Mid-range DAW PC, light gaming

[Ensign]

Hello,

I haven't built a PC in way too long, but I'm planning on building something soon. I'm looking to build something with pretty decent DAW capabilities and some light gaming. I'm primarily a guitar player, but also mess with keyboards and drums some.

I was thinking an i7 (not sure which), 16 gig of ram, 256 gig SSD and not sure what else. I have a couple of Line 6 devices I'll interface with it (HD500 and TonePort UX1). Not sure if I need to worry about dedicated sound or not these days. I think I'd be ok with current integrated graphics, but wouldn't mind some room to grow for advanced graphics capability down the road.

Here are my answers to the questions:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
DAW, light gaming, basic home computing

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Approximately $750

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
No preference

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

*Win 7 Home Premium
*2TB 5400 RPM storage drive (can this be used for recording too or should I record to SSD?)

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably run at default

8. What resolution will you be using?
1920 x 1080 (using my current ASUS VW246H 24" LCD monitor)

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

*Not in a huge rush, but would like to do it soon

10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

No

Thanks for your help!

 

[mfenn]

Digital audio is a pretty light workload these days unless you are messing with dozens and dozens of channels. Start from this build, and make the following changes:

Drop the 1TB HDD -$70
Drop the GPU to a 7850 -$90
Drop the CPU to the i5 3470 -$35
Drop the CPU to the H77 Pro4/MVP -$15
Drop the PSU to the CX500 -$17

That should put you at $701, and you've only really given up some gaming performance and the ability to overclock.

How does your recording gear interface with the system? We may need to make some tweaks based on that.

 

[Ensign]

Digital audio is a pretty light workload these days unless you are messing with dozens and dozens of channels. Start from this build, and make the following changes:

Drop the 1TB HDD -$70
Drop the GPU to a 7850 -$90
Drop the CPU to the i5 3470 -$35
Drop the CPU to the H77 Pro4/MVP -$15
Drop the PSU to the CX500 -$17

That should put you at $701, and you've only really given up some gaming performance and the ability to overclock.

How does your recording gear interface with the system? We may need to make some tweaks based on that.

Great, thanks!

The recording interfaces go through USB. I should have also mentioned that I will likely be using the Reaper recording software, as well as multiple plug ins. That's why I was thinking 16 gig of ram might be beneficial.

Thanks again!

 

[mfenn]

I'm not familiar with Reaper. However, if it's what you currently use, it's easy enough to test how much memory you need. Just load it up and do what you would normally do, then open up the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, sort by Image Name, find the Reaper process, and check the value in the Memory (Private Working Set) column.

 

[Ensign]

I'm not familiar with Reaper. However, if it's what you currently use, it's easy enough to test how much memory you need. Just load it up and do what you would normally do, then open up the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, sort by Image Name, find the Reaper process, and check the value in the Memory (Private Working Set) column.

Sounds good.

I'm thinking that I could probably go with something more basic for video. What's the minimum I would want to run to not have any issues with HD video at my resolution and at least get by ok with games like GTA IV? Actually, pardon my ignorance, but with this type of processor and motherboard combo, would I actually have onboard video using the HDMI port? If so, what kind of performance would that offer?

Thanks again!

 

[Ken g6]

It looks like HD4000 isn't enough for GTA IV, though it's plenty for HD video. The best bargain for GTA IV specifically appears to be a 7770.

 

[Ensign]

It looks like HD4000 isn't enough for GTA IV, though it's plenty for HD video. The best bargain for GTA IV specifically appears to be a 7770.

Great to know.

So is an i7 in my particular application overkill or just out of the budget?

Also, is dual channel memory the way to go?

 

[mfenn]

It looks like HD4000 isn't enough for GTA IV, though it's plenty for HD video. The best bargain for GTA IV specifically appears to be a 7770.

:thumbsup:

So is an i7 in my particular application overkill or just out of the budget?

