# Is a very good PC necessary?



## Simon Gross (Feb 9, 2019)

Hey guys! :D
I want to buy a PC for music production. Currently, I am working with the Composer Cloud from East West and wanted to buy a PC that meets these requirements (which means that I can work well in large projects).
The PC recommended to me would cost 2300 Euro (2700$). (Its specifications would be: 32 GB RAM, SSD 500 GB, Intel Core i7-9700K and 1 TB memory modules for Sample Libarys). 

Now I was wondering if it might be a better solution to spend a little less money on a PC (1600-1800 Euro)(1800$-2000$) and invest the rest in Sample Libarys of Performance Samples (and Ark 1).
Personally, I would prefer this solution, because I find the freebies of Performance Samples and the Oceania Choir very convincing, and also like more Kontakt to work. Also, I think the Sample Libarys of Performance Samples needs a lot less power, and so, with a slightly worse PC, I could handle the same project size .
To give you an idea of which piece size I would like to be able to handle with my PC: Something like the pieces from Two Steps from Heaven, Colin Frake, The Devil Wears Nada, but also things that go in the direction of Sun, Illusion, Unleashed and so on.

In addition, I wonder if it is worthwhile, or even possible, to use my old PC as a slave PC (8gb ram, i5 processor)

Would be glad about help of any kind :D


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## aaronventure (Feb 9, 2019)

Here's a $1600 build that I quickly put together with 9700K and 64GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XdF8cY

You could still use your old PC as a slave, depending on what i5 is inside exactly. If it's too slow/old, you might be actually having double the total power draw/additional noise for a minimal performance boost. If it's not that old, you can still splurge on some DDR3 and have it hold additional libraries. You know what it's capable of right now so it's totally up to you.


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## JohnG (Feb 9, 2019)

I just replaced the motherboard and CPU of a computer that's only slightly old. But that i9-9900k CPU is awesome; buffers that were 512 are now 128. 

I was able to reuse the Noctua cooler, the power supply and, in this case, the RAM. The latter you can't usually do.

These days honestly less than 32GB is pretty feeble for housing samples. If you have the money and appetite, I'd probably recommend a new motherboard, a new CPU, and 64GB of RAM. Depending on the other components in your existing computer, you might be able to save some $$ on other things.

If you do decide to upgrade, bear in mind that Microsoft, assuming your existing computer is Windows 10, will de-authorise your OS when you change the motherboard. It's a very good idea if possible to telephone them in advance, tell them what you propose to do, and ask what evidence they will require to re-authorise your operating system. I spent an hour on the phone with them; apparently it's a big piracy problem.


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## Nathanael Iversen (Feb 9, 2019)

JohnG said:


> I just replaced the motherboard and CPU of a computer that's only slightly old. But that i9-9900k CPU is awesome; buffers that were 512 are now 128.



Wow! Great results! That was worth it! I've been happy with my i9 as well. Just a real sweet spot CPU right now. Not expensive, super powerful and fast, fast, fast with an easy risk-free overclock.


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## LYESSE (Feb 9, 2019)

JohnG said:


> I just replaced the motherboard and CPU of a computer that's only slightly old. But that i9-9900k CPU is awesome; buffers that were 512 are now 128.
> 
> I was able to reuse the Noctua cooler, the power supply and, in this case, the RAM. The latter you can't usually do.
> 
> ...


Did you finally find a motherboard with a pci port ? I'm in the same situation with a rme 9652... I'm torn between a 8700K based configuration and a 9900K.


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## JohnG (Feb 9, 2019)

LYESSE said:


> Did you finally find a motherboard with a pci port ? I'm in the same situation with a rme 9652... I'm torn between a 8700K based configuration and a 9900K.



Yes indeed, but there is a huge caveat. I bought two Gigabyte H370 HD3 boards; that mobo has a PCI slot.

The caveat is that if you get the "wrong" one, it might have an older BIOS and may therefore be unable to boot with the i9-9900k CPU. The first one I bought did not have the updated BIOS, which led to my driving out to Gigabyte (about an hour away) to get them to update it there. Luckily, the second one had been manufactured with the later BIOS, so it worked out of the box.

It's possible you can RMA the board to them, I don't know for sure but I would guess so.

I suppose one more caveat is that one of our members told me the H370 HD3 was not a suitable board for the i9 and that "someone from Gigabyte should be fired" for telling me it would be ok. Time will tell; motherboards can burn out, but anyway I hope not!


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## Tod (Feb 9, 2019)

aaronventure said:


> Here's a $1600 build that I quickly put together with 9700K and 64GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage.
> 
> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XdF8cY



Aaron, did you put that together yourself or did you have it done?


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## aaronventure (Feb 9, 2019)

Tod said:


> Aaron, did you put that together yourself or did you have it done?


Literally just clicked it in after reading OP's post and what he specified was in the build he was offered, since I thought that was a bit much for these specs. 

To clarify, I didn't actually purchase this, I created a quick potential build for OP.


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## Tod (Feb 9, 2019)

Okay thanks Aaron, I've got a friend that's looking for a new computer and those specs were close to my computer so thought I'd ask.


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## LYESSE (Feb 10, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Yes indeed, but there is a huge caveat. I bought two Gigabyte H370 HD3 boards; that mobo has a PCI slot.
> 
> The caveat is that if you get the "wrong" one, it might have an older BIOS and may therefore be unable to boot with the i9-9900k CPU. The first one I bought did not have the updated BIOS, which led to my driving out to Gigabyte (about an hour away) to get them to update it there. Luckily, the second one had been manufactured with the later BIOS, so it worked out of the box.
> 
> ...


JohnG, thanks for the infos. I won't take the risk . The wiser option for me would be the 8700K or upgrade my 9652 to the RME Raydat.


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## kitekrazy (Feb 12, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Yes indeed, but there is a huge caveat. I bought two Gigabyte H370 HD3 boards; that mobo has a PCI slot.
> 
> The caveat is that if you get the "wrong" one, it might have an older BIOS and may therefore be unable to boot with the i9-9900k CPU. The first one I bought did not have the updated BIOS, which led to my driving out to Gigabyte (about an hour away) to get them to update it there. Luckily, the second one had been manufactured with the later BIOS, so it worked out of the box.
> 
> ...





JohnG said:


> I just replaced the motherboard and CPU of a computer that's only slightly old. But that i9-9900k CPU is awesome; buffers that were 512 are now 128.
> 
> I was able to reuse the Noctua cooler, the power supply and, in this case, the RAM. The latter you can't usually do.
> 
> ...



This is discouraging. Supposedly W10 Pro was suppose to be better about this because your digital license (not product key) is in your MS account.


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