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Hi all,
I’m a newbie and would like some advice as I shop for computers. I read a thread from November focusing on CPUs where JesseG recommended against an i3 and gave thumbs up to Core 2 Quad, i5 and i7. I’d like to get more specific.
I’d love to afford the fastest i7 chip with 16meg of RAM and a minimum 1TB harddrive. Since that’s not possible, I’d like to ask anyone’s opinion on a good compromise between a fast, stable platform without overspending. Should I give more concern to the amount of RAM vs. the chipset speed?
To give you an idea of my budget, I priced a Dell i7 at $999 but once you upgrade it to Windows 7 Professional, a faster i7 chip, the 1.5TG drive and go from 8 to 16 meg of RAM, it balloons to $2000. A $1000 computer is within reach. $2000 is not so good for me.
I’d like to run Station Playlist, Breakaway Broadcast and encode the stream with one computer. I also want to voice track. Does that means I need two sound cards? From what I’ve read, I’m willing to spend extra and go with the Marian Trace sound card.
How much computer do I need to buy to run those applications with few hiccups in a stable environment?
I’ve already learned a lot from reading these threads. You guys know your stuff. Thanks in advance for the help.
You don’t need anywhere near the top i7, but i would still get an i7 personally. Memory isn’t a big concern at all, you could get away with 2GB even, but 4GB is a very sane choice, and you’ll never run out of memory.
The HD you can get a 2TB *external* now for $99, so there’s no reason to have anything less.
If your budget is a grand, then there’s also no reason you couldn’t put a 120GB SSD into it too, for the system drive. That will also speed up the use of the computer a lot.
The price of a socket 1156 setup is decently less than a 1366 setup, although I did notice quite a large decrease within the last week for those CPUs at least, so… it might still be worth it to you if you need triple channel memory. Otherwise just go for the 1156, and then "splurge" a bit on SSD and a large LCD.
For mainboards I recommend ASRock. They were started by ASUS for gamers & overclockers and even if you’re not using any of those features, they are also very stable boards, with 8 phase power, solid capacitors, energy/green features, and of course tons of sweet controls over stuff that you wouldn’t dream of getting with a pre-fab like a Dell. (actually i’ve never seen more options for a mainboard)
Get a *great* power supply. Research how much power it *really* puts out as tested by users, not just what it claims on the box. The mainboard and PSU are the two things above all others that you really don’t want to cheap out on. And it’s not a bad idea to get double the power you think you’ll need. If you think you’re fine with 350 watts continuous duty RMS, get 600-700. 🙂 And make sure it has a variable speed fan, so that it’s quiet. 😉 Some manufacturers and also users will test the loudness of fans on various things that have fans too. Depending on where it’ll be at, that might be a concern in the studio. Same with the case fans. It couldn’t hurt to get a case that has a fan speed control on it.
For cases I love Lian Li, nothing tops them for me. My new box uses a $170 one I had just sitting around unused, and it’s been a dream to work with. If you’re ever finding yourself needing to work on the guts, it can save time to have features like a well machined (vs a "stamped") case, slide out drive bays and a slide out mainboard subframe (one that doesn’t require you to take out any PCI/e cards first)
To make what JesseG said clearer:
DON’T buy a pre-built computer, especially NOT a branded one. They will torture you with advertising and more importantly are totally unsuitable for audio. Clicks, crackles and pops all over the place. The amount of time you will put into getting one of those to sound right will easily exceed the amount of time needed for you to piece together your own system. If you still think you are better off with a pre-built computer check iBUYPOWER on newegg.com, they have some decent stuff.
I would go for an AMD processor at this moment. The performance difference is minimal (i have both) and AMD is much easier to upgrade in the long run. Imo Intel really screwed up with the i series, come on, 3 sockets for 3 CPUs that are made from the same building blocks? Seriously now. Also regardless of CPU choice go with an ATi video card, nVidia has driver bugs that disrupt audio on some setups, and they can be VERY challenging to fix.
