# So... self building a DAW for someone who doesn't want to...



## Guy Rowland (Mar 8, 2014)

Well now. The people building my DAW - Solid Hawk - have just refunded my money, after a build that went catastrophically wrong and they seemed to lose interest in fixing it (that's the very short version, obviously). Thus far I haven't found another UK retailer that can assemble all the components that I require either.

So I'm considering the unthinkable... building it myself.

I've tinkered a bit with PCs over the years and never enjoyed it. I've swapped out a CPU, installed RAM and hard drives ok. Never attempted a full build though, setting up a mobo from scratch etc.

I definitely don't WANT to do this, I'd rather pay a professional who can do a good job. The cost difference is negligible for me, since under the flat business VAT scheme in the UK I can get VAT back over single purchases over £2k - which a built system would be.

I'm not really interested in simplistic "it's a piece of cake" replies - I want the gory details. Of course if you've had a good experience I want to hear it too - but gimmie a few details and pointers too. What tools and accessories do I need in terms of cabling / paste etc? Any recommended websites for build newbies?

Thanks all, will very much appreciate the advice.

IMPORTANT PS - Solid Hawk may still be in the frame to finish the job, but leaving this up as useful info for me and probably others.


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## rayinstirling (Mar 8, 2014)

Guy,
You need to have a one to one discussion on exactly what spec you want or need.
All you will get here are more choices. The actual fitting is IMHO a piece of cake.
A nice big box will give you more room to retrieve the screws you drop :roll:


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 8, 2014)

rayinstirling @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> Guy,
> You need to have a one to one discussion on exactly what spec you want or need.
> All you will get here are more choices. The actual fitting is IMHO a piece of cake.
> A nice big box will give you more room to retrieve the screws you drop :roll:



The spec is all sorted, Ray - everyone seems happy with that. As of now, it's looking like Solid Hawk will finish it after all, but it ain't over til its over. I'm thinking this will be the last build I get someone else to do - something always seems to go wrong - so all info will be useful to me regardless.


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## Reegs (Mar 8, 2014)

I agree with Ray. Actually putting the parts together is very easy these days. You generally only need a screwdriver. The hardest parts are:
- Putting the CPU in the socket (which you've done)
- Applying the right amount of thermal compound (I like the pea-size-drop-in-the-center method)
- Maneuvering cables around (most cases have nicer routing tracks these days though, and zip ties are your friends)

The spec is definitely the most difficult part, but you're all set with that.


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## dgburns (Mar 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> rayinstirling @ Sat Mar 08 said:
> 
> 
> > Guy,
> ...



long time Mac user here-just built a few pc's from scratch last year and this.While i actually like to get my hands dirty,i was a bit concerned with whether i was asking for trouble.My first build was a 1155 mobo,so it had some advantages ,what with integrated video card etc.If you are racking the thing,i suggest a four space rack,so you can put in a good power supply.other than that,it's pretty straightforward.Putting the cpu into it's slot can be a nervous affair,since that is the heart of the system.The rest is about ergonomics and use of space in the case and how everything is cabled up.
i think,personally,the biggest challenge is tweaking the machine for optimum performance once it's up and running.So things like optimizing the windows OS and regulating fan speed and all the cpu tweaks that get you into the right performance place.The last build i did was an 1150 ASUS,and discovered i really like the utility they provide on a cd for dealing with the bios stuff etc.I could not for the life of me,setup the fan speeds for my PWM fans otherwise.They are the ones with four pins and can have better speed regulation than the two or three pin variety.
Once you figure out what you will use the pc for,putting it together is actually a bit of fun.And you learn stuff that might be useful in getting the most performance out of it while using it.
and frankly,running a fairly "normal" pc setup these days with stock settings will still be a good pc experience,given the speeds,decent ram and all.this is all much easier then it was even a few years ago.i think knowing this stuff is useful to us all.And frankly,i'm a naturally curious type,i like taking things apart and putting them back together.

Lespaul was known for doing the same.i was told once when he took delivery of a new multitrack tape deck,one of the first 24 track machines,he took the thing apart down to it's components,just to see how the whole thing was put together.then he put it all back together and started using it.
nothing wrong with really knowing your tools.One might even call it a competitive advantage worth undertaking.....


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## Zardoz (Mar 8, 2014)

If you're not going to be overclocking, just use the fan and heatsink that come with the processor. It will have a thermal paste pad pre-applied to the heatsink so you can just take it out of the box and install it. Takes five minutes tops. If you are going to apply your own thermal paste, ignore all the crap out there about spreading it carefully with a credit card, etc. None of that matters - it will distribute itself perfectly. Just put a grain of rice sized bead on the center of a clean heat sink block and put it on. 

Install the processor and ram onto the motherboard before you put it into the case - much easier that way. Don't forget to connect the proc fan to the motherboard. 

