AdviceRecommendations for 2 Builds: 1) Muscial 2) Artistic
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AdviceRecommendations for 2 Builds: 1) Muscial 2) ArtisticPosted:

Arlaya
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Hello, I am here again. In the next couple of weeks I plan to build my husband and daughter a PC.

HUSBAND:
What is your budget and currency? Preferably under $1200 USD. 1k would be great!! And if I can save even more, like getting something now and upgrading later- wonderful!

What will you use the PC for?
- To my dismay, my husband doesn't game, but I am still hopeful that maybe one day he will!
- He wants to use his computer primarily for creating / recording music. One of the programs he plans to use is "Reaper." reaper.fm/

PS, he is not computer savvy whatsoever (I think he screamed eureka for 3 days when he learned how to use print screen to take a screenshot), and this will be his first experience creating music on a PC. So it does not have to be robust. But I want to be something that will support what he enjoys.

- He would like to hook up a keyboard, guitar, bass, and electronic drums or acoustic drums with microphone. (PS we do not have any of these items yet, we will purchase pieces & interfaces based on the pc)

Do you need a monitor? If not, what monitor(s) will you be using? Yes, need a monitor.

Do you need a keyboard, mouse, or other peripherals?
No
Do you need an operating system? Yes, most likely win 10.

Anything else we should know?
- I do not want a micro case if possible. But if there is a mobo that would absolutely be amazing for the build and is micro, them that is okay. I do not wanna skimp on a great build for my building comfort. Colors and all that don't matter either.
- I always seem to be low on USB slots, annoying!


DAUGHTER:


What is your budget and currency? Same as hubby. Preferably under $1200 USD. Give or take a couple hundred.

What will you use the PC for?
- Art:
She will be mostly be running programs like Clip Studio Paint, SAI, and to a lesser extent Photoshop and Illustrator.
She also wants to video record her illustrations (they call it speed painting) and thus then edit her videos.
- School: While she has a chromebook, which she uses for school, it tends to lag and be glitchy. But through the school, she is able to use Word, Excel, Powerpoint
- Live streaming her art

Do you need a monitor? If not, what monitor(s) will you be using? Yes, need a monitor.

Do you need a keyboard, mouse, or other peripherals?
No
Do you need an operating system? Yes, most likely win 10.

Anything else we should know?
i- I will be purchasing a drawing tablet for her: amazon.com/gp/product/B07RXZC12J/...&psc=1

It looks like this tablet will need a USB C, as well as a hdmi , power cable.

I would like to also get her a monitor in addition to this drawing tablet. PS this $400 tablet im not including in the build price.

- I do not want a micro case if possible. But if there is a mobo that would absolutely be amazing for the build and is micro, them that is okay. I do not wanna skimp on a great build for my building comfort. Colors and all that don't matter either.
- I always seem to be low on USB slots, annoying!
- Would like to future proof some, she ha 3 years left of high school and would love if this could last that long!

This may be a silly question... but I am trying to limit her online time.. Is there a way to make it so I can control when this PC would be online or offline?
#2. Posted:
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For your husband;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Walmart)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($169.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A ATX Mid Tower Case ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer V277U 27.0" 2560x1440 75 Hz Monitor ($219.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1048.91

Pretty similar to your $1500 system. Dropped to a 1440p monitor to save $100, and went with the cheaper motherboard here. 16GB RAM instead of 32GB here as well. Since he won't be doing much, if any gaming, I've dropped the GPU to a GTX 1650 Super. It's plenty for a basic system and will let him play games comfortably at 1440p if he decides he wants to play something.

I can recommend some other cases if you don't want several of the same case lol, but the P400A is a really great option IMO, for both builds.



Honestly, for your daughter, the same specs as above would fit pretty well for her too. You could maybe up the GPU in either build to a GTX 1660 Super if you wanted, or up to 32GB RAM instead of 16GB. You could also use the Asus B550 motherboard from your parts list in one or both of these systems if you prefer that Asus mobo.
#3. Posted:
Arlaya
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Thank you!!

I do like ASUS, so for my daughter I will probably put that in. I will definitely give her 32gb of ram.. I have always been one who likes ram, and a lot of it. I think I will also give her the same graphics card as my build.

I agree with the graphics card on hubby's and leave it as the MSI mobo. I think one time in the early 2000s I had and MSI, as well as a couple ASUS..

I remember each time building whatever mobo it was... . saying a hail mary while I flashed the BIOS! haha

On her build, I will be able to have both a monitor and the drawing tablet hooked up right?
As for the cases- thats fine they are the same. I know my daughter's will end up with artwork drawn on it or something..

Thank you so much for all of your help!!
#4. Posted:
Arlaya
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Ok.. So the more and more I talk with my husband..and the audio interface - a few of them use thunderbolt. So I did more reading to find out more about this..So I played around with 2 builds (one using a thunderbolt mobo I found) and one using plain usb and usb-C ports for the non-thunderbolt audio interfaces he was also considering. He said he hated the lag he used to get, when he would press a note and the time for the computer to react/record. So the more research I did... RAM, fast ports (like thunderbolt), and SSD are going to make a big difference. Thus, I upped his budget to about $1500 (though I would prefer keeping it below!!)

I did find a thunderbolt board (linked below), but after doing more reading the asus you recommended for me has this written in their specs:

Numerous USB ports support high-end rigs loaded with peripherals, including a USB Type-C and Type-A connector with USB 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity for compatible cases. The Prime B550-Plus also supports ThunderboltEX 3-TR, an Intel certified Thunderbolt 3 add-on card that enables bidirectional speeds of up to 40 Gb/s via a single cable. Additionally, an integrated Thunderbolt 3 header can support up to six devices in a daisy-chain and provide up to 100W of power to fast-charge devices.


This means I can go with the original build, using the mobo you selected for me (pcpartpicker.com/product/TR848d/a...b550-plus), and getting this card: ThunderboltEX 3-TR which he can then use with his audio adapter. Right? Would this be the one on amazon: amazon.com/Expansion-Motherboards...&psc=1 ?

For creating music, I found out after much reading last night it is better to not have an HD graphics card, the simpler the better and to my dismay he said he has no interesting in gaming.. So, the plainest graphics card that there is (not sure which that would be?)

Here is the thunderbolt mobo I found (until I read the new asus you recommended has a thunderbolt header)
THUNDERBOLT mobo Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z370-P II ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($350.99 @ Amazon) [/b]

Here is what I have so far picked out with the asus mobo (now knowing this one has a thunderbolt header). I added more ram (32gb), and added a 2nd hard drive for storage. I also changed out the monitor as the reviews on the other one said the monitor kind of tilts forward and you can't adjust that (my husband has some mobility issues, so this would be difficult on him, but please let me know if you know of a better comparable monitor). Changed the case since he wanted an optical drive. So now all I need is a no frills no HD graphics card, and I think I am set.

NON-THUNDERBOLT Build w/ Asus mobo[/b]
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($171.99 @ Walmart)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B550-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard ($149.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ Amazon)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Rx 24-bit 192 kHz Sound Card ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC55BT B1 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($34.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer B277 bmiprzx 27.0" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor ($199.57 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Logitech Z625 200 W 2.1 Channel Speakers ($149.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1206.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-09 01:17 EDT-0400
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