Barebones / Mini-PC

[Pushead2]

To the tech crew on CP,

My GF's CPU took the plunge & it's time to replace the ****er.

We already have an SSD with Windows 10 or 7 already on it (can't remember), so she was looking at this Asus Mini-PC, but I just think that it's way too much money for a mini-pc / barebones unit. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...it_dp_v_nS_ttl

She's a web-developer, so I know she's looking for something that can code with, stream netflix and the occasional web browsing.

Does any one have any tips to something cheaper? Especially since we have the SSD drive and purchasing memory isn't that difficult or pricey.

I saw this one on eBay. Seems cheap for what they're selling for new and it has decent reviews.
http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/262240332192

[kccrow]

On the original post...

If you want to stay in the mini PC realm, order these from Newegg and assemble..

APEVIA X-FIT-100 Black miniITX case w/250 W PSU - $49.99
MSI A88XI AC V2 FM2+ miniITX motherboard - $89.90
AMD A8-7600 Kaveri 3.1 GHz - $89.99
GSKILL Sniper Series 8 GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 SDRAM - $40.99
Add your SSD

Total cost: $270.87

It will do anything your wife needs it to do really.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Intel Core i7 6700K with 16 GB DDR4 SDRAM. And since you're into sound, add an ASUS Zonar Essence STX II Sound Card. You're welcome. :P

Thanks but it was a joke. I also require a minimum of 32 Gigs of RAM.

And for pro audio, I use Apogee Symphony

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Thanks but it was a joke. I also require a minimum of 32 Gigs of RAM.

And for pro audio, I use Apogee Symphony

I know, haha which is my reason for the :P, but I have a Q. Why such a high RAM load? I'm curious because you're kind of in a rare niche.

Software is an 8GB load, but after that, is it the video that's taking you down?


Also, the external Apogee's are the cat's ****ing ass. I wasn't thinking about you needing I/O rather than just output.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by kccrow

I know, haha which is my reason for the :P, but I have a Q. Why such a high RAM load? I'm curious because you're kind of in a rare niche.

I need huge amounts of RAM because orchestral instruments from East West/Quantum Leap and instruments from Native Instruments (especially Kontakt) load into RAM while streaming.

There are times when I'll have as many as 200 orchestral instruments from a 200 gig library streaming in real time and without that amount of RAM, there would be "Pops & Click", audio "dropouts" and in some cases, the instruments themselves wouldn't even play properly.

I know guys that will use two or three PC's with 128 gigs of RAM just to be able to score film or certain TV shows.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I need huge amounts of RAM because orchestral instruments from East West/Quantum Leap and instruments from Native Instruments (especially Kontakt) load into RAM while streaming.

There are times when I'll have as many as 200 orchestral instruments from a 200 gig library streaming in real time and without that amount of RAM, there would be "Pops & Click", audio "dropouts" and in some cases, the instruments themselves wouldn't even play properly.

I know guys that will use two or three PC's with 128 gigs of RAM just to be able to score film or certain TV shows.

Why don't they run this on a server setup, say 512 GB board with Xeon E5 processor? ASUS makes a server board that will use DDR4 2133 (ECC) that also supports dual Xeon 2600 series CPUs. Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise will support that 512 GB of ram and supports Xeon processors. Plus, you have the added processor cache which helps with the immediate calls. Yeah, you'd spend about $6000 on a rig, but it'd do it all in one setting and be practically bullet proof. Not like they didn't drop about 1 G per comp on RAM anyhow.

ASUS Z10PE-D8 board $565
Xeon E5-2630 CPU $685
Crucial DDR4-2133 128GB SDRAM ECC $1243 each (x3 = $3726)

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Why don't they run this on a server setup, say 512 GB board with Xeon E5 processor? ASUS makes a server board that will use DDR4 2133 (ECC) that also supports dual Xeon 2600 series CPUs. Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise will support that 512 GB of ram and supports Xeon processors. Plus, you have the added processor cache which helps with the immediate calls. Yeah, you'd spend about $6000 on a rig, but it'd do it all in one setting and be practically bullet proof. Not like they didn't drop about 1 G per comp on RAM anyhow.

ASUS Z10PE-D8 board $565
Xeon E5-2630 CPU $685
Crucial DDR4-2133 128GB SDRAM ECC $1243 each (x3 = $3726)

A server motherboard with Intel's latest in a hot swappable rack mounted case will be my next build.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

A server motherboard with Intel's latest in a hot swappable rack mounted case will be my next build.

Sounds like the most reasonable solution for someone like yourself given the resources you need. Plus, you can always add more ram if/as your needs increase. Should kick ass and do everything you need and more. The RAM those instruments use is mind blowing. I never would have 'thunk' it, thanks for the edgimication.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Sounds like the most reasonable solution for someone like yourself given the resources you need. Plus, you can always add more ram if/as your needs increase. Should kick ass and do everything you need and more. The RAM those instruments use is mind blowing. I never would have 'thunk' it, thanks for the edgimication.

There are places like ADK Pro Audio and PC Audiolabs that build computers for people that either don't know how or don't like to build but it's generally at least $1k more than building myself.

There are a few pro audio forums in which those same computer builders will give tips and tricks, along with specific recommendations, so for me, it's a no brainer to build for myself.

And yeah, pro audio, especially while synced to video, is extremely CPU and RAM intensive.

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Are you using it as a gadget or in some other application? Are you using some kind of Win8 enhancement for Win10?

lol nah man, the straight up core temp program on stock win 10 with all telemetry disabled.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by hometeam

lol nah man, the straight up core temp program on stock win 10 with all telemetry disabled.

Yep, agreed. I use Core Temp 1.0 RC6 with no issues.