new build Choosing computer parts for a friend

[Banastian]

A friend of mine is in need of a new computer, but he doesn't know anything about computer parts so I decided to give him a hand. He said that he is primarily going to use it for producing music. I don't think he intended to use it for gaming, but he might change his mind later. He already has one monitor, and I think it should be ok to use his old power supply (depending on how many watts it can output) and his old graphics card. He also didn't need a DVD drive. I'm willing to give him my old graphics card (EVGA Geforce GTX 670) if he's not happy with the one he already has. I was told by one of my friends who studies music that he only needs good/enough ram, a fast processor and a fast ssd. His budget is approximately 10 000 NOK (1183 USD according to google), but he was willing to spend a maximum of 15 000 NOK (1774 USD) if necessary. Here's all the components I've chosen thus far: https://www.komplett.no/wishlist/shared/51b334ce-af5a-4738-b024-9f0991b5af33 (everything is in Norwegian, just ask me if you want me to translate anything). It's been about 5 years since the last time I went shopping for computer parts, so I'm asking for your expertise to be absolutely sure that he gets the best computer he can for his budget. Here are my questions: Should I change out any of the components I've chosen? Have I forgotten to add something important? Are all the components compatible with each other? Will everything fit inside of the tower? I'm thankful for all help that is provided.

 

Edit: Just took a second look at the list, and I started to wonder whether I should upgrade his HDD to 2tb instead of 1tb as the difference in price isn't too big. What do you think?

 

Edit 2: Here's a list of all the parts in case the link doesn't work:

 

Tower: Fractal Design Define R6 Black TG OR Fractal Design Define C

Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z370-A, Socket-1151

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" HDD

SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 250GB SSD OR Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB

Processor: Intel Core i5-8600K OR Intel Core i5-8600 OR Intel Core i7-8700k OR Intel Core i7-8700

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit OEM

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CPU

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz 16GB

[Fasauceome]

Looks solid. I'd also recommend replacing the power supply if it's about 5 years old, they tend to start dying around then

[Banastian]

5 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

Looks solid. I'd also recommend replacing the power supply if it's about 5 years old, they tend to start dying around then

That's a very good point! I'll ask him how old it is. If he needs a new one, how many watts would you recommend for this build?

[brob]

Given the use case, I would suggest going with an i5-8600 on a H370 motherboard. (The Asrock H370M Pro4 or H370 Pro4 would be my suggestion. But the Asus H370M-Plus would be fine.) Use the Cryorig H7 cpu cooler. My reasoning is that a quiet and stable system is more important than ultimate performance. 

 

The i7-8700 would be a better choice if the budget allows.

 

I would also suggest getting a larger ssd. Get the largest that will fit in the budget.

 

There is no need to order additional thermal compound. CPU coolers come with pre-applied or a small tube of compound.

 

Consider getting a smaller case. The Define C is a good choice. For the quietest build, get a non-windowed case.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600 3.1GHz 6-Core Processor  (NOK 2299.00 @ Komplett.no) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (NOK 395.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime H370M-Plus/CSM Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (NOK 1159.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (NOK 1890.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (NOK 2129.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define Mini C TG MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (NOK 1049.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (NOK 630.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (NOK 1099.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Total: $NOK 0650.00

[Fasauceome]

14 minutes ago, Sebbebanastian said:

That's a very good point! I'll ask him how old it is. If he needs a new one, how many watts would you recommend for this build?

500 watt should be more than enough. 

[Banastian]

17 minutes ago, brob said:

Given the use case, I would suggest going with an i5-8600 on a H370 motherboard. (The Asrock H370M Pro4 or H370 Pro4 would be my suggestion. But the Asus H370M-Plus would be fine.) Use the Cryorig H7 cpu cooler. My reasoning is that a quiet and stable system is more important than ultimate performance. 

 

The i7-8700 would be a better choice if the budget allows.

 

I would also suggest getting a larger ssd. Get the largest that will fit in the budget.

 

There is no need to order additional thermal compound. CPU coolers come with pre-applied or a small tube of compound.

 

Consider getting a smaller case. The Define C is a good choice. For the quietest build, get a non-windowed case.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600 3.1GHz 6-Core Processor  (NOK 2299.00 @ Komplett.no) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (NOK 395.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime H370M-Plus/CSM Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (NOK 1159.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (NOK 1890.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (NOK 2129.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define Mini C TG MicroATX Mid Tower Case  (NOK 1049.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (NOK 630.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (NOK 1099.00 @ Komplett.no) 
Total: $NOK 0650.00

 

Thanks for the advise! I think I'm sticking with the K edition processor because it's nice to have the opportunity to overclock, and there's only about a 20$ price difference. I do agree that the case is a little bit too big, and I'll ask whether he wants a window or not. I'll also take a look at that cooler even though he said he wasn't too concerned about noise as long as it's not extremely loud. I'll ask him whether he can afford a bigger SSD or not. I didn't know that CPU coolers come with pre-applied compound, I'll remove that right away! I'm wondering about that motherboard though; it doesn't appear to support 3000MHz memory, but I could be completely wrong of course.

