PC Build for Home Recording

[Yasser Morales]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

This machine will be used to do some home recording. I have an older version of ProTools 7.4 with thousands of dollars worth of plugins. I cannot afford a new version of Pro-Tools or the plugins. I need this PC to run this version.


2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$600 - $700

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

USA (South Florida)


4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

-i7 Intel core processor either socket 1366 or socket 2011 - 16GB of Ram - at least 2 USB ports, at least 1 Firewire port and at least one Thunderbolt port. -cd/dvd burner



5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Just my Monitor, Keyboard, and mouse


6) Will you be overclocking?

NO


7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

This is not an issue. Standard Resolutions are fine.



8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

ASAP


9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

-i7 Intel core processor either socket 1366 or socket 2011 - 16GB of Ram - at least 2 USB ports, at least 1 Firewire port and at least one Thunderbolt port. -cd/dvd burner

On board video or a decently priced video card is fine.

On board sound card or decent priced soundcard with headphone and mic jacks.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?


I don't. I really need this to run on WIN 7 32 or 64, whatever you guys recommend.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

What PSU do you have?
What case do you have?
What HDD or SSD do you have?
Do you have a CPU cooler? If so, which one?

I really don't think you're going to get a 1366 or 2011 setup with a $700 budget seeing as how it looks like you're going to need everything I list above, plus the CPU, RAM and motherboard.

 

[Yasser Morales]

What PSU do you have?
What case do you have?
What HDD or SSD do you have?
Do you have a CPU cooler? If so, which one?

I really don't think you're going to get a 1366 or 2011 setup with a $700 budget seeing as how it looks like you're going to need everything I list above, plus the CPU, RAM and motherboard.

You are right I need a PSU, a simple HDD would be fine, also I would need a cooler.


I'm building this for a friend. I need to give him a little taste of what it will really cost. If you guys could price out a build for me I would appreciate it.

 

[Yasser Morales]

Hey guys.. I know this build is a little outside of my buddies intended price range, but if you guys could please give me a hand here I'd appreciate it.

 

[defaultluser]

Have you tested the software on Windows 7? It would be nice to give him an OS that's still supported.

 

[Yasser Morales]

Have you tested the software on Windows 7? It would be nice to give him an OS that's still supported.

He's requesting Win 7, as it's what that version of ProTools runs on.

 

[defaultluser]

What he's asking for will cost over $1000 new. But you're getting 6c/12t.

If he can settle for Haswell mainstream, I can probably build it for around $700,maybe a little more. But that only gets you 4c/4t.

No point in building until he came to terms with the budget.

Also, since I'm having to comb through all of the compatibility limits on these stupid Thunderbolt add-in cards, I may need a bit.

It's too bad you won't budge because this Skylake motherboard has everything you need except Firewire, and it's a great price:

GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD5 TH LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

And Firewire add-in cards are relatively cheap.

 

[Yasser Morales]

What he's asking for will cost over $1000 new. But you're getting 6c/12t.

If he can settle for Haswell mainstream, I can probably build it for around $700,maybe a little more. But that only gets you 4c/4t.

No point in building until he came to terms with the budget.

Also, since I'm having to comb through all of the compatibility limits on these stupid Thunderbolt add-in cards, I may need a bit.

It's too bad you won't budge because this Skylake motherboard has everything you need except Firewire, and it's a great price:

GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD5 TH LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

And Firewire add-in cards are relatively cheap.

Man trust me.. the thing that's tying him down is the ProTools. He use to work for SamAsh and he got tons of free plugins and the program for free. So he's kinda stuck with it, as a newer version would be a butt ton more money. especially with all the plugins he's got. This guy is a recording genius. So I'm trying to helping him out here. If he needs a dose of reality he needs it... lets get him a build going with a real world price. And we'll see where he wants to go.

 

[Yasser Morales]

I just had another idea....

Can we build him a top of the line WIN 7 Machine with older hardware. He's basically going to use this for recording, internet use, NO GAMING. Are New (Old Stock) parts still available? DefaultUser what do you think?

