Building a low budget pc for music production.

[mromgwtf]

Hey guys, I'm building a low budget computer for music production. I'm looking for good performance for a low price. My current set is this:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($118.98 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($80.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($61.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.48 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VE248H 24.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $655.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-07 06:17 EDT-0400)

I think I chose good CPU and RAM for this price, but I'm confused about choosing a good power supply, and stuff, you know.
What can I change here to make it even better? I'm in tough situation so I'm really looking for a low price.

[Icetickle]

You don't need a graphic card for production..

[AxeD]

I wouldn't skimp on a motherboard and psu and I'd definitely go with a gpu as well, I have only used Nvidia cards though.

[Icetickle]

What about sound cards? I have a creatibe sound blaster and it makes a big difference...

[Simulant]

Yeah I'd say spend more money on the CPU and less on the GPU, graphics cards aren't necessary for music.

[__________]

1. It's 2013, get an SSD for your boot drive
2. I'd get two hard drives and run them in RAID
3. No point in dropping $60 on a graphics card if the machine is for production
4. Benq 24"s are nice. Probably a few quid cheaper than the Asus too


edit: actually, graphics card will be necessary if (when!) you realise you need two monitors, but still, can go cheaper than $60

[AxeD]

I just figured he might as well build a multi purpose machine, bet that TF2 avatar doesn't come from never playing
the game

Sound cards is external work, doesn't have to be I guess.

[Genevieve]

Get 4 GB of ram and upgrade to 8 at a later point in time. Get rid of the GPU too and reinvest the money you're saving into a better CPU, at least i5 but i7 if you can.

When you have more cash, get an SSD, more RAM and a GPU (if necessary) in that order. UNLESS you don't already have an audio interface, then forget what I just said and get an external soundcard later too, before you even get the SSD/RAM/GPU. In the meantime, just use your motherboard's soundcard. No point in spending more money on a fancy consumer grade soundcard if you're just gonna get an interface later.

[Simulant]

Get 4 GB of ram and upgrade to 8 at a later point in time.

Disagree - 4Gb ram is a bit 2008. Plus the money you'd save from going 8Gb > 4Gb is minuscule, I'd stick with 8Gb minimum.

[Genevieve]

Get 4 GB of ram and upgrade to 8 at a later point in time.

Disagree - 4Gb ram is a bit 2008. Plus the money you'd save from going 8Gb > 4Gb is minuscule, I'd stick with 8Gb minimum.

4 GB can get you producing, it's not optimal, but it's something you can upgrade to in a month's time without having to necessarily dent much performance if you know what you're doing and have optimized your OS to run audio. Ofc you could also continue saving.

It may just be as little as a 20 or 25 dollar difference, but if you're on a tight budget every small bit can add up to something bigger if you're cutting corners everywhere. If you're doing the math and that difference doesn't affect other parts you wanna buy, then get the 8, but people too often overlook small numbers when they're budgeting.

Remember tho', I'm not saying 'skimp out on RAM' or 'RAM isn't important'. It's just that it's easily and cheaply upgradable in a very short period of time. Same can't be said for other parts.

[Electric_Head]

If you're cutting corners then go for cheaper ram, cheaper components in general.
No point in always choosing Corsair.

[Genevieve]

If you're cutting corners then go for cheaper ram, cheaper components in general.
No point in always choosing Corsair.

Nah, I don't thinkg hurting quality would benefit him in the long run. Also don't think it's a good idea to buy shitty part once and then a good one later. Rater save cash.

[Simulant]

Get 4 GB of ram and upgrade to 8 at a later point in time.

Disagree - 4Gb ram is a bit 2008. Plus the money you'd save from going 8Gb > 4Gb is minuscule, I'd stick with 8Gb minimum.

4 GB can get you producing, it's not optimal, but it's something you can upgrade to in a month's time without having to necessarily dent much performance if you know what you're doing and have optimized your OS to run audio. Ofc you could also continue saving.

It may just be as little as a 20 or 25 dollar difference, but if you're on a tight budget every small bit can add up to something bigger if you're cutting corners everywhere. If you're doing the math and that difference doesn't affect other parts you wanna buy, then get the 8, but people too often overlook small numbers when they're budgeting.