[brob]

1 minute ago, Sebbebanastian said:

 

Thanks for the advise! I think I'm sticking with the K edition processor because it's nice to have the opportunity to overclock, and there's only about a 20$ price difference. I do agree that the case is a little bit too big, and I'll ask whether he wants a window or not. I'll also take a look at that cooler even though he said he wasn't too concerned about noise as long as it's not extremely loud. I'll ask him whether he can afford a bigger SSD or not. I'm wondering about that motherboard though; it doesn't appear to support 3000MHz memory, but I could be completely wrong of course.

A K edition cpu needs a Z370 motherboard and fairly hefty cpu cooler if one wants to allow for overclocking. Personally I think for this sort of build that money is better spent in more fast storage.

 

Non-K i5 and i7 run memory no higher than DDR4-2666. Faster memory does not significantly impact performance on this platform.

 

[Fasauceome]

Just now, brob said:

A K edition cpu needs a Z370 motherboard and fairly hefty cpu cooler if one wants to allow for overclocking. Personally I think for this sort of build that money is better spent in more fast storage.

 

Non-K i5 and i7 run memory no higher than DDR4-2666. Faster memory does not significantly impact performance on this platform.

 

yes but clearly OP understands that, and wants to overclock

[brob]

1 minute ago, fasauceome said:

yes but clearly OP understands that, and wants to overclock

The system is for a friend. Does the friend want to overclock?

[Fasauceome]

Just now, brob said:

The system is for a friend. Does the friend want to overclock?

the friend is not the one handling the system during setup

[Banastian]

2 minutes ago, brob said:

A K edition cpu needs a Z370 motherboard and fairly hefty cpu cooler if one wants to allow for overclocking. Personally I think for this sort of build that money is better spent in more fast storage.

 

Non-K i5 and i7 run memory no higher than DDR4-2666. Faster memory does not significantly impact performance on this platform.

 

That's exactly why I chose that specific cooler and that motherboard. But you have a good point regarding fast storage. I'm not sure how much space he is going to need, but I'm assuming that a musician would require quite a lot of space for plugins, music programs and all of the sound files and tracks. My plan was to install windows on his SSD and use the HDD to store everything else, but as you're saying; having a big SSD might be a better solution.

[Banastian]

8 minutes ago, brob said:

The system is for a friend. Does the friend want to overclock?

I'm not sure yet. I'm the one making the decisions for him right now because he has no clue about anything regarding computer parts and overclocking and etc. I think it's nice to have the opportunity to overclock in case he wants to use his computer for gaming or if he wants to do any rendering stuff. The computer might require that extra boost in GHz if he's going to use a lot of plugins when making music. I know that a lot of those plugins and programs require quite a lot of processing power and memory. We'll have to see whether he's willing to spend the extra money for the opportunity to overclock or not.

[Banastian]

I made a combination of all the suggestions and my own opinions in a new wish list; https://www.komplett.no/wishlist/shared/40805b46-3d63-492f-aa15-f747ad913fdf. I'm not sure whether he really needs that cooler now that I've changed the processor. Might consider changing it with the one you suggested. I also took a look at the i7 8700 and decided that it is plenty fast enough for what he needs without having to overclock. I still don't think he needs a really big SSD, so I kept the original one.

 

EDIT: I just remembered that the i7 8700 doesn't support 3000MHz memory, so we'll need to change that too.

 

EDIT 2: Even better list, but with a 500GB SSD: https://www.komplett.no/wishlist/shared/cfb36f44-a1a6-4cc2-8d2b-9d2a361e8012

[Fasauceome]

Just now, Sebbebanastian said:

I made a combination of all the suggestions and my own opinions in a new wish list; https://www.komplett.no/wishlist/shared/40805b46-3d63-492f-aa15-f747ad913fdf. I'm not sure whether he really needs that cooler now that I've changed the processor. Might consider changing it with the one you suggested. I also took a look at the i7 8600 and decided that it is plenty fast enough for what he needs without having to overclock. I still don't think he needs a really big SSD, so I kept the original one.

The cooler is just fine, but there are B360 motherboards with similar or the same features to Z370, and you don't need to worry about overclocking. Asus prime b360 plus looks to be suitable

[Banastian]

1 minute ago, fasauceome said:

The cooler is just fine, but there are B360 motherboards with similar or the same features to Z370, and you don't need to worry about overclocking. Asus prime b360 plus looks to be suitable

Yep, now that we're downgrading the RAM it has become possible to do the same with the motherboard. Thanks for the tip!

[brob]

I think it is a mistake to get such a small ssd, especially if any recording is being done.

[Banastian]

Just now, brob said:

I think it is a mistake to get such a small ssd, especially if any recording is being done.

I am considering upgrading the SSD to a bigger one now that we're spending less money on memory and the motherboard.