New PC with around $600 budget?

[l Thomas l]

Im just wondering what kind of PC I can expect to get with that budget. Tell me about AMD/pentium and radeon/nvidia.. Last I know about is when Pentium just came out with Core 2 DUo.

Is there anywhere that will build one for you with all good parts (Im not talking Dell or Gateway or Mac or companies like that)? Or is it still way cheaper to build it yourself

I forgot to tell you Im using it for Audio and Video Production, but Video is not important at all, its mostly Audio. I might put one game on it but thats not important at all, but Im sure I can get a decent graphics card, I have a 7600 right now so anything would be better.

Also Im not too worried about a sound card, I have an Mbox, but Im willing to get one if it fits my budget.

 

[AVP]

Im guessing it will probably depend on whether or not you need an OS and peripherals. If so get a Dell / HP if not then for that price you could build yourself.

 

[l Thomas l]

I have a monitor and OS I have 32bit Windows XP Pro, I have pretty much every other peripheral too, including external hd, but I do want a decent internal one with a decent amount of space (like 300) but I also want it to be fast more than have a lot of storage space.. I might want 64 bit to support more memory/other faster hardware later down the road. Do you think I'll really need it? I would be willing to pay extra for the OS, over the budget, since I'll be able to use it again. Anyway, Anything faster than what I have now is definitely gonna speed up my work.

 

[Arglebargle]

Hmn, an audio computer, eh. Some general ideas here.

Case choices are idiosyncratic: Do you need the system to be very quiet for live audio recording? Are you going to be doing it all electronically? Do you want it to look like Aliens have landed and nested inside it?

It could be well worth the effort and expense to get a Quad Core processor, as most of the DAW software now can use all the cores. I would stick with 32bit XP until after Windows 7 is out for a little bit. Early reports on Win7 from audio studio guys are very good. Stability and dependability will be more important than blazing speed.

I would go with 4GB of Ram, as 2x2 sets of DDR2 are pretty cheap now, and if you upgrade the OS to 64bit, you will be able to use it all.

Sweet spot right now for hard drives seems to be the Western Digital 640GB drives. But there are other good choices, and prices are dropping. I have two of the WDs and am pretty happy with them. For serious recording, you really want to get two hard drives. One for OS/programs, the other for the audio recording drive. Very fast, decent storage amount. If you are going to be using 32 bit XP, you would generally want a smaller, quieter video card, with 256 Megs of memory. It steals less memory from your ram. Of course, any gaming will suffer from this sort of card.

Now this is all based on an Intel set up. I don't know the AMD lines as well, and there have been problems in the past with Nforce chipsets not working well with audio production. I am pretty sure that comparable systems can be worked up with an AMD processor/MB. ATI has also had the occasional difficulty with their graphics cards and audio work. That said, the AMD/ATI set up has been used with no problem by quite a few.

Have you got your audio interface already? What recording software are you using? Have you looked at Reaper yet?

Ballpark figures:

A good MB - around $100
CPUs (intel quad core) - $100 - 175
hard disk - $60-70 @
4GB memory - $20-40
Case - Anything from 30-100+ depending
Power supply - $40-75
Video Card - $50-150

 

[l Thomas l]

Im not even recording yet, I record at a real studio. I do wanna keep that option open for the future, but I dont think Im gonna be recording with the computer for a while, maybe not until its time to get another computer.

I dont mind a 256MB card. I might play BF2, GTA San Andreas, and Counter Strike. So the games are not very demanding. I was playing em with a 9800 so I can settle for anything. It would be nice to play at higher settings but its really not a priority.

Yeah I already have a Mbox 2 mini and Pro Tools 7.4LE. Im not seriously into recording yet, other than my DJ mixes. Im more into editing and maybe mixing sessions taken home from the studio.

Thanks.

 

[l Thomas l]

Another question is I have 32bit Windows XP Pro.. With SP3 you can have up to 4GB of RAM right? And what about quad or triple core? I know the CPU/RAM will also depend on the programs I'm using, but what about just for the OS? Is it OK to have 32bit XP? Would an upgrade to 64bit XP do anything? I dont want to get Vista.

 

[skulkingghost]

@Thomas, SP3 supports up to 4gb and quad cores are fine. 32bit xp is sitll fine, and very stable. I would not recommend to upgrade to 64bit unless you use 64bit applications.

Here is a computer I put together for you on newegg, total cost is 573, which leaves cash left for shipping (came to $601.53 for me.) This pc should last you a few years, and will be great for all your needs:

AMD Phenom 9950 Agena 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core - $130

ECS A780GM-A AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - $70

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 - $58

Rosewill RP500-2 500W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply - $50

GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready - $130

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB - $70

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - $26

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 - $40

 

[l Thomas l]

^ wait so did amd ever catch up to intel after core 2 duo?

 

[Lunyone]

Originally posted by: l Thomas l
^ wait so did amd ever catch up to intel after core 2 duo?

Well AMD is quite a bit closer now. Not sure you can claim that they have caught them, unless your comparing the Phenom II x4 to the C2Q's. The i7 is a bit better than AMD's PhII x4's, but it all depends on what your doing and what benchmarks you follow. AMD has the better value, IMHO, but that doesn't mean that Intel doesn't have good values either.

