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Build Advice Build Advice Needed

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by james-milligan, 22 Aug 2014.

  1. james-milligan

    james-milligan Minimodder

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    Hi all,

    I am building a computer for my friend who produces music using ableton live. He wants it to run really smoothly with massive projects and I believe the CPU will be most important for this, plus having lots of RAM and running on an SSD.

    Budget: Maximum of £900 but I don't think spending that much is really necessary
    Main uses of intended build: Intensive audio production using ableton live plus various plugins
    Parts required: All but mouse, keyboard and monitor
    Previous build information: N/A
    Storage requirements: SSD for programs, HDD for media
    Will you be overclocking: not initially, but maybe in the future if greater performance is required
    Any motherboard requirements: Onboard graphics, USB3
    Extra information about desired system: N/A

    This is what I have put together on scan: click here

    I haven't built a PC since my 2500K build many years ago so I'm a bit out of it but I hope I'm choosing the right things! My friend doesn't care for having a fancy case and bit-tech seem to recommend the spec-01 as a budget case. I just went for the cheapest 16GB of RAM and 2TB HDD. I read the 840 EVO is a good SSD but I don't know that much about SSD's. I have no idea about the motherboard but the Z97-K claims to have good audio. the CS550M is another of bit-tech's recommendations.
    My friend says he won't be doing much gaming so on board graphics should suffice, right? Should I buy a CPU cooler now, even though we won't be overclocking initially?
    Is there anything else I should consider?

    Thanks
     
    docodine likes this.
  2. docodine

    docodine killed a guy once

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    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£236.34 @ Aria PC)
    CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C12P SE14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£51.03 @ Ebuyer)
    Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£63.56 @ Scan.co.uk)
    Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£220.00 @ Ebuyer)
    Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£148.92 @ Scan.co.uk)
    Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Aria PC)
    Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£61.99 @ Amazon UK)
    Power Supply: be quiet! 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£33.96 @ Scan.co.uk)
    Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/RSBS DVD/CD Writer (£12.64 @ CCL Computers)
    Total: £878.42
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-22 08:21 BST+0100

    here's what i came up with

    smaller, quieter, 2x the RAM, 4x the SSD size

    no idea if it's necessary as i have no idea how much ableton can take advantage of, but it should be good for pretty much any task short of heavy video workflows
     
  3. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    The latest MSI *97 motherboards have very low dpc latency. Great for audio production.
     
  4. james-milligan

    james-milligan Minimodder

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    Is 32GB RAM overkill or would it actually be useful? Does SSD performance increase at all with size? I know prices are good these days but I'm not sure the larger size is necessary. Would a 300W supply be okay with that build, plus a GPU like a 750 if it was desired at a later point?

    And with the MSI motherboards, are you saying any Z97 board will have very low dpc latency?

    Thanks
     
  5. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    32GB would be overkill, unless he was using lots of programs/dsp's at once, even then 16 would be enough.

    Larger SSD's do give better performance but I doubt it would be that noticable. For the most part a decent HDD will cope with audio work, I might suggest a 256GB SSD that could be used he was working on something that was extremely heavy on disk access.
     
  6. jinq-sea

    jinq-sea 'write that down in your copy book' Super Moderator

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    With music prod rigs, I would always advocate as much RAM as affordable, as many cores as possible, and fast storage. 32Gb RAM is possibly a bit of overkill, but to be honest, it's fit and forget!

    A nice quiet 300W PSU will do handsomely :thumb:
     
  7. james-milligan

    james-milligan Minimodder

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    okay, so I will stick with the 16GB of RAM I have as he probably wont need 32GB, I've got a smaller PSU, changed to an MSI motherboard and got a bigger SSD. Can anyone recommend a CPU cooler that scan sells? It would be nice to get everything together with the free and fast delivery as I need everything soon. new basket

    Thanks
     
  8. mrbungle

    mrbungle Undercooked chicken giver

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  9. Deders

    Deders Modder

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  10. james-milligan

    james-milligan Minimodder

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    surely a Z97 motherboard is required? Thanks for the suggestions, but my friend thinks that at his level of production, a high end and pricey motherboard will probably not be required. He has external audio interfaces and I don't fully understand what will be a limiting factor so I think we will go with an MSI Z97 GAMING 5 as there is £35 cashback when bought with the i7. It has a good amount of ports and I'm sure it will be sufficient for what he needs. It's just the question of the cooler now really

    edit: actually there are no standard PCI ports on the GAMING 5 and I think sound cards would use these so I don't know...
     

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