# 1st Custom Built Workstation: Could Someone Review/Criticize My Choices?



## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

Hi all:

This is my 1st custom built audio workstation: Could someone review/criticize my choices? Much appreciated, many thanks! 

Fractal Design Define 7 XL, No PSU, E-ATX, Black, Full Tower Case
GIGABYTE TRX40 DESIGNARE, AMD TRX40 Chipset, XL-ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 3970X 32-Core 3.7 - 4.5GHz Turbo, sTRX4, 280W TDP, Processor
PNY Quadro P1000 VCQP1000-PB, 4GB GDDR5, Graphics Card
EVGA GeForce® RTX 2070 SUPER™ BLACK GAMING, 1605 - 1770MHz, 8GB GDDR6, Graphics Card
*2 x* KINGSTON 128GB Kit (4 x 32GB) HyperX FURY DDR4 2666MHz, CL16, Black, DIMM Memory
EVGA 1600 T2, 80 PLUS Titanium 1600W, ECO Mode, Fully Modular, ATX Power Supply
INNOVATION COOLING Diamond 7 Carat, 1.5g, 4.5 (W/m-K), Micronized Diamond, Thermal Compound
CORSAIR LL120 RGB 3 x 120mm, w/ Lighting Node PRO, 1500 RPM, 43.25 CFM, 24.8 dBA, Cooling Fans
*3 x* CORSAIR LL120 RGB 120mm, 1500 RPM, 43.25 CFM, 24.8 dBA, Cooling Fan
SABRENT 4TB Rocket 2280, 3450 / 3000 MB/s, 3D TLC NAND, PCIe 3.1 x4 NVMe, M.2 SSD
SAMSUNG 4TB 860 EVO 7mm, 550 / 520 MB/s, V-NAND MLC, SATA 6Gb/s, 2.5-Inch SSD
SEAGATE 6TB IronWolf Pro ST6000NE0023, 7200 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s, 512e, 256MB cache, 3.5-Inch HDD
WESTERN DIGITAL 12TB Gold WD121KRYZ, 7200 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s, 512e, 256MB cache, 3.5-Inch HDD
INTEL 1.5TB 905P, 2600 / 2200 MB/s, 3D XPoint, PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe, AIC Optane SSD
LG WH16NS40, BD 16x / DVD 16x / CD 48x, Blu-ray Burner, 5.25-Inch, Optical Drive
SWIFTECH MCR320-DRIVE REV3, w/o pump, 360mm radiator
ekwb EK-DDC 3.2 PWM (12V PWM pump)
*4 x* ekwb EK-Torque STC-10/16 - Black
*6 x* PRIMOCHILL PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Onyx Black Tubing, 1/2in ID, 3/4in OD, 1ft
ekwb EK-Velocity sTR4 - Nickel + Acetal
Custom AVADirect Coolant 1000ml - Clear
Standard Wiring with Precision Cable Routing and Tie-Down
MICROSOFT Windows 10 Pro for Workstation 64-bit DVD OEM
MICROSOFT Office Home and Student 2019 - 1 PC
System Recovery (both secure HDD partition and bootable USB Flash Drive)
MICROSOFT 600, Wired USB, Black, Keyboard & Mouse
MICROSOFT Basic, 800dpi, Wired USB, Black, Optical Mouse
BELKIN BP112230-08, 12 Outlets, 8-ft cord, 125V/15A, Black, Pivot-Plug Surge Protector
AVA Titanium (Lifetime Labor / 5-Year Parts / 3-Year Return Shipping OR Advanced Part Replacement)
AVADirect System Binder


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## colony nofi (Mar 26, 2020)

So for DAW use?
The 3960X/3970X still might cause some issues. Head over to the latest SCAN pro audio daw bench results to read their findings. Now, if these issues are sorted out the threadrippers could be incredible, but right now they might not give the performance that you are expecting. 
Otherwise - gfx cards - I'd just never stick something like the 2070 in a DAW. No use for it at all, and to me its just more noise.
Hard drives? Again - I'm of the school of trying to limit the moving parts, so use all SSD's. Even with massive projects, a 4TB project drive is tonnes, and offloading to a NAS is a better proposition for *me*. YMMV of course.
Why the 3 different types of SSD? (Especially the optane SSD - whats your thinking with that?
Cooling - I have no idea how that setup will go - its not my thing. So long as its super quiet would be my only stipulation. 
The motherboard seems a good choice (the designare boards have generally been solid for daws). 


So my personal view is I'd hold fire until more info about 3970X performance comes out / and if the known issues can be worked around to make this worthwhile above a 3950X (which are amazing chips for daw work these days) or perhaps a 10980 which beat out the 3950X for some workflows.

