hey guys,

I'm a silent reader of this forum for quite some time now and I want to thank you all for participating on this site. I already found tons of useful information here. I saved up for a new pc as I'm currently running a 6 year old Laptop. ;)
So I'm looking for a future proof system and hope you can give me some advice on my built.
I want to have enough ram for smaller orchestral compositions. Any help will be appreciated.

Intel Core i7-6800K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor, 437
Noctua NH-U14S Tower Cooler, 69
Asus X99-A II Intel X99 So.2011-3 Quad Channel, 265
64GB G.Skill RipJaws VKB schwarz DDR4-3200, 464
250GB Samsung 850 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s, 95
1000GB Samsung 850 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s, 329
1000GB Samsung 850 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s, 329
8GB PowerColor Radeon RX 480 Red Devil Aktiv, 259
Fractal Design Define R5, 103
650 Watt be quiet! Power Zone Modular 80+ Bronze, 90
Asus BW-16D1HT Blu-ray Disc Writer SATA intern, 75

2515€ in total

I'm especially not sure about the cpu. What do you guys think?


Thanks in advance!

 

8-16GB of ram will do. I do orchestral things with 4GB, though I don't use kontakt.

Might wanna get a ST Ironwolf or WD RED 2.7TB HD instead.

========

If you have unlimited money, you can buy what you want. If not, you can save a bit on CPU by buying i5 or AMD ryzen perhaps?

 

Buy a used i7 5820k and a new mobo, 32gb ram and save at least 1000$ yet you have the same power and with that saved money you can buy a quality midi controller/master keyboard like a Doepfer.
For smaller orchestra stuff you dont need 64gb ram.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5820K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-6800K/2579vs3607

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2017

Intel Core i7-6800K = Big No
Go for i7-7700K or i7-6700K, Even in this modern days, Single Core CPU performance score plays important role than the multi-core Score.

Next, 7700K or 6700K will require LGA1151 & Asus X99-A II Intel X99 So.2011-3 Quad Channel is an LGA2011 motherboard plus it has a very bad review so choose another motherboard, maybe one of Gigabyte motherboards or even ASRock.

64GB ram is an overkill for sure, 32GB will be most convenient for present & future, though you can still settle for 16GB.

Keep one 500Gb or 1TB SSD as your system drive & Put two 1TB or one 2TB WD Black HDDs as your sample drives. Install plugins on SSD system drive (better go with 1TB SSD as a system drive) & keep samples on HDD.

 

Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red are hds optimized for nas/server raid clusters not operation as desktop hds. The other suggestion about the WD black is a good one when it comes to performance hds. Also, the other comment which said get a 7700k or 6700k, i am sorry but is wrong. Even on a 8 core cpu, modern daws will utilize those cores. I have both a 6700k and a 5930k machines. While clock always matters the difference is small between 3.5 and 4 ghz. The main factor here is, you can always push the 6/8/10 core i7s to 4 ghz (or even further), but you cannot add more cores to a 4 core cpu. Also, Z series boards (and H and B) are pure mainstream desktop boards. X99 boards have their origin in the server/workstation land and therefore they bring tremendous expandability. Double the max ram and loads of hd support, many pci lanes for nvme ssd and any kind of exotic peripherals that occupy pci lanes, without limitations etc etc. Plus almost any x99 board supports Xeon processors as well, i personally mentioned in a past thread, building an x99 with a 3ghz,12core Xeon. (Good for me on that particular thread somebody indicated that you can overclock Xeons too, something which i had overlooked, as long as i live i learn heheh).
If you really are looking for future proof, you will get the x99Deluxe II board not the A model (if we 're talking Asus),it's got more Sata ports, Thunderbolt3 card included, top class oc etc. Even if you don't get the deluxe though, i strongly suggest to get a better and bigger psu. The last 2 years i built systems with Corsair RX 850 and 1000 psus, i find them the best in terms of performance and silent operation, so i strongly suggest them.
I also don't understand the pc case choice. Why would you want to put a "Ferrari engine" inside a Wolkswagen beetle hehe. While the case you have chosen is very nice it is too small imho. Future proof and expandability means you might need to add water cooling in the future without sacrificing crucial hd space, more hds/ssds, etc. The thing is for optimal operation of your components you need the best airflow you can get. With that case you will most likely find your GPU reaching the hd's compartment lol. A full tower is most proper, and btw, the silent operation is mostly due to the case's fans and their ability (or not) to control them from the board's bios. suggestions ,anything from CoolerMaster and Corsair and many others too. Nevertheless, if you still want to go midi tower and care for silent operation,or for any other option this website may interest you:
https://www.quietpc.com/
Cheers
PS: If your budget is tight you should think going AMD Ryzen, for audio/productivity is much better than a 7700k system atm.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

erm, no.

