help to verify new computer purchase...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fed
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Fed

Fed

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after reading bunch of threads here I went to newegg.com and put together a potential buy for my new computer for recording.

Please help me if you see some potential problems or you have better choices of components. I would like to bring the price down actualy if I could but the total is about the ballpark I am going for... well a little more...

so here is the list:

EVERCASE Beige ATX MID-TOWER CASE, Model "E4252-91" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16811127029
$32.50

Thermaltake Fanless103 fanless CPU Cooler
Item# N82E16835106047
$40.49

Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST3160827AS, OEM
Item# N82E16822148034
$111.50

Seagate 80 GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA II with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST380817AS, OEM
Item# N82E16822148040
$72.00

Memory - WINTEC AMPO 184-pin 512MB DDR PC-3200, Model 35145588-P - OEM
Item# N82E16820161615
$60.00

Motherboard - CHAINTECH nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 Athlon 64 CPU, Model "VNF3-250" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813152043
$76.00

FortronSource P4 300W Power Supply with 120 MM Fan, Model "FSP300-60PN" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16817104937
$29.00

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - OEM
Item# N82E16819103425
$135.00

Product total: $556.49
Shipping & Handling: $ 45.41
Total (Before tax): $601.90

The case and PS choice was based on this article: http://www.overclockers.com/tips1099/index04.asp

I would also get 2 80mm fans for the case $8 each which brings total to $16 more then above :)

Thanks everyone...
 
With three fans running in that thing what is the point of going for the fanless CPU cooler?
 
drstawl said:
With three fans running in that thing what is the point of going for the fanless CPU cooler?
Click to expand...

eh... well... not to have 4 fans... maybe... :) I guess I need some airflow in the case so I can't have it without fans completely and watercooling seem too extreme...

Good point though ... thanks
 
my 2 cents

Doesnt look too shabby but while I was doing it I would personally go ahead and opt for a heavier power supply

Good Luck
Tim
 
You only have one stick of RAM, so it won't be running in dual mode. It would be better to get 2 sticks of matched RAM than one larger size stick because with the 2 matched sticks they'll run in dual mode, thus being faster.

I'm not much of a RAM expert, but I haven't heard of Wintec as a good RAM brand so I would stick to a big name. Cheap ram is the most common cause of system crashes, so I would spend a couple extra bucks for a name brand like Corsair, Kingston, even Crucial gets decent reviews.

Here are some Corsair 512 (256x2) matched RAM sticks. Priced at $78 it's not much more than the ram your already looking at, and I'd say it'd be a much better choice.
 
One more thing, wouldn't it be better to get 2 identical hard drives then run them as one drive in RAID? I haven't messed around with RAID myself, but I thought they had to be the same size, so like you could have 2 80gb drives run together as one 160gb drive.

I'd personally just rather go that way then have 2 separate drives, but that's just a personal preference.
 
2 HDs are so that one is on one controller for sytem and another for audio, at least that's what I gathered from the forum is recomended.

I am not sure about whole RAID thing... May be I don't need these new SATA 150 drives, ATA100 might do just fine though they are not that much cheaper. But it all adds up ...

then I can get a MB that is little older with regular IDE rather then new SATA, I am kind of foggy on all these things ... faster is better I guess but if the processor is the "bottleneck" then why get faster HDs....?

SO I would like to get a good balance and don't get anything I don't need just because it's "latest and greatest"...

Actualy I am thinking going Athlon XP or something that might bring the price down... well maybe forget the silly heatthink too ... :) it's so cool though....

You are right about RAm, i skimped on that, will have to change. thanks...

considering I have been using P3 550 for last 3 years for my recording anything will be an improvement ... :)
 
oh ye... the PS thing...

Is there a way to figure out how much power you need?
Maybe table of power requirement for different type devices... like
HD - 20W
CRW - 30W
Motherboard - xW
and so on...

