Music Production PC ~1000 Euros (~800 pounds)

[Mate1989]

Hi guys,

I want to build my own custom music production pc. This is my first attempt on doing this. I researched a lot on the internet and asked a couple friends. I think my build is ok but i want to hear the opinion of some "experienced" pc configurators. I wannna build it up from scratch and my budget is at about 1000 euros (~ 820 pounds). I wanna run reason 7 on it and record my guitar. I have a seperate audio interface (propellerheads balance) so I don't need a soundcard. Maybe I will upgrade some components for gaming later. And I want to use two monitors which I will buy in the near future. Here's what I came up with:

CPU:
Intel Core i7 4770
Since I don't really know how overclocking works I decided to go for this CPU instead of taking the 4770K.
250 €

CPU cooler:
Noctua NH - U9B SE2
50€

PSU:
be quiet! 530 W Pure Power l8 CM Modular
65€

Case:
CoolerMaster Silencio 550
82 €

DVD drive:
Samsung SH - 224DB / BEBE
17 €

SSD:
250 GB Samsung 840 EVO (Do I need the Desktop - Kit version?)
140 €

Motherboard:
Asus Z87 - Pro (C2) Intel Z87 LGA 1150
160 €

HDD:
1 TB Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200 rpm
60 €

RAM:
16 GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance LP Red DDR3 - 1600
150 €

Total: 974 € (~ 803 pounds)

I took the prices from this website: mindfactory.de

The operating system will be Windows 7. But I'm not sure which version I got.

EDIT: I took a closer look at the version I got at home and I noticed that it is just an upgrade version. So I will get a new copy of Win7.
Any suggestions which version to pick? Should I go for the OEM version? (OEM Home Premium 64 Bit: 40 Euros only!)

Did I forget anything important?
Do I need any special tools to assemble it?
Do I need to get some extra cables?

I would appreciate it a lot if you guys could tell me if that is a good build and / or give me any advice on how to improve it!

Greetings

Mate

[Dizzee]

My first thoughts when looking at your build is "moving parts"... I'm no expert at building exclusively for audio but I would keep away from anything that could cause noise pollution.
You seem to be trying to combine audio and gaming...

If my priorities where audio then I would select a low power CPU (i5 4570S), passive cooler Zalman FX100, lose the HDD and get an external HDD (that you can plug in when required), I have great respect for be quiet but I'd get something like the Seasonic FANLESS 400W Platinum PSU...
It would be powerful enough to do casual gaming.
I would probably get a fan controller for when I do play games... to enable fans when appropriate.

and hope I made enough money from my guitaring to later get a dedicated gaming box


you always need extra cables... but never know until you need them.
Probably missing wifi card.
I'd lose the dvd player and get a more expensive blueray player+dvd/cd r/w
Asus H81M-PLUS Intel Socket 1150 micro-ATX Motherboard (with a i5 4570S)

[SniprUK]

Great Start!
My first tip is that the RAM is a bit excessive. 8GB would be fine for music production and editing. (Just a thought though!)
Next tip, go for a Segate Barracuda HDD instead of the WD Blue. (Better performance and personal preference mostly!)
As for the OS, go for the OEM version. It's cheaper and it's not go any of the extras that other version may have that clog up you machine in the long run!

Hope this helps,
SniprUK

[Mate1989]

Hi guys!
First of all thanks for the help and your thoughts on this!

@Dizzee:
1. Why would you select a low power CPU? As I wanna keep this machine for quite a long time I thought it would be nice to have a decent CPU from the beginning. And I will need the power in combination with a better GPU I guess.

2. Why would you take the Zalman FX100 rather than the Noctua CPU cooler? I read that the Zalman is not that good. Although it should be a passive cooler it doesn't get the temperature down to where it should be. It is recommended to get an extra cooling fan with the Zalman. Using only the Zalman in full passive mode without any extra coolers makes the CPU temperature climb up to a maximum of 85,6 °C. But of course the noise level is great as there is no noise. The Noctua is really quiet and it keeps the temperature down to a maximum of 64°C. And the Noctua is a little less expensive.

