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Building an Itunes computer.

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Originally posted by: ncasebee
No....The 754 sempron is better? Is that the 64 bit Sempron?
Click to expand...

Some (but not all) 754 Semprons have x64 extensions, but that's not the reason why you should get it....

Motherboard prices....

dirt cheapest socket-A board: $38 @ Newegg
decent (nForce2) socket-A board: $47 @ Newegg

dirt cheapest socket 754 board: $47 @ Newegg
decent (nForce3) socket 754 board: $54 @ Newegg

So you see that socket 754 motherboards are roughly $7-$9 more expensive than socket A boards, depending on the features you need.

socket A:
$62 Sempron 2200+ (1.50 GHz)
$68 Sempron 2400+ (1.58 GHz)
$77 Sempron 2500+ (1.75 GHz)

socket 754:
$63 Sempron 64 2600+ (1.6 GHz, 128 KB L2)
$76 Sempron 64 2800+ (1.6 GHz, 256 KB L2)

As you can see, if you need to spend less than $110 on the motherboard and CPU, together, then you have to go with socket A. However, for $110 you can get a Sempron 64 2600+, compared to $115 for a socket-A Sempron 2500+ or $106 for a Sempron 2400+. If you demand a quality motherboard, that just gives socket 754 a further advantage.
 
Socket 754 has a big performance boost over s754 over a socket A board. I would honestly suggest s754 and you should look for the sempron that says 64bit which is still relatively new.
 
I just built my mom a system with a Semperon 2400+, ati 9250, 512mb ram complete with monitor, keyboard, etc for $500.

You should build him a lower end system. $60 semperon or so. Get him a 80gb harddrive if he just has music. Should be able to fit in some nice speakesr and sound card and keep it under $500 with monitor, etc.
 
Originally posted by: ncasebee
What is evercase? A brand name? Plain Jane?
Click to expand...
Manufacturer. The 4252 and 4292 are nice cheap cases, with good performance and not too hard to quiet down. G ot...you get one guess...Newegg 🙂.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me as though you are just more interested in building it then giving him exactly what he needs to get by. The iMac Mini I would think would fit this bill nearly perfectly.

 
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.
Click to expand...

Absurd....

He wants a computer to be used mainly for playback of digital audio and you're going to let him buy speakers at staples???? Come on! At the least he should pick up a Klipsh Pro Audio 2.1 sound system for about $100, or if he really wants to spring for a good setup he should pickup what I have which is a Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 system.

http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/stor...category=spk_multimedia&item=k1pkm22zz

I also agree with the poster who previously mentioned 1Gb of RAM. This is a must.

 
Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
Originally posted by: ncasebee
No....The 754 sempron is better? Is that the 64 bit Sempron?
Click to expand...

Some (but not all) 754 Semprons have x64 extensions, but that's not the reason why you should get it....

Motherboard prices....

dirt cheapest socket-A board: $38 @ Newegg
decent (nForce2) socket-A board: $47 @ Newegg

dirt cheapest socket 754 board: $47 @ Newegg
decent (nForce3) socket 754 board: $54 @ Newegg

So you see that socket 754 motherboards are roughly $7-$9 more expensive than socket A boards, depending on the features you need.

socket A:
$62 Sempron 2200+ (1.50 GHz)
$68 Sempron 2400+ (1.58 GHz)
$77 Sempron 2500+ (1.75 GHz)

socket 754:
$63 Sempron 64 2600+ (1.6 GHz, 128 KB L2)
$76 Sempron 64 2800+ (1.6 GHz, 256 KB L2)

As you can see, if you need to spend less than $110 on the motherboard and CPU, together, then you have to go with socket A. However, for $110 you can get a Sempron 64 2600+, compared to $115 for a socket-A Sempron 2500+ or $106 for a Sempron 2400+. If you demand a quality motherboard, that just gives socket 754 a further advantage.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it would be absurd to save $10 and NOT buy Socket 754 with the Semperon's 64-bit instruction set..... Are we really talking about $10 here??? I mean, it costs more to take your girlfriend to McDonalds......
 
Why the mini when you can build a cmpp that is more powreful for the same price? IMO, the op's friend will feel the pain when he tries to encode his collection of songs, anf it takes the whole day, or when he tries to encode video.
 
