Hi all. First post and a question. Sorry about that! Recently turned to Sonar after years with Cubase. Wish I had done it sooner! Love it. I am using Sonar Producer 8 and find I’m getting more done. My pc is getting on a bit so I am looking to build a new one for the first time. Here are the specs of what I’m looking for:
 
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 3770k 3.40GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail.
Fractal Design R3 Black Pearl - now with USB 3.0
Novatech PowerStation Gaming 500W Silent ATX2 Modular Power Supply
Crucial 16GB kit (8GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600
 
    
Does this all look ok to you guys. I’ve done loads of research so I knda know that this should all work together but maybe some of you have some suggestions? I will be doing some acoustic guitar/vocal recording in the same room as the system sometimes so looking for it to be pretty quiet. Getting the K version of the processor but I do not intend to overclock for the foreseeable future. There was just not much in it price wise. My budget is around £550 for the above items. I don’t need hard drives, soundcard, and graphics card. The computer will be set up as follows:
Drive 1 2 partitions, daw partition/everyday use partition
Drive 2 projects and audio
Drive 3 samples
Will be using windows 7 64 bit.
 
The items I am most unsure about are the case and psu. Are the above good choices?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Richard

HI Richard This build looks a lot like the new build I am putting together.

The i7 3770k and UP4 will support 1600Mhz Ram so you might want to look at PC3-12800 1600MHZ Ram

My choice for new build is Z77X-UP5-Th , i7 3770K , 32GB of 1600 Mhz

I am unsure what PSU I shall order so will be interested to see what you go for but I think I might go for another Noctua NH-D14 or something from the Zalman range.

The i7 3770k and UP4 will support 1600Mhz Ram so you might want to look at PC3-12800 1600MHZ Ram

Thanks for the reply Norrie.  I changed the motherboard at the last minute to the Gigabyte UD5H. No major reason. Although one of the resident lontime members here Fireberd has the same combo so maybe that was an influence. He seems to know his stuff. The case, power supply and new HD arrived at the weekend. The MB and processor and ram just arrived. Taking a holiday tomorrow to work on the build.
 
I'm going from a Dell Dimension 9200 which has served me well for the past 6 years. So hopefully I should see a surge in power.  Bit nervous as it's my first build. Could have got another off the shelf pc but thought I'd give this a go. Seating the processor is keeping me up at nights! I know for the pros out there it is no prob but still.......
 
The PSU I settled on was the 520W Seasonic Bronze S12II-520 £45. I've heard seasonic is a posular brand. Saying that I feel this is probably their budget model.[code]
 
The case I chose looks great and seems to be just what I was after. Reviews are good so will see how it goes.
 
Where about in Scotland are you? I'm in sunny Glenrothes in Fife.
 
Cheers.
 
Richard

Hi Richard,

I have the x58 UD5 in this build here and was a great pick so I am sure you will be happy with the Z77.

I know how you feel the one thing I would not be happy about doing my self is seating the CPU.
There is a few places in Glasgow that will do it for you on the day if you don't feel like doing it your self ?

What did you pick for your cooler ?

Awesome I know where Glenrothes is I have a friend who lives out in Fife I am based out in a Small village called Garelochhead just 8 miles west of Helensburgh and about 50min drive from Glasgow.

Hi Norrie,
 
Yeah, after reading many,many reviews of the UD5H I am sure it will be up to the job. I'm sure there are places around here that would seat the cpu but in the words of George Michael, I've gotta have faith. If I do it once then I can feel more confident next time.
 
The cooler was the one thing that slipped my mind until yesterday. I'm not planning to overclock but I still hear that the stock cooler may struggle under a heavy load.  I'm gonna go with the Artic Cooler Freezer 7 pro Rev 2. I know it's low budget but the reviews are pretty good and I can upgrade later if need be. I will be keeping a keen eye on the temps.
 
Don't know Garelochhead but do know Helensburgh a little. Just had a look at your website. Love the pic of you sitting at your massive drum kit with  all the bags. I'd be there for a while setting that thing up. Set a few kits up at college years ago but none that size.
 
Take it easy.
 
Richard
 

Well. Everything is now connected and powered up. Installing the processor went fine. I can see where it would be possible to run into problems but as long as you're careful all should be ok. I haven't installed Sonar yet as I'm just trying to get everything running smoothly before installing daw/plugins etc.
 
I am using Windows 7 Ultimate. On my other system I just couldn't move away from xp. I had a general drive with Windows 7 on it and then my music drive with xp. I have decided to be brave and make the full move to windows 7 this time. DPC shows an avaerage of around 90 which is fine but my last system (core2duo) always averaged around 13. I am also getting the occasional peak of around 146 which is still within acceptable. I have run into the following problems though:
 
1 my wireless keyboard mouse combo started to get sluggish for no reason and would then become unresponsive (works fine on old system) If I unnplugged the receiver from the back and then plugged it back in it would be ok for a time.
 
2 I also noticed that close too 5gb of my 8gb physical memory was being used. (this has now dropped to 1.2gb) I thought this would be tied in with the mouse problem but no.
 
 
 
I have no software other than windows 7 ultimate 64bit and the motherboard drivers installed. Strange.
 
I am a big fan of the search button here so will take all the usual steps to rectify these small problems.
 
Just thought I'd update in case anyones' interested.
 
 

Chief Brody


I am a big fan of the search button here so will take all the usual steps to rectify these small problems.
 
Just thought I'd update in case anyones' interested.
 
 

Good to hear it's up and running. I'm interested in the "usual steps" and the update.

Hi,
 
My build (which I am fine tuning as I speak) is very similar too. One word of caution -- the Fractal Design case gave me fits.
On the first delivery the front panel was smashed and was falling off. It seemed to me that it was shipped from the factory that way since there was no visible damage to the shipping box! I purchased it through Newegg and they very quickly sent a replacement.
 
When I got the replacement case, it looked fine, I did the entire build and had everything set to go and pushed the power on button - nothing. Traced it out to both wires on the switch were not connected to the switch (shrink tubing was holding  unstripped wires to the switch terminals - give me a break! For a $150 case, the actual main switch is pretty cheesy in my opinion now that I did some surgery on it.
 
Everything is working now, and the case is build like a brink sh*^%house, and very quite, however, there is no quality control as far as I see at Fractal Design, and they will be getting a nasty gram from me. Next build will not be with a Fractal Design one :-(
 
gs

Thanks for the replies. Regarding the Black Pearl case I haven't had the problems you describe but I do agree that the wiring for the font header isn't too great. It would be really easy to damage the cabling. Apart from that I am happy with the case. Very sturdy and quiet enough. Cable management is pretty good too although I really wish I had gotten a modular power supply. You live and learn I suppose.
 
With regard to getting the system fine tuned for sonar I still have some issues. DPC is reporting an average of under 100 but very occasionaly it gets up to exactly 444. I also had one peak over 1000. I have not disabled the onboard sound as of yet but will try that soon. I have updated all the main drivers and bios. Its just a little annoying as my last system hardly needed anything done and had a much better latency reading. Saying all that I have yet to try Sonar and install my sound card. I also still have the lan connected for the internet. This could be an issue. I think I was spoiled in my last system as I could do as I like and latency readings were always great. i had a very high hard page fault in the red. Not sure if this is such a big deal though.
 
The mouse problem has been solved. I don't know what I did but it is now working as it should.
 
Cheers.

Disable the LAN and measure everything again - you've GOT to get that DPC figure down