Building a PC...HELP.

[UmJammerSully]

Hey, I'm looking to buy parts for a PC and get it built so I can get serious about composition and production (Had the same crappy 8 year old Dell for too long now), so instead of spending hours researching all the different parts I thought I'd come here and get some pro advice on what motherboard, processor, graphics and sound cards etc. would be good for my price range. I see there's already some decent threads on monitor recommendations so no need to go into that but if there's any particular hardware outside the essential stuff that you'd consider important then please let me know.

My price range for everything is about £500-£700 which is about $750-$1,000 so it's some fairly hefty-ish cash I'm laying down here, hence why I need some good advice so I don't do something stupid.

Thanks in advance!

[prophetik music]

hah, this is where i come in!

i don't know pricing in the UK, so i'll guess on stuff, and you'll let me know what's what.

you've got one big choice, and it's not what you think. since you've got a decent amount of money, you want to avoid AMD processors all together, so you've gotta decide primarily on where you're spending your money - getting the best processor you can buy and a cheapo graphics card, or getting the best combination of graphics and cpu that you can afford. if you're planning on doing any gaming (read: games from the last two years, everything before that can be handled by a cheapo card on varying settings), i'd suggest the latter. everyone rants about CPU power and how it's so necessary for music, but i rarely had issues with a 3ghz dual-core cpu that costs 165$ now =) if you just want to do music and only game on a console, more power to you - go with a cheaper graphics card, like the 3650 (for ATI) or the 8xxx or 8xxx cards (like the 8400 or the 9400, for nVidia).

i'll assume you want the ability to game on your computer. i'll price things based on newegg's US pricing and shipping costs...you'll have to be creative overseas.

case: cooler master's cases are awesome (the elite is excellent), and the antec three hundred is small, cheap, and very well-built. let's go with the three hundred. remember to look for deals where the case ships for free, that'll knock 20$ or so off your final price. 60$.

cpu: if you want the maximum power possible, go with the 1366 socket and the best cpu you can afford. i went with a mix, so i'd say that the 2.8ghz i7-860 (socket 1156, uses hyperthreading so it's basically an 8-core cpu) is excellent. honestly, if you need more than this, you're doing higher-level stuff than me. i've never gotten more than three threads out of eight maxed at any given time. 290$.

motherboard: this'll change if you go 1366, obviously. i like evga, but they're a little pricey for what you're looking for. go gigabyte - the GA-P55M-UD2 (not UD2A!) is only 105$.

memory: G.SKILL, no question. there's literally no real-world difference between DDR3-1333 and -1600, so just go -1333. their 2x2gb kits (tota of 4gb) is 99$.

hdd: WD's drives are the best. the caviar black is the best of their consumer-level drives. a 1tb drive is 90$.

video card: if you don't need anything on this front, get something cheap that's under three years old. if you want to game, i'd go with evga's GTX 216 core 216 card. all of the core 216 cards are fantastic, balancing heat and noise with excellent performance and low power consuption compared to the fermi and 57xx ATI cards. 225$.

psu: corsair's CMPSI-750TX is a fantastic psu...it comes in a velvet bag, for goodness sakes. their 650w versions should be enough with the big card and all, for at least two years if not way longer. if you want modular, OCZ's ModXStream Pro 750w is around the same price, but is a little dirtier and less efficient. 85$

dvd drive: whatever's highest rated on newegg =) 25$ max.

that's 975 including shipping. drop the graphics card and add it in for your birthday, and you're looking at 750 flat. if you've got a few extra bucks, go with the EVGA P55 SLI motherboard - it's another sixty bucks, but it's possibly the nicest motherboard i've ever worked with. i use it =) you can use an LGA 775 or LGA 1156 cooler with it, too - it's got cpu fan mounts for both, which is awesome.

questions? the faq in my sig is a little dated, but there's LOTS of good stuff in there. probably really advanced for what you need, but the PSU section and the graphics card sections might help you.

[Flexstyle]

First off, I would recommend ASUS as your motherboard manufacturer. They consistently pump out quality motherboards, and rarely have problems. I've used 'em several times myself and am quite happy.

Sound card--this depends on what you're trying to use it for. Will you be recording, or will you just be producing tracks "inside the box?" I personally use an M-Audio Delta 1010LT and like it very much, but it's a ten-input, ten-output card--I do a little recording on the side and do need every channel I can get. If you're only recording a vocal or an instrument at a time, you're not going to need something nearly as crazy.

Processor: This is a matter of pocketbook preference, really. AMD and Intel both make good processors. I think Intel has the upper hand right now in the processor wars, but AMD will get you a lot more bang for the buck in the lower price ranges.

Graphics: Again, your needs will dictate this. ATi is the current king of graphics power, with their 5800-series, but Nvidia has historically had better support and their drivers have usually been more stable. Both of them have great cards for their various price tiers. Good manufacturers include ASUS, BFG, XFX, and EVGA.

RAM: Get at LEAST two gigabytes. More if possible. Good manufacturers include G.Skill, Crucial, Mushkin, Patriot, and OCZ.

[UmJammerSully]

WOW. Thank you so much x 2. Very helpful stuff. I'm going to be looking for some good deals on this stuff and see what sort of price I'm looking at.

Thanks for bringing gaming into the equation too because that is something I should have said I wanted.

