Amd anthalon?

I run Athlon XP 2600+, Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe, 2 x 7200rpm hard drives, an utterly crap but serviceable AGP graphics card & 1Gb Geil RAM in an Antec Sonata case (pretty quiet), all of which which is smooth & capable.

I know you said you want to keep the cost down but you didn't mention how much you can afford.

Search this forum for threads on Athlon 64 solutions: more expensive, greater longevity.

You'll get a lot more bang for the buck by learning to build your own.

Stich

ORIGINAL: 8ftsq

I did a search like you suggested(it'd help if I could spell ATHLON correctly).Judging by what I found I think I'm in way over my head.It seems most of you guys built your own PCs.Those rack mount ones are pretty cool looking.I'm probably going to get a Dell or HP for now I think.I was looking to spend between $600-$800,but that might be a fantasy I guess.
Oh well,thanks for your reply.Any other advise is welcome.

Frank

You can buy pre-buit Athalon boxes you don't have to build it if you don't want to. Many of the places that sell parts will do it for you and test the system for a small charge. Some will even build it for free if you buy the parts from them. I wouldn't even worry about a warrantee for that matter. Modern comporters are VERY reliable at a hardware level and by the time it breaks it's time to upgrade anyway. If you buy a generic one it's cheap and easy to repair them. For example if you buy a Dell and the power supply goes out (the most common failure), you have to get their special power supply. If you buy a generic computer you can get a new power supply at ANY computer store and install it yourself with only a screwdriver.

ORIGINAL: 8ftsq

I know that specific models of motherboards,hard drives,etc.,are probably going to be a matter of personal opinion, but could you guys give me a rough idea of what I should be looking for?I don't think I need the most awesome system there is,at least for my humble little basement song writing studio.I agree that I should look for value now,though. I just have no reference for what is overkill for me.
If anyone could direct me to any sites where I could buy the components,and maybe that would assemble it,Id appreciate it.I've been to Toms Hardware web site.(It's really mind boggling,kinda like trying to read a different language or something to me.)I'm pretty handy,I mean i could physically put it together,but getting it all to work and be happy,well,that would be worth paying for I think.
Thank you all for your input.

Frank

There was a time when you had to do a lot of research to get just the right parts but I have not had to do that for a long time. Modern motherboards just work. All the way from the $59 ones up to the $300 ones. The last two system I built I just got the cheapest thing they had on sale at Frys and it all worked great. Might be good to stick with a major brand with a good download site for driver updates. Asus, ABIT, EPOX, and ECS are all good.

I would suggest a Matrox dual head card if you don't play games. They are low CPU usage, cheap, and work great with audio programs. Even if you don't have two monitors right now you can use it with just one. Also, you want to get at least a 7200 rpm drives. One for your OS and one just for media files (project folders).

Thanks for the info ohhey.This PC will be just for music.No games or internet.As far as the dual head card ,I'm using Home studio 2 xl now,and I thought I read somewhere that it didn't have dual monitor support,but I'm not sure.I think Reason does however,so I will definately consider that option.
I just found a site called monarch computers that builds pc's for you.The prices aren't as high as I thought.I'm going to read as much as I can around here as to what everyone is using,and start pricing it all out.

Just saw your post Rev.Jem.I was thinking I could spend between $600-$800 US,but I may be able to bend that a little.I have the same sound card(2496).I really like it. I was using your stuff as an example when I did a search a little while ago.I'm using a p3 500 now,so I'm sure your system would be like warp drive to me!

It's seeming like there is not that much difference in price between the name brand and the custom stuff,at least for what I seem to need.I'll research this stuff and bring back a list /system plan.If you guys don't mind you can critique it for me before I drop the chabos on it.I appreciate all the help with my noobie questions guys.

Frank

The one with the big red button labeled "Talent" ?

ORIGINAL: 8ftsq

Thanks for the info ohhey.This PC will be just for music.No games or internet.As far as the dual head card ,I'm using Home studio 2 xl now,and I thought I read somewhere that it didn't have dual monitor support,but I'm not sure.I think Reason does however,so I will definately consider that option.
I just found a site called monarch computers that builds pc's for you.The prices aren't as high as I thought.I'm going to read as much as I can around here as to what everyone is using,and start pricing it all out.

You can use Sonar 2XL with two monitors just fine. I'm running 2.2 with mine. I just streach the main Sonar window to fill both monitors and then position the track view on one side and the console view on the other. You can undock windows from the main window but the only problem with that is that they don't come back when you open a saved project. If you use the streach the window method things look just like you left them. You can also run Sonar on one screen and your sound card control panel and plugin interfaces on the other. This is handy if your sound card has a mixer application for monitoring.

Monarch is a good vendor that is where I got my Matrox P650 dual card. They also have a great selection of products.

