Please critique my dream music DAW

[JerGoertz]

So, one thing about integrated graphics.. the extra $50 is well worth it if you're building the new pc at a friend's and forgot to remove the gpu from your old build to transfer. It works great in a pinch and I've always looked at it as a failsafe for any potential gpu issue/special circumstance.

Aside from that, there are a few limitations in terms of what it can handle. I am on an i9 with ig and I noticed that fps/resolution takes a huge hit, which I found very distracting. More than decent gpu's are out there for fairly cheap and they will run your video out so much cleaner. I am assuming taking one less task away from your cpu when it comes to processing will help with performance as well. My i9 is great and my current build is a massive upgrade for me but it still has its ceiling depending on how greedy I get.

Anyways, just something to think about, do what you will obv

If I'm only doing music on the computer (no games or 3D rendering, etc.), would there be any point to getting a graphics card?

I haven't used my new build to load a single game, but I am eternally grateful to have the dedicated gpu that I do. It doesn't take much to output to your monitor(s) but taking that task out of your cpu's hands is a must imo. I could be completely mistaken/biased - I also have 2 x 27" 4k 144hz samsung monitors - but I noticed a not insignificant increase in performance/rendering of my daw visually the second I installed my graphics card. Not to mention the hard cap for resolution that I was getting pre-mount. It's 2022, resolution is cheap. Go for the gpu. You don't need to blow half of your budget on a card you'll be using to project games but there is no reason to settle for an integrated gpu bottleneck when you're already planning on spending the $$ on a new release cpu.

Not sure I'm going to get the graphics card, but if I do, what would you recommend for a cheap one that does the job of offloading basic screen-drawing without going overboard (again, I won't be playing games on this machine)? Quiet operation is a must.

[Pictus]

I only have 2 concerns:

1) UPS might be underpowered for the PSU. I think the APC BE600M1 is rated for 600W and the PSU is rated for 850W. Is this a problem? I admit that I don't know whether a PSU's rating needs to pair directly with the UPS. PC Parts Picker puts my estimated power usage at 426W, less than the UPS's rating.

2) I have 3 PCIe internal SSD drives. Will this be too many for the motherboard?

Appreciate any further input from you folks as I finalize my list!

1 - Check https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/suppo ... uter-1169/

2 - No

BTW, the first thing you must do is to update the motherboard BIOS
to make it compatible with the new CPU.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-Z69 ... R4/support
But you can update the BIOS without the CPU/GPU/RAM installed



Audio workloads are not demanding like 3D rendering, so if you tweak your
CPU to use less power you can cool it with AIR cooler like Noctua NH-D15.
The Noctua NH-D15 will be quieter in idle and low workload, but for the
rest it is the Arctic 420mm.


Both the Noctua NH-D15 or the Arctic 420mm already come with decent
thermal paste better than the prehistoric Arctic Silver 5.
If you want a better and longer lifespan thermal paste, the Noctua NT-H2
is a very good option.

Not sure I'm going to get the graphics card, but if I do, what would you recommend for a cheap one that does the job of offloading basic screen-drawing without going overboard (again, I won't be playing games on this machine)? Quiet operation is a must.

IF you want a GPU, the Asus DUAL Radeon RX 6400 4 GB is a good option.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cPTp99 ... -rx6400-4g
During the driver installation you have the option to only install the driver and not the "bloatware".

[JerGoertz]

Thanks again Pictus for all the helpful information! Do you have an opinion on whether I can get away with not buying a graphics card?

[Pictus]

You are welcome!
For audio workload, you can go well with the integrated GPU.
But if you use a plugin that uses OpenGL like Arturia Pigments, I suspect
it's better with a GPU card mainly because you're using two 4K monitors.
I would first try with the built-in GPU, if it does not deliver buy a GPU.

Obviously, whoever wants to use GPU audio, a stronger GPU will be better.

[Pictus]

Intel Core i9-13900K vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 125W and 65W
https://www.club386.com/intel-core-i9-1 ... w-and-65w/

[JerGoertz]

Intel Core i9-13900K vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 125W and 65W
https://www.club386.com/intel-core-i9-1 ... w-and-65w/

My takeaway is that they seem pretty close. Yours too?

[Pictus]

My takeaway is that they seem pretty close. Yours too?

Yes.

