £532.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-12 18:46 BST+0100

Fingers Mcginty · 13-09-2019 2:19pm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 35.14 CFM CPU Cooler (£19.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£72.26 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£97.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Silent Low Profile Video Card (£72.98 @ CCL Computers)
Case: GameMax Whisper MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£38.42 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 400 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£57.12 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £532.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-12 18:46 BST+0100

Thanks ....I also need windows 10 ...where would be the best place to purchase?

rurs · 13-09-2019 2:36pm

Have you decided on an audio interface? Whatever you choose, try and pick a motherboard/chipset combo that has a decent DPC latency. If you end up with a troublesome one, you'll be fighting a loosing battle to get low latency audio in and out.

K.O.Kiki · 13-09-2019 5:35pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Thanks ....I also need windows 10 ...where would be the best place to purchase?

Get a 16Gb USB stick and download the installer from Microsoft
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Install and activate "later"

Fingers Mcginty · 13-09-2019 6:45pm

rurs wrote: »

Have you decided on an audio interface? Whatever you choose, try and pick a motherboard/chipset combo that has a decent DPC latency. If you end up with a troublesome one, you'll be fighting a loosing battle to get low latency audio in and out.

Yes i have a focusrite 212 USB audio interface that I'm happy with

Fingers Mcginty · 24-09-2019 12:57am

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock Slim 35.14 CFM CPU Cooler (£19.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£72.26 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£97.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 2 GB Silent Low Profile Video Card (£72.98 @ CCL Computers)
Case: GameMax Whisper MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£38.42 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 11 CM 400 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£57.12 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £532.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-12 18:46 BST+0100

Thanks I just purchased the goods there now.
Are you available for help during the build?

:D:D

K.O.Kiki · 24-09-2019 10:49am

Afraid I don't offer that service, sorry.

But there's plenty of guides on the net

Fingers Mcginty · 24-09-2019 11:53am

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Afraid I don't offer that service, sorry.

But there's plenty of guides on the net

I meant questions on this board as I build ðŸ˜€

deceit · 24-09-2019 3:40pm

rurs wrote: »

Have you decided on an audio interface? Whatever you choose, try and pick a motherboard/chipset combo that has a decent DPC latency. If you end up with a troublesome one, you'll be fighting a loosing battle to get low latency audio in and out.

Make sure not to disable virtual memory in Windows 10 even if you have enough memory.
It seems to be a bug in Windows 10 that it doubles latency when its disabled. I've confirmed it with a few systems. Figured it would be important to point out as latency would be key with audio systems.

Fingers Mcginty · 24-09-2019 3:46pm

deceit wrote: »

Make sure not to disable virtual memory in Windows 10 even if you have enough memory.
It seems to be a bug in Windows 10 that it doubles latency when its disabled. I've confirmed it with a few systems. Figured it would be important to point out as latency would be key with audio systems.

Absolutely ...Thanks

Fingers Mcginty · 26-09-2019 5:27pm

Case and PSU arrived today. Fitted supply with fan facing down. Still waiting on CPU and cooler, mobo , graphics card and memory

Fingers Mcginty · 26-09-2019 11:58pm

[IMG][/img]

Fingers Mcginty · 27-09-2019 12:11am

Quick question,,,Should I put the OS on the nvme ssd?

K.O.Kiki · 27-09-2019 12:40am

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Quick question,,,Should I put the OS on the nvme ssd?

Yes.

Anima · 27-09-2019 1:18pm

If you're doing audio/real-time stuff maybe run this application as a sanity check to make sure no drivers are giving issues.

https://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml

z0oT · 27-09-2019 3:49pm

Above DPC Checker Webpage wrote:

Windows 8 Compatibility: The DPC latency utility runs on Windows 8 but does not show correct values. The output suggests that the Windows 8 kernel performs badly and introduces a constant latency of one millisecond, which is not the case in practice. DPCs in the Windows 8 kernel behave identical to Windows 7. The utility produces incorrect results because the implementation of kernel timers has changed in Windows 8, which causes a side effect with the measuring algorithm used by the utility. Thesycon is working on a new version of the DPC latency utility and will make it available on this site as soon as it is finished.

That above tool doesn't work with Windows 8 or later. This the tool you want to use for checking latency on Windows 10.
https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

By the way what kind of Recording/Music Production software are you using?

It's been about 2 years since I did any music production since (really want to get back to it), but I used to use Cubase 5 along with Asio4All to get audio streams going from inputs and outputs at once.

