Top choice for coding, music creation, and gaming is a versatile platform with strong tools and community support.
Top choice for coding, music creation, and gaming is a versatile platform with strong tools and community support.
After reviewing all the content, I finally chose to participate in the conversation. My main issues were slow performance in my colony sims, high sound latency, and a stiff neck from waiting on compiles in my IKEA Markus. I already have an idea of what chair to purchase once the game gets back online, but I’m not ready to commit yet. Logically, I should focus on budget and features that help me earn money—like coding—while still aiming for Oxygen not Included without dropping below 20 FPS. I’d like to experiment with hardware and software tools, possibly swapping my MOTU MicroBook II for something with more channels, ideally recording at 96kHz with less than 15ms latency, preferably under 10ms.
In the meantime, everything seems better today compared to what I’ve had recently. Right now I’m using an FX-8350 with 16GB DDR3 on a somewhat unstable board (5GHz, ~1.5V) and before that a Xeon e5450 at 3.7gHz with 8GB RAM—though the latter was actually more suited for music production. My friends had used those before. The Xeon needed soldering, and its SATA controller was faulty, which hurt latency. I also noticed my Gigabyte boards were decent because they were refurbished, but I’m still trying to figure out what’s reliable.
I built a home office rig for work (as a MMORPG support rep) with a Ryzen 2600 on B450 and 16GB 2666/CL13 RAM—my computer was really slow. I also liked Torvald’s build, but the silent base 801 is mostly for looks and I’m not sure about its durability yet. The first one I bought broke during shipping. I’m also searching for something modern with a bit of classic charm, maybe around 15 years old.
For my needs, I’d need about €1000 for a good motherboard, CPU, RAM, SSD, and some multithreading power for programming. I want low latency for my DAW and high single-thread speed for simulations. I have a Gigabyte GTX1060/6GB OC and a Sapphire RX570/8GB Nitro—seems adequate. I’m considering a Transcend 220S M.2 NVMe SSD because of its 3D-TLC and lack of heatspreader. I thought about server boards but found them too slow for daily tasks, so I think a gaming or pro board is better.
My main question is: which platform offers the best low-latency music production? My research suggests Intel usually has lower memory latency, but I’m not sure that equals low audio delay. I’ve looked into options like the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master (~270€) with a 9100 or a 9600k (~200€), plus a 32GB 3200/CL14 RAM and SSD (~140€). But some reviews are bad, so I’m looking for real-world feedback.
If you have experience with recording on that system, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
P.S.: Just checked the workbench forum—I’m sorry for the off-topic post.
You're looking for a place within the eurozone where you can spend around 1,000 euros on a new PC tailored for a specific purpose. Let me know your location if you'd like more precise suggestions!
It's a good idea to keep things simple. I'm not looking for a new graphics card, power supply, or case. I already have SSD and RAM set up. But I might consider buying from Mindfactory—do you know if they work with Ableton, Bitwig, or other DAWs?
PSU: PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor (€415.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard (€197.99 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€120.89 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (€139.97 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: be quiet! Silent Base 801 ATX Mid Tower Case (€145.15 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1019.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-05 19:47 CEST+0200 something more to your liking?