New PC advice

Priori

Hi guys,

Thanks to this post by deconduo, I at least know the answers you guys will need before I start throwing around questions.

1. What is your budget? 700 euro max

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Music Composition/Production

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] I want to use a terrabyte internal hard drive I got when I bought some software. The model that's currently being used to ship the collection is a Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive. I'm pretty sure mine isn't this exact model, but it wouldn't be too different. Is there an easy way to find out without opening the machine?

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? I've just bought this Acer monitor, and I'm not planning an upgrade anytime soon.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? I'm not sure I'd be confident enough to do this

8. How can you pay? Paypal/Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? Not really sure. Hopefully within the next month.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Cork City

I haven't completely decided yet whether I'll definitely build it from scratch. I need a 64-bit system with min. 6 cores and 16gb of ram, something to rival the synergy computers being sold at digital village. They're a bit out of my price range.

Thanks in advance!

deconduo

This should do the job nicely:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €663.10 + €30 shipping
2 x 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€31.84
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€92.99
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€15.03
Xigmatek Asgard, ATX, ohne Netzteil, schwarz|€31.61
Antec BasiQ VP350|€33.63
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.62
Intel Core i7-2600 Box, LGA1155|€259.99
ASRock H67DE 3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|€79.55

Priori

Thanks a mill deconduo,

The machine I have at the moment is a Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz running WinXP 32bit. I actually recently tried an OEM version of Windows 7 on it (stupidly I think I activated it so that would mean I can't run it on any other machine right?) but the computer seemed a lot slower running my software with Win 7. Is the i7-2600 processor much better, or are there more factors to consider?

deconduo

Priori wrote: »

Thanks a mill deconduo,

The machine I have at the moment is a Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz running WinXP 32bit. I actually recently tried an OEM version of Windows 7 on it (stupidly I think I activated it so that would mean I can't run it on any other machine right?) but the computer seemed a lot slower running my software with Win 7. Is the i7-2600 processor much better, or are there more factors to consider?

Much much better. Take a look for yourself:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=287

If you activated the OEM version just call up microsoft and explain your mistake. Say you were only trying it out and didn't mean to activate it. That way they'll let you use the key again.

Priori

deconduo wrote: »

Much much better. Take a look for yourself:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=287

If you activated the OEM version just call up microsoft and explain your mistake. Say you were only trying it out and didn't mean to activate it. That way they'll let you use the key again.

Thanks again deconduo, really helpful stuff.


I'm just wondering would you recommend a dedicated graphics card, or is the motherboard well able to handle graphics without it eating away too much at system resources? I'm assuming having 16gb of ram should help considerably too?


The 64gb drive you included, would this definitely be necessary if I salvaged my own hard drives from my current DAW? Come to think of it, there may be other parts I may be able to salvage (fan, DVD writer drive) but I'd need to double check the models.

Serephucus

Is there any reason you specced a 2600 and no the K version? I know he said he wasn't sure about OCing, but that wasn't a "no". :P

Only one way to be sure OP: Post as much detailed specs as you can. If you google for Speccy, it's a very handy program that'll tell you most-anything about all your components, except for your PSU, for that one we'll need a picture, or the model number some other way.

If you're not going to be gaming or anything, then yeah, the integrated graphics will be fine.

deconduo

Priori wrote: »

Thanks again deconduo, really helpful stuff.

I'm just wondering would you recommend a dedicated graphics card, or is the motherboard well able to handle graphics without it eating away too much at system resources? I'm assuming having 16gb of ram should help considerably too?

The 64gb drive you included, would this definitely be necessary if I salvaged my own hard drives from my current DAW? Come to think of it, there may be other parts I may be able to salvage (fan, DVD writer drive) but I'd need to double check the models.

I don't think a graphics card helps at all in any music production programs, but I'm open to corrections.

The 64GB drive is an SSD which will speed things up a lot. you just put Windows and your most used programs on it, and you should be able to use your old hard drives for storage of music/documents/videos etc.

Serephucus wrote: »

Is there any reason you specced a 2600 and no the K version? I know he said he wasn't sure about OCing, but that wasn't a "no". :P

Only one way to be sure OP: Post as much detailed specs as you can. If you google for Speccy, it's a very handy program that'll tell you most-anything about all your components, except for your PSU, for that one we'll need a picture, or the model number some other way.

If you're not going to be gaming or anything, then yeah, the integrated graphics will be fine.

To keep it in budget. Hard enough to get a 2600 build for €700 :P

Serephucus

2600K would bring him to €708.

OP, you can skip dinner for a day, right? :P

Priori

Thanks again guys.

Any idea how much a PC like this would cost if you weren't to build it yourself?

May be able to salvage my wifi card; the model is: Sweex Wireless 150N Card PCI - Network adapter - PCI - 802.11b.

Would this be compatible with the build?

Serephucus wrote:

2600K would bring him to €708.

OP, you can skip dinner for a day, right?

I can. Is there much of a difference performance-wise?

Priori

Another question if you don't mind.

The computer I'll be left with - Core 2 Quad Q6600, 320 GB Hard Drive, 6GB Ram, Win XP etc. Worth selling? Haven't really any idea what it would fetch, although I'm not sure if asking is against forum rules?