Building a new Bespoke PC for a Music Producer

brian_sheil · 13-04-2021 6:21pm #1

Hi folks,

I am here looking for your expert advice. I am looking to buy/build a brand new PC for my operations. I mainly use it in the studio for pro audio, music production, music streaming, video streaming, and have/process a lot of big data.

Here is my spec that (I think) I'd like. I am looking at purchasing from PCSpecialist and have heard mixed reports. I'm also aware that graphics cards are hard to get right now, but with the spec below, I think it is all available on their website.

So, in short, I'm looking for advice on:

1) the PC build itself (if I'm going too crazy on it, pear it back/or not)

2) PC Specialist as company, and if not recommended, where to purchase? I'm not good at building things myself, but know of 2 local people who are, but worried about time to receive all individual product.

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HERE IS MY PC SPEC SO FAR, in the region of €3,500 (not sure if there's added taxes due to Brexit? I read there wasn't but need advice on that)

Thanks in advance folks. Much appreciated. Brian
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Operating System
Windows 10 Home edition 64-bit

Case
Model: NZXT H511 Mid-Tower Game Case (White)
Dimensions
460mm x 210mm x 428mm
(Approx H x W x D)
Colours
White
Materials
Steel
Tempered Glass
Bays
3 x 2.5"

3 x 3.5"
Top/Front USB & Audio
1 x Headphone

2 x USB 3.1
Features
- Steel construction

- Fully filtered intakes

- PSU shro
- Cable routing kit

- Tempered glass

- Radiator bracket
Fans
4 x 120mm
3 x 140mm

Fans included: 2 x 120mm

Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i9 Eight-Core Processor i9-11900K (3.5GHz) 16MB

Motherboard
ASUS TUF GAMING Z590-PLUS WIFI (LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe 4.0) ARBG

Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 3200MHz (4x16GB)

Graphics Card
12GB AMD Radeon Red Devil RX 6700 XT – HDMI, DP – DX12

SSD
1TB Samsung 980 Pro M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)

Storage Drive
4TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5’’ SSD, SATA 6GB (up to 560MB/Sr | 530MB/Sw

DVD/Blu-Ray Drive
16x Blu-Ray Writer Drive, 16x DVD +R/RW & software

Power Supply (would I need 1200W?)
Corsair 1000W RMx Series Modular 80 Plus Gold (Ultra Quiet)

Power Cable
Standard IEC Kettle Lead

Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RBG Pro XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (270W)

Thermal Paste
Arctic MX-4 Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound

LED Lighting
X2 50cm ARFB LED Strip

Extra Case Fans (may not need these – would look cool though)
X4 CoolerMaster SickleFlow 120 ARGB + Controller Kit

Stock Soundcard (will have my own interface for the studio)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy RX

Network Card
10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN Port

Wireless Network Card
ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 2100Mbps/5GHz, 1000Mbps/2.4Ghz

USB/Thunderbolt options
2 Port (x2 Type A) USB 3.1 PCI-E Card + Standard USB Ports

Firewire Ports
2 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI-E Card (2x6 pin)

Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image (online download, unlimited)

Warranty (could be covered under EU here, but thinking about Brexit etc)
Preferably 3/5 year warranty on Parts & Labour, Collect + Return

Giblet · 13-04-2021 8:40pm

Do you have a backup solution for your audio? I have terabytes of audio stuff, a 4TB SSD wouldn't cut it!

You have onboard Audio, so if you are using a proper Audio interface for recording, you probably don't need the creative.

Your motherboard has good WIFI, don't need another card. I'd rather faster RAM than more RAM also, 3600 to be exact.

Your case.. isn't great for ventilation, and doesn't support an internal optical drive.

K.O.Kiki · 14-04-2021 1:11am

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR MP400 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 3480 MB/R, 3000 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days

Price: €2,197.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/af7xwv!rqZ/

Not included:

extra SSDs/HDDs for backups.
Do not buy AMD GPU for a workstation like this, you want Nvidia.

brian_sheil · 14-04-2021 2:06pm

Hi folks,

Thanks so much for the great replies.