The motherboard will be your biggest potential source of trouble. Buy a good name brand (I've always liked Gigabyte) and read user reviews checking for consistent similar issues. I tend not to buy cutting edge hardware because it gives it time to develop a reputation good or bad and lets the manufacturer time to work out the kinks. 

Don't skimp on the power supply. An underpowered rig can cause all sorts of weird issues that will drive you crazy trying to figure out. Buy a good name brand power supply with plenty of wattage from someone like Antec, Cooler Master, Corsair, Sesonic, etc. Get one with a 120mm fan - bigger fans = quieter operation. 

I like Western Digital drives for 7200rpm spinning rust and Samsung for SSDs. 

Make sure you order all the sata cables you need + a couple of extra before you start your build. Nothing worse than beginning your build and realizing you have to wait a week because you don't have any cable to connect the drives. The extras are good to test for bad cables - rare but it happens. 

General steps:

1. Install ram and proc onto motherboard (if ram is dual channel check motherboard manual for proper slot order). 
2. Screw motherboard into case.
3. Screw power supply into case.
4. Screw in any case fans you want to install - don't go overboard as more fans = louder pc. 
5. Screw any expansion cards or drives (DVD, SSD, Hard Drives).
6. Attach power cables from power supply to motherboard, each drive and fans. 
7. Connect Sata cables to motherboard and drives. 
8. Connect front button/usb/firewire leads to motherboard. 
9. Power on and go into bios to change any settings if necessary (most computers won't require much if any changes)
10. Place Windows DVD into drive and reboot. 
11. Follow the prompts to install windows (be sure to choose the correct drive to install windows to - I just leave all but one disconnected during installation and then connect the others after install is done to prevent writing to the wrong drive).

Hope some of that helps. 

I know you said no "it's easy" talk, but it really, really is and shouldn't be a cause for dread or anxiety. If you buy quality parts your chances for issues are pretty low, and even when you do have them they are usually easy to diagnose and solve.


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## G.E. (Mar 8, 2014)

The hardest part is figuring out the specs, but if you have that figured out it really is "a piece of cake" :lol:
One piece of advice I can give you is make sure you wear an anti-static wrist strap,especially if you have carpets on your floor.You don't want to mess up your components for a silly thing like not taking the proper precautions against static electricity.You may also want to avoid wearing clothes made out of synthetic material.

As for the actual building of your PC,there are videos on youtube over an hour long that will explain everything better than anyone can on a forum.


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## rgames (Mar 8, 2014)

Regarding Windows tweaks, I haven't found they make any difference for the last three versions of Windows (Vista, 7, 8.1). I found *very small* differences back in the XP days. So you can just run it stock and it should be fine. You can tweak it if you want to but pretty much you get what you get when you set it up stock.

Building a PC is not like doing the brakes on your car: you can screw up the brakes on your car and the consequences can be disastrous. But you can't screw up building a PC. If something doesn't fit easily in a certain spot then it's not supposed to go there. Don't push or pull anything too hard. It's the square-peg-round-hole knowledge that pretty much everyone develops before leaving infancy.

rgames


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## Darthmorphling (Mar 8, 2014)

G.E. @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> The hardest part is figuring out the specs, but if you have that figured out it really is "a piece of cake" :lol:
> One piece of advice I can give you is make sure you wear an anti-static wrist strap,especially if you have carpets on your floor.You don't want to mess up your components for a silly thing like not taking the proper precautions against static electricity.You may also want to avoid wearing clothes made out of synthetic material.
> 
> As for the actual building of your PC,there are videos on youtube over an hour long that will explain everything better than anyone can on a forum.



Even just touching the PC case to discharge any static buildup is a good idea. That's where the strap hooks up anyway.


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## G.E. (Mar 8, 2014)

Darthmorphling @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> G.E. @ Sat Mar 08 said:
> 
> 
> > The hardest part is figuring out the specs, but if you have that figured out it really is "a piece of cake" :lol:
> ...



Yup,that's what I did when I built my first PC.But an antistatic strap is like $5.There's no reason not to get one since it gives you peace of mind.I hated having to touch a metal object every 5 minutes.


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## Peter M. (Mar 8, 2014)

You could just buy all the components you want, and pay a guy that works as tech support somewhere to come to your place and assemble it. They know what they're doing and it shouldn't cost you more than 20 bucks. Assembling a pc after you get all the parts is 30 min job.


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 8, 2014)

Really appreciate all this advice, keep it coming. Swinging back towards self-build, so drinking it all in.

What's the best order of assembly? PSU first, then mobo? Other way round?


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## Zardoz (Mar 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> Really appreciate all this advice, keep it coming. Swinging back towards self-build, so drinking it all in.
> 
> What's the best order of assembly? PSU first, then mobo? Other way round?