ORIGINAL: 8ftsq
I know that specific models of motherboards,hard drives,etc.,are probably going to be a matter of personal opinion, but could you guys give me a rough idea of what I should be looking for?
If anyone could direct me to any sites where I could buy the components,and maybe that would assemble it,Id appreciate it.

If you are going AMD and want to save money, I recommend getting an Athlon XP. Look for the "Barton" processor core in the description and model numbers of 2500+ or higher. I recommend buying a retail instead of OEM processor. Retail processors come with a fan, heatsink, and instructions. Right now, the Athlon XPs are some of the best values in processor land. Motherboards for them are also pretty cheap anymore.

I recommend ASUS boards and nForce2 chipsets. This is not because they are perfect. In fact, they are far from it. However, ASUS boards come with excellent documentation. This is invaluable for a first time builder. ASUS is one of the largest manufacturers and lots of people use their stuff. It is realtively easy to get support. from folks on the web because of that. nVidia chipsets have proven themselves to be stable and good for audio work. Try something like an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe. Or an Abit NF7-S2.

With both these boards, stay far away from Serial ATA hard drives, however. They will introduce nasty pops and clicks into the audio. Stick to normal IDE drives only. I've had mixed results with the ASUS Deluxe boards. It may be worthwhile to step down a notch and get the A7N8X-X. Fewer bells and whistles to clog up the PCI bus. Check out www.newegg.com for a place to order. Check out www.arstechinca.com for advice on system componenents.

Well, I've been investigating all this stuff all day today,and here is what I've come up with so far.I configured the following systems online at Monarch,HP,and circuit city:(Man does my head hurt from this )

Monarch- $751 US
ATX case with 350w psu
ASUS a7nx8-deluxe board
Athlon xp 3000+ barton
512 ddr2700 corsair ram
40gb & 160gb hard drives
ASUS cd-rw drive

Hp site- $584 w/rebates
250 w psu
Asus a7n8x-la board (via km400a chipset)
Athlon xp 3200
512 pc2700 ram
160gb u-dma drive
cd-rw drive
integrated video and sound

Circiut city- $599 w/ rebates
Basically the same HP unit but with a A7v8z-la board (Same chip)


My questions are:
Is there a big difference in these motherboards I should be concerned with?The monarch is the highest price(it does have 2 drives, but still more $ ).How critical is the difference in the psu wattages?

As far as the integrated sound I will disable that.I have an m-audio 2496.I also plan on updating the video card as soon as I can afford a dual head card and a second monitor.

Thanks for any and all input guys.

Frank

ORIGINAL: 8ftsq
Hp site- $584 w/rebates
250 w psu
Asus a7n8x-la board (via km400a chipset)

That power supply wattage is a bit low by today's standards. You probably would not run into trouble, but I would recommend 300 watts or more. Also, there is no way you would find a Via chipset in an A7N8X series board. The "N" in the model name represents nVidia. The HP probably has an A7V8X board. Confusing, eh? Model names are a real pain in the arse. Also, beware the integrated video. Integrated sound is fine and comes with almost everything. If you have integrated video make sure that they also provide an AGP slot in case you want a better video card in the future.

That power supply wattage is a bit low by today's standards. You probably would not run into trouble, but I would recommend 300 watts or more. Also, there is no way you would find a Via chipset in an A7N8X series board. The "N" in the model name represents nVidia.

I agree you want 300-350 watts or more.

The "N" is what I would look for.(if it was me)
I think the nvidia chip sets rock but thats just me.

Hey guys,here's what I'm thinking about getting NOW!(gear lust has taken over,and my original plans at basically upgrading a little have morphed into the quest for more and more PC horsepower...mmmwwwaaahhhaaahhhaaa!!!


Athlon xp 3200 barton 400mhz $700 us
Asus a7n8x-e deluxe
1 gig ram
80 gb hd
160 gb hd
cd/rw

-OR-

The same set up with an athlon64 3200 and a Kn8 motherboard. $850 us

Is there a difference I would notice for the 64 bit processor set up,versus the cost? (I'm cutting into my acoustic guitar budget at this point)Is this dependant on what software I'm using?This is probably overkill isn't it .Somebody PLEASE stop me!

Thanks again to everybody for there input.I've learned an amazing amount about computers in the last copule of days thanks to you guys.Thanks also to _roll_n_rock for the link to ecollagepc.com. There prices seem to be the best.

Thanks Dave.I'm going to think all this over and hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll make my purchase.

I stumbled across a thread in the sonar forum with a test song (sonartest? I think) that was pretty informative also.It seems the athlons 64's were doing very well.I might bite the bullet and go for that set up,but I'm not sure if I yet.


Frank