Its REALLY hard to criticise any build / critique without context. What do you do? Different DAWS setups are better for different workflows. What is yours? Are you a professional (ie, have clients relying on the day to day uptime of your computer?) Are you using the DAW for other things (gaming?)


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## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

Thanks so much for the reply:

Not a professional, but an artist with professional (classical) ambitions. I want huge templates with massive libraries with lots of choices at my fingertips (so I don't have to think about what I want/need for a specific classical composition). 

Not a gamer...at all. I just can't find a high-end custom-built computer that isn't a 'game' machine. I do work on large photos (multiple gb sized).

_Otherwise - gfx cards - I'd just never stick something like the 2070 in a DAW. No use for it at all, and to me its just more noise._

Yeah, I agree. Thanks!

_Hard drives? Again - I'm of the school of trying to limit the moving parts, so use all SSD's. Even with massive projects, a 4TB project drive is tonnes, and offloading to a NAS is a better proposition for *me*. YMMV of course._

What's a 'NAS'? I'm disabled, so having all my libraries (lots) on one computer is very useful. I forget/lose things. (Memory problems).

_Why the 3 different types of SSD? (Especially the optane SSD - whats your thinking with that?_

Why did you assuming I was thinking at all...just kidding. See my above answer...the more on-board storage, the better. I just chose the fastest/largest SSDs I could find. Does it make a difference if they're different types?

Yeah, the 3950x looks great...I'll definitely change that...thanks for the heads-up. 

Thanks again for the reply...much appreciated!


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## stigc56 (Mar 26, 2020)

Have a look at this: https://www.marius.pro/


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## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

stigc56 said:


> Have a look at this: https://www.marius.pro/


Man, this forum always comes through for me...this looks great. Thanks so much!


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## Technostica (Mar 26, 2020)

Try and find a specialist builder as that spec seems plain silly for a DAW and in general. 
If you are spending that much money I'm sure there are plenty of places that would customise it for you.


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## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

I don't disagree...I just can't find them. If anyone knows of such a place (other than the above suggestion), I'm all ears. Thanks.


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## colony nofi (Mar 26, 2020)

What country are you in?


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## JohnG (Mar 26, 2020)

Not sure what country you're in, but VisionDAW has built music computers for lots of people, some quite well known. They have been around a good while too.

I'm not sure about all that storage either, especially all those HDDs. I have everything coming off SSDs now.

Also, I bought a large Optane drive and haven't seen miracles. Might want to dial that down to a 'regular' PCIe storage device. Or go ahead with the Optane, if you have the $$.

Overall, I definitely agree with spending money to make life easier, as long as you're not going to starve.


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## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

Nope, not going to starve, unless something horrible happens. Oh, wait...Seriously, thanks for asking.
United States of America.
VisionDAW looks perfect...very much appreciated. Thanks, I'll give it a look-see!


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## JohnG (Mar 26, 2020)

Good luck bruv


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## imagegod (Mar 26, 2020)

Thanks


JohnG said:


> Good luck bruv


Thanks...this has all been very helpful!


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## creativeforge (Apr 7, 2020)

imagegod said:


> Thanks
> 
> Thanks...this has all been very helpful!



Another one you can consider is Jim Roseberry @ *StudioCat. 






Purrrfect Audio


Digital Audio Workstations




studiocat.com




*
Bought two machines from him (upgraded to a bigger one after the first). Knowledgeable, up to date, and great support.


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## Pictus (Apr 9, 2020)

imagegod said:


> Hi all:
> 
> This is my 1st custom built audio workstation: Could someone review/criticize my choices? Much appreciated, many thanks!
> 
> ...


Why 2 GPUs?
The PNY Quadro P1000 VCQP1000-PB is slow card with a noisy fan...
Work with large photos?
Can go fine with the 2070 RTX if you buy a semi-passive model...
The fans only turn on when HOT doing games/3D, check








MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming Z Trio Review


MSI's GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming Z Trio comes with super-fast 16 Gbps Samsung memory chips which overclock very well, reaching almost 2.3 GHz. The large triple-slot, triple-fan cooler, which has fan-stop, runs extremely quietly and will almost be inaudible during heavy gaming.




www.techpowerup.com




But I see you are going to use a custom water cooler kit, so get a water cooled GPU!








AORUS GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ WATERFORCE WB 8G Key Features | Graphics Card - GIGABYTE Global


Discover AORUS premium graphics cards, ft. WINDFORCE cooling, RGB lighting, PCB protection, and VR friendly features for the best gaming and VR experience!




www.gigabyte.com




Some important tweaks for NVIDIA users at





Nvidia Driver, no latency anymore?


