here we go again pc build...

  • Thread starter Thread starter hadje
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hadje

New member
hi,
i am on the fence as to whether i want to attempt a pc build. if i can pull it off for under $1000 (including windows), i think i would prefer to have the flexibility etc, of doing it myself rather than buy a dell... expandability, having a real windows disk, etc.

my usage:

home recording - never more than 2-4 inputs, but mixing up to 24 tracks perhaps with a few plugins. i would probably use dedicated external firewire for audio tracks. i do acoustic stuff where i layer 1-2 tracks at a time, and also fruity loops type stuff where i layer many loop tracks, etc

photoshop cs - not for more than an hour or two at a time, and i already have a monitor, but between this and the audio i am considering 2gb ram. also i may want to run dual monitors in the future; right now i have lcd but may add crt down the road. this is not of ultimate importance however

not really a gamer, but for a little extra $ i don't mind setting up for that

some video editing but nothing intense or frequent; i sometimes do soundtracks for a friend and use vegas/acid/fruity loops type software for his low budget indie films. this means adding audio to video that he gives me usually from vegas...

quiet is good since i will be using as DAW

i will use my laptop for the internet to keep this system as clean and stable as possible

i am relatively ignorant about computer hardware but i know what most of the terms mean, ie- "motherboard", "video card", but i have no knowledge of good components or whether to go AMD or Intel

my biggest concern isn't the actual puting together since i'm sure i can research how to do that part, but making sure all of the components work together and are of reasonable quality...

so...pc with windows, no monitor needed, under $1000, daw and photoshop and perhaps a little video, not really a gamer but will use better video card if within budget. i have keyboard, mouse, but need dvd/rw. oh yes, i would love soundcard reccomendations but that will be a seperate budget...

can i do it for this ammount?

thanks in advance for any help
 
Yes you could easily do that for under a grand.

I built mine, for about $800 which would include the flat screen monitor I got. It was a shuttle XPC. Check newegg.com, you can basically size up how much it's going to cost pretty quickly.
 
I think you could put together a nice system within your budget. You just have to start researching components. I don't think you should worry too much about compatibility between parts these days if you buy quality components. When you start trying to really cut down costs by buying cheap components, then you should worry more about compatibility between those components.

Newegg.com is a great place to buy parts. They have good prices, a good selection, fast shipping, and no hassle returns. You can often find lower prices but in my opinion those lower prices don't outway Neweggs service. I used to shop the various retailers listed on Pricewatch.com to get the lowest prices but I got burned a couple of times so now I usually just use Newegg.

I found a place to buy software, including Windows, very cheap. I found this place through an advertisement at CNET.com. You save money by downloading the software from their server. You don't get a box, manual, or any discs. Just download and burn to disc. I have'nt verified that this place is legit, but it has been up and running for a long time and I'm sure the big boys would have shut them down by now if they were'nt legit. Windows XP Pro, $50. You might contact them with any questions before buying and maybe contact Microsoft to verify that this place is on the upside. Here it is:

(link to commercial pirates removed by Dragon)

I have'nt ever owned a Dell but they do have some good prices on complete systems. Check the small business section of their site. You might want to buy a stripped down system from them and add any upgrades via Newegg.
 
it can't possibly be legit..........

TravisinFlorida said:
I think you could put together a nice system within your budget. You just have to start researching components. I don't think you should worry too much about compatibility between parts these days if you buy quality components. When you start trying to really cut down costs by buying cheap components, then you should worry more about compatibility between those components.

Newegg.com is a great place to buy parts. They have good prices, a good selection, fast shipping, and no hassle returns. You can often find lower prices but in my opinion those lower prices don't outway Neweggs service. I used to shop the various retailers listed on Pricewatch.com to get the lowest prices but I got burned a couple of times so now I usually just use Newegg.

