Please recommend me PC components which is suited for audio production. I already have a mid tower cabinet from old PC and will be using SSD from my current laptop. Currently don't care about graphics card, if it can fit into the budget maybe recommend that too otherwise can survive without it for time being.


Current specs:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.71 GHz
16gb Ram
1tb SSD

 

You may consider the new m4 mac mini, it offers great performance for the money.

 

that's part of the reason why I asked about a build under 700usd,new mac mini costs around the same. I was hoping to reuse my current OS which has all the DAWs, plugins etc installed which would've made the switch/upgrade a lot easier.

 

it doesnt work like that, u need to reinstall windows/daws/plugins. during install windows it finds the right software for your machine's peripherials etc. so u need a cpu with built in graphics? ryzen 5700g. more than capable graphics, comes with good enough cooler. b550 motherboard 100$, 32gb ram, a new power supply, you are set. ryzen 5000 is tried and tested. not the latest tech, but 8 core/16 threads? things will fly. should be big jump for you. if u consider a gpu , dont buy the 5700g, but the 5700x. easy to cool, supports gen4 nvme's. or go intel 12th gen. avoid 13 and 14th gen. 12400f( needs gpu) or 12600k (very powerful) has integrated graphix. i have a 5700x, very easy to cool, idles around 25c , during music sessions 35-40c top w/thermalright single tower cooler

 

Last edited: Feb 21, 2025

I was gonna suggest exactly the same @vuldegger

Asus Prime B550 motherboard any model you like (B550-PLUS is good). Better to get one with less features (like wi-fi) for audio PC.

It's a really great PC for the price and you could get it for much less than $700 actually.

Edit:
This is ~370 euro:
MBO ASUS Prime B550-Plus - 120E
CPU Ryzen R7-5700G - 170E
RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x16GB 3600 MHz - 80E

A better option would be to buy Ryzen 5700x which costs ~150E and buy some cheap, but still good graphics card like Radeon RX550 with 4GB RAM and GDDR5 memory for ~100E. Then this is 450 euro without the CPU cooler (~30-40E), disks, PSU, chassis and peripherals.

btw. Intel Arc A310 is a really good graphics card for video and audio editing and light gaming, that costs about 100E, too. Supports more video codecs in hardware than 2017 RX550.

 

Last edited: Feb 21, 2025

You should be aware that one can reuse drives/disks from a previous build staying with the same CPU vendor. I do it constantly when troubleshooting the grand-kids systems that are Intel based. Being that the OP is currently using Intel, I would not mention AMD unless that is requested by the OP.

 

Here is a basic outline that can be altered as needed. The mainboard chosen supports 12th, 13th, & 14th Gen CPUs.

• Artic Freezer 36 CPU Cooler $35.99
• Intel Core i7-12-770K $207.99
• ASRock Z690 Steel Legend WiFi 6E/D5 $159.99
• Crucial Pro DDR5 RAM 32GB Kit (2x16GB) $82.99
• XPG Core Reactor II Modular PSU: ATX3.0-80 Plus Gold $64.99

Hope this helps...

 

MAINBOARD: ASUS - ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING = € 138,60
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 8C/16T, 3.80-4.70GHz = € 159,86
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX schwarz DIMM Kit 32GB, DDR4-4000, CL19-23-23-45 = € 150,90
CPU COOLER: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 = € 85,89
GRAPHICS CARD: MSI GeForce GT 1030 = € 80,13
POWER SUPPLY: 650 Watt be quiet! PURE POWER 12 = 78,64 €
=========================================
693,93 EUR

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2025

on tight budget, I'd probably look for used PC (or PC torso) with Intel i5-12400,
or i5-12400F if you'd want a dedicated graphics card,
it's not that old, supports (cheaper) DDR4 ram, and it's probably last Intel cpu that doesn't mix faster and slower cores

 

sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't - it really has more to do with the motherboard and cpu, than just the cpu.
windows was tuned or built to recognize a certain degree of change, if it was acceptable, the license would work AND the software would work. If it was outside those limits, the software might work, but the license wouldn't and if it was too far off the charts nothing would work.

Microsoft may have loosened those parameters since they are trying to herd everyone onto TPM based machines. I personally wouldn't count on an hdd/sdd being bootable and useable on a new motherboard with the old operating system. But its easy to test by trying it, if it doesn't be prepared to reinstall everything, make sure you have copies to install from, etc..

 

I got this combo for a friends build and it's even cheaper option (it should be around 200 bucks for those 3 components), low DPC, no issues really

Mobo: Gigabyte B450M DS3H
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with stock cooler (and integrated GPU)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16/32GB DDR4 3200Mhz

This is mine upcoming budget AM4 build:

Mobo: Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 3600Mhz
GPU: XFX RX580 (50 bucks used)
PSU: Seasonic B12 550W
SSD: Crucial P3 1TB

You can even go with 5700G and no GPU, also second hand HP ProDesk with i7-8700, 32GB RAM and etc. can be found around 200-250 bucks, it's on a par with first low budget build.

Personally AM4 is enough for me, can't even hit the limits of my current machine CPU wise and it's about same generation as those, started with Nebula so kinda want more RAM then 8GB I got now without going into swap, so that's the only reason for another rig. Was thinking about 5900X, but that would be an overkill for the moment, but great future upgrade if I ever hit the wall with 5700X.

 

okay so i have decided to go with 5700x, b550 motherboard, 16gb RAM for now, MSI 650w PSU and Rtx3060 graphics. Is this a good graphics card for video editing? are there better alternatives? And yeah my SSD trick won't work tried it on my friends PC almost all plugins ask for serial again including DAW's lol. So added 1 x 500gb nvme too.

 

Finalized on the similar specs as you recommended plus a nice graphics (i think) for video editing.

 

You were right, I tried it on my friends PC, OS booted up perfectly but plugins and DAW needed Serial again.

 

In the future, you're gonna want that NVME to be larger than 500GB.

 

A lot of software is tied to the CPU! So if you replace the CPU you have to reinstall and register the software.

MSI NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030 2GHD4 LP OC Graphics Card '2 GB GDDR4, 1518 MHz,
Low Profile Design, DisplayPort, HDMI, Passive Fanless Cooling System Black - 83.86 €

MSI GeForce GT710 GT 710 2GD3H LP - 43,90 €
EDIT: Forget my suggestion for "GT710 GT 710 2GD3H LP" but the other one works in Windows 11 and is fanless and therefore quiet.

 

Last edited: Mar 30, 2025

Not necessarily. If one uses a proper backup imager - one that can be used to build back to bare metal (I have used acronis for this) one can simply image the current system and restore it to the new system with non similar hardware. Before you begin the restore to the new machine make certain you gather significant drivers needed for booting the new system. Then just start the restore of your old image to the new machine supplying the needed drivers if/when asked.

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Last edited: Mar 29, 2025

I think nVidia 700 series have no new drivers for Windows 11, so I would avoid it unless very cheap

 

is nvidia 3060 good?

 

Any of the 3000 or 4000 series RTX's are good, IMO. I have a RTX 3070 Ti in my current prod box. Works great especially since I do still photo and video production on the same machine as audio work. Main differences between the 3060 (or 4060) and higher model numbers is more, better, and faster. You get more 3d processing power, faster GPU speed, more/faster video ram, etc. Plus, "Nvidia" means you have CUDA support which is key if you're doing anything with video.

It has been said of Nvidia drivers in the past that they are intrusive to audio applications. I have yet to personally experience this, but something to keep in mind.

 

Last edited: Mar 29, 2025