Recommendation: Off the shelf system for hobbyist

[hawk4540]

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

Hi all,

I'm looking for a cheap off the shelf system to be able to run Ableton w/ midi controller and a few VSTs (Serum, etc). This is just as a hobby so don't plan on doing anything uber intensive.

I read most of this forum and most of what I found is people building $1K US or better machines, but that just isn't in my budget for this hobby. Maybe down the line if I get the sickness hard, I can get something better, but for now.. it's budget city

Would this be a decent starter box?
Intel i5 8400 6Core Coffee-Lake (2.8GHz) 8GB DDR4-2666 (32GB Max RAM); 1TB 7200RPM HDD, Win10 Home ($400)
https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Intel-Cor ... ating/3939 (https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Intel-Core-i5-8400/Rating/3939)

Thanks everyone. Want to get something soon so I can order my midi and software so I can get started. FL on my old laptop is stifling.

Cheers!
Hawk

[lfm]

I like this place better since full range of cpu, gpu etc.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

There are tables for value ranking as well.

Your choice will probably work well.

[hawk4540]

Thanks @lfm, that is a great site.

Yeah after more research, since I'm not a super tech speak guy, the i5-8400 (8th Gen) should work well for my level of production and is a good jumping off point from my research. It's better than the 7th Gen i7-7700 (which costs more) but still behind the 8th Gen i7-8700. Starting with 16GB of DDR4 2666 RAM, 256GB Samsung SSD in the m.2 slot and a 1TB HDD. Should be a decent budget option under $500 all in.