Upgrading my Audio PC

[Bas Uitermark]

Hey everyone!

 

I have wanted to upgrade my pc for a while now. A couple of years ago I build my first pc with the help of this forum. Intended for audio mixing as a hobby and a bit of gaming on the side it did its job pretty well, but now it's just not cutting it anymore. When I am mixing a full session with 150 to 250 plugins it can't keep up anymore, the audio starts freezing up an stuttering even when I put my audio interface to highest buffer size to give the processor more time process all the load. So I thought it would be time for an upgrade. I have been searching a bit as well but as I'm a bit out of touch with the latest technology releases I thought it would be a better idea to ask for your guys help. My budget is about 700 to 900 euro's, maybe a 1000 but that's stretching it pretty far for me.

 

Current setup:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition

COOLER: Phanteks PH-TC14PE Black

MOBO: MSI 990FXA-GD65 

RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x8GB DDR3 1600

GPU: XFX R9 280X 3GB

CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

SSD: Kingston SSDNow V Series V300 240GB 

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001, 3TB x2

PSU: Seasonic M12II 620W 

 

What I have been looking at:

CPU: Intel Core i7-7800X

COOLER: No clue

MOBO: MSI X299 RAIDER

RAM: I want to upgrade to 16 Gb DDR4 but had a hard time knowing which one I needed

GPU: XFX R9 280X 3GB (keeping the old one if possible)

CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl (keeping the old one)

PSU: Seasonic M12II 620W (I hope I can keep this one as well, but I'm not against buying a new one)

 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

 

Greetings!

Bas Uitermark

[Bas Uitermark]

Sorry I posted this in the wrong catogory and couldn't find a way to delete the post. Will post it in the proper catogory

[BluJay614]

9 minutes ago, Bas Uitermark said:

Hey everyone!

 

I have wanted to upgrade my pc for a while now. A couple of years ago I build my first pc with the help of this forum. Intended for audio mixing as a hobby and a bit of gaming on the side it did its job pretty well, but now it's just not cutting it anymore. When I am mixing a full session with 150 to 250 plugins it can't keep up anymore, the audio starts freezing up an stuttering even when I put my audio interface to highest buffer size to give the processor more time process all the load. So I thought it would be time for an upgrade. I have been searching a bit as well but as I'm a bit out of touch with the latest technology releases I thought it would be a better idea to ask for your guys help. I live in the Netherlands and my budget is about 700 to 900 euro's, maybe a 1000 but that's stretching it pretty far for me. Currently browsing at www.tweakers.net.

 

Current setup:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition

COOLER: Phanteks PH-TC14PE Black

MOBO: MSI 990FXA-GD65 

RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x8GB DDR3 1600

GPU: XFX R9 280X 3GB

CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

SSD: Kingston SSDNow V Series V300 240GB 

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001, 3TB x2

PSU: Seasonic M12II 620W 

 

What I have been looking at:

CPU: Intel Core i7-7800X

COOLER: No clue

MOBO: MSI X299 RAIDER

RAM: I want to upgrade to 16 Gb DDR4 but had a hard time knowing which one I needed

GPU: XFX R9 280X 3GB (keeping the old one if possible)

CASE: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl (keeping the old one)

PSU: Seasonic M12II 620W (I hope I can keep this one as well, but I'm not against buying a new one)

 

Thanks in advance for the help. 

 

Greetings!

Bas Uitermark

Ryzen 7 would be a better way for you to go. Also, getting rid of a ton of those plug ins would help, especially if you don't need them.

[Guest]

It's a new build and planning. If you feel you need to change sections you can report your own post. 

[BluJay614]

If you are going to keep the case, PSU, graphics card, and storage https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/27jMhq that would do you just fine. Because the Asus X370 Crosshair VI Hero has mounting holes for AM4 and AM3(+), you could even keep the same cooler. If you want though, You could get a BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3

[Guest]

I'm going to start with 3 things:

1. What DAW are you working in? (It would help knowing what the software is demanding of you.)

2. What does control panel say your usage is? (Is your CPU at 100%, is your memory at 100%)

3. Do you have a dedicated sound-card better than on-board? 

 

Reading on this website a lot of people seem to have i7. Though this is from 2009. Some signatures have been updated (one person has an i7 6700)

From my personal experience, and from what I've been told in the music store is that the most important thing is the soundcard. The CPU and RAM are the other 2 important pieces in DAW work. 

 

I think your new PC will be able to handle everything especially if you get a music recording soundcard. Personally I have the UR 22 by Yamaha Steinberg, though there are newer models than mine. (for instance UR22 MKII)

 

I don't know how the r9 280x performs to make a commend about gaming. 

 

For ram 16 GB should be plenty, though I don't know if your CPU will benefit from faster RAM. Many claim Ryzen works better with 3000 MHZ ram. 

[Bas Uitermark]

To answer your questions:

1. Cubase Pro 9

2. My processor peaks out at 60% to 70% and my memory at 60%

3. I have a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40

 

I've been recommended the Ryzen 7 in the new builds and planning section, which seems like a nice upgrade from my AMD FX8350.

[Bas Uitermark]

Hmm Ryzen 7 definitly looks like a good option. If could get rid of a couple of plugins I wouldn't be in the need of upgrading my pc hahaha. The problem is that I work with a lot tracks that a lot plugins to make the mix work. 

 

 https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/27jMhq This seems like a pretty solid setup. The BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 may be a good addition to the rest of the build.

Do you think my current PSU will be enough to power all of this?