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I7 3770k based system, advice please!!

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would be good to get your opinions on whether or not I've picked good components for intensive audio projects. I think I have from the research I have done but know nothing compared to most of you... Here are th specs:

CPU:Intel i7 3770k
Mobo:Asus P8Z77-V LX
RAM:16GB Corsair 1866mhz Vengeance (2x8GB)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 Water Cooler
HDD: Corsair 60GB Force3 SSD S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s (for productions in progress)
HDD: 2TB Sata (from old pc)
GPU: Either 560 ti or 6950. Haven't decided!
Case: Zalman Z9 Plus
PSU: 650W Corsair TX V2

My budget for everything minus the GPU and the 2TB HDD is around £850-£900. Any recommendations, opinions etc are more than welcome :-)

PS A quiet PC is important, but also not willing to pay out the ass to make it as quiet as possible.

J




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First off 1866 RAM will be useless, and the tall heat sinks on the Vengeance will not be good. Go with this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Second - if you're hoping for a silent PC - the Corsair H60 doesn't do anything to lower noise levels, and in fact the fans included are actually noisier than most heat sink / fan combos.

Third - I think I would switch the case. Go for something like the Fractal Design Define R3 or Antec Solo - those cases are far more silent than most.

Try something like this:
- Antec Solo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- Fractal Design Define R4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And then the SSD - there's things that Corsair makes great (cases, RAM, some PSUs) and then there's things they make that are not that great (liquid coolers, SSDs, peripherals). Go with this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

g-unit1111 said:
First off 1866 RAM will be useless, and the tall heat sinks on the Vengeance will not be good. Go with this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Second - if you're hoping for a silent PC - the Corsair H60 doesn't do anything to lower noise levels, and in fact the fans included are actually noisier than most heat sink / fan combos.

Third - I think I would switch the case. Go for something like the Fractal Design Define R3 or Antec Solo - those cases are far more silent than most.

Try something like this:
- Antec Solo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
- Fractal Design Define R4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And then the SSD - there's things that Corsair makes great (cases, RAM, some PSUs) and then there's things they make that are not that great (liquid coolers, SSDs, peripherals). Go with this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...



Thanks for your points mate. I actually gave you the wrong RAM, it's the 1600mhz model. Does that change anything? What's wrong with tall heatsinks on ram?

What cooler would you recommend? I don't want to spend more than an H60 and am more concerned with performance over noise and that applies universally for all components, so does your point regarding the case still stand?

Cheers!

j_crerar said:
Thanks for your points mate. I actually gave you the wrong RAM, it's the 1600mhz model. Does that change anything? What's wrong with tall heatsinks on ram?

What cooler would you recommend? I don't want to spend more than an H60 and am more concerned with performance over noise and that applies universally for all components, so does your point regarding the case still stand?

Cheers!


Well the tall heat sinks can actually interfere with your system's air flow and make installing aftermarket coolers extremely difficult as there's not a lot of clearance between the top of the RAM and where your fans sit.

As far as the cooler goes I'd recommend something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

My point on the case does stand but that depends if you're going to use the case for audio recording or production. Post production you don't really need a truly silent case but if it were in a recording studio you would.
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The computer will be used for recording but in the control room so acoustic noise isn't an issue for that, but I also hate noisy machines when mixing and trying to critically listen. The advice on the ram is very welcome, I hadn't thought about the dimensions having such an impact. Why is 1866mhz RAM useless though? It has lower latency than the 1600 which I thought was important?

j_crerar said:
The computer will be used for recording but in the control room so acoustic noise isn't an issue for that, but I also hate noisy machines when mixing and trying to critically listen. The advice on the ram is very welcome, I hadn't thought about the dimensions having such an impact. Why is 1866mhz RAM useless though? It has lower latency than the 1600 which I thought was important?


Most LGA 1155 motherboards aren't purposefully rated to handle RAM above 1600MHz - and most do only through overclocking. However, overclocking your RAM will lead to not only Intel voiding your warranty but will cause serious system instability issues, which is why RAM with high speeds doesn't really matter. On default settings your motherboard runs the lowest speeds and timings that it can handle, and you can run on stock but if you go over or mess with the voltage or memory multiplier, that's where the problems lie.

Cheers that's really good to know, had no idea. So the fastest RAM I should be looking at is 1600MHz? Would I see any kind of significant system performance increase if I went for a better mobo and the faster RAM? Would it be worth the extra cost?

j_crerar said:
Cheers that's really good to know, had no idea. So the fastest RAM I should be looking at is 1600MHz? Would I see any kind of significant system performance increase if I went for a better mobo and the faster RAM? Would it be worth the extra cost?


No - that's more dependent on the CPU than anything. Faster RAM is not worth it because like I said - on default settings you won't notice the speed increase. Faster RAM speeds are kind of a moot point almost.
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