What mobo/cpu/ram/psu for £550? (computer to be used for music production)

[Humate]

Hi,

Im wanting to build a new pc that will be used for music production. I need mobo/cpu/ram and PSU. I wont be overclocking, im hoping i wont need to, but it would be nice to have components that i can overclock when i find in the future the performance is starting to strain (i tend to keep my computers for quite a long time).

Im after a large wattage PSU that can run 20 hard drives (i dont actually have this many, i have 13, but i want a bit of headroom and options for expansion in the future for more drives), the chosen mobo/cpu/ram and an old nvidea 7900gtx graphics card (which i would like to upgrade at a later point to a new single card solution... im not sure how much power the current cards need). In general im not sure how much power all of those components would need.

As for the mobo/cpu/ram combination... the fastest i can afford. Im not sure how much ram i will need for music production. So it would be good to go for a lot more than your average desktop, but in a configuration that i can add more to if i find i dont have enough.

can anyone help me? thanks so much, ive lived in a cave for 2-3 years, i know nothing about new pc parts

 

[Humate]

thanks very much for your suggestions guys.

I have a sound card already... an m-audio delta1010lt.

So i was just after mobo, cpu, ram, and a power supply with enough watts to power all the stuff mentioned in the first post really, budget was £550. However, I guess if i could get a cheap graphics card that was considerably better and a big upgrade from my 7900gtx it would be good to include that in the £550 budget.

On this basis maybe Superewza's first suggestion fits the bill... just with the G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL) RAM instead... is the Gainward GeForce GTS 250 a BIG improvement on my 7900gtx?

Thanks !!!!!!!!!

What's your current build by the way?

My current computer is an athlon 64 4000+ san diego, asus a8n sli premium, 4GB of some corsair ddr stuff, 3ware 9650-12ml raid controller, m-audio delta1010lt sound card, dell 2407 and a 7900gtx. I have 2 psu's in my case, but i wanted to replace them with one powerful one

 

[Humate]

I guess the real issue of the graphics card is whether it gives me value for money.

The computer will primarily be bought with music production in mind. This is what is most important. However i do play the odd game now and then, mainly racing simulators though which dont tend to need anything cutting edge to run.

Really it boils down to... I have £550, if i can get a big improvement on the graphics card with only a very minor loss on cpu speed then i would go for that. if i had to take a big hit on cpu speed to get a graphics card i might just settle to keep this old 7900gtx.

sorry for confusing matters. I dont make it easy.