Final Spec Check (Music Production & Light Gaming)

Robe$h

Robe$h

Robe$h

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Joined
24 Sep 2006
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205
Hello there.

I'm going to be buying this PC on Wednesday (when I finally get payed :)) and I'll be mainly using it for Music Production software and recording, and a bit of light gaming with Microsoft Flight Simulator etc...

Do you think it all looks ok? Is the RAM ok or can you think of some cheaper stuff to get which is just as good? I want to Overclock this PC to around 3.2Ghz, nothing more really... But I've never Overclocked before so I'm not sure which is the best RAM to get really...

Here is my spec:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Tenth Anniversary Dual RAM
Gainward BLISS GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
Logitech Media Keyboard Elite - Retail
Logitech B58 Optical Wheel Mouse (Black) - OEM
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk

Total : £1,253.49

Any tips/advice you can give as to how I can improve the above spec will be greatly appreciated!

My budget is 1200

Thank you very much in advance for the help

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
Well, a few small notes:

Feel free to get the E4300, it is slightly easier to overclock to high levels. Also is a bit cheaper than the E6300.

Forget XP, get Vista. You may as well be more "future proof" with a latter O/S.

As for the 8800GTS, I think that is a good choie, however if you are only doing light gaming then you could always get the X1950 PRO. its about half the speed of the GTS, but if you are only going to play games on rare occasions then it will be fine. You could always save the difference in money to get the R600 by ATI later on. Really depends on how much gaming that you play though.

If you can, use the extra money on a dedicated sound card, which will help you somewhat with music. Extra inputs and the like.

Also, do you think a 19" will be enough? if you could, I would rather have dual monitors when doing production work. I admit though, I know little ahout music production, I doing graphic artwork so I guess that really depends on you.
 
I'm not too sure about Vista TBH.

I've been reading a few Music forums and at the moment people are saying stay clear of it and stick to XP for now. This is 'cause of compatability issues with software and sound card drivers etc not working with Vista. At the moment I'm not too sure what to do 'cause if I do buy Vista, it will save me a few quid, not much, but a few quid is a lot in my eyes! :)

With the 19 inch screen, I just don't think I can afford to buy two, or go one bigger and get a 22 inch. But seeing as my budget is only 1200 (maybe more depending on how much I get payed) I don't think I can afford it right now...

Are there any good 22 inch screens that will still keep me within budget?

Anyway, thank you very much for the reply, I appreciate it!

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
Just as you say its for music production, im i being thick cause i cant see a stand alone music card in your setup.
 
I'm going to be buying a seperate sound card purely dedicated for Music Production, when I next get payed though :mad: :)

I'm going to swap the Crucial Tenth Anniversary RAM for the Geil 2GB 800Mhz to save me a bit of dosh.. Should be able to reach 3.2 Ghz still though right?

I can't wait till Wednesday, you people don't understand how long I've been waiting to by this PC. I've put soooooo much research into it and I owe it all really to you people on here!

I'll keep you updated!

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
I went for the GeIL and had no prbs pushing the 6300 slightly over 3ghz with the Ninja cooler.

I 'm mostly using mine for music production too ;) what sound card where you thinking about?
 
Not too sure really... Maybe the 2469 but I'd rather get a Firewire external sound card so I don't have to buy a mixer and I can at least record vocals/guitar/a few drum parts etc with this external sound card... I know people always say 'only get an external sound card if you have a laptop' but who really produces music on a laptop..? That's not what laptops are really designed for...

So yeah I'm gonna get myself an external Firewire card; just not too sure what one to get...

Cheers,
-Rob.
 
Ok Musician here!

You need a Raptor - those large drives are far too slow for music! A large drive is only used for back up!

The Raptor has a latancy of under 8ms and those seagate's over 13ms... music programmes dont work with anything greater than 9.5ms!

Internal soundcards are fine! Id rather get one than and external one as the bandwith is better on Internal cards. (I do have a Tascam external tho).

Have you Looked a EMU cards - they are good!
 
Really?

Which Raptor Hard Drives would you recommend me getting then?

From what I've been reading on here, seems like the Seagates are the best ones to go for...

What would you recommend then? Rob feels all confused now! :D

Cheers,
Rob.
 
you want something bigger than a 19" or you're work area will be seriously gimped with the resolution available to you. Im currently using a 19" for Uni and to be honest, its utter crap for things like music production with cubase etc, aswell as video and special effects. Ditch the 8800 and get a better monitor mate. few inches bigger and you get a fair bit more work area due to larger resolutions also! Id also say get the 4300 core2duo aswell, and that ram shouldnt be a problem, you'll get a nice overclock with anything decent really :)

not sure about hard-drives, looks like someone already knowledgable has also commented though :)
Maybes just get a temp graphics card and get a bigger monitor, then buy one of the refresh cards or ATIs next gen with next pay? or whatever.