It would seem you would need a bigger PS for a server with alot of HDs... but ... what do I know... :)

Actualy I realy want one of the fanless PS.... but they are $100 and up...
http://www.directron.com/cf350coolmax.html
can't get any quiter then that... I guess
 
NewbMediaGuy said:
You only have one stick of RAM, so it won't be running in dual mode. It would be better to get 2 sticks of matched RAM than one larger size stick because with the 2 matched sticks they'll run in dual mode, thus being faster.

I'm not much of a RAM expert, but I haven't heard of Wintec as a good RAM brand so I would stick to a big name. Cheap ram is the most common cause of system crashes, so I would spend a couple extra bucks for a name brand like Corsair, Kingston, even Crucial gets decent reviews.

Here are some Corsair 512 (256x2) matched RAM sticks. Priced at $78 it's not much more than the ram your already looking at, and I'd say it'd be a much better choice.
Click to expand...

The 754 chipset does not utilize dual channel mode, so it is unnecessary to get 2 sticks. IIRC, 1 stick will be faster. Only the new 939 NForce4 chipset uses dual mode.
 
Fed said:
eh... well... not to have 4 fans... maybe... :) I guess I need some airflow in the case so I can't have it without fans completely and watercooling seem too extreme...
Click to expand...
Why is watercooling too extreme? Is it the price? You need some kind of cooling, it doesn't have to be fans if you don't want to. However, since this is for recording ensure you get the quiet fans, otherwise your room will start sounding like a wind tunnel.
The other option is to make a box with sound reduction material and put your pc in there (if it's too loud).
Can I ask what made you decide to build your own computer? Do you want to or do you think you need to? What is your OS going to be?
 
You can also get "quiet" cases with rubber mountings and rails to pad some of the noise makers.

I was looking at to Antec Sonata, seems have "quiet" in mind.

Here's a site on the subject, might be worth while.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/


good luck :D
 
Dracon said:
Why is watercooling too extreme? Is it the price? You need some kind of cooling, it doesn't have to be fans if you don't want to. However, since this is for recording ensure you get the quiet fans, otherwise your room will start sounding like a wind tunnel.
The other option is to make a box with sound reduction material and put your pc in there (if it's too loud).
Can I ask what made you decide to build your own computer? Do you want to or do you think you need to? What is your OS going to be?
Click to expand...

watercooling - I don't know enough about it and it sounds expencive... that's why extreme...

I am aware of the quite fans thing thanks for the suggestion...

I want to build because I think it would be cheaper and I am not afraid to... :)

It seems Xp is the OS of choice now days so I am leaning towards that.

Baisicaly I need: Motherboard, Processor, memmory, HDx2, Quite case and cooling for around $400 maybe more not sure yet

I could use my existing: video card and monitor (I have 2 monitors but only use one so dual setup would be nice), CDRW, Delta 66 with OMNI and Samplitude 6 and plenty of music to record... :)

thanks all for suggestions ... greatly apriciate it...
 
Also... I remember at some time there were people on this board offering to build computers for people for parts cost, just for the fun of it :) ... anyone does that?

sure would be nice to skip the "component decision making" stage... phew...
 
Fed said:
I want to build because I think it would be cheaper and I am not afraid to... :)
Click to expand...
It's a myth that it will be cheaper. As you see here, when you go with quiet fans, and what not the price really begins to stack up. After all its said and done you end up paying $700-$800 (because you need software) and doesn't even include the DVD/CD Burner, and the video monitor.
If you tell me you want to build your own mogami cables to save money. I'll tell you right on brother. When people tell me they want to build their own computer to save money, I say that's crap.
I've said this a million times in this forum (Unless you want to learn something from building you own) get a refurbish computer from Dell, HP (which some seem to think are great), Gateway, MAC, IBM, whatever. They are cheaper they come with a minimu of a year of warranty and they most you have to do is put your audio card and make it work (provided you took out of the box and plugged it in).
 
Fed said:
oh ye... the PS thing...

Is there a way to figure out how much power you need?
Maybe table of power requirement for different type devices... like
HD - 20W
CRW - 30W
Motherboard - xW
and so on...

