If you have a min or two, help me build my DAW!

  • Thread starter Thread starter sprayfe
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sprayfe

New member
First off thanks for looking at my thread,
I am wanting to build a computer to use exclusively for recording in my home studio. I just sold my D1200 and I have about 700 dollars to spend.

This is what I own so far,

Mics/Stands up the wazoo
A few preamps here and there
A CD/RW drive laying around
planning on purchasing a emu 1820 or Delta 410(advice also needed)
CPU moniter

Allrighty, so that leaves me with the

case
cpu
mobo
ram
video card
2 hd's (money providing?)

For the most part I would like to know what mobo and cpu make a good combo or what you guys have had luck with.
So what do you guys suggest as far as bang for the buck goes?
I was thinking I should be able to get a pretty nice machine going for 700 bucks, Let me know what you think,
THanks again,
Rafe

that's 700 dollars for the DAW alone, i have the money for the EMU or M audio set aside
 
Do you have experience with building PC's and trouble shooting PC hardware issues?

Ed
 
If you go the Intel route ... I would opt for a board with the 875p chipset.
I have an Abit IC7-G .... wonderful board IMHO
CPU ... I have a 3.0 gHz Prescott .... Again, very pleased with it.
Memory ... I use Kingston Value ram DDR400 dual channel 1 gig set.
Video .... ATI 9600 Pro , but you could opt for a less expensive card like one of the Matrox (they seem to work well in DAW applications)
Case .... I use a rack-mount style, but you can use any decent metal case (better shielding with metal) If you have the money for one, get an all aluminum one (transfers heat very efficiently)
Power supply .... don't skimp here ... get a good one ... I use a Thermaltake Silent Purepower Dual fan 420 watt .... love it
Harddrives ... Yes get two ... even if you hafta borrow the $$ GET TWO!!! 7200 RPM min. You want to dedicate one of them to the audio data streaming. Put them on separate IDE or SATA channels (whichever type you use)
I'm very happy with my rig .... treats me right.

Good luck with yours

-Ken

-Edit- check out this Thread
 
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hey crankz
this is going to sound very dumb but: the prescott chips are available? I can't say i hard much noise about their relase. How doe they run?? much better than the pentiums? i'm gonna have to do some research.

As far as the chipset goes, if you are saving cash I think the 865PE would probably work just fine. I have no experience with either but i am in a similar boat as you (building my DAW) and on the anandtech forums a person pointed out there is very little difference between the two. The 875p is better but also more expansive.
 
The Prescott is out ... it is the new architecture for the P4 processor, 800 mHz FSB, with 1 meg cache. Runs great for me ... some complain about higher heat produced by it, but as I am finding out ... most mother boards are reporting higher than actual temps. As much as 10 -15 degrees Celsius higher than what the chip is actually at.
All of the Intel Extreme processors are the Prescott core.
Anything labeled as 2.4C or 3.0C and such ... those are the Northwood core, which is no longer in production.
The Prescotts are labeled as 2.8E or 3.0E and such.
I'm very happy with it.
I don't know much about the 865p chipsets, but I had heard great reviews on the 875p's so I opted for it. Again .... very pleased with the performance.

-Ken

-Edit- Also ... all Prescotts are Hyper-Threading CPU's
 
minofifa,

The only dumb questions ..... are the ones that aren't asked.
Asking questions, even if they seem frivolous, only means you wish to learn and there is nothing dumb about that.

-Ken
 
Hard Drives
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLAT80 Part# 14R9248, OEM Drive Only
Item# N82E16822145061
$98.50 x2
$197.00

Mobo
ABIT "NF7-S" nForce2 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
$85.99

CPU
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
$80.00

Video Card
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK
$153.00

Memory


Qty Product Description Unit Price Extended Price
Hard Drives



Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLAT80 Part# 14R9248, OEM Drive Only
Item# N82E16822145061
Save to Buy Later

Remove Item
$98.50

$197.00

Memory (System Memory)
Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM
$106.00

Product total: $621.99

Spend the rest of the money on a case and power supply, and you should have a smokin' machine...it you're ok with AMD that is.

