Building a new PC. Help?

[swamiill]

Hey everyone,

first I apologize if this is the wrong section to post something like this..*edit* thank you for moving me to the correct section mods*

I'm currently looking to buy my first PC for audio recording/production. I will be using FL Studio 10 and if I can get a rig cheap enough, plan to get komplete 8.

I want an i7 quad core processor, at least 8 gigs of ram and an ssd.

Where should I get it at? I've looked at Cyber Power PC and built my own.

CPU:Intel® Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)
16gb of ram - kingston
HDD:128 GB Plextor PX-128M2P Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 420MB/s Read & 210MB/s Write [+89] (Single Drive)
HDD2:1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+110] (Single Drive)
MOTHERBOARD:[CrossFireX/SLI] GigaByte Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 Dolby Home Theater Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 4x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 3 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (All Venom OC Certified) [+66]
POWERSUPPLY:* 750 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-750TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+63]
VIDEO:AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB GDDR3 16X PCIe Video Card [-89] (Major Brand Powered by AMD)

the only problem is this rig is liquid cooled. i dont want it to leak :/ and it only has a 1tb hd for storage.



and PC Audio labs (a little overpriced but the build looks really nice and is optimized for audio).

http://pcaudiolabs.com/quote_view.asp?q ... 5145721775

My budget is about 2300 USD (not just for the pc, for everything). so i have to take into account that fl + komplete 8 is 860$ by itself. so about a 1500$ budget for the rig. appreciate any help i can get

[swamiill]

there is also the ADK systems.. anyone have any experience with them?

[Kaine]

Define water cooled? Is it done properly with a res and a full loop, or is just one of those coolers with a pipe going to the back fan?

First one will only leak if they can't build properly, second one is an all in one sealed unit and it would take a hammer impacting it a few times to make it leak.

Either way I find good air cooling far quieter than average watercooling. What are they overclocking the rig to in order to justify using it?

[swamiill]

i'm just taking a guess but.. judging by how cheap the rig is with the parts i listed (1,365$) its not built with a full loop.

as for OC, CLOCK:Pro OC (Performance Overclock 10% or more)


I really don't want to have to worry about it leaking. i myself prefer air cooling as well, long as there is a nice air flow around the video card and processor (professional wiring)

i'd love to build it myself and order parts but it almost seems to not be worth it.. it'd be about the same price.

any opinions on this? i've been doing research for about a week and am really itching to get a rig shipped. hehe

i apologize, i don't know too much about buildings pcs. just the technical terms

[Kaine]

i'm just taking a guess but.. judging by how cheap the rig is with the parts i listed (1,365$) its not built with a full loop.

Yeah, I suspect your right. In which case the chance of it leaking is about the same as you knocking a can of coke over it!

as for OC, CLOCK:Pro OC (Performance Overclock 10% or more)

I'm suprised they don't give you a range estimate there. The auto overclock feature on most midrange boards will give you at least 15% these days!

I really don't want to have to worry about it leaking. i myself prefer air cooling as well, long as there is a nice air flow around the video card and processor (professional wiring)

That's another reason I prefer to aircool. You can get all sorts of hotspots if you using a waterblock solution which can be annoying later on.

any opinions on this? i've been doing research for about a week and am really itching to get a rig shipped. hehe

You want the 2600k machine. The bang per buck result is so much better for audio than a 2500k. Althrough as noted above I'd prefer more storage and different cooling myself.

[swamiill]

Thanks a ton for your insight Kaine, I appreciate it! I'm dead set on the 2600 with fan cooling now.

I actually took a look at your 3XS SA-X6 PowerDAW and would probably go with that if shipping to the US wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg

[jcschild]

Thanks a ton for your insight Kaine, I appreciate it! I'm dead set on the 2600 with fan cooling now.

I actually took a look at your 3XS SA-X6 PowerDAW and would probably go with that if shipping to the US wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg

if on a budget look at the "Qube" system nearly the same as the "Quad Pro"

Scott
ADK

[swamiill]

Thanks a ton for your insight Kaine, I appreciate it! I'm dead set on the 2600 with fan cooling now.