We would basically be building him a NEW (old) machine. It would be a retro Win 7 Powerhouse. Just so you guys understand. The cost of upgrading his ProTools would cost about $300. that's not a big deal, what is a big deal is that he has about $30,000 worth of plugins that would be lost. So I want to keep that in tact.

 

[defaultluser]

I just had another idea....

Can we build him a top of the line WIN 7 Machine with older hardware. He's basically going to use this for recording, internet use, NO GAMING. Are New (Old Stock) parts still available? DefaultUser what do you think?

I already told you, the logistics of finding an older motherboard with Thunderbolt is pretty tough, and prices, availability and compatibility of add-on boards are crazy. If you think they're so easy to find, I invite you to go shopping on your own.

These boards tend to sell out fast because they were made in smaller quantities in the past, so finding excess stock is tough.

Skylake finally makes Thunderbolt easier to add to builds because of USB C. You do know that we can install Windows 7 on a Skylake PC, right? If you install from the DVD and use a PS/2 mouse, it should be possible to install Windows 7.

Also, I could have sworn someone showed me a link to an official Intel tool to add USB support for the Windows 7 installer.

EDIT:

FOUND!

Download Windows 7* USB 3.0 Creator Utility

This should allow you to use your regular USB peripherals during the install!

 

[Yasser Morales]

Looks like we have ourselves quite the dilemma here... I'm not sure what to tell him.

 

[defaultluser]

Looks like we have ourselves quite the dilemma here... I'm not sure what to tell him.

Why? because he's being a stick in the mud? I'll bet he wouldn't even notice if you bought him Skylake

It's not like you can afford more than four cores anyway. I mean, if you came to me with a QUALITY lga1366 motherboard a couple years back we'd get you all set-up on a 6-core xeon. But given how old those are, I wouldn't build a DEPENDABLE system on one seven years later.

 

[defaultluser]

Here is a teaser of a Core i7 build with that motherboard:

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) NT Series ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600W 600B 100-B1-0600-KR ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital 1TB Blue WD10EZEX ($51.66 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R ($53.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($27.48 @ Newegg)
Total: $790.09
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

Add 25 more for Firewire.

We can build you a system with a Core i5 6500 under his $700 budget. I'll even splurge on a higher-quality PSU IF YOU DECIDE TO BUY!

OR if you want I can spend most of the difference on an ad-in audio card, although I think you should save that for AFTER you get the motherboard. They advertise premium sound, sopo maybe you'll be satisfied?

 

[Yasser Morales]

Why? because he's being a stick in the mud? I'll bet he wouldn't even notice if you bought him Skylake

It's not like you can afford more than four cores anyway. I mean, if you came to me with a QUALITY lga1366 motherboard a couple years back we'd get you all set-up on a 6-core xeon. But given how old those are, I wouldn't build a DEPENDABLE system on one seven years later.

Here is a teaser of a Core i7 build with that motherboard:

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) NT Series ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600W 600B 100-B1-0600-KR ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital 1TB Blue WD10EZEX ($51.66 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R ($53.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($27.48 @ Newegg)
Total: $790.09
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

Add 25 more for Firewire.

We can build you a system with a Core i5 6500 under his $700 budget. I'll even splurge on a higher-quality PSU IF YOU DECIDE TO BUY!

OR if you want I can spend most of the difference on an ad-in audio card, although I think you should save that for AFTER you get the motherboard. They advertise premium sound, sopo maybe you'll be satisfied?

This looks good let me talk to him! Does this include Win 7?

 

[defaultluser]

This looks good let me talk to him! Does this include Win 7?

Oh no it doesn't, sorry. That adds a it to the cost. You'll probably want Professional, which gets you past the artificial 16GB ram barrier (I assume you want to upgrade in the future).

Amazon.com: Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit (OEM) System Builder DVD 1 Pack (New Packaging)

If that extra 110 pushes your budget too high, I can also make you a build with Core i5. Like this:

Just replace the Core i7 in that build with this:

Amazon.com: Intel Boxed Core I5-6500 FC-LGA14C 3.20 Ghz 6 M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I56500: Computers & Accessories

Have to do this manually because PC Hound sucks.