Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Any recommendations on a custom-PC builder in the US?

My pianoPC is broken and so I'm going to replace it by the time I get back from my July vacation, so I want to order the replacement now. Just on the off chance that anyone here has used a custom PC-builder in the US that they would recommend, I'm looking to have a custom PC built for general piano purposes with the following high-level specs:

• mini-ITX case with quiet fans (Noctua or other)
• Intel i9-9900k
• Crucial 32GB DDR4-2666 DRAM
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB
• USB 3.1 Type-A & Type-C ports
• Dual-band WiFi
• Raid Controller + 2 x 512GB SATA SSD in Raid 0 configuration as boot drive
• 1 x 1TB SATA SSD as Drive D
• Windows 10 Pro
• Some ultra quiet PSU
• Noctua fans
• liberal use of thermal compound

For obvious reasons, I'm not going to overclock.

Would any of you digital folks in the States have any builders to recommend? I'm thinking about giving my business to a single high quality builder who will be flexible with me, rather than a "factory"-like builder such as Puget Systems (which doesn't appear to do mini-ITX builds in any case).

In the past, I used to build custom pc's just as a hobby.
The issue with selecting i9-9900k is that it has TDP of 98W. 8 core is overkill and other aspects of computer more important.
Just like you can not judge car on horsepower alone but the whole package.
Cooling requirements for this cpu to high to have ultra quiet system.
Using i5 or i7 makes it easier for quiet case and power supply.

Also 1 single PCIe based SSD is much faster than Raid 0 SATA SSD's. Boot ssd should be limited to operating system and applications. I would use something like Qnap TR-004 4 bay raid enclosure/das using SATA ssd's as you have data protected using Raid 1 or 5 for storage.

16GB to 32GB DDR will work.

Dan

Thanks for the feedback Dan. I've been wanting to have an excuse to build myself an i9-9900k rig since January when the 9900k's were announced, so I think I'll still stick with this. I know the TDP will be high, and if I need multiple fans, then it won't be so quiet. In that case, my backup plan is to use a long active HDMI cable, wireless keyboard & mouse, and put both distance and a baffle between the PC and my piano.

Regarding the PCIe SSD, that's a good idea instead of the m.2 SATA SSDs, but I don't want to use a Qnap TR-004, since I only am going to have 2TB on this PC. I already have a 60 TB media farm for my music/video at home, and don't think this PC will need anything heavy duty. Besides, the Qnap would dwarf the mini-ITX case for the CPU!

This is actually a bad thing. Thermal grease is intended to be used very sparingly between a component and a heat sink. A very thin coat is good. Too much of the compound will act as an insulator, which is the opposite of what you want it for.

BTW Dan, do you think the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X and 3950X will eat the i9-9900k's lunch? The TDP is even higher at 105W, but the specs are pretty interesting with DDR4-3200 support and 16 cores (in the 3950X). I'm not sure I can wait until September for the 3950X since my pianoPC is broken now, but the 12 core 3900X will be out next week.

I do have my MacBook Pro which in theory I can use for August until September, but connecting/disconnecting my MacBook to my piano several times a day even for 6-8 weeks is likely to drive me batty.

Good point. But I'm going to leave those sorts of details to my PC builder (once I find him/her).

What is a PianoPC? These seem like very unreasonable specs for a PianoPC.

I can't quite fathom the relevance of such hardware -- does Pianoteq even use a GPU?

https://www.pianoteq.com/faq?category=pianoteq_setting

Perhaps you could explain the requirements?

Just consider it a PC to be used for video/audio production and live streaming, which I will also be running some DAWs and VSTs on. Also consider this to be a form of "compensation."

EDIT: The history of the Tyrone Slothrop pianoPC is that I had one PC, a MacBook and needed to run Pianoteq for my FP30 for reasons I've mentioned only about a dozen times . I wanted to leave the FP30 and the VST always on so I could just sit down anytime, and just play without turning anything on or booting anything, just like one can with an acoustic. I did not even want to wait 5 seconds for anything to start. So I bought a $200 miniPC running Win10Pro and that was my first "pianoPC" - called this because it was dedicated to my piano and only ran Pianoteq, Reaper, Zoom.us and some other piano-related software. Now this is broken. So like my FP30 to N1X upgrade, Gen 2 of the "piano PC" will be a little upgrade. little. bit. (and "compensation" too )

Ah! In that case, party! For video production and live streaming, definitely. 🙂

Otherwise, I was going to suggest the Intel NUC route for a compact & dedicated Pianoteq PC.

Have you seen the new Mac Pro specs? 1.5TB RAM max... 😲

I updated my post after you answered with more explanation of where I was. See above. Already have something like NUC (which is now broken). Want to go... upscale.


Yeah, I just bought a MacBook Pro two weeks ago and maxed it out in all except SSD. I have a 1TB SSD. Actually the max is not 1.5TB, the max is 4TB. But my MacBook Pro with 1TB and everything else maxed is already just under $5K. Apple wanted another $2.5K for the additional 3TB of SSD. I said, "pass."

This MacBook Pro is also what I am using to stand-in right now (and for the last two weeks) for my broken pianoPC. It's been painful to bring it over, connect it up, and disconnect it afterwards. Ugh.

