Help me pick a new recording rig?

[ze kink]

So, I finally got rid of my crap old desktop, and now it's time to choose a new rig. I currently have a LG P1 Express dual laptop with dual core something @ 1.83ghz and I think 2gb ram. I've tracked with it before using my FP10, and it works pretty well for that. I'm thinking of keeping the laptop for mobile recording (which is what I do always when I record others), and getting a new machine for post processing. I might also play games with it if they work on it (namely Fallout 3), but that's not very important, just a nice bonus.

Here are my ideas:

1) Custom built desktop pc:
-Antec Sonata III Case
-OCZ DDR2 8GB 800mhz RAM
-Samsung T220 22" monitor
-Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
-Asus P5Q Pro motherboard
-Asus Radeon HD4850 512mb
-Western Digital 640gb SATAII HD
-And some random less expensive crap like a new mouse, cd/dvd drive

2) The new 15" Macbook Pro:
Would probably require me to sell my LG laptop, but I'm sure this would replace it really well.

3) Imac
Wouldn't probably require me to sell the LG laptop if I didn't want a super powerful one. It's older technology than the new MBP and I don't really understand the point of Imacs. It's far cheaper than a Mac Pro though, which would be overkill for me anyway.

Pricewise, the custom desktop wins hands down, the whole rig would end up costing around €1200 with the screen and all. So I'm kind of leaning towards that. The Macs have always been interesting to me however, even though I haven't really used them much, but all the times I've used one it's been a positive experience. Reaper isn't apparently working very well with OSX yet, so I might need to get something else, and it would cost me a lot more. Or then again, I could always use bootcamp until it works in OSX.

I'm just starting out with recording stuff really, I've only done some demo stuff for myself earlier, but I'm now getting more serious about it. I don't currently need any high end stuff as I don't really go overboard with plugins and tracks. And some of you might propose that I should get rid of the FP10 first and get a better interface, and I know it's not the best around, but it suits my current needs perfectly fine. I just wish it had ADAT, but then again, I have friends with FP10's that I could borrow if I need to get more than 8 tracks, and that's nice. I'll keep using the FP10 with the new rig too, until I can afford something like a Fireface 800, but that's not important right now.

If there would've been a Firewire port in the new Macbook, I'm pretty sure I would've gotten one. Now that they decided to ditch it, I need to rethink my plans.

Ideas? Suggestions?

 

[ze kink]

Over 50 views but only 2 votes? Come on, I want some opinions, I'm really in a pinch here haha!

 

[Jaymz]

PC

 

[JonWormwood]

Both.

Build a hackintosh. Mac pro, PC price.

I came.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I recommend getting a separate computer to be used solely for recording.

 

[tgs]

-Asus P5Q Pro motherboard

I'm thinking about buying that motherboard too. Does anyone know if it is any good? Is the firewire chipset good? Using firewire right now for my Liquidmix so it'd have to be compatible with that. (used to keep track of these things ages ago, built my own systems etc, but nowadays I have no clue)

 

[-Noodles-]

I recommend getting a separate computer to be used solely for recording.

An iMac spec'd to what you'll need would be the best option.

 

[Shredfiend]

I don't like the all-in-one idea. By putting the CPU and monitor in one....means in a few years if I want to upgrade I'll be re-buying the monitor everytime. I'd rather have a seperate/sweet monitor and just buy a seperate computer.

 

[cobhc]

Custom PC, but you only really need 4GB of ram, and I'd get the Q6600 chip instead of the Q9550, it's a cheaper chip, and you can overclock the stuffings out of it.

I'd look at something like this :-

Case: Antec P182 - £92.70
Memory: 4GB Corsair CL4 800MHZ DDR2 - £58.71
CPU: Intel Q6600 - £120.90
Motherboard: Abit IP35-E - £56.15
PSU: Corsair 650TX - £64.50
Graphics Card: Palit ATI HD4850 - £102.80
HDD:- 2x Samsung 500GB - £43.35 each
Monitor:- Dell S2409W - £179.28
Cpu Cooler: Noctua Noctua NH-U12P - £42.17

Total:- £803.91 so with extra's like a DVD-Drive, etc. say £830.

Overall though, this PC will do you for most games, and also all your audio needs.

