Alienware for recording?

[torqueofficial]

Hey what's up?
I am currently looking for a new computer, specifically a desktop.
My laptop is a Daul Core, 3 Gb RAM, but it "freezes" when I am loading BIG projects. So because of that I want a new computer and I have been reading about the the Alienwares and they seem pretty good. Do any of you have any experience with that brand? Also, if you have any other recommendation, it would be really HELPFUL! thanks!

 

[torqueofficial]

My budget is about 1000 - 1200 $.

 

[iarebrandon]

you can get much better parts for the same price if you piece it together yourself. its not as hard as you would think. and you get to choose mac or windows. my computer was 800 dollars and i got the i7 proc, 12 gb ram, ssd hard drive and 1tb hard drive plus all the other parts that you need.

 

[torqueofficial]

Do you know about any good webpage where I can do that online?

 

[Damian B]

Newegg is the best place to buy computer parts in the United States. There are a lot of guides online about how to put together a PC - just do a little searching.

 

[Contra Studio]

I owned 4 alienwares and they are best for gaming don't waste your time with them.

 

[Terminus]

CPU and RAM are the main things to think about, aside from the choice of interface. If you got a quad core motherboard/cpu and anywhere from 6-12 GB of RAM you're probably good with a bedroom warrior setup. When you say big
projects, how many tracks and what types of plugs are we talking about?

 

[Empathy]

Overpriced garbage. Build your own or get a specialist dealer to do it for you for about half the price.

 

[torqueofficial]

Usually a project has about 20 different tracks. I use plugins such like Izotope Ozone, Solid State Logic, Waves, Poulin Impulses, and many more! I haven't done any recent mix because my current computer literary can't load such a big project .

 

[iarebrandon]

ya, mine uses less than 20 percent cpu. i wouldnt go less than an i7. i would get at least 8gb of ram. your computer will take advantage of the more ram you have. and seriously would consider getting an ssd drive for your operating system and your daw. it really does speed up things. tigerdirect.com and microcenter.com are also great sites.

 

[PhilTheBeard]

Just build yourself a computer bro will be a lot cheaper and also work better for recording. Plus you won't get it with a bunch of pre installed garbage on it

 

[AntonioPetrole]

you can get much better parts for the same price if you piece it together yourself. its not as hard as you would think. and you get to choose mac or windows. my computer was 800 dollars and i got the i7 proc, 12 gb ram, ssd hard drive and 1tb hard drive plus all the other parts that you need.

care to elaborate on that? I7 and 12gb for 800 seems crazy unless you bought cheap components and maybe used a motherboards integrated GPU

 

[torqueofficial]

Yeah, thats what I am actually afraid of. I have found some computers with basically the same specifications, but with a difference of about 300-400 $!! So there has to be something that "hidden". I am also looking for good quality!

 

[pikachu69]

there is more to building a computer than finding the cheapest 'best' bits you can find and just throwing it together. U need to consider alot of options, mostly to do with compatibility. Check with the maker/s of whatever interface/digital desk, pres etc you use as most have a (long) list of hardware they are NOT compatible with. Chipsets on the motherboard are a common source of issues with music PCs as is most options built onto the board like GPU and on board firewire. Dont use a PCI type firewire card that has both FW 400 and FW 800 on the one card for example. U can always have a look at a few makers of specific music PCs to see what type of components they are using to give you a better idea of what to use.
Dont forget, tuning the operating system is also a vital part of smooth operation.

 

[Mutant]

Building a PC from parts is EASY if you can plug something to a socket.

I built my first PC when i was 14 years old and back then there was no world wide web (apart from big universities) and no youtube videos that show how to do it.

So if i managed to do it about 20 years ago, then you will have absolutely no problems.

And you will save up to $500 on same or very similar parts compared to what you would have to pay at Alienware.

 

[pikachu69]

Yes it is easy to put parts in a slot, considering how colour coded the boards are these days. BUT because you are not building the average home computer you need to be more mindful of the things that can cause a computer to behave badly because the computer is the most important part of most our studios. If you do your reasearch first you can build a modestly cheap but VERY powerful and RELIABLE computer. Being reliable is more important than being cheap.

 

[iarebrandon]

care to elaborate on that? I7 and 12gb for 800 seems crazy unless you bought cheap components and maybe used a motherboards integrated GPU

intel i7 950 - 200
EVGA X58 Motherboard - 180
ADATA SSD Hard Drive (64 gb) - 80
Seagate 1tb Hard Drive - 50
Xion 1000 Watt Power Supply - 50
Cooler Master HAF32 Case - 100
6x2gb Corsair Dominator DDR3 Ram - 110
Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT GPU - 50

Total 820

i bought everything in store at microcenter except for the gpu i got off ebay but still new. i know the gpu i bought isnt very good but i literally only use this pc for recording so it deosnt really matter what gpu i have. this is right off the reciept and is just over 800...

 

[egan.]

+$100-200 for Windows7, right?

 

[iarebrandon]

+30 for snow leopard. (lion now)

i would never pay that much for windows. i think thats absolutely rediculous that they charge so much for a buggy system.

 

[voidar]

Laptop? ADK Pro Audio.