New computer - is this a good combo? Jim?

[Leizer]

I will buy a new DAW workstation before xmas, so what do you think of this build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Leizer/saved/#view=CY6CLk

Some thoughts:

- Compatibility? Is something unnecessarily overkill?

- Is the Noctua 12s enough for overclocked i9-9900K? Another part picker site said the Noctua 14s were to big or heavy for the build.

- Not sure about the motherboard, is it too weak? I wanted support for USB3.1 gen2 (usb-c for ext. DVD-drive f.e.) that is in the chassi, as well as 3 M.2 SSD slots, and easy overclocking of the i9 to 5Ghz on all cores. Only 2 M.2 slots here. Is MSI MEG Z390 Ace a better choice, or ASRock Z390 Taichi? I have no clue if some cards/discs are covering other slots so they couldn't be used.

-  What memory speed shall I go for? (DDR4-3200 in this example)

- Is 650W enough for overclocking and 5-6 HDD/SSDs?

- I want a quiet machine. Are any parts particullary noisy? Change to?

 

[hockeyjx]

I'd get an 800W power supply to have plenty of overhead ( check out the calculator: https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator ). Depending if you are doing video or not, you could probably trim the video card down. Otherwise, looks good.

[Michael Vogel]

Jim Rosebery does this for a living. He provides a paid for service where he will spec a PC for you to purchase the components and assemble yourself. I’ve used the service myself and its well worth the small fee. Used to be US$40/half hour. I told him my budget and he provided a list of component choices (that his company has tested for compatibility) with links to where I could buy them. I’m in Australia so I got mine locally but knowing the components were tried and tested gave me all the confidence I needed to make my choices.

[azslow3]

2 hours ago, Michael Vogel said:

Jim Rosebery does this for a living. He provides a paid for service where he will spec a PC for you to purchase the components and assemble yourself. I’ve used the service myself and its well worth the small fee. Used to be US$40/half hour. I told him my budget and he provided a list of component choices (that his company has tested for compatibility) with links to where I could buy them. I’m in Australia so I got mine locally but knowing the components were tried and tested gave me all the confidence I needed to make my choices.

+ I means asking someone to do his usual job for free is a bit unfair, no?

So, comments from me (I have recently upgraded to almost identical system, except I put MSI MB/GPU and populated 2 RAM slots only):

* no overkill in your configuration

* "overclocked i9-9900K" is not the term it was before. Without any "overclocking", this CPU in "standard" turbo mode  can (will) throttle under some conditions. With all threads CPU intensive load (and MB auto overclocking settings) it consumes 230W+. I have opted for 12A because of Noctua recommendation. It can handle 180W limit, probably a bit more (and probably with less aggressive voltage tweaking CPU can do more job from the same power). 12S is  less performing. Common option is not even 14. For this CPU it is dual tower 15. The case should be chosen correctly and access to RAM slots will be limited, but that is more safe way to go.

* from my knowledge there is no benefit from populating all 4 RAM slots, but the first two slots can be especially tricky to access with a big cooler.

* you can set "all cores 5GHZ" to get under 10% theoretical computation power more. And hope the load is not too hight (so you do no use the whole computational power, not even close). A bit counterintuitive, but has some theoretical benefits.

* Desktop CPUs have limited number of PCI-E lines (not PCI-E slots related). Your MB has  2 M2 slots and only one is "primary". Also note the second M2 disable a part of SATA connections. So "3 M.2" and "5-6 HDD" is not realistic. Put bigger M.2 if you need more space (f.e 1-2TB M.2 are not significantly more expensive when calculated pro GB).

* the system will be quite, in case you do not put any HDD. But under low load only. As you can guess, once something is consuming 300-400W in total, all that is converted into heat. And this heat need to be moved out. Noctua and other have many differently sized case fans. Modern PSU and MB have special connections and steering for these extra fans, so they will be quite till they are required. "Stress loaded" air cooled CPU+GPU are helicopter like, no workarounds...

* if you plan any GPU intensive tasks, opt for better GPU. If you do not have GPU tasks at all, CPU build-in GPU can do the job. I have 1050ti because I also play relatively old games on FHD monitor, that is sufficient, smooth and quite. Also 3D editing is smoother and quite. But 3D rendering is way faster on CPU then on this GPU.

* I have 650W, no problem in that configuration. But if you plan more powerful GPU (alone or SLI), that can be problematic. Note that PSU total power is just a "label", look at concrete lines max currents to get the idea from where the problem comes, even in case total consumption from all components is under total limit.

[Leizer]

5 hours ago, Michael Vogel said:

Jim Rosebery does this for a living. He provides a paid for service where he will spec a PC for you to purchase the components and assemble yourself. I’ve used the service myself and its well worth the small fee. Used to be US$40/half hour. I told him my budget and he provided a list of component choices (that his company has tested for compatibility) with links to where I could buy them. I’m in Australia so I got mine locally but knowing the components were tried and tested gave me all the confidence I needed to make my choices.