Cheaper means lower performance. The guy wants most performance for his money, and for the $20 or so price difference it's definitely worth getting the extra 4Gb. I don't know when you last built a system, but we are in 2013 now. More people are using 64bit software which is more memory hungry. Please read up a bit, you'll see that your recommendation makes the system out of date before it's already built!

[Simulant]

If you're cutting corners then go for cheaper ram, cheaper components in general.
No point in always choosing Corsair.

Nah, I don't thinkg hurting quality would benefit him in the long run. Also don't think it's a good idea to buy shitty part once and then a good one later. Rater save cash.

Agreed. Cheaper parts have more problems in my experience.

[Genevieve]

Get 4 GB of ram and upgrade to 8 at a later point in time.

Disagree - 4Gb ram is a bit 2008. Plus the money you'd save from going 8Gb > 4Gb is minuscule, I'd stick with 8Gb minimum.

4 GB can get you producing, it's not optimal, but it's something you can upgrade to in a month's time without having to necessarily dent much performance if you know what you're doing and have optimized your OS to run audio. Ofc you could also continue saving.

It may just be as little as a 20 or 25 dollar difference, but if you're on a tight budget every small bit can add up to something bigger if you're cutting corners everywhere. If you're doing the math and that difference doesn't affect other parts you wanna buy, then get the 8, but people too often overlook small numbers when they're budgeting.

Cheaper means lower performance. The guy wants most performance for his money, and for the $20 or so price difference it's definitely worth getting the extra 4Gb. I don't know when you last built a system, but we are in 2013 now. More people are using 64bit software which is more memory hungry. Please read up a bit, you'll see that your recommendation makes the system out of date before it's already built!

Read my edit. I never said 'don't get (at least) 8 gb of RAM'

I did my build last year and added 8 GB, and I'm still gonna be upgrading tot 16 soon.

[Electric_Head]

If you're cutting corners then go for cheaper ram, cheaper components in general.
No point in always choosing Corsair.

Nah, I don't thinkg hurting quality would benefit him in the long run. Also don't think it's a good idea to buy shitty part once and then a good one later. Rater save cash.

Agreed. Cheaper parts have more problems in my experience.

I agree in principle but going Corsair for everything is not necessary.

[mromgwtf]

Some people said I should get worse GPU and invest more in CPU, well I forgot to add that I want to play TF2 on it and maybe other games so I need a GPU Thanks for your suggestions.

I found a guy offering a new computer with pretty good parameters for really cheap, these are the parameters:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220V2 4x3,1Ghz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Ram: 8gb ddr3 1333mhz
and other stuff for 660$

What do you think about the CPU?

[Icetickle]

Some people said I should get worse GPU and invest more in CPU, well I forgot to add that I want to play TF2 on it and maybe other games so I need a GPU Thanks for your suggestions.

I found a guy offering a new computer with pretty good parameters for really cheap, these are the parameters:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220V2 4x3,1Ghz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Ram: 8gb ddr3 1333mhz
and other stuff for 660$

What do you think about the CPU?

Dunno man, cpu smells fishy.. I would stick to pentium i3.

[mromgwtf]

Some people said I should get worse GPU and invest more in CPU, well I forgot to add that I want to play TF2 on it and maybe other games so I need a GPU Thanks for your suggestions.

I found a guy offering a new computer with pretty good parameters for really cheap, these are the parameters:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220V2 4x3,1Ghz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Ram: 8gb ddr3 1333mhz
and other stuff for 660$

What do you think about the CPU?

Dunno man, cpu smells fishy.. I would stick to pentium i3.

You know, I think there is a big difference between 4x3.1 and 2x3.3 ..
Sometimes it doesn't even matter because two core intel is beating six core amd in performance, but here after all it's all intel, you know, good shit.
I would put this xeon into i7-like category.

[AxeD]

I basically knew what he wanted without him saying it, how dopechurch is that.

Anyway you can easily do with 4gb of ram, although that doesn't even save that much money.

If you're cutting corners then go for cheaper ram, cheaper components in general.
No point in always choosing Corsair.

Nah, I don't thinkg hurting quality would benefit him in the long run. Also don't think it's a good idea to buy shitty part once and then a good one later. Rater save cash.

Agreed. Cheaper parts have more problems in my experience.

I agree in principle but going Corsair for everything is not necessary.

But are you saying Corsair is good though, cause that's not my experience. I mean for a psu, I wouldn't go with
Corsair.