My first PC build. Main purpose: office work+music production; secondary: video edit+gaming (eventually).

[juangr_]

Hello, my name is Juan. This is my first build and I’m very excited about the whole process and I really don’t want to screw anything up. I’ll try to follow the forum’s posting recommendations giving you guys some context and then stating my questions, if its alright with you. Please excuse my English.

CONTEXT:
1. Budget & Location

2000 USD. Bogotá, Colombia, but I don’t think it really matters for this post. I would most likely purchase the parts online and have them sent to me from the US.

2. Aim

I’m an economist and a musician. I want to use the system mainly for somewhat different purposes between those lines, i.e.: some web browsing, office work, statistics, and data analysis software, maybe automate some web scraping and data collection processes; and intermediate-level home music recording and production.

As an added value, I’d like to be able to edit video and ->eventually<- introduce myself into gaming, but this last one is kind of optional in the near future if it gets in the way of the main purposes I mentioned above, to be honest.

3. Monitors

At this moment, I’m not planning to spend a whole lot of money on monitors since the main purpose of the system is not going to be producing a lot of graphic content, at least not at first. Nevertheless, I do plan to use the two monitors I currently use with my laptops:

- Sony KDL-40EX407 40” 1080p LCD TV with HDMI connections as primary screen and
- Samsung SyncMaster 920N 19” LCD monitor / TFT active matrix, with 1280 x 1024 at 75 Hz native resolution and 1 x VGA connection which I use as secondary screen (and I’m very fond of because I’ve had it for a long time, and its been reliable AF).

4. Peripherals

I do have relatively new Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and I’m pretty much satisfied with their performance so far, so I’m not planning any upgrades in this area.

However, on the music department I’d like to mention I use a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3^rd gen and I’m pretty happy with it. Aside from that, I’d like to purchase a Lynx E44 PCIe interface in the future if I feel the need for upgrading since maybe I end up needing more audio inputs and I’ve read PCIe interfaces tend to have less latency and better sound quality as they are connected directly into the motherboard instead of a USB port. This upgrade is not entirely necessary but if in the future I have the chance ($$) I’d like to be able to do it.

Regarding the OS, I was considering Windows 10 LTSC since it appears to be pretty stable and bloatware-free.

5. Why are you upgrading?

I’m not really upgrading, I’ve been buried in laptops and my company’s work for years and due to the pandemic and the lockdowns I’ve resumed my music practice and fun and I’d like to invest in the proper tool for both worlds.

6. The parts I’ve researched:

Here are the parts I’ve picked up from what I’ve researched so far (attached image).

 

QUESTIONS:

 

1. I’d love to read your general input about this parts selection.

2. CPU: The classic Intel vs AMD, and if the answer is intel: 10^th gen core i9 (10900k) or 11^th gen core i9 (11900k)

 

AMD vs Intel: I see latest gen Ryzen CPUs have remarkable performances (both single and multi thread), a higher core-count which would benefit multitasking which I do a lot, BUT also from what I’ve read in multiple forums, there are some compatibility issues which may arrive specially with certain DAW (music production software). So, in this category I’d like some kind of guidance in terms of this compatibility issues because if there are none, maybe AMD would be better just from the “horsepower” perspective in my opinion.

Intel vs Intel: On the other hand, if Intel is the best choice (in order to ensure compatibility is not an issue), from what I’ve read, Intel’s 11^th gen core i9 is not what anyone expected and it turned out to be a disappointment for gamers. However, not being a gamer myself, I saw that in some benchmarks core i9 11900K has a really good single thread performance, which is one of the aspects I’ve read are key for music production software since the audio signal path processing is linear and cumulative (not sure about the terminology but I hope the idea gets through).

In order to play it safe, I chose the core i9 10900k, but that’s what I’m here for: doublechecking with knowledgeable people.

 

3. OS

As I mentioned I’m a windows user and I think LTSC version of Windows 10 could be such a great choice due to its stability. On the other hand, I’ve been told by some fellow musician friends that there are some compatibility advantages associated to macOS in terms of music software but, in all honesty, I don’t think in this day and age this should be a problem. I already know that if I wanted a Hackintosh build I should pick up very specific parts and do some procedures I really don’t feel capable enough to pull off. However, I saw a video on LTT channel in which Linus and Anthony explain a way to use macOS on any machine using virtualization (https://youtu.be/ATnpEOo3GJA), but it needs to be done from Linux (which I’d love to learn how to use), specifically Majaro, and a dedicated graphics card using some complex passthrough procedures in order to let the virtual machine to make use of how many cores from the CPU I decide to assign to it and, if I want, the dedicated GPU’s whole processing power.
So, here is(are) my question(s): is it too far fetched to use Manjaro and virtualize both Windows 10 LTSC and macOS in that environment in order to avoid dual boots or a Hackintosh setup and “jump” form one OS to another on the fly? Would I need a totally different setup in order to be able to do this? Does this whole thing make sense at all? Because if it does not, I would simply go with windows and that’s it.

 

4. GPU

Either because this virtualization nonsense is possible or not, I’d really appreciate your help regarding this choice since in music oriented systems to be able to achieve a low-noise operation is crucial and if the gaming possibility is ahead I guess I’ll need a decent graphics card, so there is the usual performance vs noise trade-off I cant really solve by myself with the knowledge I have on the subject.

 

I do apologize for such a long post, as you can see I’m curious and I’m very eager to learn and this seemed to be the place to ask this. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

 

[Jumballi]

1)

The parts you’ve selected should be fine, however there’s easier cases to build in if you’re a first timer. The one I recommend to my first time pc builder friends is a lian li o11.
 

2)

Based on availability and some finicky software(usually at the ultra high end) intel is the better choice.

 

Based on cost to performance, the 10th gen i9 is a better pick, as you’ll be doing more multitasking.

 

3)

The problem with artistic software, especially music software, the os is a huge part of it, where some apps were never even made for windows, or were an after thought. You should research this much much much more, I’d argue possibly a month or more on every software you use now, plan to use, or can potentially use before you buy any hardware.

4)

For now since you plan to game and edit video later, and there being a huge shortage of parts, you should not buy a video card. The intel CPU has video out so the computer will work fine without one for the time being, and you can just slot in a video card when availability becomes better.