 

2 hours ago, azslow3 said:

+ I means asking someone to do his usual job for free is a bit unfair, no?

 

Thanks, got it. I was more after a "thumbs up" or thumbs down" from Jim, but that is still consultation as well. Good to know about the overseas service, I guess he later also can remote the system and optimize it for DAW use?  I found his site so will hear him out there.

[Leizer]

3 hours ago, azslow3 said:

* "overclocked i9-9900K" is not the term it was before. Without any "overclocking", this CPU in "standard" turbo mode  can (will) throttle under some conditions. With all threads CPU intensive load (and MB auto overclocking settings) it consumes 230W+. I have opted for 12A because of Noctua recommendation. It can handle 180W limit, probably a bit more (and probably with less aggressive voltage tweaking CPU can do more job from the same power). 12S is  less performing. Common option is not even 14. For this CPU it is dual tower 15. The case should be chosen correctly and access to RAM slots will be limited, but that is more safe way to go.

* from my knowledge there is no benefit from populating all 4 RAM slots, but the first two slots can be especially tricky to access with a big cooler.

* you can set "all cores 5GHZ" to get under 10% theoretical computation power more. And hope the load is not too hight (so you do no use the whole computational power, not even close). A bit counterintuitive, but has some theoretical benefits.

* Desktop CPUs have limited number of PCI-E lines (not PCI-E slots related). Your MB has  2 M2 slots and only one is "primary". Also note the second M2 disable a part of SATA connections. So "3 M.2" and "5-6 HDD" is not realistic. Put bigger M.2 if you need more space (f.e 1-2TB M.2 are not significantly more expensive when calculated pro GB).

* the system will be quite, in case you do not put any HDD. But under low load only. As you can guess, once something is consuming 300-400W in total, all that is converted into heat. And this heat need to be moved out. Noctua and other have many differently sized case fans. Modern PSU and MB have special connections and steering for these extra fans, so they will be quite till they are required. "Stress loaded" air cooled CPU+GPU are helicopter like, no workarounds...

* if you plan any GPU intensive tasks, opt for better GPU. If you do not have GPU tasks at all, CPU build-in GPU can do the job. I have 1050ti because I also play relatively old games on FHD monitor, that is sufficient, smooth and quite. Also 3D editing is smoother and quite. But 3D rendering is way faster on CPU then on this GPU.

* I have 650W, no problem in that configuration. But if you plan more powerful GPU (alone or SLI), that can be problematic. Note that PSU total power is just a "label", look at concrete lines max currents to get the idea from where the problem comes, even in case total consumption from all components is under total limit.

Do you have 64GB ram (2*32 GB)?

A friend of mine thought a dedicated GPU will ease the burden on the CPU? I also play some older games (like Fallout 4) but not so much. I also want the ability to have 3 monitors in the future (have 2 now), and not a VGA connected one.

Good points, thanks!

[azslow3]

I have opted for 2x16GB. I know my needs at home (at work decisions are in different size and price range...).

GPU can outperform CPU in some tasks. But that is the task and GPU dependent. By 1050Ti can not outperform i9 in Blender rendering.

[chuckebaby]

Does anyone really see a huge benefit in using a graphics card Vs. onboard graphics ?

Of course its necessary in cases where one might need multiple displays/monitors and onboard doesn't support more than 2 or (3 display ports=2 DVI/1 HDMI). But in terms of typical DAW use, I see no real benefit. The CPU's, RAM it saves is minimal and most times not worth the extra money, hassle with graphic driver conflicts, exc.

Unless one is also wanting to do some gaming, video editing, exc. But IMO, that seems to be the only exception.

 

[Tezza]

I've always used internal graphics for music systems, never had a problem, even with dual monitors. I've bumped mine up to a 6gb card with multiple HDMI out but that is because I am doing video editing as well now. It's the noise the cards can make that puts me off them but this one is not so bad.

[azslow3]

3 hours ago, Tezza said:

 It's the noise the cards can make that puts me off them but this one is not so bad.

When almost unused they normally produce zero noise. My is  in silent mode most of the time (including small 3D editing and old games). It depends how much power particular job needs, is the card in "gaming mode" (over/under clocking/voltage settings) and how good is the cooling system when passive.

So that can be a good point for OP: low profile can be problematic from the noise point of view. If the case allows, normal profile is safer.

 

[William W. Saunders, Jr.]

For the ability to have three  M.2 drives (OS, Audio and Samples), I've am having a very good experience with 2 different ASRock Taichi MOBO's -- an X299 and a Z390.  Multiple SATA connections available at the same time.  Using Thunderbolt Presonus Quantum on both flawlessly. 

[Tezza]

59 minutes ago, azslow3 said:

When almost unused they normally produce zero noise.

Yes, that seems to be the case and music generally doesn't require intense graphics so perhaps its ok to have a big powerful graphics card in the DAW. Mine just gets slightly noisier when I am doing rendering or scrubbing FX over video. I don't do gaming on the computer so have never heard it roar,