Audio workstation build. Advice needed.

[walkwalk]

Hi guys, I'm new here and already love this great community, looking forward to having a good time. I'll be straight to the point. I've shortlisted some components for the build but have some questions in my mind(asked at the end). Any answers(even short) and advice are highly appreciated. Thank you.

// Intended use : Sound design and music production in general, but would also like to periodically use it for video editing(in AE and Premiere Pro). I do not have a huge budget, 1600 USD would be my limit. I'd prefer not going any higher than my current estimate too. Note: I live in India and I've mentioned the approximate local prices of chosen components alongside each. 

 

CPU : AMD Ryzen 1700X (460 USD or INR 29500)

MOTHERBOARD : ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS (133 USD or INR 8500)
GRAPHIC CARD : ZOTAC 1050 TI 4GB (203 USD or INR 13000)
MEMORY : CORSAIR VENGEANCE 16GB(2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz (164 USD or INR 10500) - mentioned in the motherboard QVL
STORAGE: SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 500 GB (312 USD or INR 20000) + Existing storage
COOLER : COOLER MASTER HYPER 212X (47 USD or INR 3000)
CASE : NZXT S340 (110 USD or INR 7000)
POWER SUPPLY : SEASONIC SSR-550RT S12G (110 USD or INR 7000)

ESTIMATED TOTAL : 1539 USD or INR 98500

 

QUESTIONS : 

 

RAM : I can't seem to find the (8GBx2)RAM kit anywhere online. The options are limited where I live.

1. There are a good number of 16GBx1 modules of the same model available, but not mentioned in the QVL. Is it something to be worried about?

2. Do I lose a lot of performance if I go for 2400 or 2666 RAMs? or by going with single channel.

3. Asus's motherboard page says "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only". Does it mean only one of the RAMs will run at higher speeds and the other at 2133?

 

M.2 STORAGE : Since I constantly run heavy programs, I'm really inclined towards an M.2 storage but have never had one before.

4. How reliable are they? If they are like HDDs which can fail under heavy usage then I prefer sticking to SSDs. 

5. Is the Windows installation straight forward? I'd like to use it as my boot drive. 

 

Any general advice/opinion about this build is really appreciated too. Thanks! Please let me know if you see any compatibility issues. 

Note: I do not game but I'm planning to go for a GTX 1060 if budget allows for it. Just not my priority right now. Any display card that support a 1440p monitor will work for me. 

 

[LienusLateTips]

6 minutes ago, walkwalk said:

Hi guys, I'm new here and already love this great community, looking forward to having a good time. I'll be straight to the point. I've shortlisted some components for the build but have some questions in my mind(asked at the end in orange text). Any answers(even short) and advice are highly appreciated. Thank you.

// Intended use : Sound design and music production in general, but would also like to periodically use it for video editing(in AE and Premiere Pro). I do not have a huge budget, 1600 USD would be my limit. I'd prefer not going any higher than my current estimate too. Note: I live in India and I've mentioned the approximate local prices of chosen components alongside each. 

 

CPU : AMD Ryzen 1700X (460 USD or INR 29500)

MOTHERBOARD : ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS (133 USD or INR 8500)
GRAPHIC CARD : ZOTAC 1050 TI 4GB (203 USD or INR 13000)
MEMORY : CORSAIR VENGEANCE 16GB(2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz (164 USD or INR 10500) - mentioned in the motherboard QVL
STORAGE: SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 500 GB (312 USD or INR 20000) + Existing storage
COOLER : COOLER MASTER HYPER 212X (47 USD or INR 3000)
CASE : NZXT S340 (110 USD or INR 7000)
POWER SUPPLY : SEASONIC SSR-550RT S12G (110 USD or INR 7000)

ESTIMATED TOTAL : 1539 USD or INR 98500

 

QUESTIONS : 

 

RAM : I can't seem to find the (8GBx2)RAM kit anywhere online. The options are limited where I live.

1. There are a good number of 16GBx1 modules of the same model available, but not mentioned in the QVL. Is it something to be worried about?

2. Do I lose a lot of performance if I go for 2400 or 2666 RAMs? or by going with single channel.

3. Asus's motherboard page says "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only". Does it mean only one of the RAMs will run at higher speeds and the other at 2133?

 

M.2 STORAGE : Since I constantly run heavy programs, I'm really inclined towards an M.2 storage but have never had one before.

4. How reliable are they? If they are like HDDs which can fail under heavy usage then I prefer sticking to SSDs. 

5. Is the Windows installation straight forward? I'd like to use it as my boot drive. 

 

Any general advice/opinion about this build is really appreciated too. Thanks! Please let me know if you see any compatibility issues. 

