Recomendations for a new music production PC?

[klm09]

I'm going to buy a new PC sometime soonish. I'm going to use it for a bit of everything, but I want to prioritize music production as the primary focus for selecting components. I also want to play games on it, but have a budget of 1000-1100 euros, so I can't put like 500 euros on a really good graphics card. To be more specific, 1100 euros is what my parents are agreeing to pay, but I can put in perhaps 100-300 of my own money, raising the actual limit of what I can spend to approximately 1400. However, I'd prefer to try to stick to 1200 or so at most, and then upgrade later. Also, I'll be using it for school work, surfing, whatever, but that doesn't really factor into what hardware I should get.

As a basic premise, I'm thinking:

-Some dual core processor

-2 GB RAM

-A HD that has the best money / size ratio (so I guess around 300 GB)

-Some decent soundcard (I only need basic I/O, but ASIO compatibility and decent specs are a must)

-Plus essentials like a burning DVD drive and what-have-you

I don't need to buy a monitor, I intend to use my old CRT.. I have no idea about the motherboard, but that obviously depends on the processor. Should I get Intel or AMD: Core Duo or Athlon 64 X2? Or something else? Is 2GB ram good, or should I go for more; I currently don't use any huge sample libraries, but am planning on getting Drumkit From Hell Superior in the future.

Also, the system I get doesn't have to be "perfect" as it is, like I said, I can/will upgrade in the future. So for example if by getting a low end graphics card I can then get the next-up processor in the line, I might do that. Or get less RAM and buy another stick in the future.

I would love it if you could give me some advice as to what would be sensible.

[Splunkle]

Ummmm... by basic I/O for the soundcard, how basic are we talking? Stereo out and mic in? Or MIDI in/out? How good does the recording quality have to be?

If you are getting a soundcard, you may as well get a pro one - the cheapest are under US$100, so it won't take a huge dint out of your budget. Avoid all those consumer soundcards - you will probably get something with shitty recording quality.

As for the rest... it doesn't matter too much. With your budget, its not like you can do anything extreme like get two computers and wire them together or something... 2GB of RAM is probably a good idea, though. So is a fast CPU, but I have no idea whether Intel or AMD are better.

[zircon]

For 1100 euros you could definitely get a nice PC w/ those specs via newegg, but I'm not sure if they ship to Europe. Also, I recommend two hard drives. One for applications and one for storage. They're fairly inexpensive.

[Kanthos]

I second the two hard drive idea.

First off, it's useful because if you ever have to reformat and reinstall everything, you don't have to back up your data first, since it's on a different drive. That saved me so much time the last time I reformatted.

Secondly, you might get better performance with a second hard drive for data, especially if you're running low on memory. Windows uses some hard drive space as temporary memory. If you have that space on your program drive and have your samples on your data drive, you'll get better performance than if you have both on the same drive.

[klm09]

Ummmm... by basic I/O for the soundcard, how basic are we talking? Stereo out and mic in? Or MIDI in/out? How good does the recording quality have to be?

If you are getting a soundcard, you may as well get a pro one - the cheapest are under US$100, so it won't take a huge dint out of your budget. Avoid all those consumer soundcards - you will probably get something with shitty recording quality.

As for the rest... it doesn't matter too much. With your budget, its not like you can do anything extreme like get two computers and wire them together or something... 2GB of RAM is probably a good idea, though. So is a fast CPU, but I have no idea whether Intel or AMD are better.

For the I/O, basically just stereo in/out, midi is optional.. currently I sequence by mouse, and if I do get a keyboard for midi sequencing, I'll get something that connects through USB (I've been eyeing the CME UF range.. one day the UF5 shall be mine). Recording quality, well, all I really record is guitar going through my PodXT, so it's not that big of an issue, but it should be such that, were I to want to record something, it'd be somewhere between usable and good. I'm thinking something the equivalent of an Audiophile 2496 or thereabouts.

I've basically decided that the processor is going to be an Intel Core 2 Duo E6400, unless by the time that I get around to buying the rig the price of the E6600 has fallen enough to put it in the price / power sweetspot. Or unless AMD does something drastic with their pricing.

So that obviously narrows my mobo choices to Socket 775 chipsets.. I have no idea about the motherboard yet. I guess it will be what I will look into next.

EDIT: zircon, Kanthos, that is actually what I'm planning on doing. But I'm probably just going to get 1 harddrive with the machine and buy another later, to spread out the expense.

Also, thanks for the tip about Newegg. I'll have to look into it.. but knowing Finnish import tax and customs, I bet whatever money I save ordering from them..

EDIT2: Had a quick glance at their FAQ, they don't ship internationally.

[suzumebachi]

The Audiophile 24/96 is good stuff. And the E-Mu 0404 is also a good alternative. You can't really go wrong with either one.

[zircon]

E6400 is a good bet. I also recommend the EMU 0404 as your sound card. If you can find a website LIKE newegg, but closer to your area, let me know and I'll get some specific parts for you to look at.

[Argle]

I also recommend the EMU 0404. It's a good cheap soundcard.