Building a new computer

[tyroneslothrop]

Completely new to this and would appreciate any feedback on this particular set-up. Particularly regarding the case, as i've been told that the sonata II needs another fan in order to cool properly.

Case: Antec SONATAII ATX Midi Tower Case: 450W, Black, Quiet

Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe Athlon™ 64 S939 VIA K8T800Pro Dual-channel DDR400, AGP 8X

Processer: AMD A64/3000+ Venice CPU: Desktop Athlon64™ Retail w/fan SKT 939

Ram: Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4 1024MB (2x512) 240-pin DDRII XMS2-5400

Video: FX5200 128MB AGP Gigabyte GV-N52128DS FX5200 128MB AGP

HD: Seagate ST3120827AS 120GB SATA 150Mbps 7200rpm HDD 8Mb Cache NCQ

DVD: LG GSA-4163B-black DVD-RW Internal: 16x± Dual Layer OEM w/software Black

To connect to an Edirol UA-1000 USB 2.0 soundcard.

 

[reshp1]

I am running a very similar setup and it's working very well for me. I would get a second HD for audio only though.

 

[seismetr0n]

fans are cheap.. hopefully the motherboard has onboard (software) readouts for core/chassis temp fan speed etc.. this will be helpful in determining if you need another fan..
also, make sure the mb has a controller for your sata drive (only the newest ones do), otherwise you'll need a seperate controller for your hd (or ATA will work just fine),
you might also want to consider a second HD, one for progs and one for data (recording)

gl

 

[altiris]

are you going to be recording with this pc. If so you need an audio interface for this. the onboard one will not give you good quality. It may be enough for getting down your ideas.

 

[reshp1]

fans are cheap.. hopefully the motherboard has onboard (software) readouts for core/chassis temp fan speed etc.. this will be helpful in determining if you need another fan..
gl

Asus boards come with Asus Probe, which is a rather useful utility for monitoring temps and fan speeds.

 

[tyroneslothrop]

Going to connect an edirol ua-25 to it for starters. I would rather a firewire interface of course, but it'll have to do for now, makes a nice portable interface anyhow and looks built to last. Though i'm a bit worried about how it's going to handle a lot of soft synths, it being only a usb 1.1 device. I haven't bought it yet if there're any other suggestions.

 

[altiris]

how about an Maudio delta 66. http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--THKMIMD662 . its not firewire but it fits into a PCI slot. or the 1010lt http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MDOD1010LT+ . these two are cheaper that the Edirol and have more inputs. search around here for peoples experience with these two. I myself own an emu-0404. ($99). It works good for me. but many say it crashes. though it has not for me. then again Im a little light on the tracks. like I'v only used no more than 8 tracks simultaneous. thats just my sugestion I'm sure theres more.