Building a PC......

MARLZTAH

++DuB PrOFesSoR++
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Right, its time for me to move on from the piece of shit im using now.... ive had enough of buffer underruns, glitches, stutters, and lack of sample library space so ive been saving my pennies and im gonna build a new PC..... hopefully what im building will be able to cope with the vast amount of reverb & delay i use, unlike the crappy dell im using now

Ive never built a PC before but i have installed various CD/DVD drives and installed extra ram, and installed PCI stuff, im no expert but from the stuff ive seen online im pretty sure i can do it (lets hope so anyway)

This machine will be mainly used for production so the important things are speed, memory, storage and noise (oh, and price of course)...... heres the parts im thinking of buying.......


cpu:
Intel CORE 2 DUO E8400 3.00GHZ S775 FSB1333 6MB IN - £115.42

mobo:
Gigabyte GA-EG31MF-S2 Motherboard Core 2 Extreme Socket 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Gigabit Ethernet LAN - £43.93

psu:
Akasa Ultra Quiet 400w PSU 24pin BLK - £41.91
or....
SEASONIC S12II 430 WATT ATX PSU 12V V2.0 EPS SILENT EFFICIENT UK - £41.94

ram:
PNY 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM CL5 DIMM Memory Kit - £23.76

harddrive:
Seagate BARRACUDA 7200.11 500GB 32MB SATA/300 8.5MS 7200RPM IN - £42.64

graphics:
Asus VGA EN7100GS512/TD/128M PCIe GF7200GS - £21.98

heatsink:
Arctic Cooling super silent 4 Ultra TC S478 - £6.56
or....
Akasa PaxPower Ultra Quiet Amber AK-862 - £8.10

case fan:
Akasa 120mm Silent Blue Fan - £4.11
+
Akasa GRM120-30 - System fan filter - 120 mm - £2.81


I have a case, 2 monitors, a CDRW and DVDRW already so i dont need those

The whole thing should come to about £350 with a few extra bits and bobs and delivery (which should be around £25 i think)


What do you lot think???

Are those decent prices for the components??

Am i spending to much on stuff thats not important??? am i not spending enough????

Will it even work???????????
 
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i think that sounds pretty good so far buddy. as long as you have shed loads of ram and a sweet sound card you should be laffing.
 
looks good mate
i hope youre getting 2 packs of memory?
i wouldnt worry about a graphics card i use a simular gigabyte board and the onboard graphics is fine if youre just running youre synth programs
and i guarantee those heatsinks will be loud id spend a few extra and get a zalmen combo
 
id also get a seperate hdd just for my samples + refills
maybe use the 500g for that and buy a smaller one for main drive
 
Hello mate,

E8400 is well solid, haven't ran out of cpu power in audio/midi work as of yet! Excellent calculating power for the price.

Seasonic PSU's are also built to last, havent had a failure with one yet (and in the past i've had a few - failures i mean), in fact I have the same 430w model you've listed.

Be sure to have a firewire interface - Noticed that your MB is some micro model so that caught my attention. Just so you can extend your audio needs in the future. (I think they're standard stuff nowadays but better safe than sorry eh?)

I'd also recommend ditching the graphics card if you're not doing gaming on this pc. Instead invest in a RAID system (2 indentical hard drives) for more stream speed and reliability. To avoid :fuckinpc:
 
for me the silence of all hardware is one of most important things in studio, so good choice with the graphic card.

what sound card do U want to buy?

i think that TWO smaller HD will be better than one. first for system and second for music data.

u can buy some noise reduction boxes for hard drives (i have hd drive instaled in it and there is no noise from hd now :D)

and maybe some kind of this? :
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/acousticmaterials
 
you can a pick up a 2.4ghz intel quad core for that money

400w's a bit short for a psu on that spec, up it to 500,

i rekon i could make you a better list of parts which comes to 350
 
id say spend another 30-40 quid for a full ATX motherboard. Micro atx can be crammed, and generally manufacturers wont be as precise with them.
also, consider getting another pair of RAM, its dirt cheap and it will make a great deal of difference.
Finally, you could get another smaller hard drive, so you can have the OS and programs running from the small one, and have your samples in the 500gb.
 
