High End DJ PC Build

[TheHeadShotNinja]

Ok so I have been hired to build a pc for a DJ but I have only really had experience in building gaming pc's.
So i'm wondering if this build is over board and if there is anywhere i could hack price, keeping in mind that my client requires top of the line performance, RELIABILITY and speed his requested price range is around $800 but I don't want to build him something that he wont use to full potential or wont need.

Thank you

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HHHHdC) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HHHHdC/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [\*Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54690k) | $229.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97gaming5) | $153.98 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d16gxll) | $69.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7ke256bw) | $119.89 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001) | $69.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dx001) | $69.99 @ Newegg
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43753kr) | $99.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500) | $55.88 @ Newegg
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $889.70
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| **Total** | **$869.70**
| \*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2016-01-21 16:07 EST-0500 |

 

[mp5mafia]

A "DJ" you mean like in just playing mp3s into the deck? Or involving music production as well?
If it's just for the gigs he defo wants small quiet and light laptop not a gaming rig

 

[TheHeadShotNinja]

A "DJ" you mean like in just playing mp3s into the deck? Or involving music production as well?
If it's just for the gigs he defo wants small quiet and light laptop not a gaming rig

Just for events but he is kina old fashioned and "knows" what he wants, you see he wants 3 separate hard drives(still have to talk him out of going with 2 500gb ssd's instead of above mentioned sshd's) and wants it all mounted in his old build's rack-mount case which is rather loud yah but its what he wants and he's been in the business for forever he droped 2k on his old build but that must have been back in the early 2000's, and for whats in it i think he might have gotten taken. but anyway no a laptop is not an option. what is mot important about this pc is that it be reliable as it is a tool in a business.

 

[mp5mafia]

I see.
In that case I would say go with intel integrated graphics and get rid of dedicated gpu.
Instead double the ram incase he does some music producing it will be useful for his vst's and if he not using external audio interface add him soundcard with amp for his headphones.

 

[Corwin65]

Serato recommends 1GB of video memory so holding on to the GPU might make sense.

 

[TheHeadShotNinja]

Well I could downgrade the video card to a gt 730 but I'm afraid he insisted on a graphics card.
32gb ram? will a VST use that much?
and he already has a sound card though I suspect it might be antiquated, so i'll look around 4 one but i'm not sure if he'll want it . any you would recommend?
What about the cpu I considered the i3 4170 and the g3258 but after I found out how much he wanted to spend on ssd's I figured an i5 would make for a better performance increase than 2 ssd's for music storage.

 

[mp5mafia]

Seems like he the guy who should know what he wants.
Will it not be easier he tell you all he wants and you fit all up for him?
Otherwise we can just keep guessing what he might want etc lol

 

[TheHeadShotNinja]

Seems like he the guy who should know what he wants.
Will it not be easier he tell you all he wants and you fit all up for him?
Otherwise we can just keep guessing what he might want etc lol

he know's the names of the components and what they do but thats about it.
if I suggest a build and its in his price range and has the components he wants he'll be happy as long as it has a very fast interface and wont breakdown on the job.

 

[Corwin65]

I'm still at a bit of a loss, you mentioned above as long as it has a very fast interface. I assume you just want windows to to be very responsive and are not talking about an actual audio interface.

 

[4Ryan6]

Ok so I have been hired to build a pc for a DJ but I have only really had experience in building gaming pc's.
So i'm wondering if this build is over board and if there is anywhere i could hack price, keeping in mind that my client requires top of the line performance, RELIABILITY and speed his requested price range is around $800 but I don't want to build him something that he wont use to full potential or wont need.

Thank you

What DJ software is he running?

A quad core CPU will be fine but you do not need a K series.

You do not need 16G of memory, 8G is more than enough.

A good graphics card is important if he is using the computer not only for the audio aspect but also for porting music videos to monitors, or karaoke words to monitor.

If you don't already know that, you need to ask him?

