New Music PC Spec

[adam subtrak]

So i'm finally getting round to building myself a music PC... I've never done it before, and if i'm honest i dont know a lot about PC hardware, but I've done a lot of research and I figure that if i take my time, it will be worth it because i'll learn a lot, and will be able to upgrade a lot more easily in the future...

The spec i'm looking at is below... I thought it would be a good idea to post it up here, so people who know their stuff could tell me if its ok, or if theres any problems with it... are there any components on the list that i should avoid? or are there any that i've missed off? (I don't want to do any overclocking to my system)
The areas that i'm not so sure about, and would really appreciate some advice on, is RAM, PSU, and the case.

Thanks in advance for any help!


PROCESSOR

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112706/rb/0
£132.99 inc VAT

CPU FAN

Arctic Cooling (AC FRZ 64P) Freezer64 Pro Socket 754 939 940 CPU Cooler with Heat pipe cooling Pro Ver
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/101471
£11.33 inc VAT


MOTHERBOARD

ASUS P5B Socket 775 Core 2 ready P965 chipset onboard audio ATX
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113965/rb/0
£59.75 inc VAT


RAM

Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 675MHz PC2 5400 XMS Memory Non ECC Unbuffered CL4(4 4 4 12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98708
£54.99 inc VAT

OR

Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz PC2 6400 XMS2 Memory Non ECC Unbuffered CL5(5 5 5 12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98710
£70.00 inc VAT


HARD DRIVE 1

Seagate ST3250820AS 250GB 7200RPM SATA300 8MB Cache OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111515
£38.39 inc VAT


HARD DRIVE 2
Seagate ST380215AS 80GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 2MB Cache OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128704
£27.76 inc VAT


DVD-RW & CD-RW DRIVE

Samsung SH S183 SATA 18x DVD±RW RAM Black Bare Drive OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127260
£17.62 inc VAT



CASE

???


PSU

Antec NEO HE430GB 430W Modular PSU With 80mm Low Speed noise Fan 18db
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/99136
£48.30 inc VAT


SOUNDCARD

M-Audio AUDIOPHILE 2496
http://www.dv247.com/invt/2062?gclid=CNCd1dbc9Y0CFQQdEgodcBXTOQ
£49.99


FLATSCREEN MONITOR

LG 192WS 19" Widescreen (1440 X 900) 5ms 700:1 Silver & Black MultiMedia TFT Monitor 3 Years Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=124897
£114.57 inc VAT

OR

19" Hannstar AH191 S&B WideScreen MM LCD. Resolution:1440x900 (WXGA), Response:5ms, Brightness:300cd/m2, Contrast:700:1, Viewing Angle: H:170° V:160°, DVI. 3 Year Warranty
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hannstar-AH191-WideScreen-LCD-Resolution/dp/B000QUTTBA/ref=sr_1_2/203-1778587-5179151?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186566179&sr=1-2
£89.99

OR

Acer AL1916WAs - Flat panel display - TFT - 19" - widescreen - 1440 x 900 - 300 cd/m2 - 700:1 - 5 ms - 0.284 mm - VGA - black, silver
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-AL1916WAs-display-widescreen-silver/dp/B000GW8V4O/ref=sr_1_2/203-1778587-5179151?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186566503&sr=1-2
£110.80

 

[SteelZ]

Music PC with a C2D E6600?? Anyways.. u wont need DDR2-800 if ur just gonna use it for music, 667 is fine. Might wanna change ur mobo to P35 As u can save money on the CPU, as the supports the new FSB 1333 line and the FSB1333 line (E6X50) is cheaper than the FSB1066 line. (E6750 2.67 is cheaper than E6600 2.4). You wont even need a 2.4ghz Cpu! just save money and get a E4400 or something! its good enough for music and HD playback anyday!

Wheres the video Card?? if your gonna use this PC for music most likey ull watch HD Vids as well!! Just get a 8500GT if u want something cheap to keep the cpu usage down when watching them HD vids.

I have no comment on what Case you should get! cause it really doesnt matter!! PSU seems low if ur ever gonna upgrade eventually.