The define r5 is an extremely versatile case, masterfully engineered and built.
You can fit video cards up to 310 mm length in it, with the upper hdd case removed 440 mm are possible. For reference, the Titan has 260 mm and the op's PowerColor Radeon RX 480 has 225 mm.
It has 8 3,5" hdd positions plus 2 2,5" positions.
You can pack all those positions completely and still fit watercooling with tank and radiators completely internal.
It really is a great case. Yeah, it doesn't look like an alien and there are no flashy lights, but some of us like it better that way

 

Digital Audio Workstations still are unable to take full utilization of multiple cores, Even I used to suggest 6800K to everyone but I personally tested Ableton & FL Studio on two different machines with same specs except for the CPU which were 6800K & 6700K.
Honestly 6700K was amazing because of it's single core performance and 6800K worked like a charm with non music production softwares. Most of the third party plugins still prefer single core or dual core at max and If any plugin needs more than that I'm sure 6700K's 8 logical cores will be enough. That little extra money is worth when you are doing CAD stuff but for Music production Still 6700K is a beast because of it's core power.
So you better go with it's new generation that is 7700K.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

you can aswell get an old haswell i7, slap some pcie ssds inside and be good to go.

But to each his own

 

your setup is fine, the 6800k is a way better cpu than 6700k
6700k is consumer grade
6800k is high-end desktop without onboard GPU and boxed fan.
2011-3 socket with 6800k is another world:
max 128GB ram instead of 64GB and 6 cores alongside quad channel DDR 4 2400 memory instead of dual Channel DDR4 2133,
15MB cache instead of 8Mb, no shitty gpu on the cpu like the 6700k,
28 pci-e lanes instead of 16,
Intel® Turbo Boost Max 3.0: brings it up very close to 6700k single core performance
Intel® Smart Response: SSHD (fusiondrive alike)
TDP 140W makes this cpu well worth the Noctua.
i would get a better PSU (650W are fine tho) the Bequiet Dark Power pro series are the way to go.
don't underestimate a high quality PSU in Audio environments
a gtx 1060 instead of the rx480 any day
get at least 512 GB m2 System drive, 250 is too small, you will regret it one day.
samsung 960 pro 512GB is highly recommended and worth every penny
don't go for any spinning drive at all, these days are over
you will love your SSD only rig.
i would never get a midi tower for a workstation.
water-cooling is obsolete,
with a 1060 and a Noctua alongside a pro series PSU and proper case fans (Noctua) you won't hear your PC at all even under constant maximum load even after years without any maintenance.
to do it properly you have to spend a little more,
but then you have a proper workstation that can handle anything, reliable, silent, future proof.

every daw can make use of all cores, don't worry about that. and you will feel the difference once you start using multiple Divas and the like.
a 2011-3 setup costs a big chunk more than consumer Hardware.

On the other hand you can do a
7700k, rx 480 8GB, midi tower,16 GB RAM build for less then half the money and its gonna be still more than decent rig.

Ryzen is a no-go for me, for now
looks like a dream for DAW's
on paper......
it's too new

so long

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 20, 2017

@fraifikmushi don't get me wrong: the pic of the case you posted and especially how the components are put together is beautiful! But here @taskforce also has a point. Speaking from personal experience.. my brother recently gave me a pretty decent comp. The only thing I wanted was a powerful graphic card (for renderings). I did not see the comp before so I went and got myself a monster Nvidia which also happen to have monster dimensions ;) Of course it didn't fit.. of course you can remove the upper bay or take a saw... but why would you do that? Dimensions? You already know you're not buyng a 13" laptop. I just had an old Chieftech lying around and threw everything in there lol

 

Well... at least Sonar Platinum, Cubase 9 and Samplitude X3 can do full 8 core on most cases. One simple truth, as described in cubase forum a couple of years ago, goes like this : If you're using a lot of power hungry plugins, you rely heavily on floating point ability, which in real world metrics means more cores.
I posted this again on another thread but here you are, some documentation describing this on Sonar Platinum:
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=NewFeatures.017.html

I think we can find common ground in this "argument" by saying the DAW tech is still far from perfect in utilizing any # of cores in any given scenario. Which DAW you use is also important in this. Personally i find Sonar Platinum to suit me better than all and have the best overall performance, although i have a long history with Cubase since the Atari days and also Samplitude, Logic and DP. I do use Live ( for... live gigs hehe) and i dig FL and S1 as well too. Especially for remixing i also love the workflow of the long forgotten Acid Pro (still at 32bit although i hear Magix have a new version in the works). Reason is one of the funkiest softies ever too.
Still it wouldn't be an understatement, at least if you come from where i come (that is the world of hardware sequencing + no comps, where all is precise) to say that
Every DAW sucks in its own unique way
Seriously now, imho, in any case, it is imperative that the users explore enough their DAW of choosing, so to understand the limitations and advantages of it. Then they can really know/decide for themselves which system suits their needs best, as you probably have done too
Cheers

 

I just ordered a new build.