I found a place to buy software, including Windows, very cheap. I found this place through an advertisement at CNET.com. You save money by downloading the software from their server. You don't get a box, manual, or any discs. Just download and burn to disc. I have'nt verified that this place is legit, but it has been up and running for a long time and I'm sure the big boys would have shut them down by now if they were'nt legit. Windows XP Pro, $50. You might contact them with any questions before buying and maybe contact Microsoft to verify that this place is on the upside. Here it is:



I have'nt ever owned a Dell but they do have some good prices on complete systems. Check the small business section of their site. You might want to buy a stripped down system from them and add any upgrades via Newegg.
Click to expand...

if you are going to do that, just download all your software from grokster, save the 50.00 bucks.
 
here are two good sources of sound info.....

hadje said:
hi,
i am on the fence as to whether i want to attempt a pc build. if i can pull it off for under $1000 (including windows), i think i would prefer to have the flexibility etc, of doing it myself rather than buy a dell... expandability, having a real windows disk, etc.

my usage:

home recording - never more than 2-4 inputs, but mixing up to 24 tracks perhaps with a few plugins. i would probably use dedicated external firewire for audio tracks. i do acoustic stuff where i layer 1-2 tracks at a time, and also fruity loops type stuff where i layer many loop tracks, etc

photoshop cs - not for more than an hour or two at a time, and i already have a monitor, but between this and the audio i am considering 2gb ram. also i may want to run dual monitors in the future; right now i have lcd but may add crt down the road. this is not of ultimate importance however

not really a gamer, but for a little extra $ i don't mind setting up for that

some video editing but nothing intense or frequent; i sometimes do soundtracks for a friend and use vegas/acid/fruity loops type software for his low budget indie films. this means adding audio to video that he gives me usually from vegas...

quiet is good since i will be using as DAW

i will use my laptop for the internet to keep this system as clean and stable as possible

i am relatively ignorant about computer hardware but i know what most of the terms mean, ie- "motherboard", "video card", but i have no knowledge of good components or whether to go AMD or Intel

my biggest concern isn't the actual puting together since i'm sure i can research how to do that part, but making sure all of the components work together and are of reasonable quality...

so...pc with windows, no monitor needed, under $1000, daw and photoshop and perhaps a little video, not really a gamer but will use better video card if within budget. i have keyboard, mouse, but need dvd/rw. oh yes, i would love soundcard reccomendations but that will be a seperate budget...

can i do it for this ammount?

thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...


www.videoguys.com has several doit yourself articles, most everthing also applies to audio recording

www.tomshardware.com lot's and lot's of good info. it will give you some info on what you will need to know, and if this is for you.

good luck.
i think that download software place is a total rip
 
Rstiltskin said:
if you are going to do that, just download all your software from grokster, save the 50.00 bucks.
Click to expand...

do you think that site is selling illegal software?
 
I think so, dragon evidently thinks so (check out your last post)

TravisinFlorida said:
do you think that site is selling illegal software?
Click to expand...

its an old scam 'we lose a little on each one but we make it up on volume'

so, just when did you see this add on c/net as they don't have a record of it?
 
hadje said:
hi,
i am on the fence as to whether i want to attempt a pc build. if i can pull it off for under $1000 (including windows), i think i would prefer to have the flexibility etc, of doing it myself rather than buy a dell... expandability, having a real windows disk, etc.

my usage:

home recording - never more than 2-4 inputs, but mixing up to 24 tracks perhaps with a few plugins. i would probably use dedicated external firewire for audio tracks. i do acoustic stuff where i layer 1-2 tracks at a time, and also fruity loops type stuff where i layer many loop tracks, etc

photoshop cs - not for more than an hour or two at a time, and i already have a monitor, but between this and the audio i am considering 2gb ram. also i may want to run dual monitors in the future; right now i have lcd but may add crt down the road. this is not of ultimate importance however

not really a gamer, but for a little extra $ i don't mind setting up for that

some video editing but nothing intense or frequent; i sometimes do soundtracks for a friend and use vegas/acid/fruity loops type software for his low budget indie films. this means adding audio to video that he gives me usually from vegas...