A 480W would be a little more reassuring when u upgrade (480W should handle a single 8800GTS)

 

[sharp910sh]

hmmm why do you need a music pc? l i would throw away the old e6600 and get the e6550 http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130485

or i would get the e6750 old 15 pounds more.

motherboard i would go with the gigabyte p35 dsr3 just to further proof yourself, its around 80 pounds.

psu i would go with the hiper type m 580 watt only 50 pounds.

harddrive is there any reason to go with 2 hard drives? when you can get a 320 gb hard drive for 40 pounds, then you can partition it for the os. saving you money.

ram- 667 mhz ram will do you fine

gpu- a 8600gt or a 8500 gt will do you fine, they hav no cooling fans so they shouldnt make any noise.

CPU fan there is no need for a cpu if your not overclocking the stock fan is fine.

other than that everything seems good.

 

[barneybadass]

Gawd.. this build if its truly only going to be for music is like shooting a fly with a howitzer

 

[jitpublisher]

You don't need much processing power or memory at all for a PC simply to play music or watch DVD's. Any base low-end system with a good sound card and a 8600 series video card to watch/play DVD's would be fine.

 

[adam subtrak]

just to clarify- this is not for simply playing music, but for producing it. I will be runnning cpu-hungry software, such as Steinberg Nuendo with Propellerheads Reason wired through, and a lot of VSTs.

what i need is something that will be STABLE while running these softwares.

 

[sharp910sh]

ok get the e6750 then, or maybe even the q6600. if you will be using alot of software at the same time. but dont get the e6600 you would be a fool to.

 

[adam subtrak]

cool i'll look into that - thanks... why would i be a fool to get the e6600 though? would be good to see some reasoning behind suggestions...

 

[aevm]

Antec P182 would be a good case for this because it's quiet.

Another vote for Q6600. We already had a thread a couple of weeks ago and it turned out that the software that poster used was already able tu use a quad CPU.

 

[asdftt123]

In my opinion, if you want a truly powerful and impressive music PC you should go with no less than a Quad-core processor (Q6600) which will do you wonders with audio editing, ripping, converting, etc and the HT Omega Claro Plus+, which is a true audiophile grade soundcard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271003

 

[sharp910sh]

the e6600 is the old 1066 fsb, therefore ot wont overclock as muhc, plus its oly 2.4ghz compared to the e6750 which is 2.67 ghz and its cheaper too with a 1333mhz fsb, so unless you want to pay for old technology go ahead. the e6600 is 130 pounds. the e6750 is 120 pounds. you understand? plus the e6750 can overclock to 3.7ghz and can reach 4ghz on a good cooling system. while you will be pushed to get 3,6ghz on the e6600

or you can get the q6600 for 175 pounds. its a quad therefore will run better on multi-thread applications or if you run alot of cpu intensive software at the same time.

plus it can overclock to 3.2ghz easily too if you get a chip with G0 stepping, which basically means it uses less power and doesn't run as hot, compared to b3 steeping.

 

[adam subtrak]

thanks for all the responses - i dont think i really need quad core, so im gonna plump for the e6750. I'm not going to be doing any overclocking but it definitely seems like the best option for the price!

 

[Dante_Jose_Cuervo]

Just to chime in here.. your CPU fan... it's not socket 775 compatible from what I've seen here. Also... just to put in my little say here, I honestly think you could see some benefit from a quad-core CPU if you're running a lot of CPU-intensive programs, but only if they can take advantage of the extra cores. Who knows, maybe you could look into it?

 

[SteelZ]

NOTE!!: If your gonna go for the E6750 u gotta change ur MOBO! p965 doesnt support FSB 1333!! only the P35 and the nvidia 650i/680i supports FSB 1333 with a bios update

 

[adam subtrak]

Thanks again for all the replies - some really useful stuff in here...

Here is my updated spec... please let me know what y'all think!

