PC for multimedia/music making

Cisco001

hubb wrote: »

So for the money what would be best out of the Dino PC and Aria PC systems ?

Not sure why you say the 8gb of ram is a bit slow. It says its for high level gaming and multimedia viewing and creation.

It is only DDR3 1333.

hubb

Cisco001 wrote: »

It is only DDR3 1333.

Is that so bad ? Most places, even top spec builders use 1333

hubb

What about this ?

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ShowSystem.asp?SystemID=1364

Mat_Lock

I built my PC from eBuyer for £814 and it's similarly specced but I have 16gb of RAM, 120gb SSD and a decent branded case and psu. That was July last year so some parts such as memory have increased in price.

1 x Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
1 x WD 1TB Caviar Green 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 64MB Cache
1 x Pioneer DVR-219LBK 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive | OEM
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1
1 x Kingston 120GB V+200 SSD - 2.5" SATA-III - Read 535MB/s Write 480MB/s
1 x Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
1 x Coolermaster CM690 II White with 600W Silent Pro Gold PSU
1 x Sapphire HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card
2 x G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V

hubb

This seems a better deal and they are pro music PC's. Well above my budget but worth it for my work.

http://www.inta-audio.com/pc-builder/index/81

Mat_Lock

I don't get why they put the top end CPU i7-3770k and pair it with the slowest DDR3 1333mhz memory, they should be putting at least DDR3 1866mhz memory minimum with that maybe even DDR3 2133mhz

hubb

Mat_Lock wrote: »

I don't get why they put the top end CPU i7-3770k and pair it with the slowest DDR3 1333mhz memory, they should be putting at least DDR3 1866mhz memory minimum with that maybe even DDR3 2133mhz

Well it's plenty of memory anyway. They specialize in pro audio computers so they must know what they are doing.

I can take my PC apart and put it back together ok. Do you think self build will save me money ?

Mat_Lock

Well I am a member of Overclockers UK forums. I spec checked on there and then went to eBuyer to buy the parts as they were cheapest at the time.

As stated in my previous post. I got a i5-3570k setup with an SSD and 1gb storage for £814 delivered and included a decent gaming graphics card for when I wasn't making audio. It's more than capable of doing anything audio in it with the headroom of the 16gb RAM too.

Building a PC isn't that difficult, you just have to make sure to lay it all out, make sure all parts are there then it's a simple process of fitting parts. They are all made a certain way so you cannot force it in or damage anything really.

Cases and motherboards are all standardised so screwholes/fittings are all the same. You can be as anal as you want with cabling, mine is quite tidy but I've seen others with immaculately built insides. CPU has a small indicator as to which way to fit it in, CPU heatsink and cooler is fiddly but easily done too, Memory only fits in one way as their is a cut out in the chip and one side is longer than the other. HDD and optical drives are self explanatory and fitting case fans etc are easy too.

Here are some pics of my rig:

All the bits: http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad149/mat-lock2010/IMG_9252.jpg

All the parts fitted: http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad149/mat-lock2010/IMG_9268.jpg

Finished setup: http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad149/mat-lock2010/IMG_9275.jpg

hubb

Looks tidy. What music sequencer software do you use ? I could go that way but no comeback if ewt goes wrong. You did say that Dino PC were competitive with your self build including them throwing in windows 7.appreciate the help mate. Still not sure which darn way to go.

Mat_Lock

Cubase 5 for my DAW
Traktor for my dj'ing

No comeback, course you have, HDDs have 2 or more years warranty usually, Intel chips come with 3yr warranty (if it's a retail CPU not OEM), motherboards usually 1-2 years and Gigabyte are UK based RMA, most other things tend not to blow up.

The Dino PC spec I made was only trying to get as near to that build as possible, I wouldn't use the spec I made for DAW or Video work in all honesty.

At the end of the day you're spending £500 on a middle ground put together machine with a warranty. To get the most out you need to spend more money.