quiet is good since i will be using as DAW

i will use my laptop for the internet to keep this system as clean and stable as possible

i am relatively ignorant about computer hardware but i know what most of the terms mean, ie- "motherboard", "video card", but i have no knowledge of good components or whether to go AMD or Intel

my biggest concern isn't the actual puting together since i'm sure i can research how to do that part, but making sure all of the components work together and are of reasonable quality...

so...pc with windows, no monitor needed, under $1000, daw and photoshop and perhaps a little video, not really a gamer but will use better video card if within budget. i have keyboard, mouse, but need dvd/rw. oh yes, i would love soundcard reccomendations but that will be a seperate budget...

can i do it for this ammount?

thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...
http://www.videoguys.com/DIY.html
 
Rstiltskin said:
its an old scam 'we lose a little on each one but we make it up on volume'

so, just when did you see this add on c/net as they don't have a record of it?
Click to expand...

that place was advertised on cnet almost a year ago I think. it must have slipped thru the cracks.
 
Rstiltskin said:
its an old scam 'we lose a little on each one but we make it up on volume'

so, just when did you see this add on c/net as they don't have a record of it?
Click to expand...

ok, so the place might be illegit. that's still yet to be proven and i don't blame dragon or the person that is filling in for him for removing the link, just in case. but what i would like to know is how you can find out what businesses were advertised on cnet.com in the last year. where is this record you speak of? i know i book marked the site from a cnet.com/downloads.com ad while searching for free software and i also know that i'm not a liar. :D
 
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Records?

They dont have a record of it ? How do you have access to Cnets records ? What records ? Id like to know too about these records, Id like to search them too.

Gary
 
Back on topic..

I have always pieced together my computers to get what I want, at the best value. However, the last computer I bought (4wks ago) I bought already put together for CHEAPER than if I bought the parts seperately. I have been VERY happy with it. It was Athlon 3200+ box with an ASUS MB, 1g DDR ram, onboard everything, case, and 80 gig HDD. I had my own monitor. it was $399 + shipping=$449 to my door. Since I use that puter for video and audio, I did install my Delta 24/96 and ATI 9800 but aside from that, the machine is smokin'. I'm very happy with it.

I'm certain that I could have not got a better deal if I bought the parts seperatly, and I didn't have to bother putting it together this time. :)
 
I'm building another system now from my old PC. I found a nice little motherboard/processor combo on newegg for $80. I bought a DVD/RW from newegg for $30 (I caught a sale). I already have a DVD ROM, a CDRW, a generic soundblaster for my midi needs, and the hard drive that I want for my master. I'm just adding the case for $50, memory for the motherboard should be about $80 for 1GB and that should be it. Altogether that's $240. The other parts that I have in there wouldn't be much extra for you so $1000 should make for a really good setup. Are there any parts that you have laying around or in a computer that you can use?

As for mine I plan to have 3 hard drives in it and 3 cd drives so I have to buy the extra hard drives as well as a controller card to sync them into. I also like to have dual monitors so I can arrange on one screen and mix on the other when I use Cubase.
 
social engineering.........

TravisinFlorida said:
ok, so the place might be illegit. that's still yet to be proven and i don't blame dragon or the person that is filling in for him for removing the link, just in case. but what i would like to know is how you can find out what businesses were advertised on cnet.com in the last year. where is this record you speak of? i know i book marked the site from a cnet.com/downloads.com ad while searching for free software and i also know that i'm not a liar. :D
Click to expand...

contact advertising

ask for number for accounts payable

identified myself as auditor for (deleted website)

is our accounts payable account current or overdue or paid up

our records go back a year and a half and we don't have a record of your company ever advertising with us

oh sorry, my mistake, click

it helps if you sound 50 (i am 50).