8800GTS is a beast of a card, some argue that a lot of its power is wasted when only used at 1280x1024, or 1368x768(think thats right, WXGA?)
But christ, its going to be collecting dust with only light gaming at that resolution!! best off investing in a better monitor and gettin a x1950pro, DEFINATLY
 
Yes you are right..

Ok, seeing as my budget is only 1200, what monitor and GPU would you suggest I get?

I've had a look at the ATI Pro's and to be honest with you, I have no idea which one to go for...

With regards to the hard drive, I'll wait until the other guy replies and see what he says...

Thank you for the help by the way, I'm glad you have persuaded me to do this. It's better for me to save my money and wait until Vista has better drivers etc, wait for DX10 and the release of ATI's new card... So I can spend my money on a better monitor and a cheaper GPU and upgrade later on..

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-070-HT

Get that one, its on offer, nice beasty cooler that vents the hot air out system, and im fairly sure its quiet, being branded as silent and all :D

Monitor, hmm not sure
heard a lot of good thigns about this asus, and the comments on site seem promising. Plus its a a little cheaper and bigger than a lot of the others there too!
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-004-AS
definatly one a one to look at!

Everyone else agree with the choice of monitor&gfx for OP?
 
Would definetly not bother with 8800, not gonna be doing much unless you want to play some games?

Make the saving and put it into the Raptor drives and a bigger screen.

Even if it means having to stop and save again for awhile, I couldnt do without a widescreen, its astonding how much of the arranger you can fit into one screen, its really worth it!.

Oh, and i spent about 2 years making music on a decent (at the time) laptop, it can easily be done!. :D

Oh, dont see a problem with suggestions above, again for what you are using it for it'll fly through no probs.
 
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Thank you for all the replies thus far, I appreciate it..

Just a question on the Hard Drives really as I'm confused to which ones to get...

I have had a look at this Raptor:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-087-WD

Would this Raptor be ok?

The only thing that puts me off is the fact that quite a few people who have reviewed it say that it's really loud, and seeing as I'll mainly be using this PC for Music Production stuff, I don't see how a loud Hard Drive will benefit me..
I also read that these Raptors don't come with any cables to connect it up to the PSU..? Is this true, and if so, which cables would I have to buy?

Also, I was thinking about getting this Seagate for storage wise:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-085-SE

What this Hard Drive be OK too?

So anymore suggestions will be greatly appreciated as ever

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
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the PSU has the cables to plug it into the hard-drive:)
it might be loud under full load, but its generally quicker off the mark than other hard-drives, i doubt you'll get it under full load.
 
Right ladies and gentlemen, I have managed to squeeze in a Raptor and a bigger Monitor with my 1200 budget.

so here is what I'm going to finally order tomorrow or Thursday:

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case
NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
Belinea 2225S1W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
Logitech Media Keyboard Elite
Logitech LX3 Optical Mouse
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk

Total : £1,253.49

If anyone can see any issues with the above rig (e.g. will the mouse and keyboard be compatible?) then please let me know..

I am so excited now it's untrue.. I have spent months researching into the best components to buy and finally the time has arrived where I have the money to buy it...

Again, thank you all very much for the help and if you do see any issues with the spec I have posted above, please let me know

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
Looks decent, may want to have a look at the 4300 instead of 6300 though, its about personal preference really.

Good choice on monitor though, I must have missed it when i checked!
Could be worth the extra few quid gettin the 250 or 320 of that hard-drive though, for the inrease to 8mb to 16mb in cache size
 
There's no way you need a 620W PSU. A 520W PSU will be more than enough. Save the money and put it towards something more useful:).

I'd get a 4300 and an Asus P5N-E - probably an easier overclock.
 
Ok I'll get the 520W Corsair PSU.

I'm a first time Overclocker, never done it before, will the E4300 be ok for someone like me who has never Overclocked before..? To be honest with you, that's the only think I'm not looking foward to, Overclocking. I've done a lot of reading on it but it still confuses the hell out of me... I'll give it a go anyway, see how I get on...

With the Keyboard/Mouse I have chosen, are there any other ones which are cheaper.. Maybe a cordless desktop option which includes a Keyboard and Mouse might be better..?

Again, thank you all for the continuing help, you don't know how much it means to someone like me :)

Kind regards,
-Rob.
 
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