when it comes down to it, what am i actually looking for?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shackrock
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shackrock

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alright everyone.....me and my friends are finally chipping in for a new computer.

we WILL have a delta 44 with whatever we buy...

i would like to get a computer - buit for recording, and recording only - for 500-600 bucks (not including the delta 44).

i DO NOT need a monitor or speakers...

i've found plent of cheap models over at http://www.buy-atlas.com/products.html , however i don't actually know what - specifically - i should be getting.

for example, less ram or bigger cache or better proccessor or what board?? etc. the list goes on.

ha

P3, P4, AMD - any and all will do as long as everyone can agree that it is better then my P2 266mhz comp i'm using now!

THANKS SO MUCH IF YOU CAN HELP ME...and please try...ha
i've been playing with this idea too long - i need to act finally.


lastly - I DO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO CAN BUILD ONE FOR ME....with that said, he highly suggested getting all my equipment from www.newegg.com -....so what would you guys suggest?!

in addition...(i keep coming up with more questions!) - what operating system for uses with N-TRACK and FRUITY LOOPS mainly?
 
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I guess I would recommend having your friend build it for you, and you really can't do any better than buying your parts at Newegg. Check wes480's thread titled "damn computers are cheap...", or something like that. That's a pretty good setup.

As to the OS, I don't think the software is gonna care, so it comes down to hardware, and in the case of the Delta 44, M-Audio has XP drivers that work great, so I would recommend XP Pro.
 
I wouldn't order from a place whose website looks like that, or has red x's where images are supposed to be. Looks like this affirms my suspicions.
 
I like my set-up... right around your price range... you can do without some of the "gaming" extras that I have (like the geforce4) and keep the price nice and low...

And I would second the suggestion to let your friend build it. Buy all your parts off Pricewatch.. (and, as elevate will inevitably suggest, check out the dealer's ratings at Reseller Ratings before you buy from anyone...) NewEgg is a great place with great service and fast delivery time, but their prices are not always so low, and there are a bunch of other good sellers on pricewatch that will give you the same stuff for less.

Here's what I've got and I'm quite happy with it...

AMD Athlon XP1900+
(Volcano 6cu HS/F)
Soyo Dragon+ Mobo
Enermax 350W (Whisper Quiet)
512MB Kingston PC2100
64MB GeForce4 Ti4200
Maxtor D740X 40GB 7200RPM
Pioneer 16X DVD (Slotload..! whoo hoo!!)
AOpen 24x10x40x CD-RW
MS Intellimouse Optical
Altek Lansing Spk.
Windows XP Pro

WATYF

P.S. I am currently using a Delta 44 and installation was a snap and it runs perfectly... no probs so far. (except for the fact that I have no earthly idea what I'm doing) :D
 
LOL.. looks like I didn't get my post up in time to beat elevate... :p

WATYF
 
thanks guys..

well i will definately have my friend do all the ordering and building, etc. to make sure all the stuff works together. HOWEVER, you could say that he knows nothing about audio recording with computers (what boards are best to buy, etc.).

so i was hoping for you guys maybe to chip me in on some info about that? maybe some nice mainboards that work the best..i've heard around here that some boards are just terrible for audio...?
 
I've got a Gigabyte GA-7DX+ right here that I'll be putting in a computer for a friend. I plan on upgrading my own computer soon, and I'll be getting a Gigabyte GA-7DXR+ (same as 7DX+, but adds a RAID controller). The whole VIA fiasco is basically over, meaning most of the newer boards with VIA chipsets will give you stable results. If you wanna go with a VIA board, stick with the big names - Asus, Abit, etc...
 
I would suggest, that whatever chip you get, get a board with the same brand of chipset as the chip. I have a Pentium 4 with an Intel 845 chipset on an MSI mobo. No problems yet WHATSOEVER(with exception of my stupid downloaded Sonar 1.0). No one knows the chip better than the people who made it. So makesure the chipset is from those people.

Outside Of The Box
 
well PLEASE will somebody literally
BUILD ME A COMP ONLINE! lol... i would greatly appretiate it...i mean - i honestly dont know what basically ANY of that stuff on newegg.com means when it comes down too it. I can design my own dell on thier page, but that is as good as it gets for me.
PLEASE!!! lol

i'm down on my knees begging now..
 
Well WATYF did it a little below.

Here's my rig, I like it a lot:

Athlon XP 1800+

Soltek SL-75 DRV2 (I would recommend an Asus A7V333 or A7N266)

256 MB Samsung PC2100 DDR RAM

Leadtek GeForce 2MX (a nice cheap Graphics card, but you should look at a GeForce 3Ti200 or GeForce 3 if you want to play some kind of games)

2x Seagate Barracuda drives, one dedicated audio drive. Excellent drives, whisper quiet and no heat probs

That's the core of the system. You should look at a decent case with a good PSU, 350 watt minimum . Enermax is good, Antec is also good, the best is PC Power and Cooling, though a little pricey it will be nice in the long run.

Remember to take a good cool large case.

You'll need optics. Consider a DVD-RW drive if you have the cash and want to author DVDs, or stick to a CDRW. a Plextor 24x writer should do you fine. SCSI writers are fast, but I don't know if you'll need that kind of speed. A decent 24x IDE writer should do fine. You may want an additional CD-ROM drive but it's not necessary.

About chips and chipsets: I beg to differ, actually. Anyone who remembers the i820 will be able to figure basically didn't know its head from its backside when they designed this chipset, and handed the performance crown for Socket 370 to Via, before bringing out the i815 series.

The fiasco was repeated when the Via P4x266 beat the crap out of the 845/SDRAM combo, and Intel handed Via a victory before coming out with the 845 DDR support. Intel is a profit grabber in any case, so that doesn't surprise me any. For AMD, the AMD chipsets are actually not the best performers. It's the Via and the nVidia chipsets.

For Via C3 cpus, the best performers are the Intel i815 chipsets (which are now officially dead).

So your rig should be:

Athlon XP 1800+ or 1900+
Asus A7V266-E (my personal favourite)

Delta 44
2 x Maxtor 7200 rpm drives: 40 GB each at least
GeForce 3Ti 200
PC power&Cooling case
19" Monitor, I love my 17" Samsung but I believe the 19" Sony blows everything away. Including your cash. Mitsubishi is good.
512 MB PC2100 DDR RAM Samsung or Crucial.
24 x Plextor IDE-Writer
Some nice keyboards and a decent mouse, both USB if possible.

OR:

P4 2.2 gig
Asus P4S333 (Sis 645 DX) Or MSI P4 DDR board (not sure of the model number but it's got the Intel 845D chipset)

The rest of the system will essentially remain the same.

Sang
 
c9-2001 said:
order a pc from nova....
http://www.novacomputech.com/showfly/showfly.html
Click to expand...
my uncle has delt with them for years..never had 1 problem... he's ordered...8 or 9 computers from nova..and he just ordered a athlonXP 2100 form them and got it very quick with no problems at all...Ubid.co back in the day had real nice computers cheap...my sister got her's for less that 500 and its a athlonxp 1600+
 
sangram

sangram - i love you..ha

thanks a million..
i'm gonna run that by my friend, see what the cost comes out to be, and make any neccesary changes.

thanks again.
 
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