Audio and music processing rig update

f666

f666

f666

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Joined
19 Dec 2004
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Location
Cheshire
Looking at an update and would welcome a view from the fine folk on here :)

Present machine:
  • i5 4690k
  • 16gb DDR3
  • Gigabyte Z87-D3HP-CF
  • Passive GT1030

My main uses are:
  • Productivity based
  • Audio processing - collating, curating, editing, music production and encoding audio
  • Would like to have a bit more speed and grunt for the above tasks, which can involve many gigs of data files, moving via SSD's, archiving etc.
Possible new machine specs - welcome views and comments.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £655.96 (includes delivery: £8.00)​



​
 
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
CP-3D1-AM
£330 (incl. VAT)
£140 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite AX V2 (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard
MB-59Q-GI
£135 (incl. VAT)
£120 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Noctua NH-D15S Chromax Black CPU cooler - 140mm
HS-03R-NC
£110 (incl. VAT)
£105 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Could swap out the cpu cooler for the passive Noctua NH-P1....I'm guessing noise is a consideration here.

Assuming you want to stick with an AMD build I'd maybe look at a 7600x build, it would actually be faster in most single and multithreaded tasks even though it has 2 less cores.... it also has an easier upgrade path later down the line if needed.

If you do stick with a ryzen 7 5700x build, you can get the CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR4 3600 (PC4-28800) C18 1.35V Desktop Memory for £175 at the minute (I actually use these), it would be a better match imo and allow you to set infinity fabric to 1800. The slightly lower cas will do very little in your use case and the extra frequency will help more imo.

Am I right in guessing your ssd's are sata based, might be worth looking at nvme ssd's if you're going for a newer board etc, you might actually see some gain during editing.
 
That cooler is overkill for a 5700X, though it'd be quiet, I guess. Did you see GN's recent review of the Thermalright Peerless Assassin on YouTube?

Wouldn't you better off with the X570S UD for the same price? I don't know the answer to that, because I haven't gone through the features, but I believe it does have more lanes due to the chipset, which gives it 1 more M.2 slot.
 
thanks for the replies.
that is a beast of a cooler! not sure it will fit in my p182.

x570s ud is on a shortlist. need to read up a bit further, amazon reviews were not that complementary.

am5 platform is also of intersest, takes costs to a new level though :-/ not sure how much real world difference there is, maybe an evening of benchmark reviews is in my future...
 
the peerless was the first cooler i was considering, good to hear in the right ball park.
 
fraseredwards said:
am5 platform is also of intersest, takes costs to a new level though :-/ not sure how much real world difference there is, maybe an evening of benchmark reviews is in my future...
Click to expand...

I don't know of any websites that include audio tasks in their benchmarks, unfortunately, but generally speaking as lsg1r said, the 7600/X are roughly equal to, or faster in productivity stuff, despite having 2 less cores. In single-thread heavy scenarios, they can be quite a lot faster. Equivalent boards are a lot more expensive though, e.g. Gigabyte's cheapest X670 board is over £250, although in many ways the standard of B650 boards (and their feature sets) are closer to X570 than B550.
 
fraseredwards said:
am5 platform is also of intersest, takes costs to a new level though :-/ not sure how much real world difference there is, maybe an evening of benchmark reviews is in my future...
Click to expand...
I don't know music software too well. Does it make use of multiple cores or does it prefer higher single core clock speeds, could a higher onboard cache make a difference (ie x3D chips), are they being held up by your choice of storage medium (ie nvme versus sata etc)

In some respects we kind of need to know more about how the software works etc.