All priced out at newegg.com
 
What version of Windows software are you going to license for this PC?

Ed
 
You guys all rock, great ideas, keep em comin if you wanna, i need all the help I can get. Thanks again, i think i may buy the case locally and then send out for the rest of the stuff.

Peace,
Rafe
 
If it were me, I'd get a Dell box and add a second drive and memory. That way it comes prebuilt with a warranty.

You can get a 2.66 box Dell for about $400. Extra memory and drive add another $150 or so.

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
If it were me, I'd get a Dell box and add a second drive and memory. That way it comes prebuilt with a warranty.

You can get a 2.66 box Dell for about $400. Extra memory and drive add another $150 or so.

Ed
Click to expand...


Where's the fun in that? :D
 
The warranty is a nice thing, but you can get warranties with individual components now days. Also you have to be careful with the Brand name boxes like Dell etc... they tend to use cheaper proprietary components that allow them to sell for less. I've heard of people getting good results from Brand Named boxes, but on the other hand ... I've also heard about the same amount of horror stories.
Just something to think about before you shell out your hard earned $$.
 
The Dell option is always in the back of my mind, but i never know, it seems like it would just feel better to start from scratch and work up. I just think the system may run better. But i could be full of crap! Who knows, As long as I replace the cheap parts on the dell i.e. new sound card i'm getting anyway, would it really be that big of a deal? Thanks again for all of your help,
you guys are awesome and fast,
Rafe
 
I have a Dell Dimension 8200 (P4 1.7GHZ). One thing that I can say about Dell's is that they are super easy to upgrade. I bought this machine about 2 years ago and it came with 128MB RDRAM, 40GB Hard Drive, Intel Integrated Audio, ATI 32 MB Video Card. Since then, I have added a 160GB Western Digital Hard Drive, 64mb ATI All in wonder 9000, 512MB of RDRAM, M-Audio Audiophile 2496, DVD Burner, etc. You just lay it down on its side, push two buttons, and it opens like a door... and stays open while you work. The dell have served me well.

HTH,
Mumbus

http://home.rochester.rr.com/mumbus/
 
Now take that dell and put a 2.8 GHz CPU in it. Gonna basically have to buy a whole new machine.

OK....Cheap-n-bad ass: (prices listed are new egg)

$35 Aspire 350 watt ATX case ATX818K/350P4
$54 Shuttle "AN35N-Ultra
$77 XP 2400+ Barton Mobile CPU
$18 Spire SPA07B2 hseatsink/fan
$116 (qty2) 256mb Kreton Blitz Extreme 2-3-3-7 PC 3500 DDR memory
$160 (qty2) Maxtor 80 GB 8mb 7200 RPM Hard disks 6Y080P0
$5 second dma133 IDE cable ( 1 IDE cable and floppy cable come with mainboard)
$13 Mitsumi floppy drive
$15 savage4 8mb AGP video card
$13 Ortek MCK-800 keyboard
$10 POWMAX Beige Optical Scroll Mouse PS/2
$91 Microsoft Windows XP Home SP1 CD and license sticker

$607

Now we make it fast.

pretty much leave all settings normal except:

Set date and time
Set memory to ratio of 1:1 or 100%. set timings to cl2-3-3-6
Set FSB to 198 MHz
Set CPU ratio to 12
Set CPU vcore voltage to 1.725

Save and reboot.

Viola! Actual 2375 MHz CPU speed which is 175MHz faster than a "XP3200". Should be faster than a P4 3.0 GHz machine. Get the fan on the cpu correctly with the heatsink compound so heat will not be an issue and this thing will be perfectly stable for even those 10 hour recording sessions. Fans and the Maxtor drives will be nice and quiet. Vid card isn't gonna aloow for playing games but it will work fine at higher resolutions with a big monitor.
 
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I have seven Dells currently and they all work great. As Mumbus said, they are easy to upgrade and work on.

For those who like to build their own, this is not the way to go. For those who don't, then it represents a good option.

Ed
 
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