Help upgrading pc...

[2GooD Productions]

The days of the build your own screw driver shop computers are over.



I am not trying to sound like a dick but most users should NEVER EVER EVER pick out there parts. They have no clue what they are doing. Leave that to people who do that for a living and stick to making music.

I have to disagree here, I built my computer last year and got a top spec pc for half the money of buying a pre built version. As long as you do your research, learn whats current and learn whats soon to be current and thoroughly compare parts based on performance and cost and with motherboards ability to use much better expensive processors than you intend to purchase guarantees some longevity and a future cpu upgrade when prices come down.
Some audio apps can be very cpu intensive, so get the best you can afford at the time.
And as previously stated, yes definitly get a half decent audiocard/interface, that really does make a very big difference to sound quality, and you will obviously need a reasonably decent pair of monitors so you can hear exactly what you are doing while producing a track.

 

[thedreampolice]

Reread the thread, I said MOST users don't need those things. But sure some still do of course. Whats the problem here? Not trying to beef with you man. Also I don't work at Sweetwater any longer.

But lets do the challenge, get me a component list with prices for a complete system and I will find a cheaper Dell, HP or whatever. Lets do it!

 

[dacalion]

This is like a championship game...Boston vs LA or something...lol. I hope you guys are PM'ing each other saying "let's keep it rolling" because this is soap opera material right here...lmao!

 

[7thangel]

Reread the thread, I said MOST users don't need those things. But sure some still do of course. Whats the problem here? Not trying to beef with you man. Also I don't work at Sweetwater any longer.

But lets do the challenge, get me a component list with prices for a complete system and I will find a cheaper Dell, HP or whatever. Lets do it!

huh?
how would that work?

even the top notch dell computers don't give specific info on the parts they use, so if i say i want a whole new system** and listed the gigabyte P55A-UD3 (which i can get with a the i7 875K Quad Core for $469 cdn (before mir)) because it has usb 3 and enough slots for my uad-1e and a potential future purchase of another or uad-2/duende/liquid channel and pci/pci-e interface instead of an comparable intel, msi, asus, foxconn mobo (possible reasons being it has better performance, better bios handling, less bugs, etc) how would you be able to match that up to find out the price comparison? we're not just talking price. it's price, quality, flexibility and performance.

but i'll give you a list, hopefully later today if i have time and hopefully i won't be too lazy to include an upgrade list for that system for a few years down the line to compare it to a whole new dell/hp/etc




**which i wouldn't because like i said, all i have to do is change my cpu and/or mobo to upgrade. i built this one and still didn't need to buy a keyboard, vid card, firewire card, disk drive, monitor or hd's because i took them out of my first computer, a 4700 dell. just this year, 2+ years since it was built, i finally changed the old ass vid card (for a better experience with win 7 and programs)and added a 2nd monitor, and next year i may go sandybrdige depending on my budget

 

[thedreampolice]

all good, give me very specific details.

How do you like your UAD BTW? You don't happen to have the space echo plugin do you? Did you see the new studer plugin for UAD. WOW.

 

[2infamouz]

im just trying to uprgade this comp since i just bought it about 8 months ago...
im running windows 7 64 bit..some more info :
# Maximum Memory Capacity: 8192MB
# Currently Installed Memory: 8GB
# Available Memory Slots: 0
# Total Memory Slots: 4
# Dual Channel Support: Yes
# CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
# CPU Family: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E6300 @ 2.80GHz Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E6300 @ 2.80GHz
# CPU Speed: 2800 MHz

Does an audio interface replace ur sound card?? And ive heard usb interfaces can cause delay when recordin ...idk if thats true?

I don't need anything crazy im just getting some latency occassionally when recording or when i have 2 many plugins in FL/Reason...hoping to get rid of that/

 

[thedreampolice]

About any USB interface will beat your crappy soundblaster card. and no the latency will be much better with a proper interface. Honestly most of your problems are cuased by your really, really terrible soundcard.

 

[Sucio]

Your computer is pretty beast...I don't see how you would get latency unless it is caused by your soundcard. When I used FL on my old laptop, I had latency issues with the stock soundcard...When I started using the mbox2 mini as the soundcard, the improvement was instant.

 

[Scholar]

thats a smokin pc boss, you dont need to upgrade, just cop a new interface and that latency is ghost! usb is faster then firewire, your pc is good enough to record a whole band, if its tweaked right.

 

[dacalion]

Cosign with everyone saying keep what you got but upgrade your soundcard to a new interface. If you want USB 3.0, you need the card ($50 max) and have an empty PCI express slot or you'll have to replace your mobo (roughly around $300).

 

[7thangel]

all good, give me very specific details.

