Building an Itunes computer.

ncasebee

Member
Jun 11, 2005
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I need to put together a system for a person. His needs are simple. All that will be done is chatting, browsing the internet, hotmail, and heavy heavy itunes use. I'm a gamer and am so used to looking at the high end parts, I don't know where to start looking for parts that would fit this bill. I don't know what kinda of processor speed I should shoot for. I was thinking Intel Celeron D. I was also thinking mobo audio and video, but don't really know which built in audio and video options are the best. I guess the most important thing is sound, but I think that an onboard audio would be just fine. There isn't going to be any gaming, so wouldn't onboard audio be sufficient?

Any suggestions?

For gaming, there is sharkyextreme's Buyer's Guides. However, even the value buyer's guide is a little bit too high end. Know any other resources that suggest good components for a decent workstation? Thx
 

imported_itr

Senior member
Mar 2, 2005
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get him a dell, add a Chaintech AV-710 sound card and a nice pair of speakers. hmm, i wounder if you can diable dell's onboard sound.
 

imported_goku

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2004
7,613
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Build him a sempron system or just pickup a used 1GHZ PIII computer for cheap, outfit it with some up to date things (New HDD), more ram etc. Anything above 500MHZ for use like that is practically overkill.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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Decent Dell, HP, or Emachines comp, add nice soundcard (like the AV710 for a cheap stereo one). A Revo would be good if it's surround, and maybe even a EMU for headphones (though that may be a bit over the top).
 

ncasebee

Member
Jun 11, 2005
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I want to build the computer myself. It really does help in tech support if I know EXACTLY what is in that machine....

The Chaintech a good audio card? Yeah, I remember reading a review. That sound card would do very nicely.
What about onboard video? Or a video card? Which video card would I choose? A Geforce MX?
Cases?
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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The Chaintech is good for stereo, but not great for surround sound. The Revo 5.1 and 7.1 are good surround cards for the money, with the E-MU 0404 being the best CotS without going to insane prices. For real listening, forget onboard. There are only going to be a handful of boards out there with onboard sound that's good enough, and picking them out isn't going to be easy.

For video, if gaming isn't an issue, go with a nice passive card that has a big heatsink. For future Windows use, maybe make it a DX 9 one. Get a passive mobo, if possible. For cheap, a s754 Sempron would be a good way to go. The 1.6GHz is pretty hard to beat for price and performance. If cost isn't as much of a concern, go for a cheap but solid 939 solution, like a 3000+ on a VNF4.

For a case...how big does it need to be, and what is important? Any of the recent Antec case & PSU combos are very good, and will make for easy builds (the 2650 and 3000 less so, but not bad by any means).
 

fuzzynavel

Senior member
Sep 10, 2004
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SKT 754 sempron with onboard video and sound....
512MB Value RAM
Case and PSU of your choice....

As some one else said earlier...if you can find a PIII500MHz or above that would be ideal as the applications listed aren't exactly taxing on computer hardware!
 

kyparrish

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2003
5,935
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let me just throw this out there...

I've got ~4,000 songs in my iTunes library, and scrolling through them was much quicker once I upgraded to 1 gig of ram from 512mb. Might want to consider that.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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86
Originally posted by: GamerExpress
Originally posted by: itr

hmm, i wounder if you can disable dell's onboard sound.
QFT
Why QFT? What does disabling onboard have to do with anything? First, of course you can--there are at least two ways to get there in Windows. Second, just set a card as default for all playback and recording, and don't worry about the onboard being enabled or not.

 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
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imac mini with ram upgrade
or whatever u can cram in a sonata case. semrpon...stay away from celeron
 

ncasebee

Member
Jun 11, 2005
63
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I'm building the computer. Not buying it, sorry guys. I'm also not delving into the world of mac. Here's what I've got.

1.5Ghz AMD Sempron
PC Parts Socket A Mobo
I found some old parts I have:
Sound Blaster Live audio card
3D Blaster Annihilator card....I think it's a Geforce 256 or a Geforce 2. Great card, I used to run Half-Life on it.

All I'm down to is a case. I'm having a really really hard time. I don't want to spend 100$ on a case, when the entire system isn't even that much. I want a plain white box, with power supply. A rectangular white box. That's it. I don't want colors or dudads, or strange power buttons. Know of any? Even the solution Antec's start at $75 dollars, and they are just white boxes, they have uneeded flair.
 

hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Originally posted by: ncasebee
I'm building the computer. Not buying it, sorry guys. I'm also not delving into the world of mac. Here's what I've got.

1.5Ghz AMD Sempron
PC Parts Socket A Mobo
I found some old parts I have:
Sound Blaster Live audio card
3D Blaster Annihilator card....I think it's a Geforce 256 or a Geforce 2. Great card, I used to run Half-Life on it.

All I'm down to is a case. I'm having a really really hard time. I don't want to spend 100$ on a case, when the entire system isn't even that much. I want a plain white box, with power supply. A rectangular white box. That's it. I don't want colors or dudads, or strange power buttons. Know of any? Even the solution Antec's start at $75 dollars, and they are just white boxes, they have uneeded flair.

Did you already buy the motherboard and/or CPU? Because if not, you really should go with a socket-754 Sempron, not the socket-A version.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
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91

ncasebee

Member
Jun 11, 2005
63
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No, Still gotta get speakers....but I thought that is something I could leave for staples.

I'm building this system not buying it. I have left over video and audio cards.

Just need Case-PSU/CPU/Mobo.

Looking at a Sempron 64 now, Socket 754.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
91
Originally posted by: ncasebee
No, Still gotta get speakers....but I thought that is something I could leave for staples.

I'm building this system not buying it. I have left over video and audio cards.

Just need Case-PSU/CPU/Mobo.

Looking at a Sempron 64 now, Socket 754.

"leave for staples" = buy speakers at the store named "staples"?

(Just making sure)
 

Wellsoul2

Member
May 12, 2005
85
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With decent speakers I'd spend the $30 for the Chaintech AV-710.

I went from SBLIVE to AV-710 and it's a big difference in stereo.

(Ended up going back to Creative with an Audigy 2 ZS but I play
games alot. For Stereo the AV-710 is even slightly better than ZS
IMHO.)