Question about Computer for Home Recording

green17

New member
I'm thinking of Ebay-ing a computer in the hopes of catching a sweet deal on a desktop for myself (as I've picked up on these forums that laptops are not suited for recording in the long run). My question is: the ones that I'm looking at all have anywhere from 2.8-3.2 ghz processors and at least 3 gb of ram. Are these good specs for a home recording studio (keeping in mind that I'm trying to spend less than 300 on this computer)? All of the ones I'm looking at have been refurbished (i.e. - older systems that have been loaded with new stuff and beefed up in the CPU/RAM aspects), is there anything I should be worried about? Is processor speed and amount of RAM my main worry, or should I be more concerned with possibly the type of processor? I'm new to buying computers for home recording so any and all replies are appreciated.
 
A little more info would help.

How many tracks are you going to be recording?
Are you going to use a lot of plug-ins?
What type of interface?
Mac or PC?
Firewire or USB?
 
Ooops!! Of course, more info. Gateway GT5694 Desktop Phenom X4 1.8GHz 4GB 640GB DVDRW. Video/Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 320 with HDMI out. I'll be using a firewire interface (probably a presonus firepod). I'm going to add a TI chipset FireWire PCI card when I get it. I guess that means I'll either be using Cubase (which comes with it) or maybe testing out Reaper. I'm not sure how many plugins I'll be using, I've not really messed around with them much. I'll be recording at least 2 tracks, but probably closer to 6 on average. Thanks again!
 
Avoid refurbished units like the plague,half the time these guys dont care if what they stick in is even compatable,usually the cheapest shit that will get it up an runnin,a lot of these refurbs are low spec office machines usually bought in bulk,cheap memory upgrade and stick XP or Vista on then sell.Quite often microwave themselves within a month.

A lot of them use cheapo mobos with piss poor or no support like Optronix.

Local classified ads prob best bet to get you started,you can always upgrade as you go.

Do some research narrow it down a wee bit,also avoid intel 915 chipset or anything with intel ICH9 Usb controller.

Anything with half decent Asus mobo,3.2 duo,3gig ram,decent size hard drive,graphics card sos your not sharing memory[or IRQ].n yer good to go:)
 
Avoid refurbished units like the plague,half the time these guys dont care if what they stick in is even compatable,usually the cheapest shit that will get it up an runnin,a lot of these refurbs are low spec office machines usually bought in bulk,cheap memory upgrade and stick XP or Vista on then sell.Quite often microwave themselves within a month.

A lot of them use cheapo mobos with piss poor or no support like Optronix.

Local classified ads prob best bet to get you started,you can always upgrade as you go.

Do some research narrow it down a wee bit,also avoid intel 915 chipset or anything with intel ICH9 Usb controller.

Anything with half decent Asus mobo,3.2 duo,3gig ram,decent size hard drive,graphics card sos your not sharing memory[or IRQ].n yer good to go:)

+1 to most of that except...

ASUS have had really poor quality recently. They're still a big name but their failure rate is getting to be quite alarming.

Generlly speaking Gigabyte is doing an excellent job of putting out high quality reliable MOBOs right now and are using TI firewire as standard
 
,also avoid intel 915 chipset or anything with intel ICH9 Usb controller.

I built a computer using a Gigabyte mobo which uses ICH9 southbridge chipset and have had zero problems, but I also use a firewire interface (Firepod) through a PCI card.
 
Awesome. So stay away from refurbs. Thanks alot, that could've been a big mistake! Well, if I don't go local classifieds, I've been hearing alot of people advocate using NewEgg. Is this worth it (again, consider a budget) or is it worth it to just stick with the classifieds?
 
I've been using newegg a lot in the past 18 months- 2 years for components since I seriously started building a lot of systems.
I've found their pricing reasonable, quality pretty relaible and they honor their return policy when necessary. They have a pretty good selection too
 
+1 to most of that except...

ASUS have had really poor quality recently. They're still a big name but their failure rate is getting to be quite alarming.

Generlly speaking Gigabyte is doing an excellent job of putting out high quality reliable MOBOs right now and are using TI firewire as standard

Did you read the guys post or just see computer and pop a stiffy bud:D
 
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