Computer on ebay. Would you get it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shovel
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Shovel

Shovel

Member of Project Mayhem
I've been considering getting a computer for quite some time now. I plan to use it for sequencing and recording. I will NOT be using VST or any plugins. After doing limited research (limited, because I don't understand a whole lot about what I need or not, what's good or not) I came across this computer on ebay. Any good?

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (800FSB) 64bit CPU
CPU Fan: AMD Heavy Duty Cooling Fan With Heat Sink
Motherboard: Gigabyte K8VT800 K8T800 800FSB new 64 bit CPU support
Memory: 512MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM ( upgradeable up to 3 GB)
Video Card: GeForce FX 5500 256MB 8xAGP video with TV out
Hard drive: 120GB 7200RPM
CD drive: 52x24x52 CDRW drive (add 16x DVD ROM drive for $45)
Floppy drive: Mitsumi 1.44MB 3.5" drive
Sound: AC 97 Full duplex digital sound
Network: 10/100 RJ45 network card (Ethernet, cable or DSL)
Modem: not included (add 56k v.92 modem for $10)
Ports: Four USB 2.0 ports,1 serial, 1 parallel, 1 microphone jack
Case: Mid Tower 400w power supply (four 5.25", two 3.5" bays)
Keyboard: PS2 Windows Keyboard
Mouse: PS2 Scroll Mouse
Speakers: Multimedia stereo speakers

All for $850.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52475&item=4124833617

Any insight would be appreciated for this computer newbie. Thanks
 
Almost $900 with shipping and you'll need to get an operating system for it. Doesn't look like a bad deal, it's decent.

The only thing is that you'll have to get drivers for pretty much everything once you install an operating system. Nothing wrong with that but to point it out.

If you plan on buying pre-built, maybe you'll want to take a look at Dell, Hp, etc... Sub-$1000 systems sometimes are pretty good and they include office software, operating system, all drivers, recovery disks, monitor, keyboard, etc.. and most importantly, product support. Although they're harder to upgrade, they'll do the job for the most part if not all the time.
 
I've been considering getting a computer for quite some time now. I plan to use it for sequencing and recording. I will NOT be using VST or any plugins
Click to expand...
So get a good pentium 3 and save some money to get a great monitor (or two). It'll also be a lot quiter.
 
I missed that part. Mungo is right in a sense, what matters when tracking is a fast hard drive. Even a pentium 200 or so will do the job if you're not using any effects. But to be a bit more realistic, anything after a Pentium 3 will do the job.

So a great audio device, a dedicated hard drive, and a modest processor would do the job for tracking.
 
I see. As of now I have two P3, so I may not need to buy a computer. Maybe just a bigger hard drive and more ram.
The computer I'm currently on is an HP, 700 mhz, 20 gig drive, 191 mbytes ram. Win Me- I perfer XP though.
 
i'd stick with what you have at the current moment. it dosen't seem you will be doing anything too system intensive, as far as audio goes. if at any time in the future you find that your setup isn't working out, you can upgrade then. but you will need more memory and a bigger hard drive. i would leave the one you have now for the operating system and any random files you have. then use your new hard drive for audio projects. and definately ditch windows me for xp.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I've might have made a huge mistake by buying a computer I would not need. I saved myself some cash which I can now invest into other gear.

:cheers:
 
Yeay you got it right, beef up the ram to 512 or a gig and get a nice chunky 200Gb hard drive before they stop making non-SATA drives.

I do all my work on a Dell P3 800 and I happily run 16x 32bit audio tracks + midi on it.
 
mungo said:
Yeay you got it right, beef up the ram to 512 or a gig and get a nice chunky 200Gb hard drive before they stop making non-SATA drives.
Click to expand...

Huh? What sort of advantage would this non-SATA drive have over the others?
 
SATA is the new format and you P3 will only have "old" parallel ata hard drive controllers. It porbably wont have usb 2 either, just get an internal hard drive.
 
You can always get a Serial ATA controller card and plug it into the pci slot though.
 
No point, you are most likely going to get better performance from the onboard controller.
 
UPDATE

It looks like I'll be getting hooked up with a computer from a buddy of mine.

What a nice guy! :victory:

It pays to do people huge favors.

We'll see what happens...
 
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Good touch, no, I mean, bad touch bad touch.:D

Really, first I thought he wrote "it pays to do huge people favors".

Good luck with that shovel, let us know how it goes.:)
 
sleepy said:
Good touch, no, I mean, bad touch bad touch.:D

Really, first I thought he wrote "it pays to do huge people favors".

Good luck with that shovel, let us know how it goes.:)
Click to expand...

LOL!

I'll let you know what happens.
 
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