It would seem you would need a bigger PS for a server with alot of HDs... but ... what do I know... :)

Actualy I realy want one of the fanless PS.... but they are $100 and up...
http://www.directron.com/cf350coolmax.html
can't get any quiter then that... I guess
Click to expand...
Here is a power requirement table.
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Power_Supply_Guide_2.html
 
Dracon said:
It's a myth that it will be cheaper. As you see here, when you go with quiet fans, and what not the price really begins to stack up. After all its said and done you end up paying $700-$800 (because you need software) and doesn't even include the DVD/CD Burner, and the video monitor.
If you tell me you want to build your own mogami cables to save money. I'll tell you right on brother. When people tell me they want to build their own computer to save money, I say that's crap.
I've said this a million times in this forum (Unless you want to learn something from building you own) get a refurbish computer from Dell, HP (which some seem to think are great), Gateway, MAC, IBM, whatever. They are cheaper they come with a minimu of a year of warranty and they most you have to do is put your audio card and make it work (provided you took out of the box and plugged it in).
Click to expand...

you probably right ... I will look into refurbished Dells etc... any paticular model I should look into?

I just want to record music and have more tracks and be able to use plugins more freely, so I do need as much power for the money as I can get ...
 
I don't know what you want to spend but here are a few new from Dell

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pro...tured_dotw_dimen?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

The one you put there looks pretty good. Do you already own a monitor?

Here is a refurbish list from Dell

http://outlet.us.dell.com/Dispatcher?target=InventoryPage&action=filter&lob=DIM&unique=1105850167168&sessionID=Bpv3cgvh!1812073641!618374060!1105850167028&tgtSeg=I

Here are a few 'used' from IBM

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...1&catalogId=-840&langId=-1&categoryId=2576395

Here are a few refurbished HP

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/search/search_request.do

Since you are going to record on your pc I recommend that you buy a large hard drive to store your music. You may want to price it at one of the links above, or go to newegg.com or http://www.directron.com/40gb.html for an additional HD. Also you don't want anything below 512MB of RAM. PCs unlike recording equipment will last you 5 years tops, most likely you'll have to upgrade in 2 to 3 years. Even if you spend $1,000 you'll be behind the times in processing power in 5 years.
5 years ago no one even heard of DDR memory and SATA drives, today they are all the rage. In five years a 7200rpm SATA drive is going to be a dog, and the standard will be 30,000rpm and DDR1 will have been replaced by DDR2. You will still be using your sm58 or 57 along with your mackie mixer and your mogami cables (especially if you took care of your equipment).

Again if you want to learn something from the process of building your own computer then go ahead. If you just want to record and play with music buy something that has already been tested and approved by qualified technicians, and get the highest processing with the most memory. The computer industry will slow down eventually (unless they break the code in quatum computing) and then it will be worth spending your money on building your own. How many guys do you know that build their own cars, or motorcycles? Sure you see them on TV, but they are not cheap.
The reason, you cannot buy the components that make up a computer and build it for cheaper than a large company like IBM, HP, or Dell. It's simple economics and while you might be able to out compute an IBM off the line, it really doesn't amount to much in the end.

Good luck, and happy hunting.
 
whattaguy said:
NewbMediaGuy said:
You only have one stick of RAM, so it won't be running in dual mode. It would be better to get 2 sticks of matched RAM than one larger size stick because with the 2 matched sticks they'll run in dual mode, thus being faster.
Click to expand...
The 754 chipset does not utilize dual channel mode, so it is unnecessary to get 2 sticks. IIRC, 1 stick will be faster. Only the new 939 NForce4 chipset uses dual mode.
Click to expand...
I thought DDR stood for double data rate, being the same as dual channel just a different way of saying it, right? Also, you mentioned the 754 chipset, but isn't that a socket not a chipset?
 
NewbMediaGuy said:
I thought DDR stood for double data rate, being the same as dual channel just a different way of saying it, right? Also, you mentioned the 754 chipset, but isn't that a socket not a chipset?
Click to expand...

You are right on correcting my terminology on the socket 754. It is compatible with DDR but not in dual channel mode.
 
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