Note: I do not game but I'm planning to go for a GTX 1060 if budget allows for it. Just not my priority right now. Any display card that support a 1440p monitor will work for me. 

 

^ night theme friendly

 

[LienusLateTips]

I would ditch the cooler and try to get a GTX 1060 6GB.

[Changis]

1 minute ago, walkwalk said:

Hi guys, I'm new here and already love this great community, looking forward to having a good time. I'll be straight to the point. I've shortlisted some components for the build but have some questions in my mind(asked at the end in orange text). Any answers(even short) and advice are highly appreciated. Thank you.

// Intended use : Sound design and music production in general, but would also like to periodically use it for video editing(in AE and Premiere Pro). I do not have a huge budget, 1600 USD would be my limit. I'd prefer not going any higher than my current estimate too. Note: I live in India and I've mentioned the approximate local prices of chosen components alongside each. 

 

CPU : AMD Ryzen 1700X (460 USD or INR 29500)

MOTHERBOARD : ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS (133 USD or INR 8500)
GRAPHIC CARD : ZOTAC 1050 TI 4GB (203 USD or INR 13000)
MEMORY : CORSAIR VENGEANCE 16GB(2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz (164 USD or INR 10500) - mentioned in the motherboard QVL
STORAGE: SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 500 GB (312 USD or INR 20000) + Existing storage
COOLER : COOLER MASTER HYPER 212X (47 USD or INR 3000)
CASE : NZXT S340 (110 USD or INR 7000)
POWER SUPPLY : SEASONIC SSR-550RT S12G (110 USD or INR 7000)

ESTIMATED TOTAL : 1539 USD or INR 98500

 

QUESTIONS : 

 

RAM : I can't seem to find the (8GBx2)RAM kit anywhere online. The options are limited where I live.

1. There are a good number of 16GBx1 modules of the same model available, but not mentioned in the QVL. Is it something to be worried about?

2. Do I lose a lot of performance if I go for 2400 or 2666 RAMs? or by going with single channel.

3. Asus's motherboard page says "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only". Does it mean only one of the RAMs will run at higher speeds and the other at 2133?

 

M.2 STORAGE : Since I constantly run heavy programs, I'm really inclined towards an M.2 storage but have never had one before.

4. How reliable are they? If they are like HDDs which can fail under heavy usage then I prefer sticking to SSDs. 

5. Is the Windows installation straight forward? I'd like to use it as my boot drive. 

 

Any general advice/opinion about this build is really appreciated too. Thanks! Please let me know if you see any compatibility issues. 

Note: I do not game but I'm planning to go for a GTX 1060 if budget allows for it. Just not my priority right now. Any display card that support a 1440p monitor will work for me. 

 

0: please edit your post above "questions" so that the font uses automatic colors.. the top portion is literally invisible on night theme. and in the future, make sure that all "uncolored text" is set as automatic in the font settings (just mark the text and select automatic) 

1: if it's not in the QVL it can still work, it just hasn't been tested with the motherboard. but i think some ryzen motherboards are a bit more picky with their ram.. unfortunately you won't really know if "unlisted" ram will work until you try it.

2: nothing perceivable..

3: no, ram runs at the same speed. if you mismatch ram speeds it will only run at max 2666, even though all your sticks are rated higher. if you get a 2x/4x set you're golden.

 

4: as reliable as other ssd's. it depends a bit on manufacturer.. however i wouldn't use it for torrents or similar apps that read/writes alot of data to the disk as that can wear it out faster, anyway it's better to use a normal HDD for that, if not for anything else than size and much longer "read/write longevity"

5: yes. there are tons of guides on how to install any windows online.. just google it. if you don't have windows as your boot disk, you'll have a bad time  

also if you're not going to game much and use it as a audio workstation (and a bit of video editing), won't it suffice to get a 1080p monitor instead of paying a premium for 1440p? or do you need the resolution?

[walkwalk]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions Changis and JDE, changed text to automatic colours too. Wanted some reassurance so I feel more confident before going ahead with the purchases. I hope I find the RAM mentioned in the QVL. 

 

With regards to the monitor. I own a 1080p one now, but I want to save and go for a higher resolution monitor sometime soon cause it really helps with productivity. May be a 1440p display or another 1080p monitor to go with my current monitor. A 1440p ultrawide would be really awesome too  but I'm not sure if I can afford one soon. From my understanding the GTX 1050 can support all these resolutions, yes? I won't be gaming. 

[19_blackie_73]

18 minutes ago, Changis said:

0: please edit your post above "questions" so that the font uses automatic colors.. the top portion is literally invisible on night theme. and in the future, make sure that all "uncolored text" is set as automatic in the font settings (just mark the text and select automatic) 

1: if it's not in the QVL it can still work, it just hasn't been tested with the motherboard. but i think some ryzen motherboards are a bit more picky with their ram.. unfortunately you won't really know if "unlisted" ram will work until you try it.

