Multimedia Computer

[nooblark]

Hi everyone,

My friend is making a recording studio in his basement.. need a comp for it, this is what i was thinking about:

graphics card- ?
soundcard- a good soundblaster (im unfamilar with em though)
ram- 512-1gig (dunno if there is better ram for multimedia purposes)
cpu- ? (does this even matter?)
hd- 120gig sound big enough?
mobo- ? needs usb and firewire
cd drive- i was just going to get lite-ons.. unless something is better
psu- ? any specific watt recomended?
windows- xp.. home? pro?

i have no idea what a multimedia cmputer needs as you can tell :), tell me if i missed antyhing and im up for suggestions.. price range (try and keep it low.. no idea how much more is needed for a multimedia comp)

[glc]

Forget Soundblasters - go M-Audio. Those are made for that kind of work. CPU doesn't matter, just get a fast one with a lot of cache - a full P4 or A64. At least a gig of ram. I'd get about an 80 gig drive for OS and apps and a huge data drive. Video card, unless you are gonna game with it, a 40 buck Radeon 9250 is plenty - or a 70 buck X300SE if you go PCI-E.

[nooblark]

cpu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116178
sound card- (i know nothing about em, going M-Audio though)
graphics- 9250 sounds good :)
ram- dual channel (2x 512's)

[ComputerNut]

Ive got a home recording studio right now. My cely system being used as the recording medium. In the near future, im gonna upgrade and go Athlon64, and get the M-Audio Audiophile 192 card (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile192-main.html). That card is perfect for home audio recording as it has the perfect connectors for hooking up to the outputs of a mixing console.

HTH,
CN :)

[glc]

I'd look at a different P4 - that one is only a 533 FSB.

If you are going to stick with AGP and want Intel, here's what I'd get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131511
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116200

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

Hard drives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148040
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148065

[nooblark]

i like the ideas, but i only reallly need what will help speed the programs and have good details on the sound. its going to be PURE audio, maybe about 500-600$$?

[glc]

You aren't gonna build a decent audio workstation for 600 bucks.

[nooblark]

well i did imply that i need a good price range, sorry for not saying it upfront.. about what is the range for one?

[glc]

We should be able to get one in for under a grand if we pick and choose carefully. This includes everything in the box and an OS but no monitor or peripherals.

[nooblark]

well as i said, its pure audio, so lets work with that, nothing more.. back to processor, getting a amd or lower intel can save about 100$

[glc]

A $75 processor isn't going to process audio very well. You are building a special purpose machine so you have to use the right components. You need a fast processor with a lot of cache and a pro audio card. You aren't going to get a $75 AMD or Intel that you will be happy with.

If all you are going to use it for is playing music that's already been recorded and processed, then don't even build, just buy a $299 Dell bargain basement special and throw an Audigy sound card into it. If this computer is going to be part of the recording/mixing process, then you need the right tools and a Sempron/Celeron and a consumer audio card ain't gonna cut it.

[nooblark]

yeh its going to be used for mixing/recording.. so where do i start? lets try and keep it under $900.00 usd ($100 will be used for case/psu/mouse/keyboard) = $1000.00.. we can live with that

[glc]

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131520 Asus P5GD1-VM $113.00 (Onboard video)

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116185 P4 520 2.8 Ghz $158.00

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 Corsair Value Select 2x512 PC3200 $78.00

Hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148065 Seagate 250gb SATA $150.00

That's $500. Figure another 100 bucks for a case AND a proper 24 pin power supply, we are up to 600. Figure 100 bucks for opticals, if you can afford it, get a SATA Plextor DVD burner for the primary burner, a cheap Lite-On IDE CD burner is fine for a second burner. We are up to 700 bucks.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Audiophile192/

There's your sound card. We are up to 900 bucks, incidentals (floppy, keyboard, firewire card, mouse, etc.) will still keep you under a grand. The only thing not in there is an operating system.

[nooblark]

that mobo was exactly what i was thinking :)

may i ask why the dvd burner was thrown in?

and design of the case don't matter, so ill find a cheap enlight case with psu

and of course windows is only 80$, do you suggest plain xp? or a differant form of xp?

**edit**

its kinda hard to find a case that is micro atx w/ good psu :( about how many watts should i look for?

[Staren]

Don't go with a micro atx case if you don't have to. Been there, done that, with my HTPC project. Most standard ATX cases have the hole placements for micro atx motherboards as well.

[nooblark]

well that helps ALOT thanks..

[glc]

I picked the DVD burner because it's SATA. I'm not aware of any SATA CD-only burners. Remember that the board only has one native IDE channel.

Note that your sound card and a Firewire card will take up both PCI slots on that micro board.

That board requires a 24 pin power supply, and I don't think Enlight has any cases yet with a 24 pin. Might be better off buying a cheap case with no power supply and putting in a proper power supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156011
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103935

[nooblark]

i was thinking of just using a 20 to 24 pin adaptor..

or maybe a differant mobo that is just atx and not micro?

[glc]

All boards that support PCI-Express require 24 pin power supplies. Using an adapter will work IF you have a beefy power supply, you are better off using the right power supply to begin with. It's not the micro that's determining this, I selected the micro because it has onboard video to save you the bucks a video card would cost.

[nooblark]

yeh i know thats why you chose it, and i agree i was saying using a regular so not limited on case (although most atx cases support it) or availabe slots

[glc]

There's always this board - uses standard 20 pin PSU, full size, 5 PCI slots:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131511

You will need a video card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102330

That way a plain jane Enlight case with a 350w PSU will work fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811116172

[giuseppe]

I've seen free standing input/output devices for home studio recording that interface with the computer via a USB port. I was considering one of these instead of upgrading my soundcard for home regarding. Since this wasn't mentioned on the above posts I'm beginning to think it's a bad idea.

[Staren]

You'd lose speed plugging into a USB port rather then a built-in sound card that is a given. I'm not sure if you would lose a lot of quality, but logic says you would lose 'something' forcing the data down a USB ware rather then the short hop over a PCI slot.

[David M]

M-Audio cards

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=59/vendors%5B%5D=BHMAU/sortby=priceD

[giuseppe]

The advantage though would be that I could use it on all my computers and my laptop.

[kram 2.0]

You'd lose speed plugging into a USB port rather then a built-in sound card that is a given. I'm not sure if you would lose a lot of quality, but logic says you would lose 'something' forcing the data down a USB ware rather then the short hop over a PCI slot.
Transfer speeds are considerably faster on the PCI slots than the USB 2.0 ports. Theoredcially, a USB 2.0 can transfer 60MB/sec (480 Megabits/sec) while a PCI slot can handle 1 GB/sec or 1000 Megabyte/sec (8Gbit/sec).

kram