My old computer died. What to get next. Help please

  • Thread starter Thread starter zbert
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zbert

zbert

In the swamps of Jersey
My computer in the studio died. I don't record on the computer. Mainly editing with soundforge. My main use for the computer was for soft synths. I used a lot of soundfonts and diffenent free stuff I've found on the net.
I just bought a copy of Virtiual Guitarist and I want to get a decent orchestra program. I see on most of the new software I need a gig or more of RAM. Also I just bought an Alesis HD24 and fireport to transfer tracks to the computer for editing. I already have a 2496 soundcard. Any comments on this computer? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...20019394804&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1
Any other suggestions? I'd like to stay in the $500 range. No, I'm no good at building my own.
Thanks
 
It's always risky to buy used computers on eBay. And now that new and refurbished ones are so readily available there's no reason to put up with the eBay bullshit.

You'd do much better to get a refurbished desktop or small-form PC here.

They don't give you 'special personalized service' but they're honest and they do their job --- and they have a full 30-day money back guarantee.


.
 
or you can build your own pc, which is more cost efficient & more effective
 
zbert said:
No, I'm no good at building my own.
Click to expand...
Mindset said:
or you can build your own pc, which is more cost efficient & more effective
Click to expand...

I don't believe I have to say anything.


You can get a nice cheap Dell for around $500. They're relatively quiet computers, so you don't need to worry about extraneous noise. Plus, they've got some got warranties and customer support. Since you're not using the computer for recording, the only thing you're going to need is a bunch of RAM, which isn't all that expensive.
 
Just build your own, its good experience and not that hard and if you have trouble google is your friend. I'm not to concerned with buying from ebay, you've just got to make sure you're getting what you paid for so make sure theres some form of a warranty for both the computer and a return policy from the ebay shop is my only advice.
 
i put this together today...

$185 AMD X2 dual core Socket AM2 4200+ CPU
$57 MSI Socket AM2 motherboard
$160 OCZ DDR2 PC6400 800MHz
$7 Firewire card
$70 Enermax case + power supply
$92 SATA 320GB with perpendicular technology (a fucking deal)..

all from newegg.com with shipping, about 600 bucks...
and that's a drop dead good computer...
i have video cards i can use, but the 32 mb video on board should be fine for recording...if you bought a good video card to put in that, it would be a top of the line gaming pc....for 600 bucks + card

do the math, compare quality to a 500 dollar dell, and build your own...
 
orksnork said:
i put this together today...

$185 AMD X2 dual core Socket AM2 4200+ CPU
$57 MSI Socket AM2 motherboard
$160 OCZ DDR2 PC6400 800MHz
$7 Firewire card
$70 Enermax case + power supply
$92 SATA 320GB with perpendicular technology (a fucking deal)..

all from newegg.com with shipping, about 600 bucks...
and that's a drop dead good computer...
i have video cards i can use, but the 32 mb video on board should be fine for recording...if you bought a good video card to put in that, it would be a top of the line gaming pc....for 600 bucks + card

do the math, compare quality to a 500 dollar dell, and build your own...
Click to expand...

Nice set up man :D I'm about to upgrade my mb & memory & drves too... What kind of SATA drive was it that's $92?
 
I would love to be able to build my own computer. I guess it's fear of the unknown. I'm 48 years old so I never had a computer in school, never learned to write code. I need someone who knows what they are doing to help me step by step. Yeah, trying to read instructions from Google becomes a blur after awhile. Kinda like getting driving directions. Anything more than 2 turns and I'm lost. Thanks for the advice.
 
building pc's is'nt that hard these days everything only fits in its own slot one way round and can't be put anywhere else.Alot of things are colour coded.
just follow the manual to connect everything up.

the only things to remember are connect the 12volts to the motherboard (4 pin conection usually by the cpu)

this is the only real major goof up you can do (tends to kill the cpu)

everything else is pretty much saveable from any mistakes

the bios is pretty much ok straight out the box an odd tweak here and there
windows cd in and off you go.

normally only takes an hour form out the box to xp on the machine.
 
The PC I use in my Studio I got on e-bay New (Customer return) for quite cheap....

It was a 2.6ghz(Celeron D) with 512mb DDR 400 and a 80GB HB and a DVD-Rom CD-RW and came with a Full legit version of XP Home and a Bunch of free Business software....

Here is what I paid for it: $135 US +$35 Shipping=$170US Total For a full working PC that was new and didn"t even have the XP activated yet.....

It is also the Quietest PC I have even heard as for some reason after turning it on the PSU Fan slows to a crawl and is Totally Silent.....

This is definately the cheapest PC I have ever owned but it works great without a single Problem.....

Cheers
 
zbert said:
I would love to be able to build my own computer. I guess it's fear of the unknown. I'm 48 years old so I never had a computer in school, never learned to write code. I need someone who knows what they are doing to help me step by step. Yeah, trying to read instructions from Google becomes a blur after awhile. Kinda like getting driving directions. Anything more than 2 turns and I'm lost. Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

If you know how to plug power cords into wall outlets and 1/4" cables into your guitar and amp, you can build a computer yourself.
 
absolutely...
the essential steps you'll face are

1. screwing motherboard to case
2. placing PCI cards in their slots and one screw to secure them
3. placing RAM in slots and no screws to secure them
4. placing hard drive in it's place, screwing to secure, and adding a simple cable to the motherboard, and a simple power cable from the PSU
5. closing the case...

it's truly that simple...as long as you get the right stuff together...
 
I'm a little apprehensive about building my own PC too, although it does make sense economically, so I'm not going to address that. I haven't yet decided myself which route to take for my next upgrade.

But since you said you just purchased VG, plan to get a decent orchestra, and use soundfonts & softsynths, etc., I think you'll find a computer such as this Optiplex on eBay won't quite cut it. Virtual instruments, samples, and audio effects (especially of higher quality) tend to be extremely resource hungry. My P4 2.66 with 1GB memory is more firepower than I'd ever need for most computing tasks, but became virtually obsolete overnight when I began running apps such as Guitar Rig, Kontakt 2, or Garritan Personal Orchestra through Sonar.

I agree the best options right now seem to be whatever Core Duo might fit your budget, or else to take advantage of the recent Athlon 64 price drops. The X2 4400 has fallen to about $235, almost 50% lower than it was a few weeks ago.

Just my proverbial 2 pea. Good luck.
 
the stuff I linked, at that amazing price, is also the new AMD architecture...so you will be able to upgrade it for a while
 
when you build your own computer you dont get windows or any operating sytem (besides dos if that counts or is even on it?) on the harddrive, so dont you end up having to pay a few hundred for that too?
 
well then...im going to assume you bought your past computer from Dell or something where they gave it to you for free??

Those liscenses don't carry over...but a new copy of windows XP can be bought online, legitimately, for less than 100 bucks...

even adding that price...it's still an amazing deal, because that computer is going to blow away (excluding MAYBE the video) any TOP end dell or equivalent
 
orksnork said:
well then...im going to assume you bought your past computer from Dell or something where they gave it to you for free??

Those liscenses don't carry over...but a new copy of windows XP can be bought online, legitimately, for less than 100 bucks...

even adding that price...it's still an amazing deal, because that computer is going to blow away (excluding MAYBE the video) any TOP end dell or equivalent
Click to expand...

Yes, all the computers i have are pre built but i do know my way around one fairly well, i just always thought it cost more to get windows then that.
 
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