You'll need a rock solid dependable CPU, but not a gaming class motherboard setup, you're after a bulletproof setup, preferably with a cloned backup HDD already in the machine, that if he experienced HDD failure, he could swap the cables to the clone and be instantly back in business.

That's how my machine is setup, and I do port video to HD Monitors, but I don't do the karaoke.

You also need to know how he is porting his audio from the machine to his equipment, is he using a special sound card like M-Audio?

If he is?, then you could probably just transplant that sound card he is using, unless he intends to keep the old machine as a backup.

Some actually use a Creative Sound Card, but personally I prefer the M-Audio, it has far better dedicated stereo output?

 

[TheHeadShotNinja]

Ok so I have been hired to build a pc for a DJ but I have only really had experience in building gaming pc's.
So i'm wondering if this build is over board and if there is anywhere i could hack price, keeping in mind that my client requires top of the line performance, RELIABILITY and speed his requested price range is around $800 but I don't want to build him something that he wont use to full potential or wont need.

Thank you

What DJ software is he running?

A quad core CPU will be fine but you do not need a K series.

You do not need 16G of memory, 8G is more than enough.

A good graphics card is important if he is using the computer not only for the audio aspect but also for porting music videos to monitors, or karaoke words to monitor.

If you don't already know that, you need to ask him?

You'll need a rock solid dependable CPU, but not a gaming class motherboard setup, you're after a bulletproof setup, preferably with a cloned backup HDD already in the machine, that if he experienced HDD failure, he could swap the cables to the clone and be instantly back in business.

That's how my machine is setup, and I do port video to HD Monitors, but I don't do the karaoke.

You also need to know how he is porting his audio from the machine to his equipment, is he using a special sound card like M-Audio?

If he is?, then you could probably just transplant that sound card he is using, unless he intends to keep the old machine as a backup.

Some actually use a Creative Sound Card, but personally I prefer the M-Audio, it has far better dedicated stereo output?

Well I know he does run up to 3 programs at once, he told me what but I didn't write it down so 😛 but I assume they are not very system intensive as he seems to run them ok on an antique system.

And as far as getting the K series where i'm buying from their is only a $5 difference so what the heck though I very much doubt he wants to (or needs to) OC.
For the GPU would the GT 730 cut it? The 750 Ti has always been my first choice but i'm not sure under the circumstances, and I'm not %100 sure it'll fit in his case its a rack-mount and though I have not seen the inside I assume it is not terribly spacious. (Note: Karaoke is his Main business)

With the MOBO I am just looking for something dependable with a low DOA and Dying rate, the Gaming 5 seemed the best choice though I had considered the ASUS z97-A/z97-E I heard some bad things about their recent build quality and they are out of stock where I am buying.

He has a hot swap-able clone on the case, so that's covered.

As far as the 16gb ram and audio card go he will probably just use is old card and the 16gb ram is what he wants I might be able to talk him down to 8 but it would be tricky.(proly not worth Risking the job 4)

 

[4Ryan6]

I strongly urge you to go take a really good look at his machine and see how his hardware is outputting his audio and video, and ask him regarding his software, also ask him if he is keeping his old setup for a backup, (I would be!).

He won't think less of you, he will think more of you!

I guarantee you!

Then with that information you can proceed making the right choices.

 

[TheHeadShotNinja]

I strongly urge you to go take a really good look at his machine and see how his hardware is outputting his audio and video, and ask him regarding his software, also ask him if he is keeping his old setup for a backup, (I would be!).

He won't think less of you, he will think more of you!

I guarantee you!

Then with that information you can proceed making the right choices.

Well i'll certainly try but unfortunately the circumstance under which we can meet are rather odd and 15 min is the most i've had to talk about this whole thing at once, and besides that he is very busy and hard to reach outside of a face to face conversation.
But thank you, and I much appreciate everyone's input.
So thanks guy's.