Need new computer for home recording & internet browsing

S

steelguitarist

New Member
This is my first post on this forum.
I have a 6 year old comuter that I built up and it is becoming intermittent.

I would like some suggestions for a new desktop for home audio recording that I will build up.
- I have a Samsung P2250 that I will be using in the new system.
- My budget is $800 max
- Quad core processor
- 4 GB memory minimum
- I am not interested in gaming
- I need a cool and quiet mid tower ATX case and reliable power supply
- Front USB connectors
- Front mike and headset output

Don
 
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AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBTD - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231259

SAPPHIRE 100255U Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102816

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677

Total: $804 before MIR, exclude Tax and shipping. This set-up would give you flexability to upgrade in future.
If you want to spend less and just fulfill your requirement, you can change component as follow -

Video card - use onboard

AMD Phenom II X4 810 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX810WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103650

ASRock A780GMH/128M AM2+/AM3 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008&Tpk=consair 400W
Total: $601, before MIR, exclude Tax and shipping
 
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Thanks DaisyMTC. I'm going to look this over. The first option sound good. What about intel socket 775 instead of AM3? Any advantages?
 
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Daisymtc

I could not order from Newegg because I live in canada and they would not deliver to a US address for me so I had to go to Fry's to buy. It would have cost me about 20% more to buy from Newegg.ca.
I ordered the motherboard, CPU, case and power supply from Fry's. They don't have the memory, DVD and video card listed on Fry's web site. They have Corsair memory listed but the latency is different. What do you think? What equivalent memory could I get from Crucial memory?
 
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Sorry, I don't realize you're from canada. In that case, the US$600 one will work within your budget...

steelguitarist said:
Thanks DaisyMTC. I'm going to look this over. The first option sound good. What about intel socket 775 instead of AM3? Any advantages?
Click to expand...

Intel will end socket 775 soon and release new cpu with LGA1156 in sept. no point to get LGA775 at this moment in time.

RAM-
Consair memory are good, and the lower the latency is better. But it's not significant for your purpose...
Go for slower CORSAIR TW3X4G1333C9 for the price
http://www.frys.com/product/5844343?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Video card - Actually, you would not need a ATI 4670 if you not gaming. I put it in as you could afford it, and it give you some flexibility if you doing any video editing/ photoshop in case you need to.
Since ATI 4670 is so expensive at Frys.com, it not worth getting it for your purpose.
Get $50 XFX Radeon HD4650 512MB instead
http://www.frys.com/product/5845283?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

DVD burner - I don't have any preference with any brand. Just get a cheap one with fast speed.
http://www.frys.com/product/5843103?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
Thanks DaisyMTC

I may have to get a better video card to edit some video that I will be transferring from my new Cannon F-11 videocam to the computer. The software that came with the camcorder is not working on my old computer or I may just buy and save SDHC cards.

Don
 
Now have all the parts and started assembling. Could not find a reset connection on the Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P. Is there one? There is a reset switch on the Antec 300 case.
 
Compouter is assembled and working fine. I added a second 1 TB hard drive so that I can backup. Windows XP recognized it but it does not show up in "My computer" with a drive letter but it shows up in "Device manager". I went to control panel then computer management then disk management and put it on line thinking that a drive letter would show up in my computer but it did not. I will probably have to format this backup drive so what is the best way to do it? I have Partition magic 7 and Acronis 11. Is there a way to do it from Windows XP SP3?
 
Both SATA hard drives and one SATA DVD show up in the BIOS in this way:
C drive plugged into SATA 0 Ishows up as DE Channel 2 master.
DVD plugged into SATA 1 shows up as IDE Channel 3 master
Backup HD plugged into SATA 2 shows up as IDE channel 3 slave

Is this normal? Nothing shows up in IDE channel 0 and 1.
 
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