I've looked into custom building, and I found that a motivated do-it-yourselfer can get an economical result, but the custom builders are expensive.The wifi, USB, and RAM specs are off-the-shelf. These are found in the high-end lines of HP and Dell. Nothing unusual there.
But if this is meant to be a piano PC then you've grossly overspecified.

- Windows 10 Pro is just Windows 10 Home for twice the price. It has more features ... none of which are useful outside a corporate, many-PC environment.

- Are you sure you need RAID 0? Better to run Macrium backups instead. An external 4, 8, or 12 TB USB drive is an easy and cheap choice for that.
And without the RAID you'll double the storage of that pair of 512 SSDs.

- Also the 9900K is overkill for most apps. Better to get more per-core performance on fewer cores.

- The GTX1660 is probably overkill. But after the collapse of digital currencies graphic card demand has fallen and prices have settled. So there's not much to be saved on a cheaper card.

Ohhh, you think I'm talking about the SSD... in fact, I'm talking about computer memory. The Mac Pro maxes out at 1.5TB... compare to your desired 32GB. 😲

That MBP sure sounds sweet!

I just checked, and on the Apple Store, there is no option of 1.5TB of DRAM. My configuration, which is 2.4GHz 8-core i9-9980HK, 32GB DDR4-2400 DRAM, Radeon Pro Vega 20 w/ 4GB of HBM2 memory, is the absolute max, except for 1TB instead of 4TB of SSD. So unless you are thinking of something other than an off-the-shelf model purchased from the online Apple Store, there is no way to get more than 32GB into the current generation of MacBook Pro. I find this OK though since my last MacBook Pro was limited to 16GB DRAM, so 32GB is already twice as much.

And since I'm on the Apple Store right now, I was wrong. The 4TB SSD was not $2500 more than the 1TB SSD - it was only $2400 more

The Mac Pro I'm referring to is the new version of the "cheese grater" design, here you go:

https://www.apple.com/mac-pro/

So why do you think my current pianoPC is broken? Well, the fan started making a rattling noise, so I bought a replacement, did some soldering, broke a connector, and threw in the towel. Just call me All-Thumbs Tyrone Slothrop! I must be the opposite of motivated!


Yeah, although I am referring to this one as "piano PC," this is mainly because of historical reasons since it is replacing a miniPC which was pretty much only used for piano. But as mentioned above, this new one will be for: video/audio production and live streaming, which I will also be running some DAWs and VSTs on.


I want Windows 10 Pro just because of the ability to control the process scheduler and for soft realtime applications. Can't do this on Windows 10 Home.


tesladan already suggested I go with a single PCIe SSD instead of a pair of Raid 0 SATA m.2 SSDs.


Actually, with Raid 0, it wouldn't since there is no redundancy, unlike Raid 1, 5, etc.


Call it "compensation." Like buying a Ferrari. Or maybe instead of "compensation," I can call it "future proofing." Haha.... As mentioned above, I might go for the AMD Ryzen 3900X or 3950X instead though. "Future proofing." LOL.


Since this is not a gaming PC, and the most intensive graphics application will be streaming and video production, I should use a decent graphics card but not a ridiculous 1000+ FPS @ 8K display one. I think the GTX1660 is a good balance. It's just about the cheapest graphics card sold which is better than the built-in Intel graphics.

Oh! oops. I forget that Apple makes desktops and towers too. I've been thinking MBP and not MP!

Yeah, I'm not going for that. Far too nice for my purposes for it.

Reminds me though that a few years ago, my ex-wife spent about $30+K on a Mac Pro and two gargantuan screens and then used it about 3-4 hours a month... But that's how it is with investment bankers. LOL.

There will always be faster cpu's Intel & AMD.

From what I understand from your needs for Pianoteq, Reaper and Zoom so even 2018 Mac mini with upgraded PCIe ssd to 2 TB would be more than fast enough, also option of boot camp Windows 10 if you hate macOS

If you have unlimited budget Mac Pro Tower with Intel Xeon W, your choice of AMD Radeon GPU's, supports your choice of two- 512GB SSD modules, two 1 TB SSD modules or even two 2TB SSD modules

the Xeon W processors will smoke the cpu's you mentioned, even the base model of the Mac Pro tower is stupid fast


The new Mac Pro starts at $5,999 for the 8-core Intel Xeon 3.5GHz model, with 32GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics card, but there will be multiple build-to-order options and configurations available with up to 1.5TB of RAM, Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics and a 28-core Xeon

btw my 2018 Mac mini is completely silent, boots up in fraction of sec from sleep

Dan

With Apple all the rave is about their Mac laptops. But I've been leery of them because of high-cost and low-reliability.

But how are the Mac desktops these days? I've not seen one in about 20 years!

Thanks, I work in IT and Xeon processors are in our servers. If I wanted a Xeon processor, I'd probably buy a Dell or HP rack-mount. Or if I wanted to go cheaper, then a White Box Xeon-based server. But no, I don't think I need a Xeon processor. My application is not really server oriented. And I'm not going to go Mac Pro. I already have a MacBook Pro, and that's it for the Macs. And the tower is too big. I want a custom build in a mini-ITX form factor.

I have used Apple desktops since the first Mac in 1994, their desktops always been reliable and ultra quiet, right now use 2018 Mac mini ( space grey ) as prefer picking my own monitor

Dan