PC For Audio Production

W Kelly

Member
Hi All. Wondering if anyone can advise here, please. I'm trying to get a PC for Audio Production. This spec has surpassed my upper budget of €700. For Audio production the more cores the better, but I am also considering a few of the 6 core options too, which would bring the price down a little. I am no PC expert at all, so your help on this spec is very welcome. Thanks.

Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO S600 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
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)
Mouse Pad
PCS Mouse Mat
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: €835.54 including VAT and Delivery
 

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Ok I don't know the Ryzen processors but if doing audio wouldn't tee on-board graphics be ok, in which case you could drop the graphics card which would bring the price down, just a thought
 

W Kelly

Member
Ok I don't know the Ryzen processors but if doing audio wouldn't tee on-board graphics be ok, in which case you could drop the graphics card which would bring the price down, just a thought

Hi Martin. That's the kind of thing that goes over my head a bit here. But yes you're right, I don't need anything special for graphics, just standard. I thought I had to choose a card as a component and went with one of the first options. I didn't realise it would come with a standard one. I'll look at removing that. Cheers
 

W Kelly

Member
The problem you have is your budget....you will have to sacrifice build quality somewhere. The case, whilst a quiet case, is also rubbish for coling, CPU really needs a cooler at that level if it will be run hard for long periods (plus if using that case), RAM needs to be higher frequency (audio production needs higher frequencies), you have 2 of the slowest drives available which may or may not affect your audio work, PSU allows zero future upgrades so you would need a new one if you ever upgraded things.

If I was building something for music production I'd want double your budget. However, I'm not an audio person. @SpyderTracks Can you offer some wisdom here please? Thank you

Thanks for such an informed answer, again these are the things that are over my head here. I'll take all that on board and see what I can do. I definitely would like a package that I can upgrade in the future. But one thing is for sure, my budget is tight and maxed out even at this spec. That's why I'd like to be smart and choose the best options I can afford right now. I may give customer care a call here tomorrow and ask for some help to piece it together. Thanks very much
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Thanks for such an informed answer, again these are the things that are over my head here. I'll take all that on board and see what I can do. I definitely would like a package that I can upgrade in the future. But one thing is for sure, my budget is tight and maxed out even at this spec. That's why I'd like to be smart and choose the best options I can afford right now. I may give customer care a call here tomorrow and ask for some help to piece it together. Thanks very much
I would agree with @Nursemorph, this budget just isn't there to build something that's going to last, it would be a throwaway system with major compromises, and would be loud, which is the last thing you want, but unavoidable at this price point.

This is what I'd be aiming for as an absolute minimum, but still making sacrifices:


Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: €1,283.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/C3xbHxGPuT/
 

W Kelly

Member
I would agree with @Nursemorph, this budget just isn't there to build something that's going to last, it would be a throwaway system with major compromises, and would be loud, which is the last thing you want, but unavoidable at this price point.

Thank you Spyder. That's opened my eyes a bit towards the right track, especially on the storage side.

Price wise I might have to compromise your spec by going down to 6 cores! Do you think the Ryzen 5 3600XT would do OK for me combined with everything else you had?

Looking at the M.2 SSD what is the difference between PCS v Adata? I have no clue! Why I ask is... For 30 quid more the next option up is 1TB PCS, which in the long run might give me more breathing room for storage!

Next thing I would say is the Nvidia GT 1030 does not have HDMI. I would like HDMI out to my monitors! So maybe the 1GB GT 730 would work for me?

Lastly the case... I personally was looking at the "quiet" soundproof cases and avoiding the plexiglass side panels, thinking they might be louder. Are you recommending that case because it's a cooler option than the Silenco one I had chosen?

Again, thanks so much for all your help, very much appreciated.
 

W Kelly

Member
@SpyderTracks @Nursemorph - How do you think this one looks? I'm really stretching myself here, but considering the fact that the stretch now might be worth it in the long run. More realistic is I were to come back down from here might be the 3600XT or the 3800X. My own opinion is once I get up to the 3800XT it's not much more to go to the 3900X and get to 12 Cores. Last thing I'll say is, I can get the VAT off the price, so that does save me some money! Here's the new spec, your thoughts would be great....

Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 & 6 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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - 3 User, 1 Year
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO
Mouse Pad
PCS Mouse Mat
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: €1,431.00 including VAT and Delivery
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I would lower the processor to the 3800xt, reason being is you have to have a X570 board with that cpu and significantly better cooling which would up the cost another £100.

I’d drop the Bullguard as well, it’s known to cause issues.

That’s FAR better though, that’s a very capable platform with room to upgrade in the future. Will last a long time.
 

W Kelly

Member
I would lower the processor to the 3800xt, reason being is you have to have a X570 board with that cpu and significantly better cooling which would up the cost another £100.

I’d drop the Bullguard as well, it’s known to cause issues.

That’s FAR better though, that’s a very capable platform with room to upgrade in the future. Will last a long time.
Thanks V Much, I'll look at that and probably go that way then. Cheers
 

W Kelly

Member
Should the RAM be upped to the 3600MHz ones? . I seem to recall something about 3600 being preferred for music stuff

It's not giving me the 3600 MHz option in drop down menus, I had that in mind after your suggestions yesterday. Maybe I need to try another way, that would help make it a bit better I agree. Thanks for all your help.
 

W Kelly

Member
@SpyderTracks @Nursemorph .... Last one I promise. Been trying to call the customer care, man there's a Looonnng wait time! But I started looking at intel options, seems to me I can get more bang for buck here. This spec leaves me at about €1055 ex VAT. Using the integrated graphics, leaves me room to bring the RAM up to 32GB (albeit the highest option is 32MHz). I chose the intel SSD also, which gives a better MB/W than the PCS version. What's your opinion, if you have a moment please? Thank you....

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275Q QUIET CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 665p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2000MB/sR | 1925MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 & 6 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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO
Mouse Pad
PCS Mouse Mat
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: €1,277.00 including VAT and Delivery
 

Grumpywurzel

Bright Spark
The Intel CPU is a downgrade really, you could well hit the temp limits (and therefore thermal throttle) whereas the AMD chip will motor all day long at high frequency. If you look the cache is smaller which might affect your work. From other reviews knocking about, that Intel SSD is a pile of rubbish.
 

W Kelly

Member
The Intel CPU is a downgrade really, you could well hit the temp limits (and therefore thermal throttle) whereas the AMD chip will motor all day long at high frequency. If you look the cache is smaller which might affect your work. From other reviews knocking about, that Intel SSD is a pile of rubbish.
@Grumpywurzel Thanks a million, that makes sense. I'll revert back to the AMD one the other guys helped me with yesterday, seems like THE one.
 

W Kelly

Member
@Grumpywurzel @Martinr36 @SpyderTracks

Gents, I finally pulled the trigger today, after procrastinating for several more days, watching YouTube videos on components etc. My head is melted, but I feel like I know a bit more about PC's at this point. See final spec below... I went back to the 3800X, in the end it felt like the most balanced for my needs and I put the extra money into the Samsung 970 Evo, which I felt would benefit me more. I also spent the extra 10 quid and went for the 650W Power Supply, to give some headroom. For a few days now, there has been no option for the 3600MHz RAM, so I setlled on the 3200 MHz, it should be fine for my needs I think. Huge Thanks to you all for the guidance, you certainly put me on the right track, Cheers.

Case
NZXT H500 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
CoolerMaster Devastator III Combo Keyboard and Mouse
Mouse Pad
PCS Mouse Mat
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: €1,493.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
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