PC Buying Guide 2024

[vignesh.vijay]

I am looking to upgrade my PC. Looking to make some useful purchases this year end 2024 around thanksgiving.
I am a music producer who works on Films and pop music and mostly with VST and processing.
Sometimes, I can even run upto 100 VSTs (mostly kontakt,omnisphere, Arturia) and very less audio recording (may be one or two for vocals).
If I were to do put money in buying a PC, what should I look for? How would I select the processor,RAM and motherboard and make best value for money?
Any suggestion and tips on how to select would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Pictus]

What is your budget and in which country?
I can create a list from https://pcpartpicker.com/ for this countries:


Do you use KOTAKT with big orchestral libraries?
Do you edit video, Adobe or DaVinci?
How much drive space do you need?
Do you need Thunderbolt?

The latest DAWBench viewtopic.php?p=8963360#p8963360

[vignesh.vijay]

What is your budget and in which country?
I can create a list from https://pcpartpicker.com/ for this countries:


Do you use KOTAKT with big orchestral libraries?
Do you edit video, Adobe or DaVinci?
How much drive space do you need?
Do you need Thunderbolt?

The latest DAWBench viewtopic.php?p=8963360#p8963360

That would be awesome.Below are the answers to your question.
What is your budget and in which country?
I am from United States and my budget is around $2000. But would like to get best value for my money.

Do you use KOTAKT with big orchestral libraries?
Yes. Most of the libraries I use are big libraries like Spitfire, projectSam, 8Dio, etc.
Do you edit video, Adobe or DaVinci?
No. I don't edit videos. My only purpose of PC is producing music.
How much drive space do you need?
I have 1 TB of SSD and 2 TB M.2 SSD currently. So I should be good on space. If possible, I would look to get one more 2 TB M.2 SSD.
Do you need Thunderbolt?
My current audio interface (Audient Id4 mkii supports both USB and thunderbolt. I am not particularly interested in thunderbolt unless there is significant difference in speed/latency.

Also, would you recommend me waiting for a couple of more months for intels 15th gen (Arrow Lake) processecors to release? I am looking to puschase all these for thanksgiving anyway.

[Pictus]

We do not know how good Arrow Lake will be for Kontakt.
IF you want something now, maybe something like this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kvPsyg
or
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ngVYVW

The case
https://youtu.be/GZSe3ftTqAU

The Cooler review
https://hwbusters.com/cooling/thermalri ... review/10/

The motherboard
https://youtu.be/js2wikiC6M0

The SSDs review
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/so ... d-review/3
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/le ... d-review/2


Plug the USB audio interface in the ASRock orange/yellow USB port and in the
other USB orange/yellow port plug the mouse.
ASRock Lightning Gaming USB ports are good for USB audio Interfaces and DACs.

Do not forget to first update the motherboard BIOS.
https://download.asrock.com/BIOS/AM5/B6 ... 06)ROM.zip
(Not the same model, but the same process)
https://youtu.be/fqKs9fekNNY
In the BIOS do not forget to set the FANS to PWM.

The latest chipset driver
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/am ... t-drivers/

The latest LAN driver, it is called "Win11 Auto Installation Program (NetAdapterCx) - Not Support Power Saving"
https://www.realtek.com/Download/List?cate_id=584

The GPU driver
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/am ... s-drivers/
Can install the driver only without the bloatware.


You do not need to install anything else!
As you have an audio interface, disable the onboard audio.