 

[ze kink]

Custom PC, but you only really need 4GB of ram, and I'd get the Q6600 chip instead of the Q9550, it's a cheaper chip, and you can overclock the stuffings out of it.

It's not that much cheaper here, so how does it compare performancewise? I'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of overclocking, as I'm not very confident I'll succeed too well.

It's true that I only need 4GB, and that's what I might go for, and then add more later.

I was considering the Antec p182 case too, but I dunno. Is it noticeably quieter than the Sonata III?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Oh, and I'm not sure I need two internal HD's - I'd rather get one internal and one external. That way I can easily use the other HD with both my mobile and my "better" rig, and the tracks I record are easily available to use with both rigs.

 

[gorath23]

An iMac spec'd to what you'll need would be the most expensive option.

Fixed!

 

[SocialNumb]

I won't say anything.

 

[Joematthews]

Custom pc ftw... but PC doesn't mean it has to be windows

 

[ze kink]

Custom pc ftw... but PC doesn't mean it has to be windows

True. I currently use Ubuntu for everything except recording and games.

 

[ze kink]

Bumping because...

I'm actually reconsidering the Macbook Pro now. Not the new one but the older model. The new model isn't even that much better (I checked out some benchmarks etc.), and the old one has better connections. Now that the new model came out, the old models' prices went down a lot, putting it into my price range... it's about €1450 for the 2,4ghz "basic model" now, when earlier it was around €1800. I've now saved up about €1200, and my parents promised to pay a small part of my new rig's price as a christmas present.

So, what do you think I should do? I'm really liking the idea of the MBP right now, as I could always buy a custom PC later, and it would be a lot cheaper then too. Windows 7 might be out already then, so that might be nice, as I've heard loads of complaints about Vista. There's just the problem that Reaper's OSX version isn't very good yet apparently? If I get the MBP, I'll change the HD to a 7200rpm and get 4GB ram almost right away.

 

[beyond dead]

get an imac. i dont think the mbp is worth the price. the imac has lots of features for the price tag. pretty close to the pc you are thinking about building.

 

[Notuern]

Motherboard: Abit IP35-E - £56.15

Wow dude, do NOT buy Abit.
Ive only had troubles with computers that used those. D;

I bought a Asus P5Q after frying my previous motherboard(Computers does not like coffee!), and damn, my computer actually got alot faster.
I think my CPU-speed got improved by ~7%, and my ram-speed went up as well(Had a really really cheap ASUS MB before that.).

 

[ze kink]

get an imac. i dont think the mbp is worth the price. the imac has lots of features for the price tag. pretty close to the pc you are thinking about building.

How so? As far as I know, the MBP has all the same features as the iMac (and the MBP has a better graphics card), and it's far more portable, which is a very big plus. And because they're selling the old MBP's for cheap, they're actually not very much more than the iMacs. To be honest, I've pretty much entirely ditched the iMac idea, which wasn't serious to begin with.

I don't personally think the iMac would come even close to that custom PC... At least in bang for buck or performancewise. But that's just me, I don't wish to start another PC vs Mac war.

Gonna decide in the next few hours on which I'll buy, but I'm really, really digging the MBP idea now!

 

[ze kink]

Wow dude, do NOT buy Abit.
Ive only had troubles with computers that used those. D;

I bought a Asus P5Q after frying my previous motherboard(Computers does not like coffee!), and damn, my computer actually got alot faster.
I think my CPU-speed got improved by ~7%, and my ram-speed went up as well(Had a really really cheap ASUS MB before that.).

My old computer had an Abit mobo, and yeah, I wouldn't get another. E.g. USB was really weird, some slots wouldn't work no matter what you plugged into them. My wlan gizmo would only work in one slot, and just when I got it sold, it stopped working entirely (perfect timing, haha!). Pod X3 would only work in one slot too, and plugging it in usually made the wlan fail and disconnect. Also turning the computer on with something like my iPod or the Pod plugged in, the mouse wouldn't work... The list goes on.

Has anyone used the OSX version of Reaper? How'd it work for you? Or is someone using the Windows version with bootcamp?

 

[Exocaster]

I was working on a project in Logic on my dual 2.0 MBP last night, so far it's 52 tracks plus plugins, drum sampler and all that. No issues at all. Smooth and fast, even doing it the stupid way and running off the slow-ass internal drive.