Advice for music production PC

[Dukanater]

Hey guys so i recently had a friend come to me after seeing my new computer i built and he asked if i could help him build a PC for his brother who is getting into DJ/ music production stuff that i honestly don't know much about. so after doing some homework on PC builds for music production it seems you just build a gaming PC minus the video card. plz correct me if im terribly wrong

 

So questions i need some help with-

(1.)   i7-5820k 6-Core & 16-32G of ram seems to be the standard for good performance in high multitasking situations such as music design and graphic editing and cad or what not? solid picks yes or no? plz drop some wisdom on me if you disagree. (i know some are going to say its over kill but looking at max performance with no need to upgrade for a few year)

 

(2.)   Is there any benefit to a video card in a Music work station? other than the obvious you can double it as a game station 

 

(3.) Good sound card suggestions? 

 

(4.) Pre-amp suggestions? (i have never used a pre amp or even seen one in person im literally clueless as to whats good and whats bad any help or wisdom you want to drop on me will be helpful =] ) 

 

[Guest]

budget?

[Exploded117]

snip

 Don't forget to follow your topics

 

1- Yes, the 5820K is a very popular choice. You won't see much performance increase when going up to a 5960X for a higher price, so the 5920K is a good buy. Any X99 processor you buy today will definitely last you a long time.

 

2- No, unless you want to produce music on tri-4K monitors.....

 

3- I would suggest using an external DAC, they are usually a better solution then an integrated PCI card. Schiit is a good company to buy from.

 

4- I've never used a preamp before, but I believe schiit makes them as well to go along with their DACs. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

[EliminatingAngels]

I would make the computer more silence optimized and definitely get an external dac. 

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

1. A 5820k is an awesome processor but will most likely be far more than enough and you could get a i7-4790 and 16GB's of DDR3 RAM and save yourself about 120$

 

2. I'd pick up a really budget GPU, something that'll give you a wider variety of display out's than your motherboard traditionally would.

 

3. Don't know much about DAC's

 

4. Don't know much about Preamps.

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($379.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.89 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($184.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($103.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($103.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($88.89 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($67.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($226.99 @ NCIX US) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($96.50 @ Newegg) 

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Zx 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card  ($122.95 @ B&H) 

Total: $1470.01

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-04 01:14 EDT-0400

*High end GPU not necessary, asked a friend of mine in the Musics 

[skyress3000]

A lot of music production people use Macs (a lot of the software is built for OSX); I'm not necessarily suggesting that your friend's brother should buy one but I just thought I'd mention that.

[Guest]

A lot of music production people use Macs (a lot of the software is built for OSX); I'm not necessarily suggesting that your friend's brother should buy one but I just thought I'd mention that.

remember, Hackintosh is always an option 

[Dukanater]

A lot of music production people use Macs (a lot of the software is built for OSX); I'm not necessarily suggesting that your friend's brother should buy one but I just thought I'd mention that.

agreed i noticed this when i was doing some google searches but my current understand is hes using a Mac and the programs he is running have better optimization in windows. and mac is poop =]

 

 

 Don't forget to follow your topics

 

1- Yes, the 5820K is a very popular choice. You won't see much performance increase when going up to a 5960X for a higher price, so the 5920K is a good buy. Any X99 processor you buy today will definitely last you a long time.

 

2- No, unless you want to produce music on tri-4K monitors.....

 

3- I would suggest using an external DAC, they are usually a better solution then an integrated PCI card. Schiit is a good company to buy from.

 

4- I've never used a preamp before, but I believe schiit makes them as well to go along with their DACs. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

i didn't even think of the obvious multiple work displays duh thx man =p. and i know he has a preamp already maybe he has a DAC also ill have to ask more questions alot of you guys responses made me realize how much information im still missing =p

 

I would make the computer more silence optimized and definitely get an external dac. 

that would be the plan iv never had a reason to us any of the Be Quiet brand stuff maybe its time to put them to the test

[Dukanater]

remember, Hackintosh is always an option 

yea absolutely ill probably set him up with a duel OS  

[Dukanater]

 

thank you that all make a lot of sense ill be sure to email him your advice but for me i just need to worry about making him a acceptable computer. =] how far and professional he wants to take it is all up to him.