thanks for all the replys, its really appreciated!! :)

looks good mate
i hope youre getting 2 packs of memory?
i wouldnt worry about a graphics card i use a simular gigabyte board and the onboard graphics is fine if youre just running youre synth programs
and i guarantee those heatsinks will be loud id spend a few extra and get a zalmen combo

yup 2x1gb

im thinking about that graphics card as i have two monitors lying around and i can run them both on that

what would a heat sink like that set me back?

Seasonic PSU's are also built to last, havent had a failure with one yet (and in the past i've had a few - failures i mean), in fact I have the same 430w model you've listed.

great!! whats the noise like???

Be sure to have a firewire interface - Noticed that your MB is some micro model so that caught my attention. Just so you can extend your audio needs in the future. (I think they're standard stuff nowadays but better safe than sorry eh?)

it does have a firewire port... but the audio interface im probably gonna be using is usb so i should be ok i think..... i can always buy a firewire pci card later if i need one i guess

I'd also recommend ditching the graphics card if you're not doing gaming on this pc. Instead invest in a RAID system (2 indentical hard drives) for more stream speed and reliability. To avoid :fuckinpc:

seems alot of you are saying i should have two hdd's..... is there a reason two identical ones are better??
i do have an old hdd i could maybe use for XP and programs and what not.... would that be no good??

what sound card do U want to buy?

i reckon thats a whole other thread of its own..... ive got my eyes on sooooooo many at the moment :lol:

u can buy some noise reduction boxes for hard drives (i have hd drive instaled in it and there is no noise from hd now :D)

and maybe some kind of this? :
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/acousticmaterials

yeah?? where could i get these noise reduction boxes??

ive seen the acoustic damping stuff, was already gonna get some.... not the expensive stuff though as im not sure how long i'll be using this case for.... eventually i wanna get a sonata or something

you can a pick up a 2.4ghz intel quad core for that money

400w's a bit short for a psu on that spec, up it to 500,

i rekon i could make you a better list of parts which comes to 350

would be interested to see what you come up with :)

id say spend another 30-40 quid for a full ATX motherboard. Micro atx can be crammed, and generally manufacturers wont be as precise with them.
also, consider getting another pair of RAM, its dirt cheap and it will make a great deal of difference.

yeah will defo consider that.... i never acually realised that was a micro board lol!!

i will be getting more ram after its built, i have been making sure that im only looking at mb's with four slots cos i know i will want 4gb ram eventually

should i buy identical ram??? or is mixing and matching ok??????


thanks again for all your advise..... im off to browse the component shop again :)
 
core 2 system (there's a deal on motherboard, processor, ram combo)

Core2Duo.jpg


quad core (woops over spent a little, worth extra 70 defs)

QuadCore.jpg


640gb hard drive can be had for another 12 quid, and if you keep your eye out on http://www.hotukdeals.com, you can pick up some badman bargains. didn't incluse the case+case fans, coz im sure there fine already.
 
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if ya looking at spending around £350 mark you can get an
AMD phenom64 quad core 10ghz , 8gb ram, 500gb hard drive for that price and imo amd's piss all over intel's

all down to personal preference tho but having had both id nvr go back to an intel
 
right ive been looking at motherboards and this one has caught my eye.... what do you lot think????