I actually took a look at your 3XS SA-X6 PowerDAW and would probably go with that if shipping to the US wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg

if on a budget look at the "Qube" system nearly the same as the "Quad Pro"

Scott
ADK

Scott,

I sent in a request for some information a few hours ago. It's actually a pretty detailed questionnaire.. I feel sorry for the sales rep that has to answer it all lol But they are questions I need answered.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys at ADK

-Mike

*edit* Looking at the motherboards now, I'd probably like to have more than 1 PCI slot.. So i'll probably be saving up a little longer before I order so I can get cubase 6 and komplete 8.. and krk rp5's.

[jcschild]

PCI is dead 3 PCie is plenty for most
i was the "poor" guy who answered..

[dsan@mail.com]

@ Swamiill

FWIW - you can build a similar system by choosing parts at newegg.com and saving a TON of money IF you think you can build a computer. (It's not as difficult as it sounds).

I built one a while back, got better than the system's builders (at the time) and saved about $1000.

Just a thought worth looking into.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[dsan@mail.com]

[quote="swamiill"]i'm just taking a guess but.. judging by how cheap the rig is with the parts i listed (1,365$) its not built with a full loop.

Edited for brevity


Just saw the price you listed.....sorry, can't do the same at newegg. Just ran a quick cart and was up near this without case and cooling.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[Jace-BeOS]

FWIW - you can build a similar system by choosing parts at newegg.com and saving a TON of money IF you think you can build a computer. (It's not as difficult as it sounds).

It's not difficult to choose parts and assemble them, unless you want something that is going to be glitch-free and all the parts are fully compatible with each other. Then it requires a lot of research in places you might not think to look. One thing that has gotten me countless times is the fact that specs on memory for motherboards are almost useless these days. It used to be that you looked at what the motherboard of your choice supported (type, speed) and bought it from whichever vendor had the best price. It's not like that any more. i don't know when it changed (between my third and fourth computer builds, i think, which wasn't more than four years of elapsed time). Now, you have to pick a motherboard, then look at the motherboard maker's list of approved and tested memory sticks. Often, their list of tested memory is old (outdated; many of them no longer on the market) because of the time between design, QA testing and release. Worse, i've seen approved memory lists that completely exclude any combination needed to attain the board's max memory.

My recent experiences were with an Asus Striker Extreme (a class action lawsuit needing product if ever there was one) and an EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW. i bought the EVGA at the end of its market life, so that compounded my issues, but the Asus was quite new when originally bought.

There's MUCH more i could say on the topic (how many product warranties you want to fight with to track down your problem?), but i blab too much and i know the instant responses to my opinions on this stuff tend to be "it's fine if you know what you're doing" or "you did it wrong" etc.

i'll try to end here: i personally find system building these days to be NOT worth it. If you can buy from a builder that provides a couple years of UNIFIED warranty and service, you're not wasting that extra money saved by doing your own build. You're paying for an assurance that you'll use the system as a tool instead of it making a tool out of you.

[swamiill]

i'm just taking a guess but.. judging by how cheap the rig is with the parts i listed (1,365$) its not built with a full loop.

Edited for brevity


Just saw the price you listed.....sorry, can't do the same at newegg. Just ran a quick cart and was up near this without case and cooling.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

Haha yeah, I had given that a shot already.. Thanks for the attempt though

[swamiill]

FWIW - you can build a similar system by choosing parts at newegg.com and saving a TON of money IF you think you can build a computer. (It's not as difficult as it sounds).

i'll try to end here: i personally find system building these days to be NOT worth it. If you can buy from a builder that provides a couple years of UNIFIED warranty and service, you're not wasting that extra money saved by doing your own build. You're paying for an assurance that you'll use the system as a tool instead of it making a tool out of you.

Thanks for the input Jace. That's exactly what opinion was. I had attempted to build my own gaming rig back in high school and it worked great for awhile. But installing the OS/ software and keeping everything running smoothly was a real pain in the butt. Not to mention when something went out on the rig I had NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS So i'd rather have some sort of professional assistance with things like that.

[Kaine]

My recent experiences were with an Asus Striker Extreme (a class action lawsuit needing product if ever there was one) and an EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW. i bought the EVGA at the end of its market life, so that compounded my issues, but the Asus was quite new when originally bought.

Oh dear, two NF4 boards in a row. You'll probably see now why most builders were happy when that chipset went end of life!