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Computer specifically for producing?

ok i want a computer specifically for producing as this one i have cant cope with the cpu overload. im not looking to spend over the odds on one as all im interested in is the basics that a comp requires to run then plenty of ram of a good processor. im keeping this one for the net and my web design.

does anyone know where i can get something like this for a reasonable price or does anyone have one specifically for producing?

thanks

If you want something pre-assembled, companies like HP, Dell, Gateway, etc. make pretty decent computers for only a few hundred US dollars. I don't know how readily those are in Ireland (assuming that's where you're from?). Yea, they won't be quite up to par with something custom built, but it's a [really] cheap solution. And now that dual-core has blown up, it doesn't cost that much to get a lot of power for custom built machines.

http://www.carillondirect.com/clnweb/index.jsp

I have one of these and can really recommened them.

Some of the more expirenced people here could probley just build their own but if you just want a rock soild computer designed only for this sort of stuff then it 's excellent.

Their support is wicked to.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason_R http://www.carillondirect.com/clnweb/index.jsp I have one of these and can really recommened them. Some of the more expirenced people here could probley just build their own but if you just want a rock soild computer designed only for this sort of stuff then it 's excellent. Their support is wicked to.

thaks mate looks interesting.

Custom building a PC would be the cheapest by a long way. If you haven't got a mate who knows how it's not actually that difficult to do yourself if you found a decent guide on the net to guide you through it. There's not that much you can do wrong if you're careful.

I paid just under a grand for the below (doesn't include any displays/sound card):

Components:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+
Asustek A8N-SLI PREMIUM S939 nForce4 SLI ATX
2x OCZ Value 1GB DDR400 PC3200
Samsung SpinPoint P120 Series 250GB SATA II
NEC ND-3550A DVD/RW Silver
NVIDIA Fanless 7600GS 256MB PCI-E
Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply
Case/Quietening:
Antec P180 Case
Scythe Ninja-PLUS Heatpipe Cooler, with 120mm fan
Scythe Quiet Drive Internal HDD Silencer
Zalman FANMATE 2 Variable Fan Speed Controller x1
Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan (1200 RPM, SFF21E) x2

This was about 3 months ago I should add, you'd get that spec cheaper now I imagine.

quote:

Originally posted by nfreer Custom building a PC would be the cheapest by a long way. If you haven't got a mate who knows how it's not actually that difficult to do yourself if you found a decent guide on the net to guide you through it. There's not that much you can do wrong if you're careful. I paid just under a grand for the below (doesn't include any displays/sound card): Components: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ Asustek A8N-SLI PREMIUM S939 nForce4 SLI ATX 2x OCZ Value 1GB DDR400 PC3200 Samsung SpinPoint P120 Series 250GB SATA II NEC ND-3550A DVD/RW Silver NVIDIA Fanless 7600GS 256MB PCI-E Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply Case/Quietening: Antec P180 Case Scythe Ninja-PLUS Heatpipe Cooler, with 120mm fan Scythe Quiet Drive Internal HDD Silencer Zalman FANMATE 2 Variable Fan Speed Controller x1 Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan (1200 RPM, SFF21E) x2

nice system

Just to give some contrast, just whipped around eBuyer quickly to get an idea of how little you could spend on a decent build.

Asus A8R-MVP Socket 939 Xpress 200 crossfire PCI-E SATA ATX �54.38
Sony AW-G170AB2 18xDVD�RW/RAM Dual Layer Writer Black - Bare Drive - �19.99
Maxtor 60160V0 160GB 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM - �38
AMD Athlon 64X2 4200+ socket 939 Dual Core 2.2ghz 512kb and 512kb Cache - �133.85
Kingston Value Ram 1GB 533MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL4 DIMM - �75.63
Asus EAX300SE-X TD 128Mb Radeon X300SE 128Mb PCI-E DVI-D/VGA �28.79

Case+Power Supply Unit - �40+ (�40 would be bottom of the pile)
12" Case Fan(s)/CPU Fans �10-15?+ (Could be ignored or you could spend on both case fans and a better CPU fan)
Keyboard/Mouse - �15-30
Monitor - �100+ (�100 would get a cheap 17" TFT)
Soundcard - ?

So you're talking around �400-450 without a monitor, around �550 with (17" TFT perhaps) for an AMD Dual Core 4200+ system (Most important part of an audio PC), 1gb of RAM (plenty), 160gb hard drive space(you might possibly want more, hard drive space is relatively cheap), adequate graphics card, and a dvd writer. The motherboard mentioned has 3 PCI-E slots as well as 3 PCI slots (I think) so you wont get left behind.