Fingers Mcginty · 27-09-2019 7:30pm

z0oT wrote: »

That above tool doesn't work with Windows 8 or later. This the tool you want to use for checking latency on Windows 10.
https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

By the way what kind of Recording/Music Production software are you using?

It's been about 2 years since I did any music production since (really want to get back to it), but I used to use Cubase 5 along with Asio4All to get audio streams going from inputs and outputs at once.

Hi, I use Reaper and love it. Very cheap but very professional software. The ammount of customisation in it is excellent. I highly recommend it. It doesn't hog all the machine's resources abd ran sweet on my old pentium machine with zero issues. I use a focusrite 212 audio interface also.

Fingers Mcginty · 28-09-2019 12:39pm

Can someone suggest a decent 2.5" internal SSD for this build ...Thanks :_)

K.O.Kiki · 28-09-2019 7:02pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Can someone suggest a decent 2.5" internal SSD for this build ...Thanks :_)

Crucial MX500
Patriot P200
AData Su800
Samsung 860 Evo

Fingers Mcginty · 02-10-2019 5:28pm

Mobo, CPU, CPU Cooler and Ram arrived today.
The CPU fan was a bit finnicky. Please take a look at the orientation of the fan.It can either be installed as i have it or it can be rotated 180 so that the fan faces the top of the case. Which way is best or does it matter. Hopefully it's OK as is?

M00lers · 02-10-2019 8:50pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Mobo, CPU, CPU Cooler and Ram arrived today.
The CPU fan was a bit finnicky. Please take a look at the orientation of the fan.It can either be installed as i have it or it can be rotated 180 so that the fan faces the top of the case. Which way is best or does it matter. Hopefully it's OK as is?

Probably okay as is but best practice would be to have the airflow facing towards an exhaust fan.

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 11:50am

I'm a bit confused about how to connect up the fans. Basically I have 2 (intake and exhaust) fans with female connectors.
These were connected into the fan header loom. There is a larger connector which seems to run to a high/low switch at the front of the chassis.
This larger connector i presume just connects into the bequiet power supply?
And if i do this i presume i don't connect anything to the system fan header on the motherboard? (of which , there is only one)

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 12:18pm

[IMG][/img]

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 12:20pm

The cables highlighted yellow are going to the front and rear fans and have female connectors.
The connectors marked red are all male.
I presume i connect the large cable marked BLUE to the power supply?

M00lers · 03-10-2019 1:03pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

The cables highlighted yellow are going to the front and rear fans and have female connectors.
The connectors marked red are all male.
I presume i connect the large cable marked red to the power supply?

Yeah, that's correct. Molex connector is for powering the inbuilt fan controller. You can also connect fans directly t o motherboard which would give you more control over the fans.

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 1:08pm

moolers2000 wrote: »

Yeah, that's correct. Molex connector is for powering the inbuilt fan controller. You can also connect fans directly t o motherboard which would give you more control over the fans.

I meant the molex connector marked blue in the pic (editied)
I think wiring the fans to the motherboard isn't really a possibility as i only have one male molex on the motherboard? New to all this

M00lers · 03-10-2019 1:11pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

I meant the molex connector marked blue in the pic (editied)
I think wiring the fans to the motherboard isn't really a possibility as i only have one male molex on the motherboard? New to all this

You can plug the molex(highlighted inblue) into your powersupply and power your fans that way or plug your fans directly into fan headers on motherboard.

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 1:14pm

moolers2000 wrote: »

You can plug the molex(highlighted inblue) into your powersupply and power your fans that way or plug your fans directly into fan headers on motherboard.

Understood but i only have one fan header on the motherboard (male) and i have 2 fans with 2 seperate female molex connectors.

M00lers · 03-10-2019 1:31pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Understood but i only have one fan header on the motherboard (male) and i have 2 fans with 2 seperate female molex connectors.

Jaysus! You have me confused now.

The fans have a molex connector!! never seen that before! And motherboard only has one fan header, never seen that either. You sure there isn't any more fans headers on motherboard.

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 1:38pm

moolers2000 wrote: »

The fans have a molex connector!! never seen that before!

Really ?

And yes there is definitely only one system fan connector on the board. The other is for the CPU cooler which i've connected up already.

M00lers · 03-10-2019 1:43pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Really ?

And yes there is definitely only one system fan connector on the board. The other is for the CPU cooler which i've connected up already.