I'm not calling you a liar, why don't you order photoshop cs for 49.00 dollars and send me the download and registration number. when it installs and registers itself with adobe with no problem, i will paypal you 100.00 dollars.

that's 100 percent on your money.

or you could email adobe, and ask them if this is a legitimate way to acquire photoshop cs. that would be easy to do, cost no one anything, and you could report back here.

or you could continue to pick a fight with me, which won't work cause this is my last post on this subject.

ps....you are awful suspicious about my claims and pretty accepting of this websites claims, why is that? you suspect me, but the bogusness of this website must be PROVEN to you? hmmmm cynical and gullible at the same time? or the best defense is a good offense, well ya got me wondering.
 
Rstiltskin said:
ps....you are awful suspicious about my claims and pretty accepting of this websites claims, why is that? you suspect me, but the bogusness of this website must be PROVEN to you? hmmmm cynical and gullible at the same time? or the best defense is a good offense, well ya got me wondering.
Click to expand...

Dude, if it's on the Internet, then it must be true! Of course to him you're on the Internet, yet so is that site. What a paradox!
 
Rstiltskin said:
contact advertising

ask for number for accounts payable

identified myself as auditor for (deleted website)

is our accounts payable account current or overdue or paid up

our records go back a year and a half and we don't have a record of your company ever advertising with us

oh sorry, my mistake, click

it helps if you sound 50 (i am 50).

I'm not calling you a liar, why don't you order photoshop cs for 49.00 dollars and send me the download and registration number. when it installs and registers itself with adobe with no problem, i will paypal you 100.00 dollars.

that's 100 percent on your money.

or you could email adobe, and ask them if this is a legitimate way to acquire photoshop cs. that would be easy to do, cost no one anything, and you could report back here.

or you could continue to pick a fight with me, which won't work cause this is my last post on this subject.

ps....you are awful suspicious about my claims and pretty accepting of this websites claims, why is that? you suspect me, but the bogusness of this website must be PROVEN to you? hmmmm cynical and gullible at the same time? or the best defense is a good offense, well ya got me wondering.
Click to expand...

I'm not picking a fight. I just don't like someone outright or other wise calling me a liar and giving me some bad attitude. If you read my original post, I did reccommend contacting the company mentioned and Microsoft before purchasing anything from that site. I also stated that I did'nt know if the company was legit or not so I was'nt suspicously acceptive of anything. I was just passing along a website that I had ran across while searching for discounted and free software. Also, I have seen Windows XP Pro advertised on Pricewatch for under $80 for an OEM full version cd. Go ahead and check for yourself. The difference in $50 and $80 is'nt that huge so I guess it was'nt that hard for me to believe that the site could have been legit. You must be one of those guys that payed the inflated price for XP of $200-300. Maybe that's what got you all pissy. I don't know.

BTW, I did go ahead and check up on that site and it does seem to be illegit. I googled MegaSoft and read some posts from people that had made purchases from MegaSoft. The reason you may not have found it in CNET's records is that the company was originally named MegaSoft and is now called something else. I know this because my original bookmark is named MegaSoft Discounts. Try calling about that one if you still think that I was lying about finding the link on CNET. It's not like I knowingly mentioned the Grokster network as a place for downloading illegal software, as you did. I have never knowingly left a link for finding illegal software on this BBS, ever. I know how some people freak out around here about that type of thing. I do always try to help members of this BBS in any way that I am able. I guess this time it went bad.

Also, thanks for the negative rep point. :rolleyes: It was my first. Even though I think the whole rep point thing is pretty rediculous, I did drop you a negative point back which was signed "right back atcha, TravisinFlorida". That was the first rep point I have ever handed out, negative or positve. Enjoy. :D
 
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TravisinFlorida said:
I'm not picking a fight. I just don't like someone outright or other wise calling me a liar and giving me some bad attitude. If you read my original post, I did reccommend contacting the company mentioned and Microsoft before purchasing anything from that site. I also stated that I did'nt know if the company was legit or not so I was'nt suspicously acceptive of anything. I was just passing along a website that I had ran across while searching for discounted and free software. Also, I have seen Windows XP Pro advertised on Pricewatch for under $80 for an OEM full version cd. Go ahead and check for yourself. The difference in $50 and $80 is'nt that huge so I guess it was'nt that hard for me to believe that the site could have been legit. You must be one of those guys that payed the inflated price for XP of $200-300. Maybe that's what got you all pissy. I don't know.