Depends on how small your case is whether it matters or not, but usually it's easier to install the motherboard first. See my previous response.


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 8, 2014)

Apologies, Zardos - thanks for you v helpful post which somehow I missed! V much appreciate it.

As of this hour, it's swung back to Solid Hawk again after a frank but honest exchange. We'll see...


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## midi_controller (Mar 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> Well now. The people building my DAW - Solid Hawk - have just refunded my money, after a build that went catastrophically wrong and they seemed to lose interest in fixing it (that's the very short version, obviously). Thus far I haven't found another UK retailer that can assemble all the components that I require either.



Wait...what? What went wrong? How did it go wrong? I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Why can't you find anyone else to assemble it either? Any local computer shop should be able to do it in their sleep.

Putting together computers is actually really simple. I've been doing it since I was about 10 or so (the first time I just took one apart and put it back together, without my parent's permission  ). Thermal paste is the most nerve wracking part for me, but that is only really an issue if you are using a cooler that doesn't come with it already applied (and many do now). Even then, it's not a big deal, and if there is a problem, you can just reapply. Everything else is like Legos, all the pieces fit together very nicely and as long as you don't try to force a part to do something it wasn't intended to, you will be fine. Just take it slow, be careful and above all, _FOLLOW THE MANUAL_.

As for order of assembly; I tend to stick the PSU and case fans in first (or, in some cases, the case comes with them already installed). Then I socket the CPU, install the motherboard, install the RAM, then install the heatsink. That last part is important, especially if you have a heatsink that overlaps your RAM slots.


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 8, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice, Midi. As to this...



midi_controller @ Sat Mar 08 said:


> Wait...what? What went wrong? How did it go wrong?



OK, since this thread is out there and (hopefully) it will have a happy ending after today's conversation, here's how it can go wrong.

1. CPU Fan cable detached. Very easy fix, but the lack of protection around the fan also created:

2. CPU Fan wonky (Noctua). That's the best word for it - the two halves were sort of split down the middle, so the fan wasn't pointing properly at the case outlet fan.

3. C drive not physically in the right place. It was agreed to place this behind the motherboard in one of two SSD slots on the x79 deluxe. With 8 hard drives waiting to go into the regular bays, this was critical. Fixing it required removing the mobo.

4. D drive only half the ordered capacity.

5. PSU (Corsair RM750) fan rapidly developed intrusive high pitched whine.

6. Wireless mouse and keyboard not ordered was supplied (not a problem per se, but again the order was wrong).

Once the unit (with mouse and keyboard) was returned:

7. PSU replaced with model retailing at less than half the price of my specced one (Corsair RM750 specced, Fractal Design Integra 750w replaced). Replaced model has consistently poor reviews and cited noise levels. It was installed without notification or my authorisation.

8. When I insisted (7) wasn't acceptable, was told it would be an additional £100 labour + PSU to change.

Those are the headlines - pretty ugly. The rep there and I did have a good exchange at the end of today however, where the excuses stopped and he did admit to multiple failings that didn't meet their usual high standard. They do have a good reputation, maybe I'm just the Charlie Brown of PC customers. They're now going to install, at my request, a Seasonic 650.

So it's one last benefit of the doubt thing for me (hoping Lucy doesn't pull the ball away). If it arrives this week as ordered and fully working, I'll have forgotten the pain in a week. But everyone's comments here have encouraged me to self-build next time.


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## LFO (Mar 8, 2014)

Guy, check out this guy on YouTube, Carey Holzman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Wb_9UcZXY

He builds a `composers DAW' step by step and the system he builds smacks of someone from this forum hiring him. You will get all the details you need!

I learned a few nifty tricks from him myself, like using tape to smear thermal grease to get a thin, even layer. You can reference his videos as you do your build, or just follow him along!

Hope this helps,
Kevin


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks v much Kevin, just the sort of thing I was after.


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## Diffusor (Mar 10, 2014)

Do yourself a favor and get one of the Fractal Design cases. I used one on a recent build and I am not ever using anything else. Excellent cable management and cooling capacity.


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## khollister (Mar 11, 2014)

Guy,

Assembling the computer is no problem assuming you are not a complete klutz :D 

The potential issues are getting the MB BIOS configured properly, getting 64GB of RAM working on the LGA 2011 MB and troubleshooting a problem if something goes wrong.
 
Since I have the same MB and processor you are planning to use, I can certainly walk you thru getting the BIOS configured. I also have some suggestions on the RAM.

Keith


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks very much Keith, very kind of you. I just realised I didn't update this thread as I posted in another one - following some frank exchanges, Solid Hawk are now finishing the build - hopefully back with me in a couple of days I hope. And yes, it's the R4 case, diffusor


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