Just get a Mac Mini for him. It's perfect for his needs and will be more than powerful enough for any other task. He won't be calling you for tech support either.
 
I'm sorry it had to come to this 🙂, but.......NO IMAC MINI. There. I don't think you understand I have to tech support too. How do I tech support a platform...I have never used.Also, I would have to buy an entire new suite of software for the new "platform." Sorry, but I'm not doing this. 🙂

I really appreciate all the advice guys.

Slowest Sempron 64 754 I can get on Newegg.com
Socket 754 Mobo, Don't know which?
Geforce 256
Sound Blaster Live vs. Chaintech Sound Card. I doubt he will notice the difference. The person has an Ipod, so that's where most of the listening is.
The cases recommended look very good.
100$ for speakers. WOW. I can't really do that. This is an uber cheap pc, for an uber grandma user.

Hmmm.
 
Originally posted by: ncasebee
I'm sorry it had to come to this 🙂, but.......NO IMAC MINI. There. I don't think you understand I have to tech support too. How do I tech support a platform...I have never used.Also, I would have to buy an entire new suite of software for the new "platform." Sorry, but I'm not doing this. 🙂

I really appreciate all the advice guys.

Slowest Sempron 64 754 I can get on Newegg.com
Socket 754 Mobo, Don't know which?
Geforce 256
Sound Blaster Live vs. Chaintech Sound Card. I doubt he will notice the difference. The person has an Ipod, so that's where most of the listening is.
The cases recommended look very good.
100$ for speakers. WOW. I can't really do that. This is an uber cheap pc, for an uber grandma user.

Hmmm.
Click to expand...

With a Mac, you won't be needing "tech support."
 
If you want to go with a Sempron 64, you have several options for a motherboard...

The Epox 8KDA3 series, starting at $64, are just fabulous overclockers. I got my Sempron 2800+ all the way to 2.4 GHz on stock cooling with one of those. However, I'm not sure if you actually plan on overclocking. If not, you can save $17 and just get a basic s754 board for $47. The performance differences between chipsets are pretty much negligible, so I recommend picking out a motherboard based solely on features. If you need integrated graphics, it will cost slightly more: here's an integrated board for $52.
 
Originally posted by: hatim
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
Originally posted by: biostud
iMac mini?
Click to expand...

yup
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

The Mac Mini is a bad idea, for lots of reasons. First of all, if this guy likes music, it'd be nice for him to be able to have an audio-in port. The Mac Mini doesn't have one. It's also more expensive than a well-designed Sempron 64 system. For every feature you need, like a big hard disk, a lot of memory or a DVD burner, the price difference becomes more and more pronounced. Mac software is also very expensive, whereas a lot of Windows utilities are actually free to download legally. Also, Sempron 64 systems are faster than the G4s offered by Apple.

As if all that weren't enough, the guy has specifically said that he does not want an Apple Macintosh, because he needs to be able to offer tech support for his friend.
 
Originally posted by: itr
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.
Click to expand...

Yes, did it on my Dell... now my Audigy works like a charm 🙂
 
I'm really surprised at a lot of the responses so far; I'm usually the one that low-balls spec recommendations around here.. most are acting like iTunes is just some WinAmp type of app. NEWSFLASH folks, iTunes is a huge resource-hog, especially if you've got a good sized library of songs to load every time you start the app. Ripping w/ iTunes also taxes the system. e.g. - w/ my 566 my typical rip-rates run around 2.3 to 2.7, w/ my 1.8 (1gig ram) lappy they're in the 19 - 20 range. That's a friggin' huge difference.

For the OP, unless your friend enjoys sitting around waiting for apps to open and files to burn, I'd recommend something quite a bit beefier than most of the responders so far. Nothing absurd but something like a 3000 venice w/ 1 gig of value select.
 
iTunes is a resource-hog, sure, but getting an Athlon 64 3000+ instead of a Sempron 64 2600+ is not going to make too much of a difference. The focus should be more on RAM than the CPU.

Also, a DVD burner is more than enough to archive a bunch of ~140 kbps AAC songs.
 
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