If you have the time: Building a PC for recording (specs)

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sandler

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With all these cables and hardware sprawled over my room, I am considering building my own PC specifically for recording. In the past I have installed hard drives, ram, rom/dvd drives, various cards (network, gaming, firewire, etc). My first question is how big of a challenge will this be? Second, I really need help with finding the best components for my setup. What I have already:

1. External firewire soundcard
2. External hard drive (160 GB) for archiving
3. Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse

Specifically, I would like advice on choosing a motherboard and CPU because I know they will be the most important factors. I plan on initially going with 1 GB of RAM, but would like to purchase a board with the 4 GB upgrade option. I looked at both the Intel and AMD boards and don't have a clue on which would serve me better (I realize that the higher the processing speed, the better).

Second, I would like to know if a SATA hard drive is really that much better than an IDE. Here also, I plan on doing an upgrade down the road, but initially I am going to go with a HDD around 100 GB.

I will obviously be looking into cases too, so if anyone has suggestions on wheree to find some good prices, info, etc...I'd appreciate it. I've been to newegg and would also like some suggestions on similar sites.

Finally, I know this topic has been covered. However, the only thread I could find (that covered complete setup) was dated around 2001 and thought maybe someone had some more current recommendations they could share.

Thanks.
 
I'll tell you what I have, and my system is rock solid. Judging by your command of the English language, there are people far dumber than you that are making a living at building computers.

You'll have no problem.

I built my system about a year and a half ago, so take it for what it's worth-

mobo- Gigabyte 8IK1100
hd- Western Digital 10k Raptor, 36g
cpu- P4, 2.4 Ghz
512mb of RAM
soundcard- RME Hammerfal HDSP 9652
1- cdrw
 
I'm a computer hobbyist as well as recording, so I've done my share of building, etc. The best site I've found, (USA wise) hands down is www.newegg.com You almost can't find better deals. Not saying better deals don't exsist, but close to 95% of any computer related hardware I have came from Newegg.

Firstly, you want to decide on a budget. Then piece together the most functional PC based on that budget, but at the same time, allowing room to expand as time goes on.

Processors: Processors aren't always the usual number game, just because a chip is 3GHZ doesn't always mean that it's going to be faster than a 2GHZ chip. You want to look at the L1 and L2 cache on the chip.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103596


Motherboards: Mobos are pretty much like anything else, if you get something decent, you won't have to worry about it, but if you get the first 15.00 mobo you see, there could be problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569


Harddrives: two types, IDE: pretty much what we've been using all along, they run decent and you can get obscene ammounts of space for relatively cheap these days. SATA: is about the same, the exception here is that the access speeds for SATA are faster than IDE. Alot of people will only use SATA for this reason. Also, SATA has several different configurations you can use, giving you more options to run multiple drives as opposed to the only real option with IDE being the extra piggyback drive, then external drives for then on. SATA you can either daisy chain SATA drives to your hearts content, that all read as one big drive, or run several identical drives, with one acting as a backup, etc etc. Do some reading if SATA is your choice, I've only tipped that iceberg here.

RAM is a big factor, you want something that will work when you want it to work (aka all the time) you want to get matching sticks, meaning, same brand, same speed (PC##00), same size (512mb, 1gb, etc) I use Rosewill RAM because out of my years building pcs, Rosewill is the only constant that goes and goes and goes with little to no problems. I've installed 12Gb of Rosewill RAM on my PCs, my mom's, my sister's, my g/f's, friends, etc, and they are all running great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820223009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820223020

and it's getting late, so I'll leave it at that for the time being, I'll get into some more tomorrow when I get to work. Have a good one.


Kevin
 
hey, thanks alot....

I was kind of hesitant to post this question because I realize that it may be a bit loaded. I appreciate the responses.

I looked at that ASUS board and the only thing that concerned me was it's lack of a firewire port (which I really need). Would you suggest just adding a PCI card to a board like this to resolve this issue?

Thanks for the ram suggestion. That Rosewill is definitely in my price range :) .That AMD processor looks good. I guess one of the big decisions I'll have to make is between AMD and Intel (then corresponding board of course).

Again, thanks for the suggestions. If you have more, keep them coming :D
 
The AMD vs. Intel question will get as many responses as the Mac vs. PC, Ford vs. Chevy, Coke vs. Pepsi comparisons.

I'm not a big fan of AMD, only because of 1 bad experience with them. You'll get 20 replies to this thread with people who vehemently support them. It's a preference thing.

Same thing with the firewire vs. PCI comparisons. I prefer PCI. I've never had trouble with PCI so that's what I have stuck with. I'm certain other people have used nothing but firewire and have never had any trouble.
 
Agreed, the AMD/Intel thing can go back and forth for days. The reason I suggested the AMD 64 that I did, was because its L1 cache is pretty nice compared to some others as well as the L2, and I don't think intel can compete at that price range.

Harddrives I'll leave up to you, for recording purposes I don't see IDE or SATA being any better than the other, but that's my take on it, I'm not overly experienced with SATA.

