Building my DAW

[RedHeffer]

Hi, I will soon be going off to college so my parents are going to buy me a new computer. I've been recording on my own for a little bit now, and I've decided to use a computer for recording. I currently own a Boss BR8, soundcraft spirit sx mixer, event 20/20's, a handful of mics, and other things. What I'm hoping for is to find bandmates in college and be able to record demos with them. So I guess I'm basically preparing for the future. I would probably be recording drums, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and vocals. Those are probably the minimum.

So I've been looking around for what parts I should get for my new computer and I think I've come to this conclusion:

ATHLON XP 2100+ 256K 266FSB SOCKET A BOXED
ASUS ATX MBD AMD VIA KT333 SA 5PCI ATA/133 AUD
512 MB PC2100 DDRAM
MAXTOR 40GB D740X Q INT ATA/133 HD 8.5MS 3.5LP 7200RPM
52X IDE CDROM
PLEXWRITER 40X12X40 CDRW INT EIDE KIT W/SW
WINDOWS XP

Now the things that are missing in that list are the video card and the sound card. I basically decided that I'm going to use the Delta 1010 because I can take the direct outs from my mixer and go into the inputs of the 1010. Now I need to decide on what video card to purchase for my system. If you guys could suggest to me what I should get in terms of a video card, and possibly other parts for my DAW, I would really appreciate it.

Oh, and do you guys think a rackmount case would be a good idea? I have a QSC RMX 850 power amp, a Lexicon MPX 100, headphone amp, and eventually the Delta 1010. I'm thinking that I could buy a rack case and put everything in that including the computer so everything would be nice and tidy. What do you think?

Brian

 

[MikeA]

What type of monitor are you looking to put with your DAW? And will you eventually want to expand from one to two? I am looking at the Matrox 32MB G450 dual head for the possibility of expanding to 2 screens at some point.
I think a rackmount case would be an excellent idea. Do a search for ComputeAid and check them out. They have 2, one for $118 and one for $138. Each are 4U high. And there was another thread on here in the last couple of days somebody asked about rackmount cases that somebody found one for $99. You should be able to find that thread. It mentions rackmount cases in the thread title...

 

[RedHeffer]

Thanks for the tip on the rackmount cases. I'll definately look into those.

As for video cards... I don't think I'll be using two monitors anytime. Besides, I'll be in college for four years... I don't think dorm rooms can fit two monitors. I just want to have a decent video card that will serve me well for now and at least a little into the future. I don't do any graphics extensive work, but if you guys think that a good video card would benefit me anyway, I would go for it. For what I'm trying to accomplish, someone recommended the geforce2 mx, or something like that.

Thanks again for the tips.

Brian