How do you like your UAD BTW? You don't happen to have the space echo plugin do you? Did you see the new studer plugin for UAD. WOW.

first thing, uad: i like it, it's only uad-1e but the studio has uad 2. i tried the space echo a while ago and i liked it but i prefer soundtoys echoboy, my favorite time based plug-in. i haven't been able to try the new uad2 plugs like the manley massive, fatso, or the newest one, the studer, although i may waste the demo in the next couple of months due to a client wanting me to mix and master (despite my advice to master it somewhere else with pro ME's). the advantage in quality that uad had is no longer there and with computers, dsp isn't as important, but still helps. uad is doing the right thing in getting more and more exclusive licensed emulations but now that ssl will make native versions of duende, their going to have to finally think about also providing native plug-ins, if they haven't already.

for the list, it wasn't until this morning when i started to remember that it took me at least 2 weeks of research and price comparison and another few weeks to wait for pre-christmas, christmas, pre-boxing day, boxing day, and post boxing day deals to get everything i needed and wanted, but there's no time for that, so what i'm going to do is go through this quick link list i made https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3067&stc=1&d=1292619552 and compile it while deciding whether it will be for a i7 1156 or i7 1386 mobo that meets the needs.

@ayr0n

it doesn't seem like you need a computer upgrade (although you could get a more powerful cpu, on of the inexpensive 45nm), a soundcard/interface is what you need.

what do you need from your soundcard/interface?

are you doing vocals?

do you use hardware (mpc/eps/roland/lexicon/etc)? if so, what kind of connections do they need (i/8, i/4, xlr, midi, usb, etc)?

how much are you willing to spend?

download and install this http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z/versions-history.html it will give some info on your total system. right off the bat, you can get a usb soundcard/interface but to determine if you can also get a firewire (or pci) interface you need to know what you have, not just your memory. an example, right now i have my original soundcard that i bought like 6-7 years ago, the m-audio 2496, it's a pci soundcard which you can get for under $100 usd if you look hard enough. at the time i wanted the rme pci or the fireface 400/800 (too expensive at the time), the only reason i could have gotten the fireface 400/800, which is a firewire soundcard, was because when i got my first computer, the dell 4700, i made sure to have them include the pci i394a card (firewire 400) to allow me to use firewire. if i didn't have that, or an empty pci slot, i would have only had one choice, a usb soundcard (they've improved a lot since then, imo, but still not my first or second choice).

anyways, price is important, how much are you willing to spend? no more than $199 usd?

 

[7thangel]

to be updated

first on the list: the case. i was going to use the antec 300 (which i got for $30 cdn on boxing day) which i can get right now for $45 or get this case at $19.99 and add either an ocz 500-600W psu at $45 CDN before MIR or this corsair 500W at $59.99 CDN before MIR but instead i'm choosing

Fractal Design Define R3
specs: acoustic noise dampening, two top fans (optional), 1 intake front fan, 1 intake front fan(optional), i exhaust fan, 1 bottom and 1 side fan. 8 drive bays, two 5.25 drive bays. this allows me to not only have a silent computer but i'll be able to keep the hd, cpu and vid card cool. i don't like running the cpu any hotter than 43% when in use or 50% at full load. same goes for the drives.

i could get this at $99 but there's a bundle that includes seasonic 520W 80+ modular psu for $149.99 CDN before MIR. after MIR, it's $129.99. i'm happy with this psu over my current coolermaster which i got for $35 on sale mainly because seasonic is good, it's modular and it's one of the current 80+ psu. but of course, people tend to skimp when it comes to the psu. i don't think you can get the equivalent psu from dell/hp/apple/etc unless you buy and add it. can you match the fans or come close? irl, i doubt i would make this choice when it comes to the case, unless i was recording vocals or doing critical mixing in my house and needed a silent and cool pc.

NCIX Silent Bundle Deal Fractal Design Define R3 Case & Seasonic M12II 520W Modular Power Supply

1 dual layer cd/dvd writer (take your pick. except for blue ray, they all can be bought for anywhere between $15 to $25)http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1015

i was going to go for this i7 bundle NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 P55 CrossFireX Motherboard & Intel Core i7 875K or the one i mentioned earlier. both can give me the i7 cpu plus a mobo but there were some limitations that i don't like so instead i'm going for this

NCIX Upgrade Bundle Deal Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 CrossFireX SLI Motherboard & WD Black 1TB 64MB
the 1 tb hd is self explanatory. the mobo is giga, which i have a preference for due to it's features (i.e dual bios, usb 3 implementation, updates, and reliability)

some of the features:

