Upgrading PC

[iHate]

I am upgrading from a really old laptop to a new PC so I can finally be jitter free. I am thinking of going AMD because it's just so much cheaper. Any problems with AMD based audio pc's? Running Cubase 5, S.20

I have built up a couple config's of a PC on newegg for around $500 and I can get windows 7 64 bit for about $50. The specs were a gigabyte mobo, AMD Athlon II X4 630, 4 gb of DDR3 1333 ram, WD 640gb drive, and cheapo case/psu. I'm really on a tight budget...

But, I have seen a similar spec'd HP for sale at Best Buy with an Athlon II X4 620 which is slightly slower. Here http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pa...ssor/9549401.p?id=1218122580360&skuId=9549401 I just happen to have a $380 BB gift card with nothing to spend it on.

What do you guys think? I am hesitant to buy the in-store PC, but I am also hesitant to build a custom PC for the first time. Should I go for the HP, or will a custom computer be that much better?

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Custom all they way, you will run into the proprietary nightmare when something ever goes wrong with your PC, but if something goes wrong with a custom built you have to know what when wrong and what part to replace, sounds intimidating but its not that bad. Once you have the hang of being your own tech support, you will always want to build your own computers.

AMD systems are beastly when it comes to the performance to price ration for gaming and DAW applications, they are extremely efficient.

 

[iHate]

I've messed around with my laptop, took out the processor and OC'd it. So I sort of know what I'm doing. I just don't know exactly what I will need for a custom PC. So I have a whole cart filled up with HDD, Case/PSU, Processor, RAM, CD drive, Mobo w/ HD4200. I have arctic silver 5. Do I need to buy cables for connecting the mobo and hdd and psu all together or does the mobo and psu come with all the cables that I will need? Anything else I'm missing?

Also, is there any truth behind DDR3 being slower than DDR2? Should I stick to DDR2 or will it matter?

 

[chdrummer]

a pretty cool place to buy custom kits is http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebone-Kits

check it out

 

[PhilTheBeard]

I have a amd phenomII x4 processor in my computer running cubase5 and it works amazingly

 

[TheWinterSnow]

I've messed around with my laptop, took out the processor and OC'd it. So I sort of know what I'm doing. I just don't know exactly what I will need for a custom PC. So I have a whole cart filled up with HDD, Case/PSU, Processor, RAM, CD drive, Mobo w/ HD4200. I have arctic silver 5. Do I need to buy cables for connecting the mobo and hdd and psu all together or does the mobo and psu come with all the cables that I will need? Anything else I'm missing?

Also, is there any truth behind DDR3 being slower than DDR2? Should I stick to DDR2 or will it matter?

most products have the cables needed. The PSU to mobo is permanently fixed to the PSU unless you get a modular PSU (the power connections are removable to save space and airflow) but they have all the cables. Depending, I am not sure the only cable i think you might have to get is the IDE cable for your CD/DVD drive (unless you have a SATA drive) and maybe a SATA cable for your HDD but I do believe all HDDs and CD drives come with the standard cables to hook them up, so I wouldn't worry. Don't forget case fans and a CPU cooler (Retail CPU's coem with a cooler where OEM versions do not, they are the same processors, you just pay a little extra for the fan)

The latency on DDR3 is a bit higher, averaging about 3-5ms slower, however, the clock speed is almost double that of DDR2 which means it can transfer data at a much higher rate.

 

[Jind]

Even though I'm an AMD user, and my primary PC currently runs an AMD chip, if I was building a new DAW PC I would go with an Intel chip - I would save a little longer and get a current i7 Intel chip and quite frankly you will probably be set for quite some time - Intel Quad i7, maybe 16 GB Ram (to start) and Win 7 x64. I have my fund for a new DAW that I'm adding to weekly, so far I have about $1100 saved - but I'm holding off getting it till I can build the PC I want.

 

[jrt12]

not sure on the exact details why, but the computer techs i know all recommend an ASUS mobo with an Intel chip combo vs AMD. if that helps at all.

i didnt go thru the exact specs of each machine you mentioned, but dont be afraid to buy an off the shelf package, esp if there's a great sale on it. make sure youre happy with the core components (mobo and chip) as everything else can easily be swapped out or upgraded down the road. sometimes you can find a great deal on a desktop with a flatscreen and keyboard for dirt cheap, then just upgrade RAM and video/sound cards piece by piece later.

not sure where you are, but you might also be able to find a local tech to build you to spec for cheap. i've even seen custom cpu builders on ebay as well. def worth checking out. I had someone do a rush build this summer for me and got a kickass, high-end system that runs PT8 with no problems for ~$500

 

[iHate]

Even though I'm an AMD user, and my primary PC currently runs an AMD chip, if I was building a new DAW PC I would go with an Intel chip - I would save a little longer and get a current i7 Intel chip and quite frankly you will probably be set for quite some time - Intel Quad i7, maybe 16 GB Ram (to start) and Win 7 x64. I have my fund for a new DAW that I'm adding to weekly, so far I have about $1100 saved - but I'm holding off getting it till I can build the PC I want.

To be honest I would rather stick with Intel just because I seem to think I would enjoy it more... And I will probably hold off because I feel like I'm rushing into this. I really only need to upgrade so I can run more than 1 SIR without stutters, or run more than 1 podfarm without stutters, or run more than 2 multiband comps without stutters. Haha! I just tell myself that I really need to use those things, but I really don't because my mic'd Mark IV is just fine lol.

But to hold me over I finally got a big monitor to see more!

 

[wolfhalen]

I built my desktop with a $350 barebones kit from tiger direct.

It's an original Phenom chip.

I know that Intel's similar chips can destroy mine. But that really doesn't matter to me. It will take anything I can throw at it thus far.

If you build your own, I would say just get a real good mainboard cheap ones are more trouble than they are worth. Mines an Asus and I have no complaints for sure.

 

[MikeEnRegalia]

I'm currently using a mainboard with NVidia chipset (nForce) and I can't get reasonably low latency with it. I've been searching for quite some time now but I haven't found any solid recommendations regarding latency/stability ... even the audio interface manufacturers won't give you any solid recommendations (e.g. "buy chipset X and you'll be fine). The mainboard is really the decisive factor ... usb devices, disks, (modern) graphics cards can't be all that important. It's the mainboard and its chipset that handles USB and PCI/PCI-E/Firewire.

According to my research when it comes to Windows PCs almost always Intel chipsets are recommended - so my next computer will have one (probably a P55 mainboard), and I hope that my latency issues will then disappear.

 

[Jind]

Here is an example of what I'm aiming at - this is a video of Sonar 8.5 (my DAW of choice) running on an Intel i7 quad core system. It is a project that will not even load under a 32 bit OS because of memory restrictions. The fact that he adds video into the project at the end is impressive - video takes up a huge chunk of memory and to run that smooth with that load is the type of thing I want out of my next DAW build. I think the system he is using also has all Solid State drives (drool). I want it!!!!

http://mixonline.com/video/mixtv/gear/cakewalk_sonar_85_session/