New Dedicated Music PC Build

#1

Yesterday I took the plunge in ordering a brand new bespoke PC from Scan.co.uk. I purchased my current one from them a number of years ago and it is slowly dying on me. One of the current issues are some of the USB ports on the main motherboard have become faulty. One minute a device is connected the next my computer cannot see it.

So what did I order, please keep in mind it took me a long time to save up for this one. Behind my acoustic upright, this is the most I have spent on music gear in one go.

Asus PRIME Z390-A Motherboard
Intel i9 9900k (custom overclocked by Scan)
64GB Ram (Crucial DDR4 2666mhz)
Samsung 1TB 970 EVO Plus boot drive
Intel 2TB 660P M.2 Sample Drive
Samsung 1TB 970 EVO Project Drive
Thunderbolt EX 3 Card
be Quiet Dark Rock PRO4 Cooler
650 be Quiet Power Supply

This will all be housed in a be Quiet Silent Base 601 Ora, which is a lovely slim tower that has orange highlights.

I have also picked up a Cubase PC Backlit Astra keyboard from https://logickeyboard.com/shop/steinberg-cubase-nuendo-pc-backlit-astra-keyboard-3425p.html This comes with 2 USB ports so you can plug in pendrives quite easily without bending down to the tower.

It should be here by the end of the week and I will post some pictures when it is up and running. Feel free to ask questions about the build and I will get back to you.

3 Likes
#2

Nice! I considered ordering something like that, but ended up building my own. (As usual.) Not entirely dissimilar in spec from yours; I also have a ludicrously fast system M.2, some 970 SSDs, 64GB RAM, and an i9, though I went with the 7940X, which I fix at 4 GHz on all cores when running Cubase and the like. Definitely worth it!

This i9 can do 4.4 or so without much tweaking (beyond that requires delidding), but I couldn’t be bothered building the necessary cooling for those extra 10%. (It already burns some 250 W on full load at 4 GHz.) I’m already at the point of pretty much having to do something stupid to overload the machine. :slight_smile:

#3

That’s good to hear David. With Brexit round the corner this machine will have to last me some years before the market in the UK settles down. I can see prices going through the roof with manufacturers blaming Brexit. :laughing:

#4

Similar here but last years model …
Asus z370-a
8700k clocked at 5 GHz
64 Gig g.skills trident rgb 3200 MHz CLS 14
M.2 samsung 970 evo 500 gig
M.2 samsung 970 evo plus 2Tb
Sata ssd for projects samsung 860 500 gig
Thunderbolt EX card
Radeon Saphire 580 nitro video card.
750w supply EVGA
280mm liquid cooler by fractal
Fractal R5 case
Projects get off loaded to network storage
Solid performer in windows 10…

1 Like
#5

Finally, some pictures of the new PC rig:

IMG_20191012_134113
IMG_20191012_134113.jpg4032×3024 2.91 MB
IMG_20191012_125846
IMG_20191012_125846.jpg2851×2138 2.24 MB
IMG_20191012_125834
IMG_20191012_125834.jpg4032×3024 3.62 MB

The empty space inside the machine is because I went all M.2. Therefore, no 2.5 or 3.5 inch drives.

4 Likes
#6

I think the only reason you would still use 3.5 is because of storage / Backup. I don’t see it using them for production, as they get quite „heatty“, so extra cooling is required. And tempo-wise it’s last decade. I’m still working with a 7200 for external libraries, it’s ok for now. However, still no comparison to SSDs.

#7

I have a 24TB NAS for backup purposes with main active projects backed up to the cloud.

1 Like
#8

Same here Running an HP rack mount Storage area Network (SAN)… runs like the wind!

#9

Wow what a beast! … I went M.2 last year and never looked back … Plan to pick up some more M.2 storage on the holiday sales … need at least another
NVME … I’ve outgrown my 2TB real quick…

Whats nice about the 390 board is there is a bios update to extend it to 128 GB of storage as long as you are on the 9XXX series of processors…and the 32 gig modules from G.Skills are on the market ( but not cheap)

Great Upgrade Adrian ! Enjoy!

Is that a Korg Radias I spy in the background?

1 Like
#10

NICE! NICE! NICE! … You build that one up? nice job

#11

Hi Keith,

I got the PC custom built through scan.co.uk. They built my old one several years back and it takes any compatibility issues out of the equation as they test the parts to make sure they do work together. I am loving the speed of this little baby as it is overclocked to 5ghz and runs quiet as anything.

That is a Korg Radias that you spy in the background. There is also a Waldorf Blofeld, Access Virus Snow, Prophet 12 Rack and a Schrittmacher sequencer to complete my outboard equipment.

#12

Nice solution! … I’ve got the Radias as well as some Access Product … and others … But this year decided I wanted to focus more in the box … Just a change…

Same on the 5GHz … doing the same and water cooled … dead quiet with the SSD drives if the power light was not on I would think it was dead…Was quiet amazed how you could push it up to 5 GHz right in the BIOS …

Anyhow , you have a pretty health solution … good to go for many years … cheers!