GIGABYTE S775 INTEL-EP31 4XDDRII-800 1333FSB GBE LAN ENERGY DURABILITY ATX MOTHERBOARD - £43.40

i cant really spend anymore than im already spending so i picked on at around the same price, will it do the job?? or would i be better off spending less on other parts and getting a more expensive mobo??

core 2 system (there's a deal on motherboard, processor, ram combo)

Core2Duo.jpg


quad core (woops over spent a little, worth extra 70 defs)



640gb hard drive can be had for another 12 quid, and if you keep your eye out on http://www.hotukdeals.com, you can pick up some badman bargains. didn't incluse the case+case fans, coz im sure there fine already.

thanks... i prob wont get that system but will defo look into some of those parts.... and i noticed they do free shipping :thumbs:
 
ok, ive completely redone the spec, heres the new one......


mobo:
MSI P35 Neo2-FR iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140205
£61.87


cpu:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971
£112.21


psu:
Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU - ATX v2.2, Silent/Temp Control, Active PFC, SLI/Crossfire Certified
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/112899
£36.99


hd:
Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130826
£42.99


ram:
Kingston 2gb Kit (2x1gb) Ddr2 800mhz/pc2-6400 Hyperx Memory Non-ecc Cl4
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129177
£26.99


gfx:
Asus EN6200LE 64MB Turbocache supporting 256MB DDR DVI PCI-E Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994
£17.81


heatsink:
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994
£15.56


casefan:
Xilence Red Wing 92mm Quiet Fan - 3&4pin connection
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138589
£3.99



looking better???

anyone know if this lot is defo compatible??
 
great!! whats the noise like???
Not much, my fridge bothers me more. Very silent.

seems alot of you are saying i should have two hdd's..... is there a reason two identical ones are better??
i do have an old hdd i could maybe use for XP and programs and what not.... would that be no good??

you only need 2 identical drives if you decide to use a RAID array. In that case both drives have identical data and the seek and transfer speeds go way up, useful when working with many tracks of audio. Also more reliable than just one disk, but requires some expertise when installing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID You could easily use the old HD as a backup, but dont install windows or your audio stuff on it, it is probably way slower in search & transfer times than the new SATA drives. Would be good for a backup drive though.


ive seen the acoustic damping stuff, was already gonna get some.... not the expensive stuff though as im not sure how long i'll be using this case for.... eventually i wanna get a sonata or something

I spent insane amounts of time trying to decide what components were the most silent and what to get, and Silent PC Review helped me out enormously. Not just silent components but he way you set up your case, cabling etc. affects this. Silicon fan mounts are the thing!

should i buy identical ram??? or is mixing and matching ok??????

Mixing different brands is ok but you can probably get a kit of 4gb quite cheap nowadays. Though if using Windows XP it only recognises 3gb of ram, thats wanky. If price becomes an issue, just get the 2GB and upgrade later, its usually easy enough to clip on more ram and the prices are dropping even as we chew on this bull.

Peace.
 
400w's a bit short for a psu on that spec, up it to 500,

I dont understand why people always get too much wattage for their needs... The biggest electro-hogs are gaming rigs with high end graphics cards and multiple HD systems (we're talking 3 or more drives here)..
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp. I hitnk you could save a few bucks - the calculator gave me 263W when i used your system in it + a little more just to be sure.

I use a similar system but with 4GB of ram and a geforce 8800gt which supposedly eats a lot of juice but my psu (430w seasonic) works just well with it. Ofcourse heavy overclocking will become an issue but i have no such plans of now.

Your list looks compatible to me.
 
I dont understand why people always get too much wattage for their needs... .

totally agree m8, i run a amd quad core with 4gb ram with a 400watt psu and it runs like a dream. a bigger psu wont hurt but why spend extra wen tbh it aint needed
 
I dont understand why people always get too much wattage for their needs... The biggest electro-hogs are gaming rigs with high end graphics cards and multiple HD systems (we're talking 3 or more drives here)..
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp. I hitnk you could save a few bucks - the calculator gave me 263W when i used your system in it + a little more just to be sure.

I use a similar system but with 4GB of ram and a geforce 8800gt which supposedly eats a lot of juice but my psu (430w seasonic) works just well with it. Ofcourse heavy overclocking will become an issue but i have no such plans of now.

Your list looks compatible to me.

oh i dont really know much about fans, but i got a 500 watt one for like 10-15 quid delivered on ebay new not long ago, bit useless in my 3.4 pentium d 1.5gb ram system though.
 
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