Hi all,

After a lot of reading here's my first post.
I'd like some advice on my new build.
The motherboard of my current desktop died last week so I'm planning to build a new system.
The PC is mainly used for some (hobby) music production mainly with Ableton Live and some VST's.
Also some photo editing and electronics simulation.
My current setup uses an E8400 with stock intel cooler and a passive graphics card. When making music I never reached the limits of the CPU.

So I guess I don't need the most powerfull processor but I do like the system to be quiet.
Here a list of what I think is good for my needs:

CASE : Fractal Design Define R3
CPU : Intel Core i3 3225 3.30GHz with HD4000 graphics.
MB : Asus P8H77-M PRO iH77, SATA600 RAID, USB3.0
RAM : Corsair 2x4GB, DDR3, PC12800, CL9, XMS3, Rev. A
SSD : Samsung 128GB, 830 Series
HD : Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB
CPU Cooler : Scythe Mugen 3
PSU : Seasonic G Series 360W

What do you think about this configuration?

Thanks,
W.

Looks like a fine choice to me.

Only thing I'd do different is spend the extra $10 to double the size of your HDD from 1TB up to 2TB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136891

Looks good as is. Here's some suggestions.

Take a look at the R4 case. Some improvements were made over the R3. If you spend a fair bit of time photo editing, consider moving up to the i5-3xxx. Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. make good use of 4 cores. The Mugen 3 has ~48mm of clearance from the bottom of the fins to the mobo surface. So, keep away from RAM with tall heat spreaders.

How much RAM: Is 8GB good enough for your VST's? Also, if you are a heavy photo editor, consider 16GB as Photoshop loves RAM.

RAM prices are really low right now. In Denmark, I can buy 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) for under 100 USD! So perhaps spend the extra cash for this? Besides that, and the comments made by Ralf Hutter and CA_Steve, the parts look really good.