Another "How's this computer look?" thread

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spydermonkey

2[H]4U
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Nov 30, 2004
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Hey all. I was asked by a friend to build a PC which would be used for some gaming and hopefully, recording music. The List is as follows:

CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU here

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor here

Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 here

Seagate 120GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive here

Lite-On 16X, DVD Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive here

Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/HDTV-Out, PCI-Express here

COOLER MASTER Cavalier 3 Black ATX Mid-Tower Case here

ENERMAX Noisetaker Series 320W Power supply here

Logitech Internet Pro Desktop Keyboard and Mouse BLACK here

ViewSonic E70B 17" CRT Monitor here

He wanted the PC to be around 700-800USD and the list totals at 778.15. Now, the only thing i'm really worried about is the sound. He wants to record music, and i was wondering, what kind of sound card would do the job here? Maybe one of Creative's EMU-0404's? Or maybe a Sound Blaster 2 ZS? I'm not sure how he's gonna be connecting to the card, but I was looking for something good. Would a card with the Via envy chip work out alright? Thanks for going to the trouble of reading this, and your help is apreciated.
 
Change the chaintek board for a Gigabyte GAK8NF-9 or whatever. they should be around $120 at newegg. Those chainteks wernt rated too well. I have the gigabyte board, and it is good as my Asus for O/C and stability.
Also, There is a sale on 2x512MB DDR400 Crucial ram for $87 on neweggs main page, if 1 gig of ram is wanted...


PSU: That enermax is expensive. Sparkle makes a dead-silent PSU with a 120mm fan, for $36. That will save your friend some money.

Gaming: Get a refurbed 6600GT. Mine was a gigabyte model.

Other than that, it looks like a nice work/game PC.

Edit:

The onboard sound of the gigabyte is a good one. Not exceptional, but it works good enough for me not to complain. Its either an AC'97 or some realtek soundcard.
 
I probably should have stated that there is going to be no overclocking on this board. I'm looking for the best stock. If it were mine, I'd have no problem overclocking. Also, one of the reasons i picked the Chaintech is because it has the features of the Nforce 4 Ultra chipset. Nextly, the PSU needs to be a 24 pin, cause the board is, and i'm not sure if i want to risk instability due to power issues. Lastly, I'm not sure if I want to risk a refurbished video card. I'm mainly going for stock stability on this rig, cause he has no idea how to troubleshoot. Thanks for your suggestions and keep them coming!
 
Well, if your friend is going to do some music recording and that stuff, shouldn't you get some decent speakers with the sound card. Also maybe, an extra 512mb of RAM should help if he is going to multitask. That's all I can think of....

TO: spydermonkey, there you happy now!!
 
make sure you get him the Audigy ZS whatever it is with the Breakout box....that has the quarter inch and RCA inputs that will make recording viable....DO NOT settle for recording through the 1/8in mic jack it is BAD and MONO. happy hunting!
 
hungryduck said:
make sure you get him the Audigy ZS whatever it is with the Breakout box....that has the quarter inch and RCA inputs that will make recording viable....DO NOT settle for recording through the 1/8in mic jack it is BAD and MONO. happy hunting!
Click to expand...
Naw, man, the E-Mu 0404 is much more suitable for recording, as that's its number one purpose. It uses balanced mono 1/4" jacks in case you were concerned. Besides that, it has some of the best DACs and ADCs you'll see in a soundcard under $500. All for $99 retail.
 
Ok.... so its for music recording right?... will be there any gaming involved? if not keep the 6600 and get a P4 530 3Ghz HT, if there will be gaming get the 6600GT keep the AMD64 3000+ (but i would go for the 3200+),
 
It's going to be used for gaming too, but keep in mind that i'm trying to keep it under 800 w/o sound card. maybe i can convince him to spend a little more for the sound, but im not sure how much i can push for everything else.
 
This might be a little up there in price for recording, but when you realize you don't even need a console to run into it (all 8 Inputs with mic pre's!!!) you definately get your moneys worth! Also, 8 bus consoles can get pretty pricey...

Aardvark DirectPro Q10
Aardvark's flagship product, this unit has it all. 8 inputs have XLR & 1/4" inputs all with Mic Pre's via Neutrix connectors, the last two are specially designed for guitar or bass. Aardvark's A/D converters are among the best, and it's DSP based, meaning the mixer won't slow down your computer. Add MIDI and Cakewalk software all for around $800. This product merits serious consideration.

-wil
 
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