About to buy the parts for my DAW PC. NEED HELP

[Peep This]

okay. so reading through countless threads on what pc to buy for beatmaking, i decided to take the advice of many and just build my own. i just need yall to confirm that it's a solid system & that everything's compatible. i would hate to get all of this then find out some parts aren't compatible. if anybody thinks i would be best switching one part with another brand or model, please let me know. but if you suggest a switch please keep it in the same price range. on this pc i will be using FL, cool edit, & reason. and would like to hook up keyboards & turntables later on. please let me know if i would be happy with this system.



SPECS


Motherboard: MSI P45 Neo2-FR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
Processor: Quad Core 6600
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM
Sound Card: EMU 1212
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB
DVD/CD Burner/Rom: SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F-OEM
Card Reader: Rosewill RCR-IC001 USB 2.0
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12 II SS-500GB 500W ATX12V V2.3
Fan/Heatsink: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Case: Antec 900



also i wanted to know if the fan/heatsink is absolutely necessary at the moment or if it can wait til later. would rather not spend the cash right now if i don't have to. thank you, the help is mos def appreciated.

 

[WhiteKidsLoveHipHop]

Fan/Heatsink are absolutely necessary.
Get some thermal paste as well (It's only like a dollar or two?) to put between the cpu and heatsink.

If you need to save some money, skip the Video Card, DVD Burner, and Card Reader, if it's strictly an Audio Workstation and not an all purpose computer. You can probably find a CD Burner/Reader for $5 or so used on like craigslist.

 

[hanzalo]

i am selling a intel q8200 quad processor on ebay-
http://tinyurl.com/6j6g2m
i'm not sure how much q6600s are, but it might save you some money.
also, i would make sure to get a video card, even if it is a weak one, just so any visual effects don't take away cpu power. the stock fan/heatsink should be enough if you aren't overclocking. i would try out the stock hs first, and if it isn't keeping it cool enough, then buy another one.

 

[djevatenna]

Get a fat off CPU cooler, Dual Hard drives so that samples and raw information gets loaded off one, and then Programs and VSTs run off another. Or have 3, the above, but split the Programs to a windows hard drive and then a seperate DAW and VST drive.

Makes the PC load fast and run reliably, also it has advantages for virus protection.

 

[Peep This]

Get a fat off CPU cooler, Dual Hard drives so that samples and raw information gets loaded off one, and then Programs and VSTs run off another. Or have 3, the above, but split the Programs to a windows hard drive and then a seperate DAW and VST drive.

Makes the PC load fast and run reliably, also it has advantages for virus protection.

what about a mybook essential 320 GB hard drive?...would that work?


and what are yall opinions on the actual pc though?....would i be able to make some quality music on that?....i'm not talkin dr dre type **** but you get the picture. overall, what would you rank that system. considering you were coming from a gateway 420gr with 512mb RAM like i am.

and good looks on the replies. i'm coo on that ebay auction though. the starting bid is already higher than the price for the quad 6600.

 

[madagoknee]

what about a mybook essential 320 GB hard drive?...would that work?


and what are yall opinions on the actual pc though?....would i be able to make some quality music on that?....i'm not talkin dr dre type **** but you get the picture. overall, what would you rank that system. considering you were coming from a gateway 420gr with 512mb RAM like i am.

you could get a cheaper graphic card if this is only dedicated for music production.expensive graphic cards won't translate to much.Card reader, don't bother people are not usually swapping SD cards at the studio.I would suggest investing in a portable hard drive (not an external hard drive, a portable one that can be powered via USB) so when you travel to other studios you can back up/swap files easily.Also what OS are you running?If you are running a 64 Bit OS try to get more RAM.4GB is fine for what you are working with now but always good to look fwd and be prepared.One last suggestion, rather than one large hard drive get two. Get one that's 120GB and a seperate 500GB one. On the smaller drive use it solely for your apps installations and the larger one use for sound banks,samples, etc. It will keep your PC running smoother that way.

As for making quality music, the PC has nothing to do with that it has to do with skill. With a better PC though you will have more stability so it's worth the investment.

 

[Peep This]

you could get a cheaper graphic card if this is only dedicated for music production.expensive graphic cards won't translate to much.Card reader, don't bother people are not usually swapping SD cards at the studio.I would suggest investing in a portable hard drive (not an external hard drive, a portable one that can be powered via USB) so when you travel to other studios you can back up/swap files easily.Also what OS are you running?If you are running a 64 Bit OS try to get more RAM.4GB is fine for what you are working with now but always good to look fwd and be prepared.One last suggestion, rather than one large hard drive get two. Get one that's 120GB and a seperate 500GB one. On the smaller drive use it solely for your apps installations and the larger one use for sound banks,samples, etc. It will keep your PC running smoother that way.