Support for an Intel® Core™ i7 series processor in the LGA1366 package
1. 6 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 24 GB of system memory(Note 1)
2. Dual/3 channel memory architecture
3. Support for DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
4. Support for non-ECC memory modules
5. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
1. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2) (Note 2)
2. 2 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1/PCIEX8_2) (Note 3) (The PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2, PCIEX8_1 and PCIEX8_2 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
3. 2 x PCI Express x1 slots (for my uad 1-e)
4. 1 x PCI slot (for my current soundcard)
T.I. TSB43AB23 chip
1. Up to 2 USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel
# 8 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
# 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

so i get the slots i need plus a T.I. firewire chip for either a new firewire interface or external hd, 2 usb 3.0, plus e-sata

the price is $299.99 CDN. or i can buy it here for $219 cdn and add a $500 gb drive for $34.95 http://www.canadacomputers.com/top20.php (this is the typical price you can get for all 500 gb drives over here, sometimes lower) or this 1 tb drive of $52.95
. i can also decide to go to a p55 socket 1156 mobo and pay even less http://www5.canadacomputers.com/index.php?cPath=26_583. irl, i would most likely go for the 1156 mobo because i would have more flexibility to choose to go either i3, i5, or i7 and therefore i could be more careful on my budget. could get this Gigabyte GA-H55-USB3 for $104 CDN after mir or this Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 for $114.95 CDN after mir.

but for this i'm choosing the 1366, if only to cut down on the amount of research i would have to do for this list, so the only cpu choices are i7 920-980 and Xeon W3520-W3680

so i'm going for the canada computer deal which is $219 and $34.95 for the 500 gb drive

vid card i have the choice of the one i have right now which is powercolor hd5450 (ati hd radeon)
for $49.99 CDN before MIR ($10)= $39.99 which has vga, dvi and hdmi or the 4350 (dvi/hdmi) at $39.99 CDN ($10 MIR)= $29.99 or this XFX Radeon HD 4350 for $34.99 CDN with a $15usd MIR = $19.99 CDN (vga, dvi, s-video). i'm going to go for the powercolor 4350 at $39.99/$29.99

the i7 1366 cpu will be this i7 950 quad 3.06GHz, 4.8GT/s FSB, 8mb L3 cache, 45nm for $259

memory: the mobo allows for both dual and triple channel. i'll choose triple channel Corsair XMS3 TR3X6G1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 for $59.99

monitor: i got my emachines 20" dvi/hdmi for $80 but that's not available anymore so LG W1943TS-PF 18.5IN 1366X768 Black Widescreen LCD 5ms 10000:1 VGA DVI for $69.99


cpu cooler: not necessary as you get a cpu cooler with your intel cpu but i'll add the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA775 LGA1156 120MM for $19.99

Logitech Cordless Desktop EX100 Compact Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Combo Optical USB for $19.99

as for the o/s, i've never paid for one, except via dell oem. i download the official o/s from microsoft and then use loaders. i'm dual booting win xp sp3 and win 7 pro x64. even if i was to pay for win 7 x64, i could get it for about $50 unofficially and because i have the software that can change home basic into ultimate

so (these are all new, not on clearance from just two stores, so far):

case and psu: $149 cdn-$20 MIR = $129.99 CDN
2 exhaust fans for top fans (either coolermaster or artic cooling): $6.99 x2 CDN
1 dual layer cd/dvd writer: $25 CDN
x58 mobo : $219.99 CDN (i can now get it for $199)
1 500 gb drive: $34.95 CDN
powercolor ati 4350 hd (vga, dvi, hdmi): $39.99CDN - $10 = $29.99
cpu, i7 950 quad: $259 CDN
memory, triple channel 6 GB: $59.99 CDN
wireless keyboard and mouse: $19.99 CDN
cpu cooler: $19.99 CDN (optional)
monitor, dvi: $80 or
win 7 x64 pro: $0 or $50​

$879.99 w/free o/s or $929.99 w/paid o/s.

i can bring the price down for this 1366 i7 computer quite easily by getting a less expensive case, using the stock cpu cooler, getting a cheaper or refurbished dvd writer, a refurbished or used monitor, a lower 1366 cpu (930), and/or a cheaper wired keyboard and mouse



note: the 2 stores are canada computers and ncix. to make it easier for myself, i left out pvconline, rbc, tigerdirect canada, newegg canada, filtech (one of my top 3 along with ncix and canada comp.), sonnam and cty computers.

note 2: i can't compare prices here to u.s. prices except for newegg (i think ours is more expensive) and tigerdirect

 

[thedreampolice]

Cool, well finish your list. Make sure you include the OS cost and give me a total.

 

[Sucio]

Wow..I can't front dude did all that research....


Impressed..lol.

