Xelebes buys a new computer.

[Xelebes]

Starting from scratch, really. Well, save for the speakers, keyboard and monitor. I'm trusting you guys to help me make the purchases because... well... you guys often have the same needs as I do.

So, let me state the purpose of the computer: music production & business. Budget maximum is 1 000 CAD. I want integrated video on the mobo, no accessory video card (well, until 2010 rolls around and Monte Cristo comes out with Cities XL.) Music production is... well, it has to be decent but not too full on. It's now as a passing hobby for me and nothing too serious about it. For business, I'm in business school so it needs to perform business functions as well.

I want to hear your suggestions.

[Kanthos]

Prophet of Mephisto's been building computers for people here, and from what I understand, his prices are quite good. You might want to ask him.

[Xelebes]

Well, I'm currently looking at an offer from BCOM Computers in Edmonton as follows:

3.0 GHz - Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6850
2x1 GB PC 6400 800 MHz DDR2 RAM
500 GB - Seagate SATA II Hard Drive - 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache
DVD-RW 20X +/- Reqritable DVD-ROM Drive
Intel DQ35JOE LGA775 Motherboard
- 1 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16 slots
IN-WIN C589 Mid Tower Case w/ 350W Power Supply
Windows XP Pro OEM DSP

for 729.95 CAD (766.45 w/ sales taxes.)

I'm intendinging to double the hard drive space and upping the power supply to an ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 550 ATX12V 550W power supply.

Works out to:

Base System:.$729.95
Extra HD:....$109.95
PS Discount:.[$20.00]
New PS:.......$99.95
Modif. Fee:..$100.00 [Estimated, not quoted]

Base Price:.$1 019.95
Sales Tax:.....$50.99
Total:......$1 070.94

[Katsurugi]

If you have some extra cash to burn, I would recommend upgrading the RAM as well. It depends on the motherboard or not whether it supports it or not. Personally, I would recommend 4 gigs of RAM for Vista to increase the longevity of the system. But it all matters on how you use the computer.

[Xelebes]

I intend to purchase XP Pro for it, not Vista.

[Majin GeoDooD]

Change the CPU to an E8400, you'll get the benefit of 45nm (runs cooler, uses less power), more cache (6MB vs 4MB) and SSE4. It's generally only $10 more than an E6850.

[Kanthos]

I intend to purchase XP Pro for it, not Vista.

4GB will still make a big difference for remixing, if you can afford it. Your DAW and plugins can use up to 2GB if you're using a 32-bit edition of XP; not having to share that with the OS and other running processes will be nice.

[Xelebes]

Most of my projects are processor-intense, not RAM-intense. That is, I tend to use and abuse softsynths and avoid sampling for the most part.