2022 PC Build Thread

[HOTF]

Budget is 1500 to 2000$.

should i go amd or intel ?

I would prefer at least 2tb ssd m.2 for local disk, daw, plugins etc. Secondary ssd for samples, audio libraries etc.

Should I get 64gb ram or 32gb?

I do some light gaming i don't need the latest and greatest graphic card was thinking of a rtx 3060.

What are the best practices for building a PC for audio ?

[Pictus]

UPDATE:
Scan 5800X3D DAWbench, different from the German magazine, not good results.
https://gearspace.com/board/music-compu ... st16076587


The German magazine article https://www.heise.de/select/ct/2022/12/ ... 2780695778
Shows that the 5800X3D kicks ass of the 12900KS(DDR5)/5950X specially in
Ableton/Bitwig/Reaper/Studio One, but not in Cubase/Pro Tools, but still
better than the AMD 5950X in Cubase/Pro Tools.
The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is also good for gaming


My suggestion would be something +- like this:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qhZGxs


CPU = AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

Cooler = Dark Rock Pro 4
Without any BIOS custom fan curve customization(limit the fan max RPM), the
Dark Rock Pro 4 is the best option for lower noise.


Motherboard = Asus TUF GAMING B550-PRO
Good VRM, no pesky chipset fan, front USB-C port and TB(Thunderbolt)
capable if you add a TB card, if TB is required, better change to a motherboard
with built-in TB ports. I have the older/inferior model non PRO and works very well!

RAM = TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 128GB 3600MHz
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/team ... 18-2x32-gb

SSD M.2 NVMe = Two Seagate FireCuda 520 2TB
Fast enough, good price and long endurance.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/se ... da-520-ssd

GPU = PNY RTX 3060 XLR8
https://www.kitguru.net/components/grap ... iew/all/1/
Some tweaks for NVidia viewtopic.php?p=7624448#p7624448

Case = Fractal Meshify 2
Good airflow to keep the CPU/GPU cool and front USB-C port.


PSU = Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold
It is semi-passive and +- up to 410W the fan is off


You will need to update the motherboard BIOS to support the new CPU.
No problem, they can update without CPU/GPU/RAM installed.
The BIOS https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/B ... S-2803.zip
The process is the same as in the video below



The updated drivers:

The Audio driver https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/0 ... 11025B.zip
The LAN driver https://www.realtek.com/en/directly-dow ... 3d67343053
The chipset driver https://www.techpowerup.com/download/am ... t-drivers/
The GPU driver https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/516-5 ... on.433367/

OEM Windows 10/11 key at good prices in
https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/ad-wi ... count.html

BTW, some stuff you may like:

https://forums.mydigitallife.net/thread ... st-1687577[/URL]
https://www.w10privacy.de/english-home/
https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/thread ... kit.50572/
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-upd ... cker-v1-7/
https://www.sordum.org/9480/defender-control-v2-1/
https://www.binisoft.org/wfc.php
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysint ... s/autoruns
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysint ... s-explorer
https://www.nirsoft.net/
https://doublecommander.com/

[Kr3eM]

nevermind...

[SLiC]

I just ordered a new PC from Inter-Audio in the UK https://www.inta-audio.com/music-pc-builder-i89
I built to a budget of 2K, they had 5% off code so it cost me just under £1900, main parts below (and 3 years parts/labour)

Define R6 Black Tower Case
ASUS Z690-A - 12th Gen Motherboard DDR5
INTEL i9 12900K Alder Lake, 16 Core, 3.2GHz (12th Gen)
32Gb DDR5 4800Mhz Kit
WD SN850 Black 1000Gb NVMe Drive (System- these M.2 drives are FAST!)
WD SN570 Blue 1000Gb NVMe Drive (Audio)
850w Semi Fanless Ultra Quiet Power Supply
Windows 11 64Bit

I already have an pretty recent RTX3060 graphics card and a 6TB 3.5’’ SATA from my old PC, so should be set.

[2DaT]

I just ordered a new PC from Inter-Audio in the UK https://www.inta-audio.com/music-pc-builder-i89
I built to a budget of 2K, they had 5% off code so it cost me just under £1900, main parts below (and 3 years parts/labour)

Definitely ripped off. The guy above suggested way better PC for the money. With 64Gb ram, 4 TB storage and also a 400$ gpu.

Building yourself is easier than building a 1000pc lego model.

[pljones]

Sterling is weak.

[chk071]

Building yourself is easier than building a 1000pc lego model.