@Tetras Asrock B650M-HDV (micro-atx) is supposedly coming out in the US (I assume UK soon too) and it's meant to be hitting around $125 price range... it will obviously have less features than the higher tier 670 boards, but to be honest the branding and tier separation on am5 boards this time is atrocious.
www.club386.com

Low-cost AMD AM5 motherboard finally arrive at US retailers priced at $125 | Club386

ASRock lists B650M-HDV motherboard for $125 - a perfect entry-level point sure to increase AM5 adoption rate.
www.club386.com www.club386.com
www.asrock.com

ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2

Supports AMD Socket AM5 Ryzen™ 9000, 8000 and 7000 Series Processors; 8+2+1 Power Phase, Dr.MOS; 2 x DDR5 DIMMs, Supports Dual Channel, up to 7200+ (OC); 2 PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x1, 1 M.2 Key E for WiFi; Integrated AMD RDNA™ 2 Graphics<span style=color:red;>*</span>; Graphics Output Options...
www.asrock.com www.asrock.com
 
thanks again kind people for the comments and thoughts.

software mix
ableton live - can be beastly, supports single and multi-threading. A wide range of folk and specs used https://www.reddit.com/r/ableton/comments/qwgv4u/what_is_the_absolute_best_pc_you_can_build_for/ (positive feedback of the 5700x, MAC's etc)
ffmpeg
mp4box
audacity
Spek

then a range of other tools lame, mp3directcut, mp3gain, tagging etc. Mostly on windows, but also run linux manjaro and equivalent tools or the same with wine / AUR community builds.

So a few cpu intensive things, the encoding (i guess the equivalent would be to look at video encoding), then manipulating big files, moving them around etc. which is probably more RAM, and nvme / ssd speed related.

These benches seem helpful?
www.anandtech.com

AMD Ryzen 9 7900, Ryzen 7 7700, and Ryzen 5 7600 Review: Zen 4 Gets More Affordable

Lower power means much lower prices.
www.anandtech.com www.anandtech.com

AnandTech Forums: Technology, Hardware, Software, and Deals

Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
www.anandtech.com www.anandtech.com
 
fraseredwards said:
snip
Click to expand...
I've got a 5950x in my build and I've been doing a fair bit of handbrake encoding of late along with my usual 3D work, one thing worth checking exactly how many cores the program can make use of.

Handbrake is multithreaded but doesn't make use of all my cores, seems to be around 50-60% of my total performance, so I actually end up with 2 instances running at the same time where I end up getting 2 jobs done in around 10 minutes versus 7 minutes for 1 job (128gb of ram and full ssd storage, 2 being gen4 nvme, help with this I might add, but you can easily go with less ram). My 3D work on the other hand can use all my cores... It also depends on setup, if you software uses a scratch disk make sure it's a fast drive etc

Quick google says Ableton can take 64 threads, so 32 core cpu essentially....
 
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Your possible new machine specs look like a significant upgrade from your present machine and should provide you with the extra speed and grunt you're looking for. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700X is a powerful processor that should handle your audio processing tasks with ease. The 64GB of DDR4 RAM should also provide you with plenty of memory to work with.

The Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite AX V2 motherboard is a good choice and should provide you with the features you need. The Noctua NH-D15S Chromax Black CPU cooler is a high-quality cooler and should provide excellent cooling for the CPU.
 
Hello!

I am almost certainly going AM5 now. starting to see some deals coming up.

However data and storage seems to be an issue with most motherboards only having 4 sata ports. My preference would be for a gigabyte motherboard, but none appear to have 6 sata ports which would be my ideal. Dropping back to 4 sata and then a SAS card would be more than going for perhaps a ASrock board.

welcome thoughts

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,017.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Tetras said:
MSI B650 Tomahawk has 6 and 3 M.2 and is reasonably priced for the spec.
Click to expand...
I had discounted the MSI boards due to the slow windows load times as shown in this review / board comparisons by hardware unboxed. which on reflection is probably something to reconsider.
www.youtube.com

Cheapest AMD B650 Boards Tested, VRM Thermals: 100c+ Temps

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hardwareunboxedJoin us on Floatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/HardwareUnboxedBuy relevant products ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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Don't forget you will need a graphics card - it'd be reasonable to reuse your 1030 but if you planned to get rid of that entire machine, worth keeping in mind.
 
thanks.
7900, msi tomahawk b650 and 64gb of ddr5 now ordered
planning to use existing gfx or onboard as that suits my needs - no gaming.
 
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