3. I'm not sure about getting only an external HDD. I will work with sample libraries and other stuff I will need to have access to constantly. But on the other hand I agree with you that an external HDD would lower extra noise as I only plug it in when I need it. BUT: If I open up a music project and load in any sample or sound from the external HDD I will have to keep it plugged in for the whole time until I'm done with the project. So my question here is: Is there a real difference between having an external HDD plugged in all the time (especially while making music) or having an internal HDD (which is in the PC case -> lower noise level than an external HDD lying on the PC case or on my desk)? I will get an external HDD later of course to keep my data in a safe spot and to make backups. But I'm not yet convinced to have only an external HDD. And I can't store all my music files, samples and other stuff on the SSD.

4. The Seasonic FANLESS 400W PSU seems to be a really good PSU. One obvious advantage is the noise level. But the be quiet! PSU I chose is really quiet too. Tests proved that it is not noticeable at a distance of one meter. Another important point for me is that the be quiet! PSU supplies 530W. I would rather go for the be quiet! now as I can easily upgrade my machine with a decent GPU and I won't have to change the PSU. Tell me if I'm wrong! And the Seasonic is a lot more expensive! I really need to keep the costs below my budget...

5. I connect to the internet using an ethernet cable so I don't need a WiFi card. And I really don't need a Blueray reader / writer.

@SniprUK:
1. I chose the 16 GB RAM just to be prepared for the future. I wanna keep the machine for a couple years and I don't want to upgrade the RAM every year or so. I think this should be enough for a while.

2. Thanks for the advice on the HDD. I just compared them and I think I will go for the Seagate.

Please don't misunderstand my comments on your replies. I really appreciate them! I just wanna make sure that I don't waste my money. And as I'm new to this I rather ask a little bit more as asking is for free but buying the wrong parts can cost me a lot of money... All I can say about the parts we are talking about is not from personal experience. The information i have about those components comes from datasheets and reviews on the internet. Please feel free to correct me!

Thanks again

Mate

[kalniel]

I'd also not skimp on the RAM - I do music stuff on my PC (albeit very different genre) and you can end up dealing with multiple huge files and lots of programs open at once. Normally more RAM doesn't help, but for these kinds of uses I would make sure you have lots.

Low power CPU (and other parts - check out motherboard power draws too) means less heat, which means less cooling and less draw on the PSU, which also means less heat from that component and less cooling again. Less cooling means less fan noise. On the other hand you don't need huge amounts of CPU power for gaming.

But seriously consider whether you should go down the dual-purpose computer route - a gaming PC has very different requirements to an audio work PC and if you're doing it seriously you don't want to compromise. I'd build the PC for audio work then maybe game a little on the sidelines, if that's not good enough for gaming then get a console/build a dedicated gaming PC. Don't compromise the audio PC for it.

I would stick with an internal hard drive for main use - if you needed absolute silence then you can always spin it down, but chances are an internal drive will be quiet enough that it's fine. Some drives also have extra quiet modes that can be activated using the manufacturers software.

Where an external drive comes in handy though is back ups - which should of course be built into your considerations!

[herulach]

I'm not up to speed on music production software, and how it scales with cores/threads. However, if it were me, I'd be tempted to see if you can find benchmarks on AMD hardware. You obviously have the budget for a decent intel build as you don't need a gpu, but moving to AMD would maybe save €150 which you could put into a bigger SSD, meaning your spinning drive can be spun down (and therefore silent) most of the time.

You'll be happy enough with the bequiet 530W. I had one before the 750W one I have now, and it was basically inaudible except with your ear right next to the fan.

I'd second Kalneils comments about making sure you have a robust backup strategy in place. Especially if this is your work not a hobby.

[kompukare]

Is there anything specific which the Asus Z87 - Pro (C2) has you specifically need (you've already said you don't the onboard wifi)? Because there is seldom any good reason to buy a €160 motherboard. In fact since you do not intend to overclock there is no reason to buy a Z87 board. A H81 or B85 board for £40 or so should be fine. The only thing the Pro might have is better fan control but if you get a very good CPU cooler that is less relevant.

Instead of the Cooler Master Silenco I would get a FD Define R4 or Nanoxia Deep Silence. And even if you don't want to budget the Seasonic fanless you should at least get a semi-fanless power supply (where the fan only kicks in at a certain load or temp).

Certainly you should investigate how the software you intend to use scales with cores and HT. The i7 might be overkill. A lower power i5 'S' CPUs might be a good idea since you want as little heat (i.e. noise since it needs to be cooled) as possible.