BTW, I did go ahead and check up on that site and it does seem to be illegit. I googled MegaSoft and read some posts from people that had made purchases from MegaSoft. The reason you may not have found it in CNET's records is that the company was originally named MegaSoft and is now called something else. I know this because my original bookmark is named MegaSoft Discounts. Try calling about that one if you still think that I was lying about finding the link on CNET. It's not like I knowingly mentioned the Grokster network as a place for downloading illegal software, as you did. I have never knowingly left a link for finding illegal software on this BBS, ever. I know how some people freak out around here about that type of thing. I do always try to help members of this BBS in any way that I am able. I guess this time it went bad.

Also, thanks for the negative rep point. :rolleyes: It was my first. Even though I think the whole rep point thing is pretty rediculous, I did drop you a negative point back which was signed "right back atcha, TravisinFlorida". That was the first rep point I have ever handed out, negative or positve. Enjoy. :D
Click to expand...

PC World did an article about these bargain places. In short if it seems too good to be true, it is.

They got Office, XP, Photoshop, and a couple others. One company took their money, never to be seen again, no product.

Another sent them cracked versions infested with spyware, all of which didn't work. Another sent the downloadable demos that were useless after the term specified on the original manufacturer's website; usually 30 days.

You couldn't possibly be naive enough to think that $50-$100 for a program like PS is legit, could you?
 
gosh, travis, i am really sorry if you think i called you a liar...

TravisinFlorida said:
I'm not picking a fight. I just don't like someone outright or other wise calling me a liar and giving me some bad attitude. If you read my original post, I did reccommend contacting the company mentioned and Microsoft before purchasing anything from that site. I also stated that I did'nt know if the company was legit or not so I was'nt suspicously acceptive of anything. I was just passing along a website that I had ran across while searching for discounted and free software. Also, I have seen Windows XP Pro advertised on Pricewatch for under $80 for an OEM full version cd. Go ahead and check for yourself. The difference in $50 and $80 is'nt that huge so I guess it was'nt that hard for me to believe that the site could have been legit. You must be one of those guys that payed the inflated price for XP of $200-300. Maybe that's what got you all pissy. I don't know.

BTW, I did go ahead and check up on that site and it does seem to be illegit. I googled MegaSoft and read some posts from people that had made purchases from MegaSoft. The reason you may not have found it in CNET's records is that the company was originally named MegaSoft and is now called something else. I know this because my original bookmark is named MegaSoft Discounts. Try calling about that one if you still think that I was lying about finding the link on CNET. It's not like I knowingly mentioned the Grokster network as a place for downloading illegal software, as you did. I have never knowingly left a link for finding illegal software on this BBS, ever. I know how some people freak out around here about that type of thing. I do always try to help members of this BBS in any way that I am able. I guess this time it went bad.

Also, thanks for the negative rep point. :rolleyes: It was my first. Even though I think the whole rep point thing is pretty rediculous, I did drop you a negative point back which was signed "right back atcha, TravisinFlorida". That was the first rep point I have ever handed out, negative or positve. Enjoy. :D
Click to expand...

what i meant to say is you are ugly and your mother dresses you funny. clear?

why don't you answer polaris's question?

why don't we all stop highjacking this thread?

dragon removed your link, not my links. I checked my rep points and it has'nt shown up yet, you may want to send another one, and don't forget to sign it this time. and get gary records to send one too, you are bud's, right?

nice tie!
come visit if you have more to say.

now that's attitude, at least my attitude.
 
Polaris20 said:
You couldn't possibly be naive enough to think that $50-$100 for a program like PS is legit, could you?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I don't know what PS is and I did'nt look to see how much it cost.
 
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