- Joined
- Nov 2, 2011
- Messages
- 86
- Motherboard
- OS 10.8.2
- CPU
- i5 3570K
- Graphics
- HD 4000
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Hey guys, I am a total noob at this and have no experince with building computers so far. But I would really appreciate some more help with choosing the right components for my project. I was going to copy one of the most successful builds on here exactly in order to be on the safe side and not end up with all kinds of stability and compatibility issues but unfortunately my needs seem to differ quite a lot. So I guess I will have to go first to try this combination of ingredients. I‘ve been reading lots on here but I feel like I could still use some more guidance by more experienced computer builders, so here‘s what I‘m trying to achieve:
A fast and powerful but portable 99.9% reliable machine for demanding improvised live performances with ableton live and many software synths, drum samples, ni plugins, maybe rewired with reason too etc... So mainly a DAW for live performing with everything being played live into it in form of audio and midi on several tracks simultaneously, making excessive use of real-time FX, layered drum samples, loops and stuff.
Getting the latency of my audio inputs (guitar & bass mainly) as low as possible would be one of the top priorities. I use a Motu Ultralite FW interface which I suppose should be fine on the hackintosh as well.
I also plan on making my build an all-in-one design with my dual-touch capable Packard Bell Viseo 200T built right into the box, hopefully getting its power from the computers psu instead of the one that is built in now, so I can save some space and weight there.
After all it is supposed to be portable, so I‘m trying to keep the parts as few and as small as I can get away with without sacrifying performance. By any means it is not supposed to be like a huge gaming tower but something more compact, ideally about 50cmx30cmx10cm, depending on the size of components...
The processor will be an i7 2600K since it has the best bang for the buck among the more powerful SB CPUs.
I would want to try running the integrated graphics and no graphics card (should save space, power and weight as well as keeping the heat lower, cheaper too)
The box will be designed and made by myself, probably mainly aluminum with lots of small vent holes all over. Maybe some acrylic side pieces or wood too.
Ingredients that I am considering are:
i7 2600K (pretty sure about that one)
Motherboard maybe GA-Z68XP-UD3P? Or do you have any better ideas for me?
no graphics card, no optical drive (is this a good idea?) Right now I‘m still on SL, would I have to be on Lion for HD3000 to work?
PSU: Something smallish but powerful enough for the 2600K, 2 or 3 HDs, screen, usb and fw bus power (several usb powered midi controllers). How many watts would I need? Could I get away with 350W? Then maybe BeQuiet! SFX Power BQT SFX-350? Any other recommendations?
a 2.5“ SSD with 120GB for system, apps (and audio samples?), is the Corsair Force 3 series 6G a good one?
maybe a WD Scorpio Black 750GB HDD 7200rpm sATA for all other data. Maybe another smaller one for windows as well.
RAM: 16GB Corsair CL9 Vengeance LP PC3-12 (Better idea anyone?)
And then the cooling... It should be nice and quiet for recording but also cool and not too big. So far I found BeQuiet Silent Wings USC (140x140x25) for the case and Scythe Big Shuriken 2 SCBSK-2000 for the cpu. Maybe I should use water cooling, though? Or possibly I would put just one large fan on the rear (opposite of the screen) and get enough cooling for everything? Any opinions on that?
Wow, that ended up being a very long post, sorry about that! But I would really appreciate your input and insight on what should work best for my DAW. By the way I do want to be able to do some video editing and some gaming or tv watching with my eyeTV stick once in a while but I assume that should be OK with HD3000, shouldn‘t it?
Once again, thanks a lot for your help!
A fast and powerful but portable 99.9% reliable machine for demanding improvised live performances with ableton live and many software synths, drum samples, ni plugins, maybe rewired with reason too etc... So mainly a DAW for live performing with everything being played live into it in form of audio and midi on several tracks simultaneously, making excessive use of real-time FX, layered drum samples, loops and stuff.
Getting the latency of my audio inputs (guitar & bass mainly) as low as possible would be one of the top priorities. I use a Motu Ultralite FW interface which I suppose should be fine on the hackintosh as well.
I also plan on making my build an all-in-one design with my dual-touch capable Packard Bell Viseo 200T built right into the box, hopefully getting its power from the computers psu instead of the one that is built in now, so I can save some space and weight there.
After all it is supposed to be portable, so I‘m trying to keep the parts as few and as small as I can get away with without sacrifying performance. By any means it is not supposed to be like a huge gaming tower but something more compact, ideally about 50cmx30cmx10cm, depending on the size of components...
The processor will be an i7 2600K since it has the best bang for the buck among the more powerful SB CPUs.
I would want to try running the integrated graphics and no graphics card (should save space, power and weight as well as keeping the heat lower, cheaper too)
The box will be designed and made by myself, probably mainly aluminum with lots of small vent holes all over. Maybe some acrylic side pieces or wood too.
Ingredients that I am considering are:
i7 2600K (pretty sure about that one)
Motherboard maybe GA-Z68XP-UD3P? Or do you have any better ideas for me?
no graphics card, no optical drive (is this a good idea?) Right now I‘m still on SL, would I have to be on Lion for HD3000 to work?
PSU: Something smallish but powerful enough for the 2600K, 2 or 3 HDs, screen, usb and fw bus power (several usb powered midi controllers). How many watts would I need? Could I get away with 350W? Then maybe BeQuiet! SFX Power BQT SFX-350? Any other recommendations?
a 2.5“ SSD with 120GB for system, apps (and audio samples?), is the Corsair Force 3 series 6G a good one?
maybe a WD Scorpio Black 750GB HDD 7200rpm sATA for all other data. Maybe another smaller one for windows as well.
RAM: 16GB Corsair CL9 Vengeance LP PC3-12 (Better idea anyone?)
And then the cooling... It should be nice and quiet for recording but also cool and not too big. So far I found BeQuiet Silent Wings USC (140x140x25) for the case and Scythe Big Shuriken 2 SCBSK-2000 for the cpu. Maybe I should use water cooling, though? Or possibly I would put just one large fan on the rear (opposite of the screen) and get enough cooling for everything? Any opinions on that?
Wow, that ended up being a very long post, sorry about that! But I would really appreciate your input and insight on what should work best for my DAW. By the way I do want to be able to do some video editing and some gaming or tv watching with my eyeTV stick once in a while but I assume that should be OK with HD3000, shouldn‘t it?
Once again, thanks a lot for your help!
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