As for HDDs, there is a lot of variation not just in terms of noise but also vibrations (although the Define R4/ Deep Silence etc. do have mountings which try to reduce the transfer of vibrations; and they are also made from heavy steel with acoustic mats which should mean no rattle). Looking at sites like www.silentpcreview.com or even specialist retailers like www.quietpc.com should give you some ideas.

[wasabi]

Way more powerful than you really need for audio IMO. I'd go for SSDs and NAS for storage, and a 45w TDP CPU and a huge passive cooler. Possibly a semi-passive PSU too where fans only come on when gaming.

My old rig is quite happy to handle multiple VSTs on my guitar's ASIO input with ease.

[Mate1989]

Thanks for the quick response!

@kalniel:
Thanks for your thoughts on this!

1. This computer will mostly be used for music production. I just thought about upgrading certain parts in the future to make it a little bit better for gaming. And I don't mean high end super gaming with all settings at maximum. Just a little bit of dayZ maybe.

2. I just want to make sure that I can keep this build as long as possible without upgrading the parts every year or so. Thats why I wanted the i7. And I thought its beneficial for music production to have a decent CPU. Do I really need to consider the noise level with the low noise parts I chose? The CPU cooler, the PSU and the case are made to keep the noise as low as possible. Even if I don't need the entire power of the i7 isn't it better to be prepared for the future? Can I take a lower power CPU and upgrade my RAM (to 32 GB) in the future without any problems?

3. I really don't want to compromise the audio for gaming. This is supposed to be a music production machine in the first place.

@herulach:
Thank you too sir.

I think I will stick to the Intel build. The 250 GB SSD seems to be enough for my needs. And I think the noise of the HDD will not be noticeable. As I'm using this computer at home and there will never be complete silence in my room I think none of the noises will be noticeable.

Thanks everybody for your help!

Mate

[Mate1989]

@kompukare:

Thanks for your thoughts!

1. I chose the Asus Z87 because I read that it's a good mobo for a music production build. As I said before: All my information is not from personal experience but from datasheets and reviews on the internet. Thats the main reason why I'm asking for help here. I don't have any experience. I would totally go for a less expensive build if it still fulfilled the requirements! The build I posted in the beginning is just what I came up with having only basic information and little knowledge about building a music production pc. I will check out any recommendation for a "better" (meaning cheaper but still good enough) motherboard.

2. If those two cases are your recommendation for me I will check them out and take the one I think is better. Which one would you prefer?

3. Generally speaking a fanless PSU is better in my case?

4. The only thing I could find is that two cores are the requirement. Searched google for a while but I couldn't find any info about HT.

5. I think the noise level won't be a problem because there will always be some kind of noise in my room as I'm living in a neighborhood with a lot of children and other stuff going on.

@wasabi:

Thanks for your reply!

I thought about NAS for storage and I heard that the Synology disk station series is quite good. I will probably go for this. What do you think are the right specs for a reliable machine which will keep up with the pace of programs getting more demanding?

Thanks everybody

[kompukare]

2. If those two cases are your recommendation for me I will check them out and take the one I think is better. Which one would you prefer?

Well, I have build with both. Both have a large gap behind the motherboard for routing cables; the Fractal Design R4 is wider which makes it easier to route the cables. When I built with the Deep Silence, Nanoxia only had that model; they now have lots more so you might want to go over some of the reviews. Anyway, both the Define R4 and Deep Silence are huge cases (around 60 litres) so do need a lot of space. They both make smaller sound dampened cases but a bit case is good for keeping noise down.

3. Generally speaking a fanless PSU is better in my case?

Well, a semi-fanless should be fine if you keep the load low. I think the Seasonic's which offer that only start the fan at 30%+ load. Your build (say i7 Haswell and 1HDD = under 100W) is unlikely to exceed 150W, so 500W supply will probably never get above 30% load.

wasabi's NAS idea is good too since even if the NAS is not totally silent, you can just run an ethernet cable to another part of the room and hardly hear it in another part of room.

EDIT: there are of course companies who specialise in quiet PCs like for example
http://www.silentmaxx.de/pcs/leise-pc/leise-pc.html
(first hit I got on google.de). So you could buy there if you are not confident at building it yourself or at least be inspired by what components they choose (although they do seem a bit reluctant to list specific components on their site).