[prophetik music]

asus are good core2 motherboards, but their i7 and i5 boards are terrible. avoid them in this instance.

if you're doing tons of recording, you'll want a nice interface of some sort. i used, however, an m-audio mobilepre for years, and got excellent sound out of it. it's usb-powered, mobile for use with a laptop if needed, and costs less than 150$. i only used it when recording, though, and used integrated sound the rest of the time, and it worked pretty well.

amd's processors are only good if you're an enthusiast who plans on overclocking. they consistantly perform well under what similar intel processors in the same price range can do, and they're much hotter to boot. i'd avoid them in this case, particularly since amd's top processor is way below the 860 i picked out above =)

nvidia's cards are definitely more stable - ati's are so bad that there are several major third-party candidates that ati actually recognizes as being better than theirs the 5800 series is definitely better than anything else out there (price:performance ratio is way better), but like i said, i prefer evga's nvidia cards. never had one die, and they have by far the best tech support available anywhere.

i'd suggest getting four gigs, honestly. with a music machine, you want all you can get. w7 takes up about a gig for background stuff. a note: if you get a graphics card with a ton of vram (the core 216 has 896mb), subtract that amount from your total ram and add about 128mb. so, if you buy 4gb, you'll have 3gb useable. that's what i use. if you buy a 2gb vram card, you'll have a little less than 2gb useable =) this is a 32-bit windows restriction, only. if you go with a 64-bit windows installation, there's no restriction.

[DarkSim]

As you're in the UK, check out ebuyer.com as they offer free shipping and are UK based (I used them when I bought my PC - no problems and fast delivery), but I'd suggest creating a watch list and check the prices regularly as they do fluctuate A LOT. I managed to save over £100 when buying a sound card and speaker system just by watching the prices for a week.

[UmJammerSully]

Okay, after a lot of research I think I've made my decision. Pretty much every bit of hardware is what was recommended here but I thought I should just post it all up to make sure I'm not making any mistakes:

Processor:

Intel Core i7-860

Motherboard:

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

Memory:

G-Skill 4GB DDR3-1600

HDD:

WD Caviar Black 1TB

PSU:

Corsair CMPSU-750TX

Sound Card:

M-Audio Audiophile 192

Graphics Card:

EVGA e-GeForce 8600 GT 256MB

Case:

Antec 300

DVD Drive:

Summat like this.

For now, I'll be producing music with just software (Going to buy an M-Audio Axion 61 for that end.) but I will be recording sooner or later. Probably never more than one or two instruments at a time.

[prophetik music]

just fyi, most bigger cards (like the 9800 and up) will just BARELY fit into the 300. might want to go with something a touch bigger if you're planning on getting a better graphics card between now and then (the 9800GTX+ is only around 130 or so, and would light that 8600 you picked on fire).

also, unless you're a keyboard player, go with the axiom 49. i'm not, and i've never been hampered by the size of mine. use that saved money towards a better gfx card =)

[Flexstyle]

If you're serious about gaming, I'd recommend getting a different card than the 8600. I have an ASUS-manufactured 8600GT (512MB of RAM) myself, and am yearning for an upgrade. It still manages to do well with most games I throw at it, but it's definitely showing its age. 256MB of RAM would be shortchanging yourself, by the way--that's like the bare minimum for most recent games.

asus are good core2 motherboards, but their i7 and i5 boards are terrible. avoid them in this instance.

Good to know myself, lol. I've been strictly AMD-based for the last several years, but considering upgrading to an i7 in the not-too-distant future.

also, unless you're a keyboard player, go with the axiom 49. i'm not, and i've never been hampered by the size of mine. use that saved money towards a better gfx card =)

This.

[UmJammerSully]

Yeah, I'm gonna upgrade the graphics card later down the line, and I'm only a "semi-serious" piano player so I'll think I'll take your advice there and get the smaller version.

Thanks very much again, I dunno what I would have done without this forum.

[prophetik music]

fyi - if you buy EVGA on your graphics card, they've got a "step-up" program. if you, after 90 days max, want to upgrade, they'll credit the full cost that you paid for your card towards a better one. you ship the one you've got back (with all the bells and whistles, and the box if possible), and they send you a new one. i've done it several times, it's a great deal.

[UmJammerSully]

And a few weeks later, I'm back seeking the almighty knowledge of this forum once more.

I'm thinking of buying this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-025-OP

I could just buy a better sound card to go with this, right? Is everything else about it cool? If I can avoid the hassle of building a PC when I don't know anything about it, I will.

[prophetik music]

unless you're recording, you don't need a sound card. fo realz. if you are recording, most of the decent mid-range ones are firewire or USB2, so you don't need to worry about adding on. there are a myriad of cheap 2-input sound cards for usb, usually around 100$ or so. i used the m-audio mobilepre for years, and it worked fine. just used onboard sound beyond that. i didn't get a real audio interface (focusrite saffire pro 40) until about three months ago...after doing music for six years.

if you're a student, you can get w7 professional 32-bit for 30$ (USD) at win741.com. it's the 'upgrade' version, but it'll install a full version right off the disc, nothing's needed.

as for the graphics card, i probably wouldn't go with the stock card. use this list to determine what's worth it for your needs. i'm an nvidia guy (better drivers, more games optimized for them), so i'd go with the newly released gtx 460. it's only 55 pounds more.

edit: don't get kaspersky. legitimate users of windows can get Microsoft Security Essentials, a lightweight and excellent anti-virus suite. by far the best option for free. maximum pc or ars technica (can't remember which) did an extensive test of AV programs a while ago, and MSE blew away every other option in the free category, and was better than most of the paid alternatives.

[UmJammerSully]

My God, you're a machine. Responded in 15 mins! Thanks yet again for the great advice, I've taken it all into consideration.

[prophetik music]

i just happened to look when you posted =)