# Cheap pc for music production



## ashX (Mar 19, 2021)

Hello, VI-Control people, I'm planning to build a new pc since my old one is i5-760 gts 450 and 12 gb of RAM.
My budget is pretty tight, around 800$ (without GPU). So that's what I came up with and have couple of questions.
I'm a noob btw.

1. AMD Ryzen 5 3600 193$
2. Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite V2 102$
(also thinking about Gigabyte B550M DS3H because they have the same price but newer chipset) or maybe you have a better suggestion in that price range from 100-120$ that has better VRM or whatever that is important for motherboard.
3. DeepCool Gammaxx 400 27$ (tbh I only care about how easyly it could be installed)
4. Kingston HyperX FURY Black 3200 [HX432C16FB4K2/32] 189$ (2 sticks of 16 gb)
I can get 3400 or 3600 but I read peoples messages that they cant run their RAM with such high XPM with ryzen5 3600. So I'm a bit scared of it because I don't even know what would I do if my PC would not launch.
5. A-Data XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 143$ (thinking of getting it because it has radiator to avoid high temperature but maybe I'm wrong)
6. be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 9 600W or Chieftec Proton 600W [BDF-600S] 78$ or 71$ (Chieftec is a bit cheaper but maybe you could say which one is better)
7. Case (dont know yet but something around 45-55$)

Speaking of GPU and here is the most important question.
I have an old GTS 450 which doesnt support UEFI. So would I be able to boot my PC with it? I dont have any other new uefi GPUs to make sure I choose CSM mode in bios. Would motherboard load that CSM mode automatically or I'll have problems with it? Or maybe there is a sense to buy something similar to ryzen 5 3600 but with video core in it?

And also because I'm getting a-data nvme m2 drive, I would need to install Win10 on it. Would I be able to install it with that CSM mode? I heard there is something with that MBR and GPT stuff. Would I be able to install it using my old gpu so it all works together? Maybe I'm wrong and speaking of something that is not connected together but better to know.

Thanks for your answers and help in advance.


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## Pictus (Mar 19, 2021)

CSM is enabled by default and will be able to install in MBR








Switch from legacy MBR disk to GPT disk with Windows 10 - Windows drivers


Provides guidance to enable a seamless upgrade and enable the user to leverage new and improved security features of Windows 10.



docs.microsoft.com




Some tweaks





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






Gigabyte A520 AORUS ELITE is better, Q-FLASh, better memory speed support, USB, etc...





Gigabyte A520 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard







pcpartpicker.com










The cooler


The RAM to get is Crucial Ballistix, do not get anything else!
You can get the 3000/3200/3600 and overclock to 3733MHz, I did with the 3000 and 3200 kits.
How to do https://www.nicehash.com/blog/post/ram-timings-overclocking-guide-with-dram-ryzen-calculator

By looking at this list of 1TB NVMe SSDs





Choose Storage







pcpartpicker.com




my choice in order of preference for a boot drive is: 





Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive







pcpartpicker.com









Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive







pcpartpicker.com









Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive







pcpartpicker.com









Addlink S70 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive







pcpartpicker.com









HP EX950 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive







pcpartpicker.com





Cooler for the SSD



For PSU check 








Best Power Supplies 2022


These PSUs offer the best reliability, performance and protection for your system and its components.




www.tomshardware.com









PSUs - Latest Articles and Reviews on AnandTech


Here are AnandTech’s latest articles filed under PSUs




www.anandtech.com









JonnyGURU.com – Home of the PSU GURUs.







web.archive.org






For cases check


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## thevisi0nary (Mar 19, 2021)

If you are really trying to save money and don't need the latest and greatest, I would go with a 10600k and use it's igpu. You also won't need to worry as much about ram speed.


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## FrankieD (Mar 19, 2021)

A Mac Book Pro, 1,200.00. If you can't, buy a Dell if you expect to ever use Pro Tools. I struggled for six months trying to get a three year old Cybertonic PC with an i9 processor, 32 GB ram and an 8 TB SSD, to work with Pro Tools in terms of scoring video and it never worked all the way. Six months wasted time. Not professional. 

Now the only way I'll ever use that PC is if my main mac pro fails, the backup mac book pro fails, the refurbished mac pro 5,1 fails, then I turn the PC on.


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## chimuelo (Apr 2, 2021)

I’m building a cheap 1U.
But waiting for the AMD 5700G APU.









AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen 3 APU Specifications Revealed


Desktop Cezanne approaching




www.tomshardware.com


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## thevisi0nary (Apr 5, 2021)

chimuelo said:


> I’m building a cheap 1U.
> But waiting for the AMD 5700G APU.
> 
> 
> ...


This will be awesome. Hopefully there is a legitimate release and not OEM only.


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## chimuelo (Apr 5, 2021)

thevisi0nary said:


> This will be awesome. Hopefully there is a legitimate release and not OEM only.


I know. 

The way production has been OEMs get first grab at APUs, but the last APUs didn’t have the amount of cache I prefer, so fingers crossed I get a 5700G.

They overclock all cores to 4.4GHz which is good, but single core R20 scores already beat an i7 7700k by 80 points. Which for my needs, is plenty. The low Watts/low temps and small footprint will make me happy. And I don’t even need 8 cores.


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## thevisi0nary (Apr 6, 2021)

chimuelo said:


> I know.
> 
> The way production has been OEMs get first grab at APUs, but the last APUs didn’t have the amount of cache I prefer, so fingers crossed I get a 5700G.
> 
> They overclock all cores to 4.4GHz which is good, but single core R20 scores already beat an i7 7700k by 80 points. Which for my needs, is plenty. The low Watts/low temps and small footprint will make me happy. And I don’t even need 8 cores.


Same. I've been planning on getting a laptop but if I go the desktop route, it will be probably be one of these if you can buy them. They probably will be the best all around APU's released thus far.


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## chimuelo (Apr 8, 2021)

thevisi0nary said:


> Same. I've been planning on getting a laptop but if I go the desktop route, it will be probably be one of these if you can buy them. They probably will be the best all around APU's released thus far.


Intel always has had 100% hassle free products.
I just can’t continue using more cores, more heat, and their i5’s were crippled purposely to get more sales for the large Octo core behemoths.

AMD APU’s for desktop are just perfect for my needs. I’ve been waiting for years for another Intel but they’re too slow to respond and their recent 11000 series CPU’s released without proper graphics drivers?

That’s Neolithic incompetence.


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## thevisi0nary (Apr 8, 2021)

chimuelo said:


> Intel always has had 100% hassle free products.
> I just can’t continue using more cores, more heat, and their i5’s were crippled purposely to get more sales for the large Octo core behemoths.
> 
> AMD APU’s for desktop are just perfect for my needs. I’ve been waiting for years for another Intel but they’re too slow to respond and their recent 11000 series CPU’s released without proper graphics drivers?
> ...


My sentiments exactly, I have little else to add lol. If I was in a position to wait another year I do think Alder Lake will be a good showing, especially for laptops. But I'm not in that position and everything they have available at the moment has a better alternative somewhere else especially in the desktop sphere. 

They have one advantage, and that's supply. AMD would be foolish not to make these APU's retail, because no one can buy a decent graphics card for a decent price right now, even if you don't game. And then even if they do sell them retail, they may have issues with supply like they did with the other 5000 series chips upon release.


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