I'm planning to build a budget PC primarily for music production and casual gaming like pixel art games. Here's my proposed build:
- **CPU**: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
- **Motherboard**: ASRock B850M STEEL LEGEND WIFI AM5
- **RAM**: Patriot Viper 1x16 DDR5
- **Case**: Fractal Design Focus 2 Black ATX mATX Mini ITX Clear Tinted Tempered Glass Mid Tower Computer Case
- **Power Supply**: ASRock PRO Series PRO-750G 750 W ATX 3.1 Compatible 80 PLUS
- **HDD**: WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe Internal SSD - Gen4 PCIe
I checked compatibility on Newegg, and everything seems to fit. I'm especially focusing on these compatibility points:
- All components are AM5 and DDR5 compatible.
- The motherboard has built-in Wi-Fi.
- It's microATX, which works with my case.
- The CPU has integrated graphics (suitable for my needs).
- The CPU includes a heatsink/fan, and I don't plan on overclocking.
I chose AM5 for future-proofing and plan to eventually upgrade RAM since the motherboard has three additional slots. While some pros may recommend 96GB for serious audio work, I've gotten by just fine with 16GB in the past handling a few tracks at a time. I'll probably add an external HDD for sample libraries, but I think this 1TB SSD is good enough for the OS and DAW.
Is there anything compatibility-wise or anything else I might be missing with this build?
1 Answer
You might want to consider switching to two 8GB sticks instead of a single 16GB stick. This will allow you to take advantage of dual-channel memory, which can boost performance. If you ever want to upgrade further, it's easier to replace one of those 8GB sticks down the line.
Why is dual-channel performance better? Isn't one stick fine too?