Build for music production and

ok, let me see what I can do for 1400 Euros.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (€367.90 @ Amazon Espana)
Motherboard: ASRock B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€83.79 @ Amazon Espana)
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€96.38 @ Amazon Espana)
Storage: Crucial MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€262.00 @ Amazon Espana)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€64.00 @ Amazon Espana)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card (€439.00 @ Amazon Espana)
Case: Zalman T5 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€31.32 @ Amazon Espana)
Power Supply: XFX XT 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€46.62 @ Amazon Espana)
Total: €1391.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-10 20:51 CET+0100

this is a kaby lake instead of skylake I7, but not overclocking (not really necessary either)
a larger SSD (1.1 TB vs 48 GB)
larger HDD(2 TB vs 1 TB)
A GTX 1070 vs 1060

Do you need a 1070 for music production?

pabloAlonso,

Optimizing a system for these uses requires associating the characteristics of the software with the hardware. These hardware list at the moment is more gaming-oriented, with high clock speeds and very high single-thread performance, whereas your uses may benefit from more CPU cores and GPU computing.

Music Production: My question is as to whether the performance emphasis is going in the right direction. For mucsic productiion, if you're using a higher end production suite ca[able of a high levels of multi-tracking with a lot of plug ins Sonar Producer fro example, the core count is more imprtant thatn clock speed, as is a lot of RAM memory and fast disk.

Development: For development, running multiple VM.s, likewise, the ability to dedicate a core to each simultaneous VM is an advantage.

Machine Learning: Machine learning today is heavily GPU-compute oriented and the system may greatly benefit from GPU- compute modules. In this use, the compute cycles per second is important, but depends on the way the programs /algorithms are written- whether it is multi-threaded. For analysis and simulation, having similar requirements to run multi-threaded custom algorithms (Matlab and Wolfram) I use a Quadro K2200(4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB GPU coprocessor and that combination costing $350 + $86 (the M2090 cost $2,500 new), performs similarly to a Quadro M5000- a $1,900 GPU. The key is having plenty of CUDA cores so a GTX will work also.

In general, I'd suggest, at least a 6-core LGA2011-3 CPU, possibly a Xeon E5-1650 v4, on an X99 motherboard, an M.2 NVMe SSD followed by a Samsung 850 Evo SSD for active projects, a GTX 1060 ,1070 or Quadro M2000, and a full tower case rated for quiet running.

I tried searching a couple of online stores in Barcelona and Madrid but have not found one with a very good selection of components.

Without knowing the nature of the programs used and project size, it's not entirely useful to suggest an exact system, but I'd mention my approach in the last six years has been to buy used LGA2011 workstations- which can use 8-core CPU's and upgrade according to the use. Workstations are designed to have high performance and reliability exactly for this work and they are also made to be very quiet. Not everyone accepts the idea of a used system, but since 2009 I've had Dell PRecision 390, T3500, T5400, T5500 and HP 420, HP z420 NO.2, and HP z620 with 100% rebiliabity. And performance is performance is performance, the z620 has a Passmark CPU rating of 22625 whereas the top CPU score for i7-7700K is 12507. Yes, that has a single-thread mark of 2640 and if all your programs are single-threaded, that will be better, but certainly music production doesn't need it-and I think only 4-cores will be a disadvantage.

I you'd like to list the software you're using, whether used hardware is possible- this might be the CPU only, and the online shops at which the parts will be purchased, specific recommendations are possible.

An example of upgrading a used workstation:

Purchased for $270 US:

HP z620 (Original) Xeon E5-1620 4-core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz) / 8GB (1X 8GB DDR3-1333) / AMD Firepro V5900 (2GB) / Seagate Barracuda 750GB + Samsung 500GB + WD 500GB
[ Passmark System Rating= 2408 / CPU= 8361 / 2D= 846 / 3D = 1613 / Mem =1584 / Disk = 574 ] 7.13.16

Upgraded, cost about $1,200US:

Analysis / Simulation / Rendering:

HP z620 (2012) (Rev 3) 2X Xeon E5-2690 (8-core @ 2.9 / 3.8GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1600 ECC reg) / Quadro K2200 (4GB) + Tesla M2090 (6GB) / HP Z Turbo Drive (256GB) + Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + Seagate Constellation ES.3 (1TB) / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe sound card / 800W / Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z313 2.1 speakers > HP 2711x (27" 1980 X 1080)
[ Passmark System Rating= 5675 / CPU= 22625 / 2D= 815 / 3D = 3580 / Mem = 2522 / Disk = 12640 ] 9.25.16
[ Cinebench R15: OpenGL= 119.23 fps / CPU = 2209 cb / Single core 130 cb / MP Ratio 16.84x] 10.31.16