Yes, I use two cloud backup services for audio, and 1 or 2 external HDD. I hear you on the audio stuff, but 4TB would cut it for this PC, as I have three other Apple Macs and have many external disks backing these. Currently on my PC I have 480GB SSD for the OS, and 1TB for storage, so that was my reasoning behind that.

Great, so the there's a wifi already in that motherboard? I didn't realise - thank you.

Ok, I'll search for a better case. Any recommendations?

Regarding the RAM, yeah they didn't have 64GB in 3600, only 32GB. Any recommendations here too would be greatly appreciated.

Also folks, is there any other website apart from PCSpecialist where I could go to?

Cheers,
Brian

brian_sheil · 14-04-2021 2:18pm

I forgot to ask folks, is there a reason I shouldn't buy AMD GPU for a work station like this?
I was also vearing towards Intel's i9 processor, as I have used Intel for years, and never used AMD's processors.

Appreciate the edited PC Specialist config too, will take a look.

Inquitus · 14-04-2021 2:46pm

brian_sheil wrote: »

I was also vearing towards Intel's i9 processor, as I have used Intel for years, and never used AMD's processors.

A CPU is a CPU, whether its AMD or Intel, currently AMD are much better for productivity, you would be better off going with them for your use case.

Syferus · 14-04-2021 3:10pm

https://www.csl-computer.com/

A German site that tends to undercut PCSpecialist on price.

H3llR4iser · 14-04-2021 6:33pm

brian_sheil wrote: »

I forgot to ask folks, is there a reason I shouldn't buy AMD GPU for a work station like this?
I was also vearing towards Intel's i9 processor, as I have used Intel for years, and never used AMD's processors.

Appreciate the edited PC Specialist config too, will take a look.

CPU wise, AMD has been the superior choice for a couple of years now, especially for content creation / rendering / anything that's heavy to process. Plus, Intel latest i9 is...how to say, not excellent, let's put it this way, and a theoretically lower category (not to mention cheaper) Ryzen 7 5800X beats it in most scenarios:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiuvQPL_qs

With GPUs, the concept is completely different and I do agree you'd be better off with an nVidia one; Oversimplifying, they have a wider array of optimizations and supports for applications other than gaming - e.g. 3D rendering, encoding and so on. In other words, most fancy professional audio/video/graphical programs will support nVida GPUs, while some may support AMD's.

That said, right now whatever CPU and GPU you can find is better than none, so...

frozenfrozen · 14-04-2021 6:54pm

I think there are some usb instability issues with AMD at the moment. You should look for someone else who has built a pc recently for pro tools or something and copy them or maybe find a validated parts list to copy (either going with intel or amd)

performance would be nothing if you had any instability with your audio interfaces

Spear · 14-04-2021 7:16pm

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I think there are some usb instability issues with AMD at the moment. You should look for someone else who has built a pc recently for pro tools or something and copy them or maybe find a validated parts list to copy (either going with intel or amd)

performance would be nothing if you had any instability with your audio interfaces

Those issues were fixed with a BIOS/AGESA update about a month back.

brian_sheil · 15-04-2021 11:21pm

Cheers folks, for the replies. Most of my ''hard-core'' audio work is done my Apple Macs with Pro Tools and Logic Pro X, but occasionally I use the PC for audio editing with Pro Tools etc, but more so primarily for streaming audio and video. I am looking to have 8k possibilities hence why I'm at a stand-still with graphic cards etc. It was very useful to get the advice on NVidia over AMD for the graphics cards.

I check out the i9 10th and 11th generation, and I can see why the 11th doesn't seem to as great as expected. What is the best of the AMD processors out there, i9 11th gen equivalent/better?

CSL Computers look great, but again the graphics cards are an issue. I wonder when this will be resolved?

Cheers, folks. Thanks for all your help. Have read all your comments.