2: nothing perceivable..

3: no, ram runs at the same speed. if you mismatch ram speeds it will only run at max 2666, even though all your sticks are rated higher. if you get a 2x/4x set you're golden.

 

4: as reliable as other ssd's. it depends a bit on manufacturer.. however i wouldn't use it for torrents or similar apps that read/writes alot of data to the disk as that can wear it out faster, anyway it's better to use a normal HDD for that, if not for anything else than size and much longer "read/write longevity"

5: yes. there are tons of guides on how to install any windows online.. just google it. if you don't have windows as your boot disk, you'll have a bad time  

also if you're not going to game much and use it as a audio workstation (and a bit of video editing), won't it suffice to get a 1080p monitor instead of paying a premium for 1440p? or do you need the resolution?

I would die for a 1440p monitor for music production, i would even benefit from a 4k because you can have more things at the same time on the screen which helps a lot. Higher resolution displays are more a gimmick for gamers IMO, the real benefit is in productivity tasks

[Matias_Chambers]

2 hours ago, walkwalk said:

1. There are a good number of 16GBx1 modules of the same model available, but not mentioned in the QVL. Is it something to be worried about?

Shouldn't impact performance too much, but dual channel can help. Can you find single 8 GB sticks? Just buy 2 of those.

2 hours ago, walkwalk said:

2. Do I lose a lot of performance if I go for 2400 or 2666 RAMs? or by going with single channel.

You wont lose a lot of performance but there might be a noticeable difference depending on the scenario.

2 hours ago, walkwalk said:

3. Asus's motherboard page says "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only". Does it mean only one of the RAMs will run at higher speeds and the other at 2133?

Not 100% sure on this, never heard of it. Can you link to the page where it says?

2 hours ago, walkwalk said:

Since I constantly run heavy programs, I'm really inclined towards an M.2 storage but have never had one before.

4. How reliable are they? If they are like HDDs which can fail under heavy usage then I prefer sticking to SSDs.

SSDs don't have moving parts so they are more durable than HDDs. HDDs can be easier to recover data from than SSDs. If you have important stuff, just make sure to back it up.

2 hours ago, JDE said:

5. Is the Windows installation straight forward? I'd like to use it as my boot drive. 

Yes you just boot from a USB drive with the installer on or a disc. You might have to go to the BIOS and change the boot device to whatever you have the installer on. The installer is pretty simple.

2 hours ago, walkwalk said:

Any general advice/opinion about this build is really appreciated too. Thanks! Please let me know if you see any compatibility issues. 

Note: I do not game but I'm planning to go for a GTX 1060 if budget allows for it. Just not my priority right now. Any display card that support a 1440p monitor will work for me.

You could save some money by getting the Ryzen 1700 instead of the X, the only difference is the clock speed. You can just overclock the 1700 to match the 1700X. 

[walkwalk]

Thanks for the suggestions Matias. 

 

I read the line "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only" here >> https://www.asus.com/in/Product-Compare/?products=VwPFgEIfpjwpuwyF,56eUBZiyCwpkrxRK&b=0 

You can find it at the bottom of the page, under NOTE section. Strangely, the line appears only under ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING motherboard now, it appeared under both few days ago, if Im not wrong. Someone seems to have already made a topic about it on Reddit here >> https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5xx8yq/is_this_known_havent_heard_of_this_one/

May be it means that 2666+ speeds are supported only if both the slots are populated in any channel? Is that the case? Asus could have phrased the sentence in a less confusing manner lol.

 

3 hours ago, Matias_Chambers said:

Can you find single 8 GB sticks? Just buy 2 of those.

Would that work? I just read that sometimes(if unlucky), we may need to adjust timings and voltages in the Bios to get them working or that they wouldn't work. I've never done that before so Im not very confident so just wanted to stick to 2X kits. Is it something easy?

 

3 hours ago, Matias_Chambers said:

You could save some money by getting the Ryzen 1700 instead of the X, the only difference is the clock speed. You can just overclock the 1700 to match the 1700X. 

I'm considering this, a friend advised the same before. Thanks for the suggestion. 

[brob]

9 hours ago, walkwalk said:

Hi guys, I'm new here and already love this great community, looking forward to having a good time. I'll be straight to the point. I've shortlisted some components for the build but have some questions in my mind(asked at the end). Any answers(even short) and advice are highly appreciated. Thank you.

// Intended use : Sound design and music production in general, but would also like to periodically use it for video editing(in AE and Premiere Pro). I do not have a huge budget, 1600 USD would be my limit. I'd prefer not going any higher than my current estimate too. Note: I live in India and I've mentioned the approximate local prices of chosen components alongside each. 