Aorus gaming 7 with thunderbolt 3, 16gb drr4 3200 (never needed more) , intel 7700k and a 525gb m.2 drive. That's all life is about.

 

The socket 2011-3 boards are typically wider since they utilize 2x4 ram slots. There are cut down versions with just 4 slots but i don't think anyone would go for this slot for DAW work and buy one of those boards. The GPU he lists @225 is also quite longer than the one on the pic and WILL reach the hd compartment, but i agree there are ways around it, and i never said it is not a good case. I only said it would be space compromising. Btw, if you don't find the setup in the pic crammed, you are good to go I personally go for something like this:
https://images.bit-tech.net/content...-obsidian-900d-review/900d_side-1280x1024.png

 

Is there something I don`t get? because in my world, 225 is a smaller number than 310. And the pci(e) mounting points don't change in position, regardless of the board dimensions. And what does the number of ram slots have to do with serious daw work?
I guess I just don't get it.

 

No there isn't,you are right, it is my bad man. I just double checked the dimensions If he plans to go minimal with ssds/hdds as he writes he will be ok with that case

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

a few years ago single was more important but not anymore!
the more the better times are changing quick (see ryzen)
Nobody is only doing Audio. Even with vst services like in bitwig more real cores is better.
Most like HT or going to like sonner than later. Multitasking is plus too ;)

if you can afford it cpu is cool!
but i would maybe go for a liquid solution h series so overclocking might be more comfortable

there is stuff to consider with ram
1
you os has to support it
2
magic number is i belive 48gb. Over it its ECC memory wich means performance cut
(please correct me if i´m wrong)

els
maybe look out for a m.2 samsung ssd

Bronce power is cool, gold is better (look for deals)
beq is cool too!

lastly
if you ever plan on doing your own videos
sorry to say exept for black magic
nvidia rules the scene (def go for silent min 2gbRam)

Def a Beast especialy in the cumming years ;)

 

ECC ram is needed only when a Xeon is present on the cpu slot. With i7 you can be a "happy bee" utilizing even the most hardcore/enthusiast DDR ram available. From my short experience with Xeon cpus and DAWs i never witnessed a real world throwback in performance using those modest ECC ram sticks. On the contrary, systems felt a bit more stable, but perhaps this is my perception. If it is competitive gaming you are after of course, you might notice a difference.
Btw, what do you mean by magic number 48gb? (Perhaps you remember the earlier days of i7 920 etc? ) An x99 board with 8 ram slots will accept full 8x16gb =128gb of "desktop" DDR4 with an i7 on the cpu slot. Mine has half the slots occupied with 4x16 =64gb and i will upgrade soon as i buy my VSL strings+brass pack which i hope will be after summer.
Cheers :D

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

thank you guys for the tremendous support. i didn't expect anything less.
to be honest, I don't know that much about hardware. I read up on some stuff and configured this build last year but didn't have the money to buy it. I definitely want to go with 64 gb ram and with a good multicore cpu. Didn't even know about the new Ryzen series from AMD but I think the value for the money is great ... really considering the Ryzen 1700 now to save me 100 bucks. Had the same thaughts about the Radeon RX 480. It's just more affordable than an Nvidia gpu.
I want to stay in the 2500€ range. So I think water cooling is not an option.
Which motherboard could you recommend me if I go with the Ryzen 1700? Should have Thunderbolt 3 support.

 

None of the AM4 boards will have Thunderbolt 3 support as that is an Intel technology... You'll need an add on card but as far as I know, none of the AM4 boards have the required connector.

 

Last edited: Mar 22, 2017

i think with the "E" boards 2011 and such that could both carry xeon and non xeons you
didnt need ecc till a magic barrier/number of gigs

and you are right that was indeed a xeon build (wich i forgot) and we opted for
48 or 64 (still cant remember) non ecc (performance price was better) . and that was max non ecc.
cheers for reminding me!