[MrJim]

Just a few thoughts. Firstly, unless I've missed it, you haven't specified any additional sound hardware for your build...will you be needing a high-quality sound card? The audio hardware built into most motherboards isn't that great in terms of audio fidelity; Asus make a range of sound cards which might fit the bill?

Secondly, regarding your upgrade copy of Windows 7: you shouldn't need a new copy, even for a fresh install. All you do is install the OS, but DON'T activate it straight away. Once it's installed, go to the activation screen, type in your code, & it should activate normally, even though it's an upgrade edition. At least, that's what I did with my copy.

Finally, I'm not sure that the amount of extraneous noise produced by your system is relevant - presumably, you'll be wearing headphones whilst monitoring audio, anyway?

[wasabi]

Suppose the silence thing depends a bit on what you are up to. If you're using microphones a lot, silence is a must. After that, more of a case of how annoying is it in the background and whether you use headphones.

Only PC grunt issues I've has with music is if I put absolutely silly numbers of heavy load VSTs on my pedalboard software, or exporting mp3s. But I'm just using it to record guitar / microphone mostly, apply amp simulation effects and do light tweaks.

[kalniel]

Just a few thoughts. Firstly, unless I've missed it, you haven't specified any additional sound hardware for your build...will you be needing a high-quality sound card? The audio hardware built into most motherboards isn't that great in terms of audio fidelity; Asus make a range of sound cards which might fit the bill?

He mentioned it in the first post

Secondly, regarding your upgrade copy of Windows 7: you shouldn't need a new copy, even for a fresh install. All you do is install the OS, but DON'T activate it straight away. Once it's installed, go to the activation screen, type in your code, & it should activate normally, even though it's an upgrade edition. At least, that's what I did with my copy.

Only if you've got a previous license from Vista or whatever that can be upgraded. If you don't have a previous version that you're upgrading from then you'd be using the upgrade version fraudulently, which is bad at the best of times anyway, but for someone potentially using the software for professional reasons could be career-threateningly daft!

Finally, I'm not sure that the amount of extraneous noise produced by your system is relevant - presumably, you'll be wearing headphones whilst monitoring audio, anyway?

I think it's the recording aspect that's susceptible to noise (if acoustic at least).

[MrJim]

Only if you've got a previous license from Vista or whatever that can be upgraded. If you don't have a previous version that you're upgrading from then you'd be using the upgrade version fraudulently, which is bad at the best of times anyway, but for someone potentially using the software for professional reasons could be career-threateningly daft!

Well, in my case, I already had a legitimate copy of Windows XP which I was upgrading from; I was installing it to a new hard-disk following a hard disk failure. I didn't see the point of installing XP again, only to have to install Windows 7 afterwards.

[Mate1989]

Thanks again for all the answers!

@kompukare:

1. OK thanks for the advice I will go for the Fractal Design Define R4.

2. I'll check the semi-fanless PSU out. Something like this: 520 Watt Seasonic S12II Bronze Non-Modular 80+ Bronze ? This one is non modular. Is this important?

3. Maybe I should have mentioned before that I won't be recording my guitar using microphones. Neither will I record anything else using mics. I'm gonna be producing EDM mostly. But I have propellerheads balance audio interface which I use to record my guitar for different styles of music. So that's why I'm not that much concerned about the noise level. Of course I still wanna keep it low but I'm not gonna record using microphones. So I think a NAS won't be a troublemaker.

4. I really want to make this experience. And I think it's a lot less expensive to buy all the parts and assemble it on your own than buying a pre built system.

5. What about the motherboard and the CPU?

@Jimbobgod1969:

1. As I only will record my guitar I dont't think I need an extra sound card. And I already have propellerheads balance audio interface.

2. Thanks for the advice but I already found another solution.

3. I will get some active monitor speakers in the future. But for now I will use my PC speakers (shame on me) and my everyday headphones (even more shame on me). When I save up some money I will get some better equipment because I know that this is very important...

@wasabi:

1. I will not use any microphones. So the noise is not that important. I will not only use headphones while producing. But I think that the low noise parts are already really quiet and the noise won't affect the production flow as I won't hear the noise.

Thanks everybody!

Mate