PC Workstation/Gaming Machine

[DanielWren]

Hello,

I am coming to the LTT Forum to get some advice, I am located in Melbourne, Australia so just as a pretence and reference to Dollars or price will be AUD.

I am looking to build in the near future a capable workstation rig that will allow me to run ProTools 2018 and Ableton Live 9 with ease and allowing for many plugins to be active at once along with the possibility of upgrading to their HDX Series if my circumstances require me to do so.

I am currently running on a very capable Mid 2015 MacBook Pro

Specs:

• Intel Core i7-4870HQ @2.5Ghz
• 16gb Ram
• Intel Iris Pro
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2GB

I will not be retiring this rig, rather I want a rig at home that I can use that will be able to do the bulk of my work.

I also have been doing some light video and photo editing using the Adobe Suite. I can foresee this being a constant need of mine so being able to complete these is a plus however not the necessity.

 

I am looking to also game on this rig, so if I can get either a balls to the walls gaming pc that can do the audio work or a workstation that can game I'm not fussed.

I will be running this rig into a 34" LG 21:9 Ultrawide (34UB67-B), I don't plan on running another monitor in the near future, however, this might change.

 

I am looking at a budget of around $3K Max, this might seem crazy but over here in AUS, PC Parts are not cheap, I am willing to go over if I can see that it will be a benefit and the cost to performance is worth it.

 

Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

[Carbide X]

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/kr2gLJ

I made this list out of my own preferences like black and red components 

[VEXICUS]

30 minutes ago, DanielWren said:

Hello,

I am coming to the LTT Forum to get some advice, I am located in Melbourne, Australia so just as a pretence and reference to Dollars or price will be AUD.

I am looking to build in the near future a capable workstation rig that will allow me to run ProTools 2018 and Ableton Live 9 with ease and allowing for many plugins to be active at once along with the possibility of upgrading to their HDX Series if my circumstances require me to do so.

I am currently running on a very capable Mid 2015 MacBook Pro

Specs:

• Intel Core i7-4870HQ @2.5Ghz
• 16gb Ram
• Intel Iris Pro
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2GB

I will not be retiring this rig, rather I want a rig at home that I can use that will be able to do the bulk of my work.

I also have been doing some light video and photo editing using the Adobe Suite. I can foresee this being a constant need of mine so being able to complete these is a plus however not the necessity.

 

I am looking to also game on this rig, so if I can get either a balls to the walls gaming pc that can do the audio work or a workstation that can game I'm not fussed.

I will be running this rig into a 34" LG 21:9 Ultrawide (34UB67-B), I don't plan on running another monitor in the near future, however, this might change.

 

I am looking at a budget of around $3K Max, this might seem crazy but over here in AUS, PC Parts are not cheap, I am willing to go over if I can see that it will be a benefit and the cost to performance is worth it.

 

Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

What about this??...8700k+1080ti

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($499.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($138.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($569.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($199.00 @ Centre Com) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card  ($1179.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($104.00 @ Skycomp Technology) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($154.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Total: $3137.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-24 21:08 AEDT+1100

[VEXICUS]

39 minutes ago, DanielWren said:

Hello,

I am coming to the LTT Forum to get some advice, I am located in Melbourne, Australia so just as a pretence and reference to Dollars or price will be AUD.

I am looking to build in the near future a capable workstation rig that will allow me to run ProTools 2018 and Ableton Live 9 with ease and allowing for many plugins to be active at once along with the possibility of upgrading to their HDX Series if my circumstances require me to do so.

I am currently running on a very capable Mid 2015 MacBook Pro

Specs:

• Intel Core i7-4870HQ @2.5Ghz
• 16gb Ram
• Intel Iris Pro
• AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2GB

I will not be retiring this rig, rather I want a rig at home that I can use that will be able to do the bulk of my work.

I also have been doing some light video and photo editing using the Adobe Suite. I can foresee this being a constant need of mine so being able to complete these is a plus however not the necessity.

 

I am looking to also game on this rig, so if I can get either a balls to the walls gaming pc that can do the audio work or a workstation that can game I'm not fussed.

I will be running this rig into a 34" LG 21:9 Ultrawide (34UB67-B), I don't plan on running another monitor in the near future, however, this might change.

 

I am looking at a budget of around $3K Max, this might seem crazy but over here in AUS, PC Parts are not cheap, I am willing to go over if I can see that it will be a benefit and the cost to performance is worth it.

 

Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

7 minutes ago, vexicus365 said:

What about this??...8700k+1080ti

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($499.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($138.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($569.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($199.00 @ Centre Com) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card  ($1179.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($104.00 @ Skycomp Technology) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($154.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Total: $3137.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-24 21:08 AEDT+1100

Cheaper alternative....

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($248.50 @ Shopping Express) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($89.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($271.00 @ IJK) 
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Xtreme Gaming Video Card  ($479.00 @ Umart) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 5 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($154.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Total: $1470.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-24 21:17 AEDT+1100

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($499.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  ($99.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($503.00 @ Skycomp Technology) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($188.00 @ IJK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card  ($1179.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Case: Corsair - 270R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($84.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($148.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Total: $2995.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-24 21:59 AEDT+1100

[DanielWren]

This is what I have put together after looking around on other sites and forums.

(The Optical Burners are not a requirement just something I use these a fair bit for work so an upgrade is always nice)

PCPartPicker part list: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/zM8hq4
 

CPU: Intel - Core i9-7900X 3.3GHz 10-Core Processor  ($1279.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($138.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME X299-DELUXE ATX LGA2066 Motherboard  ($678.00 @ Skycomp Technology) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($569.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($199.00 @ Centre Com) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 Pro 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($779.00 @ IJK) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($76.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AMP Extreme Video Card  ($1349.00 @ Scorptec) 
Case: Corsair - 750D Airflow Edition ATX Full Tower Case  ($192.00 @ Skycomp Technology) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($148.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Optical Drive: Pioneer - BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($83.91 @ AX86 Gaming Systems) 
Optical Drive: Pioneer - BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($83.91 @ AX86 Gaming Systems) 
Optical Drive: Pioneer - BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($83.91 @ AX86 Gaming Systems) 
Total: $5658.73
 

[brob]

Like others I started with the i7-8700K as it offers the best combination of speed, cores, and price.

 

The H100i v2 will allow for overclocking, providing even higher performance if desired.

 

I selected the Z370 Taichi motherboard for its features. In particular it has a header for the optional Asrock Thunderbolt 3 AIC expansion card.

 

The Kingston memory kit is the least expensive 2x16GB DDR4-3000+ memory kit with CL < 16. Using a 2x16GB kit leaves room to upgrade to 64GB should that ever prove necessary. 32GB should be enough to minimize swapping in complex projects.

 

I've included three ssd. The 1TB unit is the main drive used for boot, system, applications, and project files. One of the 500GB units is for samples and libraries. The second 500GB unit should be used for recording, cache, and scratch. Using three drives can reduce i/o congestion.

 

A GTX 1060 6GB is not the most powerful gpu. It is quite sufficient for accelerating video editing functions. It also offers reasonably good gaming performance.

 

The Define R6 case allows for the addition of optical drives should that ever be needed. Otherwises a Define C would be a good choice.

 

The psu has sufficient excess capacity to handle upgrades and overclocking.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($499.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($138.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Taichi ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($319.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Predator 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($510.00 @ Umart) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($188.00 @ IJK) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($188.00 @ IJK) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($330.00 @ Shopping Express) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB FTW+ GAMING Video Card  ($499.00 @ Umart) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($209.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.00 @ Mwave Australia) 
Total: $3019.00
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-25 02:28 AEDT+1100