There's one thing I never dare to do myself: Installing a CPU cooler. Already wrecked the CPU of an older PC which I already had decommissioned, trying to install another cooler.

To be honest, I rather pay 200 or 300 € more for something assembled and pre-installed, than maybe wreck the CPU, and having to buy another one for 200 or 300 €, and still have to assemble the whole computer myself.

[2DaT]

There's one thing I never dare to do myself: Installing a CPU cooler. Already wrecked the CPU of an older PC which I already had decommissioned, trying to install another cooler.

To be honest, I rather pay 200 or 300 € more for something assembled and pre-installed, than maybe wreck the CPU, and having to buy another one for 200 or 300 €, and still have to assemble the whole computer myself.

To be honest, that's the most complicated thing about assembling a PC. Everything else is trivial.

[SLiC]

I just ordered a new PC from Inter-Audio in the UK https://www.inta-audio.com/music-pc-builder-i89
I built to a budget of 2K, they had 5% off code so it cost me just under £1900, main parts below (and 3 years parts/labour)

Definitely ripped off. The guy above suggested way better PC for the money. With 64Gb ram, 4 TB storage and also a 400$ gpu.

Building yourself is easier than building a 1000pc lego model.

Good deal if you are in America…but As I said, I’m in the UK…if I imported that it would at least 25% more with import tax and VAT.

Personally, I prefer my build, I prefer the intel CPU and my RAM runs much faster and M2 drives are almost twice as fast…this will make a massive system speed difference. Also I have a very high quality soundproof case, upgraded thermal Paste and Win 11 included…all things that add cost!

Fortunately I claim the VAT back as I am VAT registered, so the cost I pay is is closer to £1500 built, it’s also set up for audio and and guaranteed parts and labour for 3 years. I can live with that, my time is worth more to me than any saving doing it myself!

[2DaT]

I can live with that, my time is worth more to me than any saving doing it myself!

It depends on a person. For me it's like paying to lose fun.

Aren't £ worth more than $? I think it evens out in a way.

[Aliens]

Sterling is weak.

And Chelsea still want him

[SLiC]

I can live with that, my time is worth more to me than any saving doing it myself!

It depends on a person. For me it's like paying to lose fun.

Aren't £ worth more than $? I think it evens out in a way.

Totally, I used to build my own (my current DAW was built from bits) but I haven’t the time or the interest right now, I want to make music not computers!

I remember 20 years ago when I had a house in the states as I was there so often I was getting 2 dollars for a pound…the US was cheap then! Nowadays after conversion rates you get about .87 on a good day, so 2k USD is about 1700 GBP but then you have import an VAT adding another 25% so it’s actually more in pounds than dollars….not less.

[SLiC]

General tip for people looking at comparative builds....

Motherboard is a big deal- it is the motherboard that will futureproof your PC (at least for a while) and allow you to update and expand- I would look for DDR5, PCIe5 and as many 'fast' four M.2 slots as you can get (the board I selected has 4 so I can add 2 more m.2 drives, when a 4TB becomes affordable I will get rid of my last 'spinning' drive!)

Solid State Drives and memory- look at the 'speed' not just the size!, for example WD SN850 Black NVMe Drive runs at 7000MB/S for example. Same with RAM, if you have a fast processor (want a fast system) aim for DDR5 4800-5600 of branded (Corsair, Kingston & Crucial) RAM, some RAM is also optimised for Intel.

I am not sure there is a great benefit in going over 32Gb for audio builds (there isn't for me anyway) and if you have 7000MB/S SSDs, perfectly fast enough for large samples and streaming!

Last thing- don't forget the best quality Thermal Heatsink Paste like an ARCTIC MX-4!

[don1thedon]

I've also been looking at Inta-Audio for my next PC, they have some good options & I don't think the prices are too bad for a built PC. Similar to you I'm really not keen on building these days, although I've done that in the past. Hopefully the new PC sees you good for some time, let us know how it goes.

[SLiC]

I've also been looking at Inta-Audio for my next PC, they have some good options & I don't think the prices are too bad for a built PC. Similar to you I'm really not keen on building these days, although I've done that in the past. Hopefully the new PC sees you good for some time, let us know how it goes.

I will, I am expecting it next week so I'll let you know how I get on- they have very good feedback and I have used them before for none-PC stuff so they are not totally unknown to me, but its a PC so....fingers crossed!

There prices were very good compared to other audio PC specialists like Carillion, still...weird time to get a PC as specifications normally go up and prices normally just go down if you wait, lately prices have been going up and the best parts are hard to find...