Upgrade for a Music Production PC

Robe$h · 14 Sep 2009 at 23:56

Hello there

I'm about to start my second year of University and I am looking to upgrade my PC. I would like it to be as future proof as possible as I doubt I will come across this money again for a long time. My budget is £700 but could be stretched if deemed fit. But obviously cheaper the better

My current PC rig is:

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency Dual Channel
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Corsair HX 520W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply
OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775)
Sony NEC Optiarc AD-5170 18x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter
Lian-Li PC-7A PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Silver
Belinea 2225S1W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Windows XP SP2

I don't need to upgrade my case or monitor but I would like two new hard drives. One to run all of my Operating Systems and Music Software on only, and one to back up all my files etc.

I am currently using Windows XP but I would like to take the opportunity in using a 64bit OS. I have no idea what I should buy though... Is it easier to stick with XP or I should I move on now?

If anyone could point me in the right direction as to what components I should be looking at that would be much appreciated, thank you!

Robe$h · 15 Sep 2009 at 00:03

I use Ableton Live mainly, and a bit of Photoshop as my course sometimes requires us to use it.

At the moment I'm making ambient, dub type music but I want to concentrate more on recording instruments (I play drums) and bands. Mainly because that's what I do at Uni...

Robe$h · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:13

Thanks for the advice man but I all ready have a MOTU interface with is USB

Robe$h · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:43

What do you guys think of this spec?

TOTAL = £699.40

As you can see this is at the top of my budget. Can anyone change it around and make it any cheaper?

Robe$h · 16 Sep 2009 at 01:54

I would like to take advantage of a 64bit operating system. What is the best OS for this? XP Pro, Vista or Windows 7? I have no idea what to get...

And yes I am planning to go i7 as that will keep me going for a long time no doubt, and I will get 6GB RAM. The only thing I'm debating over is what Graphics Card I should get and what fast Hard Drive to run all my software on...

Thanks all for the help so far!

Robe$h · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:33

Is Windows 7 64bit? Because on the pre-order page it doesn't say anything about whether or not I'm ordering 32 or 64bit...

With Hard Drives, I want one that is fast so I can load my OS onto it and lot's of VST's within my music software. And another Hard Drive just for storage of samples and back ups.

I have one display at the moment but I am looking to buy another one very soon. 22 inch

Robe$h · 17 Sep 2009 at 11:46

MikeHunt79 said:
Finally, what PSU will you be using?

I will be using a Corsair HX 520W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply which is in my current rig.

I guess I will stick with XP for now and see what the music community are saying about Windows 7 and if it's worth the upgrade in the future then I will do. So far feedback seems to be positive. They got rid of all the memory hogging stuff that is in Vista...

Robe$h · 20 Sep 2009 at 13:40

Avalon said:
Option One: Refresh existing PC
Add an SSD, this single act will transform your PC, you're booted quicker, apps load in an instant etc. Buy a 1TB drive vs the 500gb it's a minimal price difference for twice the storage. As it's unlikely a faster CPU will benefit you massively it's up to you if you want to spend the money but as pointed out check your board revision for 45nm support. Then add another 2-4GB depending on your chosen CPU route. A quiet/passive GPU cooler if the fan noise is an issue. On paper it will be dated as it's not going to be the latest socket type/DDR3 but in reality for your usage it will outperform option 2 and should come in a few hundred cheaper.

Avalon, thank you for the advice! I have some questions to ask if that's ok...

When you say 'board revision for 45nm support', what does this mean exactly? I will get Windows 7 and definitely take advantage of the 64bit. But if I want 6GB RAM will I have to upgrade my CPU and MOBO?

Thanks again!

Robe$h · 21 Sep 2009 at 00:00

Ok so this is what I've come up with guys. Everything look ok?

Robe$h · 21 Sep 2009 at 17:33

Thanks for the heads up!

Just one more question I'm afraid... How do I find out if my Motherboard is version 3.3 or not? I can't find the box it came in anywhere. If it is 3.3 then I will purchase the Q9450.

Also I want to get rid of the 8800GTS and get something that is much quieter, practically silent. Any suggestions?

Robe$h · 22 Sep 2009 at 11:34

My current Motherboard doesn't support 1333FSB so I had to change it to one that does.

Does everything look ok? The Mobo will be ok with 64bit and 8GB RAM? I hoping it's a good overclocker as well

I'm still undecided on the GPU though as I really want something that is quieter than my current 8800GTS.

Thanks again for all your help so far!