Rosewill RP500-2 500W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply - $50

I wouldn't recommend any Rosewill/Raidmax/Aspire PSU to anyone. These aren't what I'd really call reliable PSU companies. I'd rather have someone spend a bit more for a better quality PSU than offer someone a marginal at best PSU. If you want to have a quality PSU, look at Corsair/PCP&C/Seasonic/Antec PSU's. These companies have 3-5 yr warranties on their PSU's and also have good customer support for them. Their PSU's are rated correctly (not rated by peak power) and can operate under higher temperatures than the previously mentioned PSU companies. The PSU selected above is rated as a 500w PSU, but in fact it's probably not much better than a quality 400w PSU.

I'd recommend the PSU listed below:
$50 - $10 MIR = $40!! It has 30A on the 12v rail and is >80% efficient.
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

 

[l Thomas l]

Would it be worth it to spend $700 instead of $600? And I dont want to just spend it on extra hard drive space, cuz I'lll be buying external drives in the future anyway.

Ah, well I'm not getting a i7 cuz I dont want to spend that much, so it wont make a difference AMD or Intel? If AMD has better value, I dont see why not to go with them instead of Intel, unless Intels run more efficiently/cooler/whatever.

I'll probably get something like what sulkingghost suggested, but yeah I wont buy a Rosewill PSU, I'll probably get a Seasonic, or an Antec if it comes in a combo with the case that I end up getting. By the way, whats a quiet case? since Im looking to spend a little extra, maybe I can get a more silent case.
I'll also probably get a graphics card thats not as good, I barely play on the computer now that I have a new Xbox, and the games dont need a great graphics card anyway.

Oh and I dont want to overclock.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[M0RPH]

Hmm, don't care about overclockin, don't need high-end graphics or huge hard drive. Sounds like you might be better off with a Dell. You can get great deals on Dells in this price range and get a copy of Vista too. Why use a 8-year old OS on a brand new computer?

Anyway, just a reminder that building is not always the best deal. In the $500 range, catching a good sale at Dell will usually get you a better deal than trying to build an equivalent system.

 

[l Thomas l]

I dont want to use Vista, I've heard about a lot of problems especially with audio related programs. Yeah I wasnt sure if building was a good deal or not, at least at that price range. But wont it be cheaper to get a good processor and more RAM if I build? I know I dont care much about everything else, except maybe a quiet case. And this Dell Dimension 4500 I have now uses a bunch of proprietary shit that makes it impossible to upgrade lol, I dont want that to happen again if I get another dell. Its very annoying.

What do you think? Wont it be cheaper to get a good processor, RAM, and case if I build myself? and better value

 

[M0RPH]

Ok I'll give you an example. Dell has 35% off $699 on Vostro at the moment. So you could get:

Vostro 220 / E8500 / 4GB / 320GB / Vista for $457 (integrated video, find a deal on video card and add it later)

See if you can build that much cheaper. Of course if you don't need or want the OS, you'll probably do better building.

Better deals can be had on Dells though if you wait for the right time.

And yeah, these are really not meant for a lot of upgrading. Keep it a couple of years and then sell it and get a new one. It's easier to sell a whole computer with an OS than it is to sell your old parts.

 

[Lunyone]

There are couple of reasons I don't like to get pre-built computers.
* Proprietary BIOS's that limit just about everything you can do. Yeah on budget systems it might not do much for you, but if you want to OC your parts, your probably out of luck here.
* BLOATWARE!!! Need I say more?? Who wants to take their new system and re-format it out of the box, so you can get rid of the bloatware?? I know I don't prefer to myself.
* Limited upgrade paths. The PSU might be the weakest link on most pre-built systems. Yeah Dell PSU's might work for most upgrades on the GPU, but this isn't always the case. I don't know about HP/Gateway's PSU's, so I can't comment on them yet.

Don't get me wrong, I've bought 4 laptops and 1 desktop from Dell in the last 3-4 years. They do have some good deals from time to time, but for my personal use, I'd rather build one from scratch and spend just a bit more, knowing that I don't have to deal with the above mentioned shortcummings.

 

[l Thomas l]

Yeah thats true I got a decent deal on a Vostro laptop for Black Friday in 2007. Technology advanced so much since then haha. But anyway, after some research, you're right, I can get a damn good deal at entry level. But as soon as I upgrade anything, its ridicously overpriced. For example to upgrade from 2GB of RAM to 4GB, its $75!! I could get 4GB of RAM total for less than that. And for every $50 increment for the processor, it cost about $100 more instead of $50.

But now that I think about it, anything will be so much better and faster than what I have now, and what I'm doing in terms of audio production is not all that computer intensive, so maybe I dont even need to upgrade for a while. I could just get one of the entry levels and upgrade from there. It would also save a lot of time building the computer, since I never built one before but Im 100% sure I could do it.

 

[l Thomas l]

Yeah the proprietary BIOS on this Dell has no options at all lol. I mean I understand preventing overclocking, but seriously there's almost no options to change anything.

Bloatware - I have to say the Vostro laptop I got had nothing on it, besides maybe 2-3 programs for the touchpad, sound card, etc, that took about 2 minutes to uninstall. Vostros are the business model so they come with nothing extra.

Limited upgrade paths - I agree lol.. The dimension 4500 I have is terrible..the motherboard, PSU, and case, all prevent you from upgrading lol!!

Its just now that I think about it, I wont really be doing much computer intensive stuff. I mean if I can do everything now, just slowly, I'll be able to get by with almost anything I get lol.



Im heavily considering the Vostro 420 desktop right now, with no upgrades, cuz they're overpriced. It comes with Vista and XP. And I'll get an extra monitor lol.