PROCESSOR

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz 1333FSB Socket 775 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130484
£120.07 inc VAT


MOTHERBOARD

ABIT IP35-E Intel P35 LGA775 Motherboard
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/ABIT+IP35-E+Intel+P35+LGA775+Motherboard+?productId=27254
£67.62 inc. VAT

RAM

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=402849
£66.55 Inc VAT

HARD DRIVE 1

Seagate ST3320620AS 320GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115418
£50.01 inc VAT


HARD DRIVE 2

Seagate 80GB Barracuda SATAII 7200RPM 8MB Cache OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113697
£27.98 inc VAT


DVD-RW & CD-RW DRIVE

Samsung SH S183 SATA 18x DVD±RW RAM Black Bare Drive OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/127260
£17.62 inc VAT


CASE

Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case, Silver (no PSU)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=462626
£79.89 Inc VAT

OR

JEANTECH Phong II, MIDI ATX Case, Front LED gauge, 120mm x 1, 140mm x1, NO PSU
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?JEA-PHOO2
£39.98 Inc VAT



PSU

Corsair HX Series 520W Modular PSU ATX12V v2.2 APFC
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/?qfind=Corsair+HX+Series+520W&x=0&y=0
£69.37 Inc. VAT

SOUNDCARD

M-Audio AUDIOPHILE 2496
http://www.dv247.com/invt/2062?gclid=CNCd1dbc9Y0CFQQdEgodcBXTOQ
£49.99

GRAPHICS CARD

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/nVIDIA+GeForce+7+Series/+Albatron+GeForce+7100GS+128MB?productId=25328


MONITOR

LG 192WS 19" Widescreen (1440 X 900) 5ms 700:1 Silver & Black MultiMedia TFT Monitor 3 Years Warranty
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=124897
£114.57 inc VAT

 

[sharp910sh]

Everything seems good except i would go with the p180b case, very large, very good air flow with chambers to keep air flow high, without mixing hot and cold air together.

graphics card is very very weak, don't expect to do much with it at all not even play a single games, but if you just want to edit music it seems fine to me.

maybe you can get a single 500gb hdd and partition it for the OS saves you a bit on money there without any performance loss.

 

[ausch30]

I would suggest this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=291364 or http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=291363 for your memory, both will run at the optimal 1:1 ratio with the CPU you selected and will save you a little money. And I would suggest this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130454 for your HDD, it's less expensive than buying two and has a higher capacity than both the other ones combined.

 

[adam subtrak]

Everything seems good except i would go with the p180b case, very large, very good air flow with chambers to keep air flow high, without mixing hot and cold air together.

graphics card is very very weak, don't expect to do much with it at all not even play a single games, but if you just want to edit music it seems fine to me.

maybe you can get a single 500gb hdd and partition it for the OS saves you a bit on money there without any performance loss.

Thanks - I'll check that case out... Re: the graphics card, i dont want to play any games at all, perhaps watch DVDs but i think something like that will do for me... i will also look into getting just one HDD to save some money!

 

[adam subtrak]

I would suggest this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=291364 or http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=291363 for your memory, both will run at the optimal 1:1 ratio with the CPU you selected and will save you a little money. And I would suggest this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130454 for your HDD, it's less expensive than buying two and has a higher capacity than both the other ones combined.

Thanks for the suggestions... I've been told by a few of my music colleagues to go for at least 6400 800mhz ram so think im gonna stick with that, and i'll look into the HDD you recommended, although i'd quite like to stick with Seagate since a lot of friends have told me to buy nothing else.

 

[adam subtrak]

a few more questions:

does anyone have any experience of the ABIT motherboard I have selected?

is a 520W PSU sufficient? or should i be looking at something more like 600W?

Thanks again - you guys have been very helpful!

 

[dafreaking]

The 520 Watt PSU that you have chosen is perfect for your requirements.

 

[sharp910sh]

520 watt is more than fine, you could run a 8800 gtx with that power, so nothing to worry about. and the motherboard is very good too.

 

[fyak1]

A question regarding noise.

Are you going to be recording live instruments, and if so what environment will you be recording in, and will the pc be in the same room?

 

[adam subtrak]

Cool i will stick with that PSU and Motherboard!

@fyak1: good question. at the moment i won't be recording live instruments, but i would like to be able to in the future, and yes, its likely that the computer will be in the same room because this pc will probably always be in a home studio.
I have tried to keep noise to a minimum, so i doubt the noise of this build would be too much of a problem would it?

That leads nother question:
Will I need to buy a CPU fan (as i have suggested in my list) or will I be OK without? Remember that I do not intend to overclock this PC (if that makes any difference)!

 

[continuation]

If all you need for this PC is producing music and playing DVD, don't get a discreet graphics card. A motherboard with integrated graphics is more than enough. By going the integrated graphics route, you'll get a quieter and cooler PC, not to mention saving money.