A HyperThreading-capable CPU is in the budget if you go for the Xeon E3-1230 V2. I honestly have no idea whether or not your application will benefit from HT though.

Also, is dual channel memory the way to go?

Yep.

 

[Ensign]

:thumbsup:



A HyperThreading-capable CPU is in the budget if you go for the Xeon E3-1230 V2. I honestly have no idea whether or not your application will benefit from HT though.

Looks like that processor isn't bad for gaming too, right? Might be good for future needs. So many choices!!!

Thanks again.

 

[sonicanatidae]

How many USB ports do you need?

The recommended board in this thread has 4 USB 2.0s and 2 USB 3.0s I believe. Does your Audio gear need more than 2 3.0 ports?

That 2 TB 5400 HDD should be fine for recording. If all your gear runs thru USB, I can't see it ever outrunning any HDD.
Typical USB 2.0 data rates are max 60 MB/s (per controller/all ports on that controller). Slow HDDs are in the 120MB/s+ range easily.

 

[Ensign]

How many USB ports do you need?

The recommended board in this thread has 4 USB 2.0s and 2 USB 3.0s I believe. Does your Audio gear need more than 2 3.0 ports?

That 2 TB 5400 HDD should be fine for recording. If all your gear runs thru USB, I can't see it ever outrunning any HDD.
Typical USB 2.0 data rates are max 60 MB/s (per controller/all ports on that controller). Slow HDDs are in the 120MB/s+ range easily.

That should be plenty of usb ports for my needs.

Here's the hard drive I have already: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152245

 

[mfenn]

Looks like that processor isn't bad for gaming too, right? Might be good for future needs. So many choices!!!

Thanks again.

Yeah, the Xeon is just as good as an equivalently-clocked i7 for all purposes except overclocking.

 

[Ensign]

Yeah, the Xeon is just as good as an equivalently-clocked i7 for all purposes except overclocking.

I just decided to go with the i7 3770K deal at Buy.com. Basically, $250 after the first-time customer and rewards points. I'm thinking of just going with the integrated graphics for now since I've likely gone over budget on the processor. This processor should last me longer too.

 

[mfenn]

It probably won't last you any longer than a Xeon, but $250 is a good price for a 3770K all the same. :thumbsup:

 

[Ensign]

It probably won't last you any longer than a Xeon, but $250 is a good price for a 3770K all the same. :thumbsup:

Given that this will be my processor, any thoughts on whether I should go with the same recommended motherboard, or should I go with the one in the mid-range recommendation for more "future-proofing"?

I hadn't originally planned on overclocking, but I guess if it's relatively safe these days, I might as well take advantage of extra performance if I can.

*EDIT* Looks like I'll most likely be overshooting my budget. Just picked up the Samsung 256GB SSD at NewEgg... LOL Do you think I'll notice much of an improvement from my current Athlon 3200+ and 2.8 gHz P4 systems?

 

[mfenn]

Actually, you can get the best of both worlds right now with the Biostar TZ77B for $80 AR. That's the same price as the H77 board I linked above, but you get the overclocking capabilities of Z77. Note that if you don't overclock, there is no "future-proofing" to be had.

 

[oynaz]

Overclock: IMO, you shouldn't overclock your DAW. Stability is your #1 priority, and your CPU is fast enough anyway.

CPU: Most DAWs can use all the cores and threads your can throw at it, but you will be hard pressed to get anywhere near the max performance of any i7. I use an old dual core i5, and I have not been anywhere near maxing it out.

RAM: 4 Gb is probably enough, but with RAM being so cheap, you might as well get 8

HDD: Get a 7200 rpm drive for your songs. 5400 rpm will probably be enough, but big projects just might be cutting it close, and giving the relatively small price difference, I would not save here. You might only want or be able to record 4 or 8 tracks at a time, but the disc needs to read already recorded tracks as welll, at it is nice to use 50+ 24bit 48khz tracks without worrying about performance.

Remember to make room in your budget for a backup solutioin.