Hey - looking to setup a beginner (read: budget) home recording PC.

Already got the mic, pre-amp, and recording sound card from the US, now just putting a box together.

On a real budget here (must be sub $400) so not much room to move, but thought I'd just check that I'm actually going to be able to run the audio software on this thing. Checked tech specs seem ok...Adobe Audition 3, Sound Forge 9, Pro Tools etc etc.


AMD Athlon? 64 4600+AM2 Processor Retail Dual Core AM2 Instock $75.00

Asus M2N-MX-SE Plus AM2+ nF430 2000MT DDR2 VGA PCIEx16 SATA2 10/100 mATX Instock $56.00

2GB (Single Stick) Value Select PC-5300 (667MHz) Corsair Instock $55.00

Western Digital 250G SATAII 7200 rpm HDD(16Mb Cache) Instock $68.00

Omni ATX Midi towe case (1835) 500W Black Instock $59.00

Asus DRW-2014L1tT 20x DVDRW SATA LightScribe Retail Instock $35.00

Logitech Internet 250 PS2 Desktop K/B & Mouse Black Instock $16.00


$364 Total


Also how important is it to have a second HDD to record to? I'm looking at getting a 40gig SATA HDD to use as the boot/OS drive then recording to the 250gig SATAII - will this make a big difference? Pro Tools says recording to the O/S drive is not supported so I assume you HAVE to have a 2nd HDD for that prog?


Lastly, anyone here want to install the M/Board & CPU into the case for me for a few bucks? I've done it before but it's not my thing and sorting out all the case wires and USB wires was a pain in the ass. I'm wesside - St. Lucia, and will come to you.

Ta

I could maybe help if you get desperate, though I hate tech work with a passion

With regard to the HDD/s it most likely comes down to the load on the drive, and whether it can handle the IO's you're putting on it. Separating it completely by having a second drive and or a RAID array would be ideal, but obviously is going to depend on your budget..

RAM and HDD is most important. Especially RAM.

If you're planning on using VST's or anything similar - you'll need lots. I'd say "start" at 2GB.

The second HDD will help, but is not as important.

Yeah I'm getting a single stick 2gig RAM so I can make the jump to 4gig when funds allow. Don't know what VST is to be honest!

What sound card did you buy?

M-Audio 192 Sound Card
Studio Projects VTB1 PreAmp
Studio Projects B1 Mic

any reason why you're going for AMD and not Intel?

You could easily build an intel system and still meet your budget

Yeah RAM, storage (for raw audio files) and sound card (or whatever sound device you'll be hooking up - which usually take over the sound card).

A fast CPU can be helpful but isnt the be all and end all.

VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. They usually come in the form of versatile plugins that can be used in a multitude of audio engineering applications but im not an audio engineering expert

any reason why you're going for AMD and not Intel?

You could easily build an intel system and still meet your budget

I just looked at the suggested systems on Whirlpool for the price and it said AMD so I went AMD.

What Intel processor and m/board would you suggest?

Intel ATX E4600 CORE 2 DUO /2.4GHz/2MB CACHE/800 FSB/LGA775 Instock $135.00
Asus P5KPL-CM S775 QuadCore G31 FSB1600(OC) DDR2 PCIEx16 SATA2 GbLAN ATX Instock $69.00

edit: ok so maybe it blows the budget by a little bit but I think it's worth it

last edited by Splash at 17:54:11 02/Jun/08

Youd be better off saving a bit more and getting better components (like core2) and a better motherboard.

Core 2 has been > AMD for a while now..

I'd be getting a phenom tri-core and an AMD 780 mobo.

Better value, and a much better looking upgrade path.

Ok I might go the extra mile and get the intel and m.board splash suggested.

If you are doing audio, Intel is a good idea, if you are going ProTools, Intel (Chipset) is almost manditory!!

I can't find any comparisons of the Intel E4600 vs the AMD 4600.

Is there really that much difference? For the same price of the Intel I could get an AMD 5600...

last edited by Le Cock at 13:32:28 03/Jun/08

One difference is that the (Intel) E4600's will overclock like crazy...

I believe people can hit 3Ghz+ with them.

last edited by mongie at 14:21:00 03/Jun/08

Haha which 4600

Intel > AMD

Not interested in overclocking, just want the system to work well as is. Seems like the items Splash suggested are the way to go and also allow for easy upgrading in future if need be.

Intel wins :D Thanks all.

I've been producing my own music for 5 years and have built
myself a Studio PC. One thing I'm always after more is HDD space.

Some VST/VSTi's can take up over a Gig of space on there own.
And Sample Packs (sound libraries) will end up taking a huge amount
of space in time when you build your collection. That 250Gb HDD will
do you for now, but you will eventually have to get another drive.
I started with a single 320Gb HDD, now I've got 2TB's and I still
need more.

If you need any help getting started once you've got
your new Setup running, PM me and I'll point you to some
great sites that'll help you with your music endeavors.

Dude I'm pretty sure that PC you quoted in the first post s***s all over the PC I used for ProTools and it worked just fine. From memory, you CAN save to OS drive but it's just not recommended. My first ProTools machine was single core, 1 gig of ram... and I don't know the other tech specs. That worked absolutely fine.

Also of note is that Pro Tools simply won't run on any other OS than Windows XP (although I don't know about Vista). At least I couldn't get it to work on anything bar XP.

And Sample Packs (sound libraries) will end up taking a huge amount of space in time when you build your collection. That 250Gb HDD will do you for now, but you will eventually have to get another drive.

That's my view too. I did a quick plot of WD Umart prices to highlight the sweet spots:

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~boldajis/images/hdd.png

that graph would make more sense if you plotted price per GB

Also of note is that Pro Tools simply won't run on any other OS than Windows XP

It was originally made for mac Will. The windows port is a relatively recent addition.

Just make sure you have plenty of RAM mate. When you load biggish plugins (like Ozone for mastering, or any decent virtual instrument packs) it'll die unless you have 2GB+ of RAM.

A quick shot of the guts of my home studio:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4158/dsc01999oj6.jpg

that graph would make more sense if you plotted price per GB

See, that would have been the smart thing to do. Here we go:

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~boldajis/images/hdd2.png

Well it turns out that the M-Audio 192 PCI card doesn't actually come with M-Powered (pro tools) like I thought it did, so adobe and sony suites are being tried out and seem to do the job. (audition, acid, sound forge, etc etc)

If anyone has plugins and loop packs they'd care to 'sell' please PM me :)

Got the PC with the Intel and 2gig ram and its doing the job. Only got 250gig HDD but HDD and RAM easy to expand later on.

It was originally made for mac Will. The windows port is a relatively recent addition.

Not that recent really, i had a Digi001 which i actually recorded some of will's stuff with about 6 years ago, and it wasn't new to windows then.

If you want ProTools M-Powered buy it from overseas, should be able to get it for $250 landed, probably less these days with the exchange rate being pretty uber.