The cost to performance ration is impossible to better with this method as the CPU's are depreciated, most cost may be redirected to GPU's. the MTBF (average time before failure) of the Xeon e5-2690 is 170,000 hours, or 19.4 years' continuous running. As that CPU was released in 2012, it has an expected use of more than 15 more years.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

hmm. with need of a very fast CPU, perhaps the 7700K with its 4.2 GHz speed is preferable? seems sold out on Amazon Spain right now, but that or if you want a lower core count, the I3-7320 at 4.1 GHz might work better. You could easily swing the 7700K by lowering the 1.1 TB SSD to a smaller drive (same company makes a 750 GB model)

pabloAlonso,

The 6- 8-core workstation recommendation was based on the request for system concepts used for music production, software development, and machine learning. If your system is entirely for music production, then a 4 -core and faster processors will be preferabler. In that case, the processor with the highest single-thread rate will be the best, which today is the i7-7700K (Passmark rating = 2636) and supports 64GB of RAM. The trend in last several years is to offload plug-ins to the GPU and NVIDIA configures the CUDA architectures of Geforce, Quadros, and Teslas GPU's to do this.

Cubase is not well-scaled for multi-threading as it tries to add cores for additional tracks. however The core distribution loads core 0 with each core added, and there are effects on memory bandwidth and the cache of core 0 is disproportionately saturated. I don't the specifics of this sequence, but this is noticeable in 3D CAD modeling where some processes are well distributed and others are not. It varies with the quality of the software: Sketchup is extremely poor in this, but Solidworks is very well scaled- but of course costs 10X as much. The trend is towards better and better miulti-threading and the off loading of plug-ins will also improve.

However, a system needs to accommodate the most demanding uses and if the software development, and machine learning uses are added, I would recommend at minimum a 6-core system and 32GB of RAM.

So, the dilemma is to the range of uses, and the priority of use, which will determine the nature of the CPU, amount of RAM, and so on. For development and machine learning, ECC RAM would be my preference, but the parity check does slow it a bit.

So, a multi-use system is a set of compromises.

The other aspect is the budget. The problem there is that a focus on one important component makes compromises elsewhere. The need to optimize systems for different uses at reasonable cost is the reason I've ended up with separate, used systems. I can afford to optimize each system for the priority use. The dedicated recording .editing system is a 2010 HP Elite m9426f. Recording are two tracks live (piano) and MIDI. There are never more than 6 tracks using Sonar Home Studio in the final production I had some slight latency problems with the MIDI (Yamaha S90 > M-Audio 24/192 sound card / ) but it was solved- and all done on the Core 2 Q6600 4-core @ 2.4Ghz. I've used some recordings for broadcast when I had a radio program, but that is mostly voice tracks.

If the systems is to run all the listed tasks: music production, software development, and machine learning, my suggestion is to buy a low specification HP z420, for example:

HP Workstation Z420 (120GB, Intel Xeon E5, 2.8GHz, 4GB) PC Desktop sold for EUR 270,25 14.12.16 (UK)

And to that add:

Xeon E5-1660 (6-Core @ 3.3 / 3.9GHz) About 100-120€
__ Passmark CPU= 12587 Single-threaded 1988
32GB RAM (4X 8GB DDR3-1600 ECC unbuffered) new, about 160€, used about 100€
Samsung 850 Evo 500GB (OS/ Programs/ Projects/Libraries) EUR 154€ (amazon.es)
Seagate Constellation ES.3 of the appropriate size (Storage / Archive) 2TB EUR 150,00€
GTX 1070: EUR 450€
Monitor: LG 25UM58-P 25 161€
__________________________

TOTAL - about EUR 1430

I have two HP z420's and these systems are the second-quietest I've ever had- inaudible at 40cm, the HP z620 being the quietest. They are also the most reliable- the first I've had three years and it has been 100% reliable- no crashes during rendering and 0 data loss.

The cost redistribution when using a used system is apparent in that there are more cores at a still very good clock speed , more RAM, and importantly, the GPU is upgraded to offload certain compute tasks. Also important is that the larger format motherboard can also use two 150W GPU's. If the z420 purchased has a bootlblock date of 6 / 2013 it can use E5-1600 and 2600 series v2 up to 8-cores. The z420 I use for 3D modeling uses an E5-1660 v2 6-core at 3.7/4.0 Ghz and that has a Passmark CPU score of 14046 and single-thread of 2077

If the system use is really concentrated on music production, then a fast, current 4-core will be preferable, but my sense is that with a new system, the budget will require compromises in several of the components.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

pabloAlonso,

The suggestion of the used HP z420 was to be able to have an LGA2011 system to accommodate all the uses listed within the budget. If one system can be used for all the applications, that is much less expensive as only one set of each component is needed. Better results will be had by buying a single 300€ GPU than two 200€ ones. Also, an LGA2011 has more room for expansion- up to 14 cores and in some cases far more RAM- the HP z620 can use 192GB, and very importantly, LGA2011 has 40 PCIe lanes as compared to 16 lanes for LGA1151.

