Need help with my first build! Traveling producer.

[jiasheraw]

How's it goin everyone!!

I'm going to be switching over from my mac book pro for mostly audio & some video editing, tracking and GAMING! I'm excited because I have time to do this. The last game I played was Half Life and a couple minutes of Half Life 2... I've played on xboxes in random places but never got into gaming as I had a mac and haven't been home. I've always carried my macbook and external everywhere as I can just plug into computers at the studio but I'd like to show off something and learn.

I want to build a silent, mobile, future proof and powerful pc. No specific budget plan as I want to build a mobile monster I will cherish until I drop it haha not really serious about that but it might happen. I have no idea what I'm looking for in a GPU but a silent and powerful one I'm assuming. I will be sticking with the Intel processor and I will use solid state drives. I'd like to go with a z68 or x79 board but have no idea which one is better for this build or purpose.

Thank you for your time and expertise.

 

[abekl]

Hmm, mobile huh. So are you envisioning a desktop case with handles, like a lanboy type of setup?

 

[jiasheraw]

Hey abeki

Yeah that's what I'm lookin for. I picture a midsize tower with handles or something super compact like one of those silverstone mini cases.

Thanks!

 

[amuffin]

Well you won't really get anywhere using a matx or mini itx case especially for gaming. How about a smaller mid tower? Better cases with handles that I can think of are the CM storm scout and Trooper.

 

[jiasheraw]

okay so matx is out. I'll be happy with a mid tower case especially with handles. Is there a huge difference in terms of performance and efficiency between an matx and atx board?

Thanks for the reply muffin.

Here's a scratch list of what I have so far:

Mobo/ CPU: z68 with i7 2600k as I plan to overclock in the future.

PSU: anything Gold and silent

SSD and HDD configuration is very confusing to me. I'd like to put my OS on a 120gb ssd and keep projects and huge plugins and samples in my external..
as far what combo or what to buy I have no clue.

Cooler: no clue

Optical: Absolute high quality

Case: anything with handles and sound proof. My buddy told me about acoustiproducts and padding up a regular case.

RAM: anything that will help with latency

Thanks again for your time!

 

[amuffin]

Fractal Design Define R3, in terms of quality and features, and specs, matx boards do not offer much.