[Spider Mills]

hey everyone, i was wondering if you could help me out?

i'm looking to purchase a new computer, mainly for producing music, but i don't really know which way to go, or what i really need.

i guess i probably need at least 1GB ram, and a reasonable size hard drive, but i have no clue about processors or gfx cards. i will use my soundcard from my pc at the moment.
but yeah, if anyone can recommend me specs, or some good complete deals that should suit me, i'd appreciate it

i will be using programs such as sonar, cubase, fruity loops etc, all that require a fair bit of cpu. (my computer knowledge is pretty poor, so i don't know what this means and really need.) but any help would be much appreciated.

just for the record, at the moment my computer is:

intel Celeron D 2.53GHz processor
512megs PC3200 Corsair DDR memory
Maxtor 200gig ATA133 hard drive
Sapphire ATI Radon 1600 pro 256mb

it seems to run very slowly, and crashes alot (bsod) i dont know what the problem is, i was told drivers, but i dont know how to fix it.

any help is very much appreciated, thanks

[alex]

Potentially, we could help you with the issue you have with your existing pc but if you want to go the new build route who are we to disuade you.

Most (reputable) builders are solely using vista as the operating system supplied with any pc now, so you need to ensure your soundcard is compatible with Vista. If you want Vista that is.

I'd be looking at:

Core 2 Duo, E6550 for the cpu. It isn't that music codecs take the runtime of the cpu, audio ain't no big thing regardless of file type, it's more the software used in production.

2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 ram. There's various types. They differ in their latency timings, you want to be looking at CAS5 (also known as CL5). Go for 5-5-5-12, not the 5-5-5-15. The -12 is only a few quid more.

Again, if going Vista you may as well have full DX10 compatibility, so for the graphics card I'd be looking at a 8600GT. This is rather a weak card but for the use you've quoted you don't need an all singing card, or even an inebriated card trying to sing irish pub songs.

For the motherboard I'd be looking at an Asus P5-k, any revision, doesn't matter. So go for the 'E', its the cheapest. Especially since you've your own dedicated soundcard.

For harddrives, I'd be looking at 2x500gb Samsung T166's. In a Raid 1 (mirror). Raid 1 mirror's the data from the first drive onto the second drive, protecting your valuable files. The Samsung's are fast, very reliable and very quiet and cool when running.

Those are the core components, the rest I leave to you.

[Spider Mills]

thanks for that alex, helped me out loads =) i think it may exceed my budget really, which i would preferably like to keep around £400 for the mo.
and i would like to try and solve the problem with this computer first so i can maybe sell it in working condition =P
basically, my computer will be fine one second, the next minute, blue screen of death, and i lose whatever i was doing. not too good.
when it goes to the blue screen it usually says something along the lines - IQRL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL_TOO - something like that.
any ideas?
thanks again.

[Spider Mills]

hey, i've just done my homework, looking up everything suggested by alex on ebuyer, and it came to just over £600.
my budget it really £400 max.
I managed to just below - £396
I had to make changes to what was suggested in order to free up £200, i was just wondering, if what i have picked out will not do, and if it is compatible?

case:
Asus TA-861 Black/Silver Midi Case
quickfindcode: 124929
£22
Motherboard:
ASUS P5PL2-E i945PL SKT LGA775 Serial ATA-300
quickfind code: 126198
£38
Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz
quickfind code: 130485
£106
RAM:
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2
quickfind code: 98710
£65
GFX:
Innovision GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2 AGP Graphics Card
quickfind code: 119716
£50
Operating System:
Windows XP home edition SP2
quickfind code: 114048
£50
Hard Drive:
Maxtor STM3320820AS 320gb
quickfind code: 120305
£48
CD drive:
Pioneer DVR-112DBK rewriter
quickfind code: 125215
£17
Total: £396

feedback and advice would be appreciated,
thanks, adam.

[cyberspacegenie]

Hi Spider Mills,

I'll leave someone like Alex to comment in more detail on your individual parts but here are a couple of things to bear in mind.

Firstly, does your case come with power supply unit (PSU)? It seems that some retailers sell it with a PSU and others it don't. If doesn't then you will have to factor this into the equation as your computer cant run without one.

I built my first computer recently and the most of the advice I got said get a good PSU, it is a pretty important part. I dont currently live in the UK so I have no idea of prices there, but maybe Alex can suggest something good at a reasonable price .

Also is noise going to be an issue if you are using this for music? If so then you may have to bear this in mind with some the parts. For example, you may want to consider a passive (fanless) video card - they use heat pipes instead of fans and thus are quieter (no fan noise), but you will need to ensure that there is good airflow in your case. I have an Asus EN8600GT silent and I'm very happy with it. I'm pretty sure there are 7600 passive cards around too.

Again in terms of noise I have a Samsung T166 series (LJ501HD) hard drive. I bought it because the samsungs have a reputation for being very quiet and I found this to be true. i dont hear it at all. I also have a seagate barracuda.10 drive and I find that much noisier. The samsung was also more reasonably priced. Some people said to me to stay away from maxtor drives but since they are owned by seagate now that may no longer be the case.

Hope this helps.