The other imoortant aspect is the distribution of costs. When the CPU is depreciated, an LGA2011 system could have an 8-core CPU , a higher level GPU, and higher performance drives. Proprietary workstations are also designed to be very quiet - the CPU fan/ heatsinks are in shrouds fro example and there are less case fan on outer surfaces as compared to consumer / gaming systems.

The principal problems with LGA1151 is that there are only 16 PCIe lanes. The motherboards sometimes have only one x16 PCIe slot or if top end: 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8+2x4. In my experience, workstations always need more than one peripheral and LGA2011 CPU's support 40 lanes per CPU. In the HP z620 which is a dual Xeon system and therefore 80 PCIe lanes, there are two GPUs,a x4 PCIe M.2 drive, and a PCIe soundcard, so there is one x4 slot open and that is going to soon be filled with an HBA RAID controller. Every peripheral can then run at full performance. Is possible of course with an LGA1150 to start running USB peripherals- perhaps you're using a USB or Firewire sound interface. but in some cases that can be more costly.

The important aspect of specifying a computer system is to consider a rationalized level of performance. It's easy to concentrate on a single aspect such as CPU clock speed, but that is for high performance in 3D visualization. Sound is far less demanding than video:

Cubase Pro 9 & Cubase Artist 9

System requirements and the system requirements for version 9 should be higher than for version 7

Windows
64-Bit Windows 7 / 8.x / 10
64-bit Intel or AMD multi-core processor (Intel i5 or faster recommended)
4 GB RAM (8 GB or more recommended)
18 GB free HD space
1366 x 768 display resolution (1920 x 1080 recommended)
Graphics card with DirectX 10 and WDDM 1.1 support (Windows only)
USB port for USB-eLicenser (license management)
OS-compatible audio hardware*
Internet connection required for activation, account setup, access to manual and personal/product registration. Additional downloads may be required for the installation.

Of course, these are minimal, but I'd mention that in my experience with sound recording, high CPU clock speed is useful, but the very highest can be a diversion from other very important components. The i7-7700K is oriented towards very high performance in games. but video encoding .decoding is far more demanding than for sound.

I run a synthesizer program called Hauptwerk (virtual pipe organ)that runs up to 6GB sample sets and these are processed with a VST reverb plug in that models various spatial acoustics, and is edited in Cakewalk Home Studio on a quad core, non-hyperthreading 2.4GHz CPU / 8GB RAM, and a single 750GB SATAII HD. No, not top end complexity and file size, but after hundreds of recordings- typically 400-600MB, there was never a fault.

This is not to suggest using a 2008 processor, but that spending 400€ on the CPU in a 1400€ system is disproportionate. The important problem is that the concentration on having the fastest CPU is unnecessary and reduces the budget for the motherboard. As overclocking is inadvisable for this kind of system, an i7-6700 (3.4 /4.0GHz) or i7-6700K (4.0 .4,2GHz) will then release 60-70€ can be applied to the motherboard. See:

Z170, H170, H110, B170, Q150, Q170 - What is the Difference?. This article comparing the various LGA1150 chipset features and performance separates the chipsets into Consumer Chipsets (Z170, H170, H110) and Business Chipsets (Q170, Q150, B150).

Note in this article, "Like the consumer chipsets, one of the key differences between these chipsets is in regards to the PCIe lanes. As we stated in the previous section, modern Intel-based systems actually have two sets of PCIe lanes: one from the CPU and one from the chipset. The CPU PCIe lanes are used primarily for graphics cards and other add-on PCIe devices. For the 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes that are available from all Skylake-S CPUs, the Q170 chipset has the ability to split up the lanes two or three ways which allows for the use of multiple video cards or simply more PCIe devices to be directly connected to the CPU as long as they do not need to run at full x16 speeds." ",..Q170 has 20 PCIe 3.0 lanes, Q150 has 10 PCIe 3.0 lanes, and B150 has just 8 PCIe 3.0 lanes. The biggest impact of having fewer lanes is that there is less opportunity for manufacturers to add additional features to the board, although another factor is the number of x4 M.2 or SATA Express devices that can be used on the chipset: Q170 can have 3 such devices, while Q150 and B150 can have none." So, the problem returns to choosing a motherboard with the best room for expansion within the budget.

Certainly, an i7-7700K would be useful for sound production, running a USB sound interface, but it would ned to running on the highest level motherboard to have good expansion possibilities. but the CPU is, in my view, unnecessarily oriented towards high performance 3D gaming, and the system would have reduced flexibility for expansion. For example, the lower end chipset can not accommodate an x4 M.2 drive. If possible, stretch the budget (70-80€) and have a Q170 motherboard.

The other serious consideration in my view is to have the system quiet enough for sound work and if the budget for the case can be 90-110€ to have and accommodate an ATX motherboard, the system will run cooler, quieter and have more room for drives and in the future, a larger motherboard.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

if you can afford it, you might as well get the 7700K and and a Z270 board.