Hi all! We all know that AMD drivers have from far, less latency than Nvidia drivers, and for that reason we all recommand an AMD graphic card for audio working. But recently i have dealt with a new install on a PC with an Nvidia graphic card. And when i updated to the latest driver i saw an...




vi-control.net






What I like about custom water kits is that we can place the pump/radiator
into another room for ultimate silence!
Or use a BIG external radiator and use it with big/silent/slow RPM 200mm fans...



> [*]*2 x* KINGSTON 128GB Kit (4 x 32GB) HyperX FURY DDR4 2666MHz, CL16, Black, DIMM Memory


For AMD CPUs you want faster RAM, check





Ryzen Memory testing for audio, does it make an impact?







www.scanproaudio.info





You may like a mouse with *extra* horizontal scroll wheel


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## kitekrazy (Apr 9, 2020)

Wow for me that is overkill. Did I miss one of the most important things? I did not see an audio interface. This would a make a great gaming rig. I've seen younger people who do EDM, build these nice rigs and then use onboard sound or the lowest price Focusrite. That's like putting hubcaps on a Ferrari.


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## imagegod (Apr 9, 2020)

Hey guys:
This was my first shot at a custom computer...I really was working in the dark. At this point, I'd completely eliminate GPUs. 

Thanks!


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## Pictus (Apr 10, 2020)

imagegod said:


> Hey guys:
> This was my first shot at a custom computer...I really was working in the dark. At this point, I'd completely eliminate GPUs.
> 
> Thanks!



But you will need a GPU if the CPU does not have one built-in...


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## imagegod (Apr 10, 2020)

Pictus said:


> But you will need a GPU if the CPU does not have one built-in...


I see, said the blind man. I did not know that sir...that's precisely why I posted this thread.

Great forum...great replies...all helpful beyond measure. Me (and my future compositions) thank you all! Thanks!


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## imagegod (Apr 10, 2020)

kitekrazy said:


> I did not see an audio interface.


Why do I need an audio interface if I'm not recording audio? I honestly don't know...any help in that regard would be greatly appreciated...thanks!


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## Technostica (Apr 10, 2020)

imagegod said:


> Why do I need an audio interface if I'm not recording audio? I honestly don't know...any help in that regard would be greatly appreciated...thanks!


For the quality of the audio output and low latency ASIO drivers.


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## imagegod (Apr 10, 2020)

Got it...thanks!


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## Pictus (Apr 11, 2020)

imagegod said:


> I see, said the blind man. I did not know that sir...that's precisely why I posted this thread.
> 
> Great forum...great replies...all helpful beyond measure. Me (and my future compositions) thank you all! Thanks!


You are welcome, what software do you use and how much do you plan to spend on the PC?
So, I may try to build something in the https://pcpartpicker.com/ for you to use as a "guide".

BTW, for latency of audio interfaces check








Gearspace.com - View Single Post - Audio Interface - Low Latency Performance Data Base


Post 14004379 -Forum for professional and amateur recording engineers to share techniques and advice.



www.gearslutz.com


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## imagegod (Apr 11, 2020)

Pictus said:


> What software do you use and how much do you plan to spend on the PC?
> Try https://pcpartpicker.com/ for you to use as a "guide".
> BTW, for latency of audio interfaces check
> 
> ...


Reaper...which I love dearly. How much? Not sure...probably around 10k. Thanks!


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## Pictus (Apr 11, 2020)

Reaper Rulez!
I like Bitwig too...
OK, but you mentioned that also work with big photos...


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## imagegod (Apr 11, 2020)

Pictus said:


> OK, but you mentioned that you also work with big photos...


Affinity Rulez! Actually, I prefer Photoshop, but I can't afford a subscription model...all my free money is going into my computer (music is my priority).

I'd spend (relatively) big bucks to own a copy of PS, but they refuse to take my money...so Affinity it is (and occasionally Photoshop Elements, which I actually own).


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## Pictus (Apr 12, 2020)

imagegod said:


> Affinity Rulez! Actually, I prefer Photoshop, but I can't afford a subscription model...all my free money is going into my computer (music is my priority).
> 
> I'd spend (relatively) big bucks to own a copy of PS, but they refuse to take my money...so Affinity it is (and occasionally Photoshop Elements, which I actually own).


My take https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WD3Jq3
It is a complete system including GPU water block, extra radiator,
big monitor, Thunderbolt audio interface, mouse, keyboard, Blu-Ray
and an Elgato Stream Deck XL.


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## imagegod (Apr 12, 2020)

Pictus said:


> My take https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WD3Jq3
> It is a complete system including GPU water block, extra radiator,
> big monitor, Thunderbolt audio interface, mouse, keyboard, Blu-Ray
> and an Elgato Stream Deck XL.


Very nice! That's VERY close to what I'm going to end up with. I'll probably get a somewhat smaller monitor, slightly faster CPU (3970x), other minor changes...Really good stuff, thanks!


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