Building system for Logic Pro X and audio production. Have question about motherboards.

[kharii]

Hey there, everyone!

I'm new to the forums, and I hope someone can help me out with a thing or two. I'm building a machine for audio production on OS X, with some gaming on Windows as a secondary use. I'll be getting an EVGA GTX 760 at some later point after the build for that. This will be the first computer I've ever fully built from the ground up. I'm fairly comfortable with the process, though. Just never had the money for my own full build until now.

I was dead set on a CustoMac Mini Deluxe. The Prodigy case is beautiful, I liked the idea, etc. That was until I noticed the problems with overclocking the mini-ITX motherboard,

GA-Z77N-WIFI​

. I'm thinking about switching to an mATX or an ATX build so I can overclock and also have more than one PCI-e slot. The mini-ITX only had one slot, which would be for gaming. There's a smaller slot which I could replace the wifi card, but that's it.

So here's what I'm asking about. I'd appreciate the help!

• Will I, in fact, have trouble with the mini-ITX board and O.C., or can I get it to decent stable OC levels? (4.2 GHz or above)
• If I go the ATX route, what board do you guys recommend? Something that's less than $150, and has great compatibility with OS X. I'll likely go with a i7 3770k or and i5 4670k (But that's Haswell, and I'm worried about the complexity I'll run into. Would rather it be easy and have an Ivy Bridge). Micro Center prices are fine, as I live by one. Will probably get the $40 off with buying a cpu and mobo together. i7 3770k is $249 there, as well.
• Any other considerations I should have since I'm building a machine specifically for audio production? Probably no video production at all.

Thanks in advance. I'll probably go the ATX route if the CustoMac will be problematic with upgrades. I'll miss the BitFenix Prodigy (probably won't wait for the Prodigy M mATX version), but the NZXT cases aren't half bad.

 

[jimbo75]

Hello!

I just recently build a haswell build with a prodigy (which will be compatible with some luck, if not it doesn't matter). The only advantage of ITX cases are the form factor. So if you want something to carry or you don't have much space and want something neat get ATX.

1. Yes it is harder to get stable OC. Though there are Asus Boards which are better (but I can't tell from experience). If its very important for you to overclock I wouldn't go for mITX. I could get to 4.2 Ghz "easily" though the UEFI seems to have quite a few bugs so I put it back to stock. Nothings guaranteed when overclocking.

2. Haswell is not supported yet (uses 1150 instead of 1155 sockel). And as your are using a discrete the benefit of the iGPU doesn't matter. Pick a mobo from the buyers guide. If you want to overclock don't try to save money on the board.

3. Your build is going to be loud if not properly cooled (You cannot control your fans without a physical fan controller in OSX). Which is important when recording audio. For audio production the CPU, RAM, SSD is important. The rest not so much, as you will be using an audio interface (sound card wise)


Take a look at existing audio builds and make something similar

 

[Adrian B]

There is loads of further information over in the music section of the forums

http://www.tonymacx86.com/music/

 

[kharii]

I just recently build a haswell build with a prodigy (which will be compatible with some luck, if not it doesn't matter). The only advantage of ITX cases are the form factor. So if you want something to carry or you don't have much space and want something neat get ATX.

1. Yes it is harder to get stable OC. Though there are Asus Boards which are better (but I can't tell from experience). If its very important for you to overclock I wouldn't go for mITX. I could get to 4.2 Ghz "easily" though the UEFI seems to have quite a few bugs so I put it back to stock. Nothings guaranteed when overclocking.

2. Haswell is not supported yet (uses 1150 instead of 1155 sockel). And as your are using a discrete the benefit of the iGPU doesn't matter. Pick a mobo from the buyers guide. If you want to overclock don't try to save money on the board.

3. Your build is going to be loud if not properly cooled (You cannot control your fans without a physical fan controller in OSX). Which is important when recording audio. For audio production the CPU, RAM, SSD is important. The rest not so much, as you will be using an audio interface (sound card wise)


Take a look at existing audio builds and make something similar

The Haswell chip should work with the Prodigy. Don't see why not! I'd be going that route with the new top i5, but I'd rather play it safe with Ivy, probably. I'll definitely end up following one of the golden builds pretty closely. Gigabyte tends to be compatible, it seems. Is this somewhat correct?

Do you think water cooled would be a good idea for a music computer? I've never messed around with a water cooling system, but I figure it'd cut down on noise solely based on premise. And yes, I'll be using an external soundcard. Probably a good ole' Focusrite!

And thanks for the link to the music section! I didn't even know there was one around this forum.

 

[jimbo75]

The case has nothing to do with sockel. Well.. the mounting points yeah. But generally you can build anything into any case. I meant Haswell uses 1150 Intel Boards, Ivy 1155! Yup Gigabyte works oob (the ones in buyers guide)

Make sure your audio interface is usb, I don't know about firewire. That will affect your motherboard choice or you have to get a pci firewire card.

It doesn't matter if water cooled or not. At least the AIO (All in One) like H60 to H100 from Corsair. It just saves some space. Except the ones with 2 Fans (then you need a case with a top fan exhaust). Thats another discussion. Both are equally good. Though for small cases I you should take water, because of space issues. Ah .. and those AIO are not silent. Actually most of them are louder compared to an equally priced air cooler. But thats quite a discussed topic.