I want to see a new DawBench test.
viewtopic.php?t=574244

[JerGoertz]

Well, I held off buying my system until after the holidays; I'd read there are often good bargains to be had in January due to the holiday buying-rush cooling off. However, my total system price has risen around $700 since December! Yikes...

Pic1.jpg

Pic2.jpg

Pic3.jpg

Any chance I should wait for the cost to go down again, or is this the "new normal"?

[2DaT]

Any chance I should wait for the cost to go down again, or is this the "new normal"?

You should change some of the components.

32" 1920*1080 Monitors shouldn't cost more than 200$. I would recommend at least 1440 monitors for that diagonal, unless you have a very poor eyesight. You can even find 4k monitors below 400$, extra resolution is nice, but not all software scales nicely. So if you can try 4k monitor with your software, you would know if it works for you or not. Reading and working on a 4k monitors will be far far superior than on a 1080 display, especially at that large 32" size.

SSDs shouldn't cost more than 100$ per TB, especially for slower models. 4TB models should be below 400$, maybe even below 350$.

You might want a DDR5 memory instead of DDR4. And a DDR5 compatible motherboard. Shouldn't cost more than 150$ extra.

CPU cooler is definitely overpaying for RGB. There are cheaper models available. You don't want a rainbow vomit in your PC case, and you pay less. Win-win.

[JerGoertz]

Any chance I should wait for the cost to go down again, or is this the "new normal"?

You should change some of the components.

32" 1920*1080 Monitors shouldn't cost more than 200$. I would recommend at least 1440 monitors for that diagonal, unless you have a very poor eyesight. You can even find 4k monitors below 400$, extra resolution is nice, but not all software scales nicely. So if you can try 4k monitor with your software, you would know if it works for you or not. Reading and working on a 4k monitors will be far far superior than on a 1080 display, especially at that large 32" size.

SSDs shouldn't cost more than 100$ per TB, especially for slower models. 4TB models should be below 400$, maybe even below 350$.

You might want a DDR5 memory instead of DDR4. And a DDR5 compatible motherboard. Shouldn't cost more than 150$ extra.

CPU cooler is definitely overpaying for RGB. There are cheaper models available. You don't want a rainbow vomit in your PC case, and you pay less. Win-win.

Thanks, I'll look into the things you recommended. Is this all that "RGB" means for a cooler, literally that it is just spewing out the "light show"? lol

I also think maybe pcpartspicker doesn't always give the cheapest options...

[JerGoertz]

I'm going to redo my system from scratch here, it seems like that might be best.

Here's a basic description of what I want:

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K
Cooler: ?
Case: ?
Motherboard: ?
Memory: 64-128 GB, at least DDR4
Storage: 2x 4GB SSD, 1x 1GB SSD (SATA or PCIe, depending which makes most sense)
Power Supply: ?
UPS: ?
Sound card: RME HDSPe AIO Pro PCIe
Monitor: 2x 32" of some resolution, at least 1920x1080

Grateful for any suggestions from the experts here.

[Boy Wonder]

This thread has me asking a question.

Back in the day, when I had tower setups, my PCI audio cards were Soundblasters (AWE32, AWE64, Live!, Audigy, etc.) Later, when I went laptop, I used the built-in audio cards (Realtek) with ASIO4All. Finally, relenting, I moved to an external USB Presonus Studio24c.

That said, it's interesting to see the use here, and recommendation of, PCI audio cards. I was always under the impression that the PCI bus was simply too noisy for audio, and it was better if audio was offloaded to a USB interface. I'm guessing the new bus cards have noise floors as low as those in interfaces like Presonus, Focusrite, Audient, etc.?

[JerGoertz]

That said, it's interesting to see the use here, and recommendation of, PCI audio cards. I was always under the impression that the PCI bus was simply too noisy for audio, and it was better if audio was offloaded to a USB interface. I'm guessing the new bus cards have noise floors as low as those in interfaces like Presonus, Focusrite, Audient, etc.?

Pretty sure the PCI bus is digital, so "noise floor" won't apply here.

[Boy Wonder]

That said, it's interesting to see the use here, and recommendation of, PCI audio cards. I was always under the impression that the PCI bus was simply too noisy for audio, and it was better if audio was offloaded to a USB interface. I'm guessing the new bus cards have noise floors as low as those in interfaces like Presonus, Focusrite, Audient, etc.?

Pretty sure the PCI bus is digital, so "noise floor" won't apply here.

So noted.