As for making quality music, the PC has nothing to do with that it has to do with skill. With a better PC though you will have more stability so it's worth the investment.

alright. good post man. i think i'll take your advice with the 2 separate hard drives. do you think this is a solid hard drive to have as a secondary drive to run all the apps & shyt?


http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A1253130


and also, i was wondering about the graphics card thing. cause i'm not gonna be playin games on this or anything. like what's the cheapest card i can get?....if i get a real cheap one will it take away from the overall quality of my monitor picture?....not even like games or anything, just browsing the internet or watchin a movie.


and as far as OS...what would you recommend?....it's either XP or vista 64 bit for me. i've heard good & bad from both sides. but it seems like most producers would rather use XP at the moment. so i'm kinda leaning towards that.


and yea i definitely know it's all about the person and not about the equipment. but comin from the cheap ass pc i'm on now, i know equipment will definitely help. on this broke down pc i can't really expand my horizons like i want to. this shyt just can't handle it. i was just askin if i would be able to take my music to the next level on this build right here...cause i already know what i'm capable of. and i just want to make sure i'm not getting a system that'll cokk block me. you feel me.


good lookin on the help. appreciate it for real

 

[madagoknee]

alright. good post man. i think i'll take your advice with the 2 separate hard drives. and also, i was wondering about the graphics card thing. cause i'm not gonna be playin games on this or anything. like what's the cheapest card i can get?....if i get a real cheap one will it take away from the overall quality of my monitor picture?....not even like games or anything, just browsing the internet or watchin a movie.


and as far as OS...what would you recommend?....it's either XP or vista 64 bit for me. i've heard good & bad from both sides. but it seems like most producers would rather use XP at the moment. so i'm kinda leaning towards that.


and yea i definitely know it's all about the person and not about the equipment. but comin from the cheap ass pc i'm on now, i know equipment will definitely help. on this broke down pc i can't really expand my horizons like i want to. this shyt just can't handle it. i was just askin if i would be able to take my music to the next level on this build right here...cause i already know what i'm capable of. and i just want to make sure i'm not getting a system that'll cokk block me. you feel me.


good lookin on the help. appreciate it for real

for the graphic card onboard would be fine but if you could spare $60 or so on a mediocre one it will be good just for handling the OS.Onboard graphic cards usually don't have their own memory hence taking some from your RAM which will then take away from music making.Me personally I have a Nvidia GS6800 or something like that and it does what it is suppose to.As for OS, at this point it's a matter of preference.The apps you use work fine in Vista, i know because i use those myself (except cool edit) and they run fine in vista.I would stay away from XP 64, no personal experience on my side but I have heard horror stories with that one. Vista 64 isn't bad since it runs 32bit apps no prob but if I were you considering the apps you are using a 32bit OS would be fine.Just pick XP or Vista, its preference as this point.

As for the better pc better music comment, it wasn't a cheap shot or anything like that. Its just that I've read a lot of threads on this board and a lot of beat makers seem to be under the impression that if you invest in a lot or expensive gear your beats get better and thats far from the truth.A $3000 keyboard doesn't do good for anyone if you don't know how to use it. Based of your replies on this thread though I could tell that you didnt think that, I just kinda wanted to point it out to anyone else that might have been reading this thread.

That sound card you pointed out doesn't have phantom power also. Not important if you don't really plan on recording But i would suggest getting something with phantom power down the road so that if you do decide to go that route youre prepared and wont have to gut your PC (Emu1212 is PCI card) to make the changes.

Anything else, just let me know I'll try to help out.

 

[Peep This]

for the graphic card onboard would be fine but if you could spare $60 or so on a mediocre one it will be good just for handling the OS.Onboard graphic cards usually don't have their own memory hence taking some from your RAM which will then take away from music making.Me personally I have a Nvidia GS6800 or something like that and it does what it is suppose to.As for OS, at this point it's a matter of preference.The apps you use work fine in Vista, i know because i use those myself (except cool edit) and they run fine in vista.I would stay away from XP 64, no personal experience on my side but I have heard horror stories with that one. Vista 64 isn't bad since it runs 32bit apps no prob but if I were you considering the apps you are using a 32bit OS would be fine.Just pick XP or Vista, its preference as this point.

As for the better pc better music comment, it wasn't a cheap shot or anything like that. Its just that I've read a lot of threads on this board and a lot of beat makers seem to be under the impression that if you invest in a lot or expensive gear your beats get better and thats far from the truth.A $3000 keyboard doesn't do good for anyone if you don't know how to use it. Based of your replies on this thread though I could tell that you didnt think that, I just kinda wanted to point it out to anyone else that might have been reading this thread.

That sound card you pointed out doesn't have phantom power also. Not important if you don't really plan on recording But i would suggest getting something with phantom power down the road so that if you do decide to go that route youre prepared and wont have to gut your PC (Emu1212 is PCI card) to make the changes.

