Building my second studio comp...from scratch... for college.

  • Thread starter Thread starter NineteenBillion
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NineteenBillion

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So I'm going off to college this fall and my grandmother gave me a hefty sack of cash to blow on a killer computer to last me the four years. I decided to spend half of it on synth and outboard gear.
The other half I want to spend on the computer, build it up from scratch.
I'm looking for some highly opinionated geeks out there to put in their 2 cents (with, possibly, some explanation for their choices). Here are my circumstances:
I have ~$1500 to spend on the computer. I can go up to $1700, but I would really prefer avoiding that.
I'm going to have to get a flat panel monitor. With all my gear, I need the desk space. So count on around $400 of the cash going to that.

I will have my Delta 1010 LT and Delta 410 cards along with the 120 GB IDE hard drive from my old computer, so don't put audio interfaces in the budget. I'm thinking about a gig of ram. Maybe DVD-RW and of course a high-speed internet card. USB 2.0 and Firewire a must. The need for quiet operation is implied.

I don't know if I want a Pentium 4 or that 64 Bit Athalon processor (or some other).

Anyone want to try to help me?
 
cheap/lots of tracks >>>> amd barton based system.
more bucks >>>>amd 64.
read around the net on how the amd64 is the current performance champ for processing audio dsp.
but i have friends with lowly 1.3ghz durons doing 40 tracks easy.
so maybe save some money by picking up a used duron plus processor mbd for say 60 bucks if you can find one and build the system yourself.
thus having extra money for good mics/pre's.
if your into synths check out hotstepper sometime. its free.
great for industrial stuff/experimentation.
 
I know in the Fry's (west coast guys) they routinely have motherboard/CPU combos for around the 60-80 dollars range quite often. Last week they were doing an Athlon XP 2600 with a DFI Nforce2 400 board for 85 bucks. Why get a Duron when these beasts are that cheap? Check out www.pricewatch.com and check out prices by CPU speed. Also, make sure you cross-reference sites with www.resellerratings.com to make sure you're dealing with a good guy. I typically go to the Pomona computer show (being a Los Angeles resident) but on the internet you can't go wrong with guys like NewEgg, Mwave, and Directron.

Oh, and it's worth it to spend on a good heatsink like the Zalman 7000. If you feel like buying and fitting your own fans, Swiftech makes a great, if pricey, heatsink. If you've got 250 bucks to burn, Zalman makes the Reservator, a fanless water cooling setup which is dead quiet. A good case is also well worth it; shop around and you can find quality Cooler Master and Enermax aluminum cases for less than 90 bucks. Check out http://www.directron.com/atc210.html for an example.
 
sklat - we get screwed where i am in the frozen north compared to usa prices.
thats an excellent price.
 
Gah. So much to think about. I was just going to buy random crap off of tigerdirect.com. Guess I have some surfing to do! I didn't mention that I have my multi-tracking software already (cubase).

So would you guys say to go with the 64bit athalon over a pentium 4?
 
I'd personally get a regular athlon XP...they're so frigging cheap. But that's just me...motherboards and CPUs for me get replaced every few years. Things like a nice pair of studio monitors, microphones, synths, effects...those last.
 
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