First Build: Music Production on a Budget

Hardware Build a PC
1

This will be my first build -- a music production system on a budget.

CPU-intensive, but not at the level of a full-blown gaming system. Graphics not important.

- CPU: AMD FX-6100 Six Core (Going with AMD to save $$)

- Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 AMD 9 Series Motherboard - ATX

- RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x 4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz

- Drives (2): WD Blue 500GB Desktop Hard Drive - 3.5", SATA 6Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache

I'm mostly concerned about attaching the motherboard, CPU cooling fan, and power supply in the case. Have been reading that this is tricky if the components don't match up perfectly (power cables too short, CPU fan too large).

Can anyone recommend the following components with (2) things in mind:

1. Install-friendly (no need to trim, cut, fix things)

2. Quiet -- not necessarily 100% silent, but close would be good

- Case

- Power Supply

- CPU Fan

- Case Fans

These looked good:

- Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Mid-Tower Computer Case

- Thermaltake TR2-R1 / AMD Socket AM2/AM3/939/754 / Aluminum / 92mm Fan / CPU Cooler

- Thermaltake TR-500 TR2 ATX Power Supply - 500W, 120mm Fan, Active PFC 

I really appreciate all the information at this site.

Thanks!!

2

Caes: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2.

CPU fan: Xigmatech Dark Knight II

Power supply: Seasonic G 550W.

Case Fans: Cougar Vortex 120mm and 140mm in black, or Noctua NF-F12 and NF-A14s.


For music production, I'm going to assume that you have a strong set of headphones, DAC, and preamp. A soundcard won't be necessary for headphones, but if you are going to use speakers, put money into something like an Asus Xonar Essence STX.

 

3

I do music production too and would recommend the Arc Midi R2 for case, as well. This is a BIG case so you wont have any trouble fitting a big heat sink in it.

 

The best thing you can do is get an SSD for your DAW. I run Windows and Cubase 7 from a 120GB SSD and my audio pool and libraries from a 256GB SSD. I also have 2 x 1TB HDDs for backups and everything else.

4

Many thanks for these suggestions.

I'll definitely go with the Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 case ... it looks great!

5

Thanks, Tim.

The Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 is definitely the one.

Have been thinking about SSD's -- I know I'll go with one at some point.