As for the firewire ports, I've honestly not seen many boards that come with firewire as a standard option, not that they don't exsist, but I just tried searching for some, and they seem few and far between. If it were me, I'd go with the PCI add-on card.

Something similar to

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815106004

Rom drives are a dime a dozen these days. You can get a nice DVD-RW for under 40 bucks, though I will suggest a drive with Light Scribe. It's basically a built in laser etching feature that you can use to label your cds. If you burn anything on a regular basis it's pretty nice, as opposed to stickers or markers. The down side is the drive will cost a bit more than a normal drive, and you have to use Light Scribe compatiable Discs (the tops have been treated to accept the etching) but they are nice. The etching process takes about 10-20 minutes depending on what you want on there. It's all grey scale, meaning white to black and everything in between. Pictures, text, all of it can be etched on the top of the disc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827140014

Note that other media will still burn on the drive, but to use the label etching of the drive, they suggest you use their products (of course)

Power supplies are very important as well. You want something that's going to push the hardware inside your box. Obviously, a well made PSU is going to do you well. You can usually get them for a decent price, another thing about newegg that I like is that you can actually read the reviews and view the ratings of the products.

Fans and cooling are going to be a big issue. Especially if your PC is just out in the open in the room in which you record. You can get really nice case fans with low db levels. Don't forget a CPU fan (by socket type) and cables and wires. For better airflow I use round IDE wires for roms, harddrives and floppy drive. Ahh, and the floppy drive, most people don't want them, but they are like 2 bucks, and they come in handy sometimes. (plus you'll need one if you go with SATA harddrives)

As fas as cases go, within the next month or so I'm going to be moving my PCs over to Rack Mount cases, that may be something you'd want if you have the extra rack space for it.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811219001


Keyboard and Mouse is pretty self-explainitory, get what you want.

As far as monitors go, that's your call as well, if space isn't an issue a CRT will be fine, if you want more options for mounting, and space is an issue, you cant go wrong with LCDs

These are the two I have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116363
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116362

with this stand

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LCD-194&cat=MON
 
Creamyapples1 said:
As for the firewire ports, I've honestly not seen many boards that come with firewire as a standard option, not that they don't exsist, but I just tried searching for some, and they seem few and far between. If it were me, I'd go with the PCI add-on card.

Something similar to

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815106004
Click to expand...

Unless he does his homework beforehand and opts for a soundcard like this. Then he wouldn't need the additional ports.
 
but ASUS does make mobo with firewire. I have the A8V deluxe. its a nice board. I got it for $107 on newegg.com on sale. I say If you want something reliable hit the $1000 or close as far as price range. you can build a cheaper pc with cheap unknown brand stuff for a lot less. from experience reputable brands names will get you a reliable system and last you till you upgrade.
my system is:
asus a8v deluxe mother board- $107
Antech trune power II -$89
leadtech 6600GT video card- $140
AMD Athlon 64 3700- $249
Seagte SATA 80G HD- $76
i already had my own case but you can get a decent one for $49-$120. he more you spend on a case the sturdier it is.
2 gigs of RAM- don’t remember the price but Ill say $100 for 1 gig.
that's my set up with out the audio card
dont forget the OS $99-$150. you can skimp out on the graphics card if you dont play games.
 
ez_willis said:
Unless he does his homework beforehand and opts for a soundcard like this. Then he wouldn't need the additional ports.
Click to expand...


He insisted on firewire, which is the only reason I brought it up. I'm sure he is aware that there are PCI cards out there, but he has his eye on something particular. I'm just giving the man what he wants.


As for the on board firewire, the only Asus board I found on newegg was a refurb at the time of posting, I'm not going to suggest someone buy anything refurbished.
 
Wow, you guys have been keeping me up late!

Here's the setup I've been looking at. If you have any opinions/suggestions or see any clear conflicts please let me know. Yes, I would like a firewire port and I don't work with midi (yet) so I am not really concerned about that. Please keep in mind that I have an external rom/dvd drive already and monitor, keyboard, mouse are not included in the setup. As far as the case is concerned, I really can't make a decision.

Motherboard:
ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131524

CPU/Processor:
AMD Opteron 148 Venus 1GHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103596

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144414

RAM:
Rosewill 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820223020

I'm sure I'll need some extras, but this is what I've thrown together for now.
 
Should be a pretty decent setup, I'd go ahead and get another stick of 1G ram, so you can run the ram dual channel. Other than that, don't neglect cooling devices and you're good to go!
 
you forgot your power supply. very important. dont use the one that comes with the case. reviews on them are not good.
 
For only 5 bucks more than the Western Digital you could get a Seagate Barracuda drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148106

Pretty much the same as the Western Digital, but the Seagate Drives are typically the quietest, which, of course, is important in recording applications. I have been building my own computers for years, and in addition to being impressed with the performance and noise characteristics of the Seagates, I've also found them to be the most reliable of all the drives I've used.
 
good good stuff, thanks guys

altiris, I kind of figured that, but needed the extra push.

ez_willis, the firewire port is for an external soundcard.

Jeff, I may look into that hard drive. It's hard to find a good quiet HDD..

To all, thanks so much for the help!!!!
 
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