My Proposed Build for a DAW and Office Machine
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:39 pm
Current Proposed System:
CPU:
Intel Six-Core i7-3930K $570
Motherboard:
Asus P9X79 WS $379
Two Reasons:
1. Lots of PCIe Slots and I won't lose one if the main graphic card is not bigger than a double-slot.
2. It's an Asus and I have had nothing but good experiences with Asus motherboards and graphic cards.
Memory:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 64 GB of these will cost me $380
I am not very knowledgable about memory, but I have had good experiences with Corsair and OCZ.
Graphic Card:
Currently I am debating between two cards. I've had good experiences with both Nvidia and ATI. I think I'm leaning toward the Geforce at this time.
Geforce GTX 690 - Air or Water $1,000 to $1200
ATI HD7970 - There are many good options here.
New Monitors:
I have made no choices yet, but I have decided to slowly swap out my current panels for IPS screens. My first choice should have displayport.
Hard Drive:
Mostly I will recycle my existing hard drives here; I currently have SSDs, 1.5 TB, and 2TB options already.
Case:
I plan to recycle my existing HAF 932
Cooling:
No choices made yet, except that I like quiet computers, so I plan to use water for the CPU at a minimum. Ideally, I would like to build a custom dual-loop system for CPU and GPU. I have no experience with building a water loop, but I have tools, enthusiasm, common sense, and a GFCI circuit...
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------------- Original First Post Follows Here -----------
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Hello:
I currently use a Q6600 Quad Core machine, but I have finally run out of PCIe slots on it, it has no usable eSATA, and only has four internal SATA headers. It's time to upgrade.
Let's talk about Motherboard, CPU and RAM first.
I've decided to go for an LGA2011 board and a Sandy Bridge E processor. Not because I think it'll run Cubase any better than a Sandy or Ivy Bridge system would. It's just because I'm a geek and I want to install a 6-core processor. Or a 4-core processor today and an 8-core processor next year when Ivy Bridge E becomes available. I just want the option, so accuse me of epeen or sue me if you must; I really don't care.
Here's what I've chosen:
Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 6-core $570
ASUS P9X79 DELUXE $369
Opinions thus far?
Next, I need help choosing memory and graphic card. I just haven't had a lot of time to study them, but I think I know what I want.
I want 64 GB of RAM; reasonably fast. Mostly for loading the big orchestral libraries in Cubase, Sonar, and other VST hosts. I see Newegg has prices ranging from $350 upwards to $929. I'd like to keep the memory cost around $350-$400 if possible.
I only need one graphic card, no crossfire, SLI, or anything like that is needed. But the graphic card should be able to support 3 monitors minimum, more is better. I hate the Displayport protocol because it limits my monitor choices. Furthermore, I think active dongles are like wall-warts, so I'd like to avoid them. I'm willing to spend around $300+ on a good graphic card that does all this. I don't really care if it's Nvidia or ATI; I've used both and have had good results.
Mostly I want to do some development (SQL Server, light coding), art, website design, and 3D graphics. I'll watch some media and do some composition and recording with Cubase, Sonar, and maybe do some content creation with Linux.
But let's face it, the system I've detailed above is already overkill for my needs. I realize that nothing that I'm doing on a day-to-day basis will push this machine significantly while my Q6600 is still mostly fine, even for the Cubase work. It's just time to upgrade and I'd like to do it right.
By the way, I don't game much unless you count Civilization V or SimCity 4. Neither is strenuous on a processor or graphic subsystem except maybe in late-game stages. I might play a shooter game someday, but I don't know...I'd have to be pretty bored to take that step, LOL.
So let's talk about the CPU, Motherboard, and Graphics before we move on to other things.
What do you think about my choices and do you have any suggestions for memory and/or graphic cards?
As always, thanks in advance!
CPU:
Intel Six-Core i7-3930K $570
Motherboard:
Asus P9X79 WS $379
Two Reasons:
1. Lots of PCIe Slots and I won't lose one if the main graphic card is not bigger than a double-slot.
2. It's an Asus and I have had nothing but good experiences with Asus motherboards and graphic cards.
Memory:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 64 GB of these will cost me $380
I am not very knowledgable about memory, but I have had good experiences with Corsair and OCZ.
Graphic Card:
Currently I am debating between two cards. I've had good experiences with both Nvidia and ATI. I think I'm leaning toward the Geforce at this time.
Geforce GTX 690 - Air or Water $1,000 to $1200
ATI HD7970 - There are many good options here.
New Monitors:
I have made no choices yet, but I have decided to slowly swap out my current panels for IPS screens. My first choice should have displayport.
Hard Drive:
Mostly I will recycle my existing hard drives here; I currently have SSDs, 1.5 TB, and 2TB options already.
Case:
I plan to recycle my existing HAF 932
Cooling:
No choices made yet, except that I like quiet computers, so I plan to use water for the CPU at a minimum. Ideally, I would like to build a custom dual-loop system for CPU and GPU. I have no experience with building a water loop, but I have tools, enthusiasm, common sense, and a GFCI circuit...
=============================================
------------- Original First Post Follows Here -----------
=============================================
Hello:
I currently use a Q6600 Quad Core machine, but I have finally run out of PCIe slots on it, it has no usable eSATA, and only has four internal SATA headers. It's time to upgrade.
Let's talk about Motherboard, CPU and RAM first.
I've decided to go for an LGA2011 board and a Sandy Bridge E processor. Not because I think it'll run Cubase any better than a Sandy or Ivy Bridge system would. It's just because I'm a geek and I want to install a 6-core processor. Or a 4-core processor today and an 8-core processor next year when Ivy Bridge E becomes available. I just want the option, so accuse me of epeen or sue me if you must; I really don't care.
Here's what I've chosen:
Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 6-core $570
ASUS P9X79 DELUXE $369
Opinions thus far?
Next, I need help choosing memory and graphic card. I just haven't had a lot of time to study them, but I think I know what I want.
I want 64 GB of RAM; reasonably fast. Mostly for loading the big orchestral libraries in Cubase, Sonar, and other VST hosts. I see Newegg has prices ranging from $350 upwards to $929. I'd like to keep the memory cost around $350-$400 if possible.
I only need one graphic card, no crossfire, SLI, or anything like that is needed. But the graphic card should be able to support 3 monitors minimum, more is better. I hate the Displayport protocol because it limits my monitor choices. Furthermore, I think active dongles are like wall-warts, so I'd like to avoid them. I'm willing to spend around $300+ on a good graphic card that does all this. I don't really care if it's Nvidia or ATI; I've used both and have had good results.
Mostly I want to do some development (SQL Server, light coding), art, website design, and 3D graphics. I'll watch some media and do some composition and recording with Cubase, Sonar, and maybe do some content creation with Linux.
But let's face it, the system I've detailed above is already overkill for my needs. I realize that nothing that I'm doing on a day-to-day basis will push this machine significantly while my Q6600 is still mostly fine, even for the Cubase work. It's just time to upgrade and I'd like to do it right.
By the way, I don't game much unless you count Civilization V or SimCity 4. Neither is strenuous on a processor or graphic subsystem except maybe in late-game stages. I might play a shooter game someday, but I don't know...I'd have to be pretty bored to take that step, LOL.
So let's talk about the CPU, Motherboard, and Graphics before we move on to other things.
What do you think about my choices and do you have any suggestions for memory and/or graphic cards?
As always, thanks in advance!