You've got to be careful to check compatibility with parts and when you get it you've got to be careful with what you're doing. With the amount of information on the internet/various forums I don't think anyone with any sense should have a problem.

The price difference in comparison with a �1300 Carillon is so much that I think you've got to consider it.

I don't think it really matters as you have the abilty to bounce down to wav anyway...i have a dual core pc and i don't need no more it can load lots of instruments and fx...i won't be upgrading for a while yet.

Craig

[edit] Ignore, clicked quote instead of edit

omg i cant believe those X2 chips are so cheap now, i'm gonna so get one come pay day

AMD Athlon 64 (ADA4800CDBOX) X2 4800+ socket 939 Dual Core 2.4ghz 1Mb and 1Mb Cache

£219!!!


these were like £400 when i checked before

Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
Intel Core2Duo
...got the point??? :P

Those things are the fastest processors EVER to hit the manistream market. They're somewhat more expensive than the X2 CPU's (which are also very good, and DIRT cheap!, very good "budget" option (haha) ), but the power of this thing... wow... just imagine running 20 instances of albino 3 at the same time... with 5ms latency (I can actually do that on my computer, I have a Core2Duo E6600, 2gig DDR2 and an M-Audio Delta 44 audio interface)

Some comparison charts of most of todays CPUs... E6600 compared to X2 5000 (top of the X2 line), E6600 kicks it's ass every time
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.h...2=465&chart=177

yeah but isnt the intel running at thequivelent of 6.6 ghz and the althon a 5ghz that a big difference to compare.

quote:

Originally posted by Low Profile Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo Intel Core2Duo ...got the point??? :P Those things are the fastest processors EVER to hit the manistream market. They're somewhat more expensive than the X2 CPU's (which are also very good, and DIRT cheap!, very good "budget" option (haha) ), but the power of this thing... wow... just imagine running 20 instances of albino 3 at the same time... with 5ms latency (I can actually do that on my computer, I have a Core2Duo E6600, 2gig DDR2 and an M-Audio Delta 44 audio interface) Some comparison charts of most of todays CPUs... E6600 compared to X2 5000 (top of the X2 line), E6600 kicks it's ass every time http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.h...2=465&chart=177

quote:

Originally posted by nutsan yeah but isnt the intel running at thequivelent of 6.6 ghz and the althon a 5ghz that a big difference to compare.

Um... no, the old megahertz don't mean anything in todays processor world. The E6600 is running at 2.4 ghz and the X2 5000 at 2.6 ghz. Bottom line is that the Duo's are (on average) more powerful than the X2 CPUs, but that's not saying the AMD's aren't kickass processors! (especially for the money).

...and a 6.6 ghz processor would need liquid nitrogen cooling in order to prevent it from going thermo-nuclear

quote:

Originally posted by Low Profile Um... no, the old megahertz don't mean anything in todays processor world. The E6600 is running at 2.4 ghz and the X2 5000 at 2.6 ghz. Bottom line is that the Duo's are (on average) more powerful than the X2 CPUs, but that's not saying the AMD's aren't kickass processors! (especially for the money). ...and a 6.6 ghz processor would need liquid nitrogen cooling in order to prevent it from going thermo-nuclear

fair dos. it was a question not a statement. i only asked becuase my athlon 64bit 3400+ runs at like 2.2ghz which is the "equivelent" of a pentium 3.4 ghz.

my comp seems to runs shit loads of vsts just fine. my processor has 1mb of L2 cache which is pretty good for an athlon most are half of that for the same price i paid (at the time), i also got 2 gig of ram. but i can run loads of big sytnhs like absynth , atmosphere, rapture etc...

cant see the justification of spending loads more. if u got the money then i guess go for it (i know i probs wuld). just the way prices are falling so quickly and new things are coming onto the market seems to make more sense not goin top of the range anymore.

i mean dual core is the rage atm but the new power mac has quad core, and can handle 16gig of ram just silly

16 gig of ram. jesus thats ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by Low Profile just imagine running 20 instances of albino 3 at the same time... with 5ms latency (I can actually do that on my computer, I have a Core2Duo E6600, 2gig DDR2 and an M-Audio Delta 44 audio interface)

Err, yeah, I can do that on my single-core Athlon 64.