4 RAM sticks is problematic and maybe you will need to manually tweak
some settings for it to boot at 5200MHz.
IF it is the case, in the BIOS set:

Dram DQ drive strengths = 48
Processor ODT impedance = 48
Processor DQ drive strengths = 34.3
Processor CA drive strengths = 30

Dram ODT impedance RTT_NOM_RD = RZQ/5 (48)
Dram ODT impedance RTT_NOM_WR = RZQ/5 (48)
Dram ODT impedance RTT_WR = RZQ/2 (120)
Dram ODT impedance RTT_PARK = RZQ/6 (40)
Dram ODT impedance DQS_RTT_PARK = RZQ/6 (40)

VDDIO Voltage (VDDIO_MEM_S3) = 1.30
DRAM VDD Voltage = 1.250
DRAM VDDQ Voltage = 1.250
VDDP Voltage = 1.000
SoC/Uncore OC Voltage (VDD_SOC) = 1.200
IF VDD_SOC = 1.200 does not work, try 1.250

Only 2 RAM sticks is not a problem and you can change to 2x48GB 6000/6400MHz.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jn26Mp ... 48gx2-rs5k

To test the RAM/memory controller use 3 cycles of y-cruncher tests 17/18/19/20.

-Type 2 + enter
-Type 8 + enter
-Type 17 + enter
-Type 18 + enter
-Type 19 + enter
-Type 20 + enter
-Type 0 + enter


To help with the Windows installation
https://youtu.be/VapEEf4k7Eo
And some tweaks viewtopic.php?p=8820694#p8820694
Good luck!

[vignesh.vijay]

We do not know how good Arrow Lake will be for Kontakt.
IF you want something now, maybe something like this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kvPsyg
or
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ngVYVW

This is fantastic. Thanks for all your efforts . you are awesome:tu:
Few questions:
1. You have recommeded the AMD Ryzen processors in both builds. I see 14900K or KS doing better in most scans and benchmarks. Is Intel no better?
2. Would you recommend me waiting for intel 15th gen Arrowlake processors to see if they are good or if 14th gen prices drop significantly?
3. Would this same build work if I use an Intel processor as well?
4. I have a graphics card- GIGABYTE GeForce GT 730- GK208 on my old computer. Will that fit with this new build?

[Pictus]

This is fantastic. Thanks for all your efforts . you are awesome:tu:

You are welcome.

Few questions:
1. You have recommeded the AMD Ryzen processors in both builds. I see 14900K or KS doing better in most scans and benchmarks. Is Intel no better?

The Intel 12/13/14 has a tendency to bent, but there is a remedy
https://youtu.be/iYU1OskbY-Q
At default Intel consume more power
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd- ... 0x/24.html
The 13/14Th gen are defective.
https://youtu.be/swm7n88QmLA

2. Would you recommend me waiting for intel 15th gen Arrowlake processors to see if they are good or if 14th gen prices drop significantly?

I have no idea how the new Intel will behave.
IF you want Intel today, go for the intel 12900K.

3. Would this same build work if I use an Intel processor as well?

Yes, but obviously will also need to change the motherboard.

4. I have a graphics card- GIGABYTE GeForce GT 730- GK208 on my old computer. Will that fit with this new build?

Yes, but the onboard iGPU(AMD/Intel) is better than the very old/slow GT730.

[vignesh.vijay]

which motherboard should i use if I plan to get Intel processor?

[vignesh.vijay]

Any alternate cases recommended?
I may have to transport the cpu sometime in the future and glass may be a small problem.

[Pictus]

which motherboard should i use if I plan to get Intel processor?

The motherboard
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MZWJ7P ... te-x-wifi7
No PCI Express 5.0 M.2 sockets, but it is 8 PCB layers and work well with 4 RAM sticks.
But the main factor for RAM speed is the CPU RAM controller quality, it is a lottery.
https://youtu.be/LsL690gUKn4

Any alternate cases recommended?
I may have to transport the cpu sometime in the future and glass may be a small problem.

The case
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xwnypg ... c-tor1c-04

[BazJacuzzi]

Man, this is incredible. Thank you!

[fevahed]

Really helped

[mjolnir]

to anybody else seeking a new system, all i can say is: don't buy the cheapest walmart systems unless you check the reviews and rankings and ratings.
they might work, but the one i bought is not upgradeable and so i'm stuck with hardly any storage resources. just my 2c.