If you decide to build your own there’s plenty of advice on the internet, but just read the manual that comes with your motherboard and you should be alright… I’d also buy an aftermarket cooler with a 120mm fan. This will keep the CPU both cool and quiet, not mentioning less dusty. Also make sure that the case you get comes with at least 2 120mm fans. I’m a Gigabyte fanboy personally, but going over the fanboy thing, AsRock is the low-cost (read: garbage) division of Asus, i’ve seen so many fail that i run like hell when i hear that name. Also avoid ECS like the plague. That leaves what… Gigabyte, Biostar and MSI. Pick one of those three and you’ll be fine. Also it’s wiser to get a board with more bells and whistles, like more CPU phases, Firewire ports, more SATA ports and things like that, as all it’ll need to last 5+ years will be a CPU upgrade a couple years from now.
As far as graphics go it’s best to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it, so grab one of the mid-level GPUs from the HD5000 series. This looks nice and at 84.99 it won’t break the bank either. And a definite yes on 4GB RAM and 64-bit Windows. For the power supply, this will not disappoint. It’s a plain looking PSU, because they spent all their budget on the insides. 😉
[quote author=”Th3_uN1Qu3″]To make what JesseG said clearer:
I would go for an AMD processor at this moment. The performance difference is minimal (i have both) and AMD is much easier to upgrade in the long run. Imo Intel really screwed up with the i series, come on, 3 sockets for 3 CPUs that are made from the same building blocks? [/quote]The only thing I would add to this is that Leif has described in his posts many times that there is code in Breakaway that takes advantage of specific functionality/instruction sets only in Intel CPUs. So I would stick with an Intel.
[quote author=”Th3_uN1Qu3″]To make what JesseG said clearer:
DON’T buy a pre-built computer, especially NOT a branded one. They will torture you with advertising and more importantly are totally unsuitable for audio. Clicks, crackles and pops all over the place. The amount of time you will put into getting one of those to sound right will easily exceed the amount of time needed for you to piece together your own system. If you still think you are better off with a pre-built computer check iBUYPOWER on newegg.com, they have some decent stuff.[/quote]
I disagree…
The HP workstations (XW series) are very very good and very stable. Will run forever.
Get any secondhand with an Intel dualcore, 1GB and XPPro, put in a Marian Trace Alpha and you’re good to go!
(TIP: if you do buy one secondhand, don’t forget to vacuum the inside and get the dust out (CPUcooler, fans, PSU) before use)Thank you everyone for the suggestions. They’re much appreciated. It seems where computers are concerned, it’s like other things: There are Ford people and Chevy people. Beatles people and Elvis people.
I built a desktop in 2000 and another one 4 years ago that I still use. I’ve used two Dell and two HP laptops. I use an HP desktop at work. I could nitpick each one. But honestly…the biggest problems I’ve ever had with any of them, is the crap I’ve downloaded and neglecting ventilation or cleaning (I’m in Texas in an area with a lot of heat and a lot of DUST).
I finally ordered a new Dell i5 with 8gb RAM and 1.5TB drive. I can expand memory and storage if I need to. Affordable, mid-range. This way, I can afford Breakaway, Station Playlist and…the Marian Trace Alpha! (and Christmas for the girlfriend, food, rent). Next time, I’d like to have one custom built but it’s a start.
Now my worry is the learning curve of going from XP to 7! Meanwhile, I’ll keep reading through new and old threads here to pick up more tips.
BTW, thanks for not slamming me about the "16 meg of RAM" in my first post. Yeah, I’ll add that to a 486 DX100 and a 1200 baud modem!
Happy Holidays and best regards,
Michael
I built my own with an intel i5 chipset motherboard, 2 gig ram, windows xp professional, compiled with some spare WD 7200 rpm HD’s we had sitting around, and an EMU 0404 soundcard.
I had a spare case. Total cost? $450.
My results? Fantastic. Machine has been running non-stop on the air since I built it in July. It has only been rebooted once, and that was because I joined it to our domain.
Given what others have said about the Marian Trace card, I would probably recommend it.
Good luck with your purchase!
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