Brian

Spear · 15-04-2021 11:46pm

AMD's equivalent range is the Ryzen 5xxx series. They also do a workstation line called Threadripper, but that may be overkill if not over budget.

brian_sheil · 16-04-2021 12:06am

Deadly, thanks a mil. Do you think there'd be any point in waiting until Sept when a rumored i9-12900k is due for release, 16 cores seemingly. Indeed I may have to wait until that time regarding the graphic cards shortage at the moment anyway.

Spear · 16-04-2021 12:22am

brian_sheil wrote: »

Deadly, thanks a mil. Do you think there'd be any point in waiting until Sept when a rumored i9-12900k is due for release, 16 cores seemingly. Indeed I may have to wait until that time regarding the graphic cards shortage at the moment anyway.

The new 12th gen would also mean a new board and DDR5 RAM instead. You could get a 16 core Ryzen 5950 today, supply not withstanding.

Beyond the current supply issues, you'll need to decide whether a machine now is more important than any advantage DDR5/PCIe 5.0 would give in six months time.

Lumen · 16-04-2021 1:54pm

brian_sheil wrote: »

I use the PC for audio editing with Pro Tools etc, but more so primarily for streaming audio and video. I am looking to have 8k possibilities hence why I'm at a stand-still with graphic cards etc.

You might want to elaborate on that 8k a bit. 8k is absolutely bleeding edge.

Even aside from the processing, 8k has absolutely monstrous storage and bandwidth requirements. Where are you streaming it from/to? You'd need a solid 1000Mbps for that, I'd guess.

the_syco · 25-04-2021 1:58am

brian_sheil wrote: »

Cheers folks, for the replies. Most of my ''hard-core'' audio work is done my Apple Macs with Pro Tools and Logic Pro X, but occasionally I use the PC for audio editing with Pro Tools etc, but more so primarily for streaming audio and video. I am looking to have 8k possibilities hence why I'm at a stand-still with graphic cards etc. It was very useful to get the advice on NVidia over AMD for the graphics cards.

Have you ever needed to contact Pro Tools about an issue with the software? If yes, go Intel, if no, AMD should be fine. Does Pro Tools support AMD? No. But from Google, I've yet to find any AMD CPU's from the past 5 years get the "your CPU is not supported" message when people are installing PT on their AMD computer.

Also, not sure if there are any AMD motherboards with Thunderbolt ports?

Really wish Avid would just come out and say "here's the list of AMD CPUs that work with PT".

=-=

Personally, if there's much writing to be done to it, I'd avoid the QVO. From what I've read, they're great for office machines, but not good for anything that will be doing a lot of read/write; once the cache runs out, you'll be left staring at

As we all know, when SSD writes data, the master controller will erase the old data and then write new data. This process is called P/E cycle (program/erase). When the P/E cycle runs out, the SSD is likely to fail.

The approximate P/E cycle range of SLC, MLC, TLC, and QLC flash chips are as follows:

SLC NAND flash memory cell supports about 50,000 ~ 100,000 P/E cycles.
MLC flash memory cell generally supports up to 5,000 ~ 10,000 P/E cycles.
TLC NAND flash memory cell only supports around 3000 P/E cycles.
QLC flash memory cell supports around 1000 P/E cycles.

With QVO using QLC memory. So this would be the one that you DO NOT WANT TO BE THE BACKUP.

K.O.Kiki · 26-04-2021 3:02am

the_syco wrote: »

Also, not sure if there are any AMD motherboards with Thunderbolt ports?

ASUS ProArt B550-Creator has 2x Thunderbolt 4

Gigabyte B550 VISION D has 2x Thunderbolt 3

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has 1x Thunderbolt 3

the_syco · 27-04-2021 11:42pm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

ASUS ProArt B550-Creator has 2x Thunderbolt 4

Gigabyte B550 VISION D has 2x Thunderbolt 3

ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 has 1x Thunderbolt 3

Off topic, but about friggin time. Last time I checked was pre-COVID, and Intel hadn't allowed AMD boards to have Thunderbolt connections natively. A few had workarounds, but they didn't have the full throughput.

Building a new Bespoke PC for a Music Producer

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