Building a computer

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Nick The Man

Nick The Man

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im am planning on starting to buy the pieces to build a new computer right now, my brother has built three computers so far and i think me and him together know quite a bit. But what i was thinking was, it would be a good idea to post on here and see what kind of reccomendations everyone had for a computer built for RECORDING.

some plans (not to specific yet):

2 sata hard drives
(1) 15-20GB and really fast RPM's something like 10,000 (for program files and apps)
(1) 100-200GB average speed maybe a little faster for audio/video files (everything that takes alot of space)

1GB DDR2 RAM
video card capable of CRT monitors and flat screens
3.0 processor or more

...uhh im tryin to think of everything here
 
Later you can add ram. I recommend Corsair. I think one gb is around $100. You can also put the everything in almost ANY case you want later and say you built it from scratch :p .

it will fit in any of these cases(medium size)
http://shop3.outpost.com/search?cat=-51590&pType=pDisplay
or any of these(large size)
http://shop3.outpost.com/search?cat=-51588&pType=pDisplay


I would not recommend a 10,000rpm hard drive(unstable). You dont need a fast speed hard drive to run windows or other progams. Unless you have high end gear it will not make a difference if you use it on the recording end either. 7,200rpm will do just fine.
 
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You really don't like these people, do you 'toon'?

Over and over and over I see a friend of mine labor over pieces of shit that somebody bought cheap. The poor saps who thought they were getting a bargain shell out hundreds of dollars trying to keep their POS running when a bit more money up front would have given them a solid box with a warranty that they actually get to use from time to time.

Every video card will not support both CRT and LCD. Some (like the one I am using now) will only support LCD, others (older, cheaper) will only support CRT. The good ones will support both. Look at XFX, eVGA running nVidia 6600 and 6800 chipsets. If you are lucky you can find a 6800 for around $100.

I 'reverse engineered' Sweetwater's 'Creation Station' in another post which includes a lot of links. It may (or not!) help.
 
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wheelema said:
You really don't like these people, do you 'toon'?

Over and over and over I see a friend of mine labor over pieces of shit that somebody bought cheap. The poor saps who thought they were getting a bargain shell out hundreds of dollars trying to keep their POS running when a bit more money up front would have given them a solid box with a warranty that they actually get to use from time to time.

Every video card will not support both CRT and LCD. Some (like the one I am using now) will only support LCD, others (older, cheaper) will only support CRT. The good ones will support both. Look at XFX, eVGA running nVidia 6600 and 6800 chipsets. If you are lucky you can find a 6800 for around $100.

I 'reverse engineered' Sweetwater's 'Creation Station' in another post which includes a lot of links. It may (or not!) help.
Click to expand...


What kind of video card do you have that only supports LCD screens? I'm curious
 
undergroundtoon said:
Later you can add ram. I recommend Corsair. I think one gb is around $100. You can also put the everything in almost ANY case you want later and say you built it from scratch :p .

it will fit in any of these cases(medium size)
http://shop3.outpost.com/search?cat=-51590&pType=pDisplay
or any of these(large size)
http://shop3.outpost.com/search?cat=-51588&pType=pDisplay


I would not recommend a 10,000rpm hard drive(unstable). You dont need a fast speed hard drive to run windows or other progams. Unless you have high end gear it will not make a difference if you use it on the recording end either. 7,200rpm will do just fine.
Click to expand...


Cases, I wouldn't buy from fry's, they are way to over priced. As for 10,000rpm HD's they're not all unstable. That's just how someone works with their computer that depends on that..
 
Mindset said:
What kind of video card do you have that only supports LCD screens? I'm curious
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It is integrated on the motherboard. Kind of surprised me too. However, upon reflection and in the interest of full disclosure, the mobo has two video ports and only one of them does not allow the use of a DVI to VGA converter. So I was wrong.

Got to go kill myself now... where is that damn rug?!?
 
ItzCashew said:
Sound Card?
Click to expand...


i have a tascam fw-1804 intewrface so i dont need to worry about buying a sound card then


i also forgot to mention im making this computer rackmountable
 
yeah please dont buy that compaq as your recording computer unless you need to buy something cheap purposefully...
 
Mindset said:
3ghz w/ motherboard runs $79, 1gb runs $79, 100gb is at $49 & 300gb is at $89 right now... = $296 :D
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You forgot to add a copy of windows $79, a cd/dvr drive $30, a power supply , and unless you are mounting it to a sheet of plywood prob a case. :p . I was not trying to leed him down the wrong path. I was trying to get him started cheap. I figure since he is 17 he did not have a whole lot of money to work with and this would get him started right out of the box. For someone building a first it is alot more easy to transfer from one case to another. If you are just transfering you dont =set up bois, configure hard drives, install windows, deal with different types of plugs, etc.. It is reay to run right out of the box.