20 instances of z3ta or Reaktor or SIR, now that might be interesting.

But that's the thing really... dual-core has a major advantage over single-core, but in terms of parallelism in production, the additional clock speed gives you hardly any gain. Core Duos are beating the AM2 chips in the benchmarks, there's no question about that, but the benchmarks are all based on performing millions of operations in series, whereas with production the problem is always parallelism.

If you're playing games, yeah, maybe get a Duo. For production, you won't notice much of a difference between a Duo and an AM2/X2 at half the price.

A computer with a big dick. And nothing else installed on it.

CONSIDER THIS:

You don't have to have one computer specifically for audio production. Just build a bitchen computer and have 2 partitions on a drive.

1. Windows XP Pro: For dicking around and tranceaddict
2. Windows XP Pro: JUST your audio apps installed... and NOTHING else. Kill some services by going Start -> Run -> Services.msc, and start hacking away at stuff you don't need. (windows security center, firewall, networking, windows sound, themes)

It's pretty simple. You can have a gigantic penis of a processor, but it's nothing with out a gigantic penis of some RAM.

Yea, I'm sure someone has already made these points. But I wanted to make sure it was spelled out again.




**on a side note. I've been considering writing a tutorial for windows users on how to reduce their consuption of resources by tooling down Windows XP to just a shell for you audio apps, and NOTHING else. Maybe I'll get around to writing it if someone hasn't allready.


----Adam Wrzeski

quote:

Originally posted by DJFreaq A computer with a big dick. And nothing else installed on it. CONSIDER THIS: You don't have to have one computer specifically for audio production. Just build a bitchen computer and have 2 partitions on a drive. 1. Windows XP Pro: For dicking around and tranceaddict 2. Windows XP Pro: JUST your audio apps installed... and NOTHING else. Kill some services by going Start -> Run -> Services.msc, and start hacking away at stuff you don't need. (windows security center, firewall, networking, windows sound, themes) It's pretty simple. You can have a gigantic penis of a processor, but it's nothing with out a gigantic penis of some RAM. Yea, I'm sure someone has already made these points. But I wanted to make sure it was spelled out again. ----Adam Wrzeski

It's a common idea - but you could do what I do and just strip down your windows so it's just running the basics anyway and use it for everything. Saves arsing about with dual booting and all that crap, and all your other programs run quicker too.

Back to the subject - with regards to the X2 chip - I've got a motherboard that supports it, can I just pull out the old one, put in the new X2 one, and it will work straight away?

Can it really be that simple?

Questions like: "Can it be that simple?" Usually answer themselves.

Check to make sure the chipset in your current motherboard supports the X2.

And as for one OS... dual booting is not a problem for me. I guess I'm just obsessive compulsive and I want one operating system solely dedicated to audio land.

I know my motherboard definitely supports X2, i made sure of that so i could upgrade, i've got the Asus A8N-SLI.

So does that mean it is that simple?????

If it is, I may have to do a little jig

anyone know where you can get ram preferably the uk for a reasoanble price. i checked out aria.co.uk and a gig is �90 including delivery. i saw some cheaper on the highstreet. anyone know anywhere cheaper?

thanks

Yes, if you've got a Socket 939 mobo, you can just give it a BIOS upgrade and it'll support the X2. Just make sure you get the S939 X2 and not the AM2 X2.

And do it fast, because 939's either getting discontinued or has already been discontinued.

quote:

Originally posted by messytechie I know my motherboard definitely supports X2, i made sure of that so i could upgrade, i've got the Asus A8N-SLI. So does that mean it is that simple?????

Yea. You buy the chip. Open up your PC case. Unclip and remove the heatsink. Raise the lever on the CPU socket (the CPU will pop out). Take out the old single core CPU. Drop in your X2 in its place. You cannot insert it the wrong way because it has an extra pin in 1 corner and a yellow arrow to tell you which way to insert it. Lower the lever. Smear a very thin layer of Arctic Silver 5 onto the metal heatspreader on the CPU. Lower the heatsink onto the heatspreader and applying even pressure, gently twist the heatsink clockwise and counterclockwise. Clip on the heatsink and fire up your PC. You are now dual core ready.

Minus the installation instructions its as simple as popping the chip in and booting up.

Hell, you could even remove the x2, buy an Opteron server CPU and that would work in the same board. I love how AMD made all their processors of the same generation compatible with the same boards.

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