Anything else, just let me know I'll try to help out.

yea i knew what you sayin about the equipment thing. i agree with you on that.


and if not the EMU what sound card would you suggest. i really aint tryin to go over 150 right now. i just want a card that will give me quality sound and allow me to hook up turntables and keyboards down the road.

 

[madagoknee]

yea i knew what you sayin about the equipment thing. i agree with you on that.


and if not the EMU what sound card would you suggest. i really aint tryin to go over 150 right now. i just want a card that will give me quality sound and allow me to hook up turntables and keyboards down the road.

Did some research on those cards for you. Depends on whether you doing firewire or USB. Here are some USB interfaces I found that hit your budget:

Emu 0202

Lexicon Lambda

Lexicon Alpha

Yamaha Audiogram6

I have no personal experience with these devices but I read the specs and they have line inputs which is what you need for keyboards and/or turntables. I personally like the Yamaha one out of this bunch.

As for firewire interfaces there is not much at all that is $150 and below.Good thing about the external devices is that they are portable and you can hook them up to multiple pcs if need be.Hope that helps

 

[A_Eberts]

EMU 1212 is the best card available for the price.
Those all inclusive external soundcard usually have bad converters and bad preamps.
If he wants he can buy himself a lil mixer later:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Mix60/

So he has the best of both worlds.

He definitely needs an graphioc card because the mainboard does not have an onboard chip.
The Ati 3650 is already an entry-level graphic card. Its very cheap and has 2 dvi ports for 2 monitors.

And yeah I see that you're a beginner so I don't recommend you to overclock your CPU ----> no need to buy the bis ass cooler...just buy the Q6600 boxed so you get that intel stock fan and the thermal paste is already attached to it. This is very good for beginners because you gotta be very careful with it.

 

[Peep This]

Did some research on those cards for you. Depends on whether you doing firewire or USB. Here are some USB interfaces I found that hit your budget:

Emu 0202

Lexicon Lambda

Lexicon Alpha

Yamaha Audiogram6

I have no personal experience with these devices but I read the specs and they have line inputs which is what you need for keyboards and/or turntables. I personally like the Yamaha one out of this bunch.

As for firewire interfaces there is not much at all that is $150 and below.Good thing about the external devices is that they are portable and you can hook them up to multiple pcs if need be.Hope that helps

major props on this. props on everything. it helped greatly.

EMU 1212 is the best card available for the price.
Those all inclusive external soundcard usually have bad converters and bad preamps.
If he wants he can buy himself a lil mixer later:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Mix60/

So he has the best of both worlds.

He definitely needs an graphioc card because the mainboard does not have an onboard chip.
The Ati 3650 is already an entry-level graphic card. Its very cheap and has 2 dvi ports for 2 monitors.

And yeah I see that you're a beginner so I don't recommend you to overclock your CPU ----> no need to buy the bis ass cooler...just buy the Q6600 boxed so you get that intel stock fan and the thermal paste is already attached to it. This is very good for beginners because you gotta be very careful with it.

so you don't think i need a cooler?....cause i'm most likely not gonna try to overclock....at least not for a while until i actually learn more about it. but for now i'm not gonna **** with it. but i'm still buggin. i have one person sayin it's absolutely neccessary than another telling me it's not needed. i don't know what to do. not to say i don't trust you, but you know...i just have no idea.

 

[A_Eberts]

major props on this. props on everything. it helped greatly.



so you don't think i need a cooler?....cause i'm most likely not gonna try to overclock....at least not for a while until i actually learn more about it. but for now i'm not gonna **** with it. but i'm still buggin. i have one person sayin it's absolutely neccessary than another telling me it's not needed. i don't know what to do. not to say i don't trust you, but you know...i just have no idea.

Noooo. Of course you need a cooler. Without the cooler you gonna destroy your CPU.
There are always 2 CPUs that shops sell. OEM and Retail. To get that intel cooler you need to buy the Retail edition.

Intel Cooler

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/333455370_de880b1c7e.jpg?v=0

And yeah installing those big ass coolers is no joke. Even I had problems to mount my xigmatek on the mainboard because that thing was big.

I recommend you to buy the retail pack with that included intel stock cooler.

A Tip from me:
If you put the system together and power it on go straight to the bios and check if the temperatures are ok:

 

[Peep This]

Noooo. Of course you need a cooler. Without the cooler you gonna destroy your CPU.
There are always 2 CPUs that shops sell. OEM and Retail. To get that intel cooler you need to buy the Retail edition.

Intel Cooler

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/165/333455370_de880b1c7e.jpg?v=0

And yeah installing those big ass coolers is no joke. Even I had problems to mount my xigmatek on the mainboard because that thing was big.

I recommend you to buy the retail pack with that included intel stock cooler.

A Tip from me:
If you put the system together and power it on go straight to the bios and check if the temperatures are ok:

oh ok...so what you're sayin is, i don't have to buy the Xigmatek fan...i'll be fine with the intel stock cooler for right now. is that right?