Alot more problems pop up when you start from scratch. A transfer is just a matter of making a map of the wires and copy in a new case. It is a good start for a first time builder.
 
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Mindset said:
Cases, I wouldn't buy from fry's, they are way to over priced. As for 10,000rpm HD's they're not all unstable. That's just how someone works with their computer that depends on that..
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I was just showing him examples of cases that would work. It is up to him to shop around and get the best price.
 
undergroundtoon said:
You forgot to add a copy of windows $79, a cd/dvr drive $30, a power supply , and unless you are mounting it to a sheet of plywood prob a case. :p . I was not trying to leed him down the wrong path. I was trying to get him started cheap. I figure since he is 17 he did not have a whole lot of money to work with and this would get him started right out of the box. For someone building a first it is alot more easy to transfer from one case to another. If you are just transfering you dont =set up bois, configure hard drives, install windows, deal with different types of plugs, etc.. It is reay to run right out of the box.

Alot more problems pop up when you start from scratch. A transfer is just a matter of making a map of the wires and copy in a new case. It is a good start for a first time builder.
Click to expand...


i understand all of that stuff though i know how to do it .. and my borther understands twice as good, lol so were all set. i just wanted to see what kind of reccomendations you guys had for computer parts when using a computer for recording, dont worry about money just let me see what you would do, thanks guys your helping the process
 
Nick The Man said:
i understand all of that stuff though i know how to do it .. and my borther understands twice as good, lol so were all set. i just wanted to see what kind of reccomendations you guys had for computer parts when using a computer for recording, dont worry about money just let me see what you would do, thanks guys your helping the process
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Cool! I didnt know if money was an issue or not. Maby it helped someone who didnt have money to spend(i hope :p ). I just got a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600, ASUS A8N-SLI, and Antec 500 watt(I hope its enough i already have over 36 things pluged-in in my living room) that i will be throwing in a case this weekend. It may not be the best but that motherboard is tried and true. I will boot it up with a small 80gb and my next check add (2) 500mb Deskstar 7k500's. I will put it to its test and let you know how it work out.

I would stay away from anything that has not been on the market for over a year. Let someone else work out the bugs and spend your time recording(2 cents).

I just saw a review in a mag of the Cheetah 15k today. They said it was very very fast, BUT the small file transfer rate was 60 per cent slower than most hd's. That would include short sound clips or re-takes. So you will be sitting at your computer longer. They also said after a few minutes performance plummeted due to insufficent airflow. They said it requires direct active cooling.

So if you go for a high speed hd put an extra fan on it because they run hot.
 
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It's hard to recommend a computer without knowing what you'll be recording. Mainly, how many tracks you will be recording simultaneously, what software you will be using to record, and what plugins/effects you will be using and if you will be using them in real time.

Here's my computer, I've had it for 5 years now and I'm able to run recording software just fine, recording 3 tracks at the same time. Never tried anymore than that.

AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz Processor
80GB Maxtor 7200 RPM Drive
256 MB DDR RAM
GeForce 4 video card
Discontinued Shuttle AKG35 motherboard

I could use an upgrade in RAM and I'm sure it would run even faster and allow more tracks. The CPU is plenty fast for what I do.

I'm running Adobe Audition 1.5 but I've also tried out others, like Sonar 5, Traktion, Reaper, Audacity, GarageBand, etc.
 
tommarow i plan on buying a rackmountable case .. anyone have any experiences with these?
 
Nick The Man said:
tommarow i plan on buying a rackmountable case .. anyone have any experiences with these?
Click to expand...
Sure. They're heavy, they have tons of space. They come in 1u, 2u, 3u, 4u, and 5u (that I've seen). You want the 4u.

Check out the i-Star D400L Storm at www.mwave.com for about $200. Doesn't come with a power supply. Has three 120mm fans and one 80mm fan. Supports a boatload of devices.

Luck.
 
wheelema said:
Sure. They're heavy, they have tons of space. They come in 1u, 2u, 3u, 4u, and 5u (that I've seen). You want the 4u.

Check out the i-Star D400L Storm at www.mwave.com for about $200. Doesn't come with a power supply. Has three 120mm fans and one 80mm fan. Supports a boatload of devices.

Luck.
Click to expand...


yeah that looks really nice, but i didnt really plan on spending that much on a case .. but it will still be considered

thank you
 
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