 

CPU : AMD Ryzen 1700X (460 USD or INR 29500)

MOTHERBOARD : ASUS PRIME B350 PLUS (133 USD or INR 8500)
GRAPHIC CARD : ZOTAC 1050 TI 4GB (203 USD or INR 13000)
MEMORY : CORSAIR VENGEANCE 16GB(2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz (164 USD or INR 10500) - mentioned in the motherboard QVL
STORAGE: SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 500 GB (312 USD or INR 20000) + Existing storage
COOLER : COOLER MASTER HYPER 212X (47 USD or INR 3000)
CASE : NZXT S340 (110 USD or INR 7000)
POWER SUPPLY : SEASONIC SSR-550RT S12G (110 USD or INR 7000)

ESTIMATED TOTAL : 1539 USD or INR 98500

 

QUESTIONS : 

 

RAM : I can't seem to find the (8GBx2)RAM kit anywhere online. The options are limited where I live.

1. There are a good number of 16GBx1 modules of the same model available, but not mentioned in the QVL. Is it something to be worried about?

2. Do I lose a lot of performance if I go for 2400 or 2666 RAMs? or by going with single channel.

3. Asus's motherboard page says "Due to AMD Ryzen™ Processor limitation, More than DDR4-2666 is supported by one DIMM per channel only". Does it mean only one of the RAMs will run at higher speeds and the other at 2133?

 

M.2 STORAGE : Since I constantly run heavy programs, I'm really inclined towards an M.2 storage but have never had one before.

4. How reliable are they? If they are like HDDs which can fail under heavy usage then I prefer sticking to SSDs. 

5. Is the Windows installation straight forward? I'd like to use it as my boot drive. 

 

Any general advice/opinion about this build is really appreciated too. Thanks! Please let me know if you see any compatibility issues. 

Note: I do not game but I'm planning to go for a GTX 1060 if budget allows for it. Just not my priority right now. Any display card that support a 1440p monitor will work for me. 

 

 

For the work you are planning more memory would be better. While optimal Ryzen performance seems to include using DDR4-3200 memory, the difference using DDR4-2400 should be quite acceptable. 

 

There are two memory channels on an AM4 motherboard. Most motherboards have two memory slots (DIMM sockets) per channel. The Asus note indicates that the motherboard will only support one memory module per channel, i.e. a single dual channel memory kit (2 x nGB). This means that at best one could use 2x16GB or 32GB on the motherboard. Likely the system would not work if the second set of memory slots were populated. If one wants 64GB, it would be necessary to use a memory kit running no faster than DDR4-2666. Which is what I would suggest for this sort of workstation.

 

M.2 drives are ssd (solid state drives). 

 

I don't know if Cryorig cpu coolers are available in India. If they are you might check the H7, it is better than the Hyper 212X and usually only a bit more expensive. You might even use the stock cooler it you go with the R7-1700 cpu. The savings could help with including a GTX 1060 in the build. The more powerful gpu would help in video editing.

[walkwalk]

Thanks for the suggestions Brob, May be in that case I'll go with a 16GBx1 module now and upgrade to 32GB by adding another stick of same model after a while. Hopefully I won't run into any issues. I'm not handling any big projects right now that require 32GB of ram immediately so I have some time. 

 

Unfortunately Cryorig coolers aren't available here so I think I should stick with 212X cooler. Several people suggested the Ryzen 1700 + Gtx 1060 path, guess I'll go with it. Thanks!

[LienusLateTips]

Just now, walkwalk said:

Thanks for the suggestions Brob, May be in that case I'll go with a 16GBx1 module now and upgrade to 32GB by adding another stick of same model after a while. Hopefully I won't run into any issues. I'm not handling any big projects right now that require 32GB of ram immediately so I have some time. 

 

Unfortunately Cryorig coolers aren't available here so I think I should stick with 212X cooler. Several people suggested the Ryzen 1700 + Gtx 1060 path, guess I'll go with it. Thanks!

 

Quote people so they get the notifcation.

[walkwalk]

1 minute ago, JDE said:

Quote people so they get the notifcation.

Thanks, didn't know. Will keep that in mind  

[brob]

You can also type @ followed immediately by the first few characters of the username, (case sensitive), and pick off the list. E.G. @walkwalk

[Matias_Chambers]

On 8/23/2017 at 2:23 PM, walkwalk said:

Would that work? I just read that sometimes(if unlucky), we may need to adjust timings and voltages in the Bios to get them working or that they wouldn't work. I've never done that before so Im not very confident so just wanted to stick to 2X kits. Is it something easy?

 

If you get 2 of the exact same RAM sticks it should work.