 

[2infamouz]

@ayr0n

it doesn't seem like you need a computer upgrade (although you could get a more powerful cpu, on of the inexpensive 45nm), a soundcard/interface is what you need.

what do you need from your soundcard/interface?

are you doing vocals?

do you use hardware (mpc/eps/roland/lexicon/etc)? if so, what kind of connections do they need (i/8, i/4, xlr, midi, usb, etc)?

how much are you willing to spend?

download and install this http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z/versions-history.html it will give some info on your total system. right off the bat, you can get a usb soundcard/interface but to determine if you can also get a firewire (or pci) interface you need to know what you have, not just your memory. an example, right now i have my original soundcard that i bought like 6-7 years ago, the m-audio 2496, it's a pci soundcard which you can get for under $100 usd if you look hard enough. at the time i wanted the rme pci or the fireface 400/800 (too expensive at the time), the only reason i could have gotten the fireface 400/800, which is a firewire soundcard, was because when i got my first computer, the dell 4700, i made sure to have them include the pci i394a card (firewire 400) to allow me to use firewire. if i didn't have that, or an empty pci slot, i would have only had one choice, a usb soundcard (they've improved a lot since then, imo, but still not my first or second choice).

anyways, price is important, how much are you willing to spend? no more than $199 usd?[/QUOTE]

i can only really afford somethin between 200-400$ right now...this shits kinda over my head but im pretty sure i have a couple free pci slots...
will this help?
Chipset
Northbridge Intel P35/G33/G31 rev. A2
Southbridge Intel 82801IR (ICH9R) rev. 02
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 8192 MBytes
Channels Dual, (Symmetric)
Memory Frequency 400.0 MHz (2:3)
CAS# latency (CL) 6.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 6
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 6
Cycle Time (tRAS) 18
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 52
Command Rate (CR) 2T
MCHBAR I/O Base address 0x0FED14000
MCHBAR I/O Size 4096


there's 2 things that show up in the report if i search for "firewire" ...n i can just use the pci-e slot the soundblaster is in. idk?

im tempted to just get a usb audio interface because i kno 4sho i have like 8 usb ports haha..it'd def beat my shitty soundcard n atleast i know i could use it . . .

 

[thedreampolice]

Well you need a new soundcard no matter what, so grab a USB box and try it. See if it doesnt help your situation. I bet it will solve your problem. Then you can spend the money on something else.

 

[7thangel]

i can only really afford somethin between 200-400$ right now...this shits kinda over my head but im pretty sure i have a couple free pci slots...
will this help?
Chipset
Northbridge Intel P35/G33/G31 rev. A2
Southbridge Intel 82801IR (ICH9R) rev. 02
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 8192 MBytes
Channels Dual, (Symmetric)
Memory Frequency 400.0 MHz (2:3)
CAS# latency (CL) 6.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 6
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 6
Cycle Time (tRAS) 18
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 52
Command Rate (CR) 2T
MCHBAR I/O Base address 0x0FED14000
MCHBAR I/O Size 4096


there's 2 things that show up in the report if i search for "firewire" ...n i can just use the pci-e slot the soundblaster is in. idk?

im tempted to just get a usb audio interface because i kno 4sho i have like 8 usb ports haha..it'd def beat my shitty soundcard n atleast i know i could use it . . .

sorry, i haven't been able to be around until today.

you should be able to get a usb soundcard, as well as, a pci soundcard. to make it easier on yourself, get a usb soundcard. those that have one can give you some advice on what to get on your budget. this is the right time to get it.

unrelated: updating the previous post

 

[7thangel]

in case it was missed back in dec, bump

 

[thedreampolice]

Here is a Dell with 8gb of ram over the 6 and a 1TB hard drive over the 500gb monitor and everything for $1029 US

oh and BTW your OS price is WAY to low you need to add on at least $200 for WIN7 64bit

Congratulations! You have finished personalizing!

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Premium, 64Bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook edit
SERVICE PLAN 2Year Basic Service Plan edit
MONITOR Dell IN1920 18.5"W HD Monitor,18.5 Inch VIS, VGA only edit
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3 edit
MEMORY 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter , 24-Months edit
Software & Services
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability edit
SPEAKERS No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) edit
KEYBOARD Dell Consumer Multimedia Keyboard edit
WIRELESS Dell 1501 Wireless-N PCIe Card edit
SOUND CARD THX® TruStudio PC™ edit
MOUSE Dell Laser Mouse edit
USB 3.0 Standard USB 2.0 + 10/100/1000 Ethernet

 

[7thangel]

why would i need to add $200 for win 7 x64? even if i ignore the advantage i would have to get it for free (which i did) i can pay $99-139

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45271&vpn=GFC-00599&manufacture=Microsoft
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=5213934
http://www.filtechcomputer.com/#

you also haven't matched the the things listed, which was the point. the new 2600 cpu is one example, vga only is another, there are more. without the links and info, there's no comparison on features, which again was the point (i.e., pci/pci-e slots, firewire, esata, usb, psu, etc..)