I think we have crossed wires, (pun intended), the connector in blue is commonly known as a molex connector. Your fans should have female fan connectors (which also may be manufactured by Molex!!). Just plug the blue molex into your PSU and you should be good to go.

Fingers Mcginty · 03-10-2019 1:50pm

moolers2000 wrote: »

I think we have crossed wires, (pun intended), the connector in blue is commonly known as a molex connector. Your fans should have female fan connectors (which also may be manufactured by Molex!!). Just plug the blue molex into your PSU and you should be good to go.

Yup suspected that. I use the term "molex" in the same capacity as vacuum cleaner is to hoover.

I'll go ahead with that so. Thanks

Fingers Mcginty · 07-10-2019 1:43pm

Nearly there. Unfortunately i don't have a LAN connection in the room where this PC is going but I have a Ubiquiti AP in the next room.
Can you folks recommend a good quality wifi usb adapter?

K.O.Kiki · 07-10-2019 2:01pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Nearly there. Unfortunately i don't have a LAN connection in the room where this PC is going but I have a Ubiquiti AP in the next room.
Can you folks recommend a good quality wifi usb adapter?

Instead of USB, I'd recommend a PCI card.
PCWorld/Curry's have a cheap one: https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing-accessories/networking/network-routers-and-switches/wireless-adapters/tp-link-tl-wn881nd-wireless-pcie-card-10119361-pdt.html

IMHO a PowerLine kit is better though:
https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing-accessories/networking/powerline/tp-link-tl-pa4010-powerline-adapter-kit-av600-twin-pack-10143560-pdt.html

Anima · 07-10-2019 3:26pm

Power line adapters can work really well depending on your house, the wiring and distance from the router. They worked great in one apartment I was in but terrible in another, slightly older, flat.

When they work well you'll get like a consistent 1-2ms to the gateway. When bad, it can be really up and down, spikes of 30-40ms etc.

In that case I'd say a good quality wifi setup is better.

Fingers Mcginty · 07-10-2019 9:11pm

The power line adapters won't work with my setup so I'll go with one of those pci cards.

Fingers Mcginty · 09-10-2019 12:09pm

Bit of a problem. I've ordered a PCI express card but it's not going to fit because of the heat sink on the graphics card is covering the pci express slot

[IMG][/img]

Fingers Mcginty · 09-10-2019 12:11pm

[IMG][/img]

09-10-2019 12:16pm

Haven't seen it mentioned so far in the thread yet:

Check out the Lenovo ThinkPad and IdeaPad range of PCs which come with the "Dolby Stereo HOME THEATER" logo in the front of them. The software driver will be pre installed with the OS.

These machines can record in Dolby Stereo too.

M00lers · 09-10-2019 12:24pm

You could try the GPU in the lower slot albeit it would then run at x4 PCIe. (may not be an issue with your usage, I'd imagine its plenty of bandwidth for a 1030). Worth a shot?

Fingers Mcginty · 09-10-2019 12:35pm

M00lers wrote: »

You could try the GPU in the lower slot albeit it would then run at x4 PCIe. (may not be an issue with your usage, I'd imagine its plenty of bandwidth for a 1030). Worth a shot?

Unfortunately the heatsink is too big to allow for that.

M00lers · 09-10-2019 12:39pm

Thats unfortunate. Not much you can do then so. Unless you run a pci extender and/or mod something but thats seems like a lot of work just for WIFI.

z0oT · 09-10-2019 12:50pm

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Bit of a problem. I've ordered a PCI express card but it's not going to fit because of the heat sink on the graphics card is covering the pci express slot

You can put that WiFi card into the bottom X4 slot.

Sure it'll only connect to a small portion of the whole connector, but you can run an X1, X4 or X8 card in the bigger size PCIe connectors just fine, no need to move the GPU.

M00lers · 09-10-2019 12:52pm

z0oT wrote: »

You can put that WiFi card into the bottom X4 slot.

Sure it'll only connect to a small portion of the whole connector, but you can run an X1, X4 or X8 card in the bigger size PCIe connectors just fine, no need to move the GPU.

Good spot, I thought the x4 slot was the one being covered!!

Fingers Mcginty · 09-10-2019 1:11pm

z0oT wrote: »

You can put that WiFi card into the bottom X4 slot.

Sure it'll only connect to a small portion of the whole connector, but you can run an X1, X4 or X8 card in the bigger size PCIe connectors just fine, no need to move the GPU.

Happy days

PC for home recording/music production

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