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I want to build a music making computer


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What's good? Here are my suggestions.

CASE: Antec, NZXT, Silverstone, Fractal Design, a few other companies I know of make some decent cases with noise reduction. Look into those.

CPU: Get an Intel i5 or i7 processor.

CPU FAN: Cooler Master Hyper 212 or the EVO.

MOTHERBOARD: Currently there are two platforms that I know of right now: Z77 and X79. The Z77 is the mainstream and more cheaper platform and the X79 is more on the power user side of things. Go for either or depending on budget. The important thing is to match the CPU socket with the motherboard socket.

POWER SUPPLY: 550W minimum. Depending on if you want a video card, which you shouldn't, you may need more.

RAM: Get at least 8GB of RAM. That should be plenty. GSkill, Crucial, and Cosair are good.

DISK DRIVES: I say have two minimum, but I recommend 3 disk drives. One for your Operating System (Windows) and programs; one for samples (ie. Kontakt libraries, drum samples, orchestra samples, etc.) and another for just your straight up recordings. As for SSD vs HDD, it's more economically sound to go for the HDD. That said, SSD are signifcantly faster in terms of loading. What you could do is get a SSD for your OS and programs and HDD for the rest of your samples and recordings. I had good experiences with Seagate for HDD as well as Western Digital. Crucial makes good SSD.

VIDEO CARD: Umm... no.

SOUND CARD: I had good experiences with RME. Focusrite is good too. Avid actually as some pretty good audio interfaces right now as well.

Fiiiixed. :sleepdepriv:

Skip the video card ("but it's a music making machine! I HAVE TO SEE THE WAVES!!!") and put that money either towards an OS SSD or bump up to an Ivy Bridge i7. Like I said before, which no one probably read, the Sandy/Ivy chips have decent integrated graphics.

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Fiiiixed. :sleepdepriv:

Skip the video card ("but it's a music making machine! I HAVE TO SEE THE WAVES!!!") and put that money either towards an OS SSD or bump up to an Ivy Bridge i7. Like I said before, which no one probably read, the Sandy/Ivy chips have decent integrated graphics.

Unless you want to work in games, in which case you do need at least a mid to high level video card to work efficiently.

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That is true, but I think the OP isn't concerned with that given he requested "the minimum required video card".

The reason I suggested a video card is because there are some motherboards that DON'T have integrated graphics (ie the X79 based motherboards) and if it does it usually shares it with the RAM. I also recommended a fanless card is because one they are usually cheaper no frills video cards and it reduces noise in case the OP needs to record in the same room.

The Z77 on the other hand DOES have integrated graphics so a video card is not needed if it's just for music production.

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The reason I suggested a video card is because there are some motherboards that DON'T have integrated graphics (ie the X79 based motherboards) and if it does it usually shares it with the RAM. I also recommended a fanless card is because one they are usually cheaper no frills video cards and it reduces noise in case the OP needs to record in the same room.

The Z77 on the other hand DOES have integrated graphics so a video card is not needed if it's just for music production.

If he were to go with X79, yeah. Didn't know you were talking about those specifically, my bad. There's only 3 processors for LGA 2011; $300, $500, and $1000. Also, motherboards are twice as expensive. Just throwing that out there for the OP. If budget is a concern.

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If he were to go with X79, yeah. Didn't know you were talking about those specifically, my bad. There's only 3 processors for LGA 2011; $300, $500, and $1000. Also, motherboards are twice as expensive. Just throwing that out there for the OP. If budget is a concern.

It's all good. I didn't really specifiy when I made the list.

The X79 is the high-end/extreme/workstation "eff it, I got the money to blow", type thing. The Z77 is definately cheaper and still gives very good performance is what most people should go for. All that extra money can go into extra SSDs, HDDs, replacing the stock fans if you are a noise freak, and getting a better audio interface.

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