Building New Computer - Help?

[jdrum10j]

Hey errbody, I'm building a computer for my brother's studio and was looking for some advice. His hardware/software is only 32-bit compatible, but I haven't decided whether I should do Vista or XP on there. Any thoughts as to which would be faster?

This computer won't be used for internet, movies, gaming, or anything else non-recording related. I'm just trying to get something that's fast enough so he can monitor tracks in real time with no latency and can run his software without any glitches or lagging.

This is my first build, so any help would greatly be appreciated, but this is what I have so far. His budget is around $400-$450. The OS, monitor, and peripherals are all taken care of already.

Here's what I got so far:

Processor
RAM (I know Vista/XP will only see 3GB, right?)
Motherboard
Hard Drive
Case and PSU

I didn't list everything, only the essentials really. I can take care of the CD/DVD drive and stuff, but just wanted to get an opinion for that setup. Anything I should swap out or lose?

Also, I'm going to need a video card for the board I have listed. Granted that I keep the board, any suggestions for a cheap card? Like I said, it'll be used for recording, not gaming.


Thanks!

 

[ndatoxicity]

yeah, you have picked some pretty good parts for what he wants to do and the budget.....

a video card i would go for at that price would be like a 9400 or 9600 gt..... that would only run you about 40-70 bucks

or, if you want to go a bit cheaper, go an 8500 GT or something (35-45ish)

 

[jdrum10j]

yeah, you have picked some pretty good parts for what he wants to do and the budget.....

a video card i would go for at that price would be like a 9400 or 9600 gt..... that would only run you about 40-70 bucks

or, if you want to go a bit cheaper, go an 8500 GT or something (35-45ish)

Cool, cool. I'll check them out. Thanks!

 

[ndatoxicity]

no problem man, good luck =]

 

[jdrum10j]

Thanks, I'm excited for it!

Hopefully all goes smoothly...

But if not, I'll be here getting help. ;]

 

[ndatoxicity]

lol, you and me both (ordering my parts in like a week)

just take your time, read the manual.... we are always here to help =]

 

[jdrum10j]

Nice, good luck!

 

[ndatoxicity]

thanks

 

[Atomic Rooster]

I'd like to make a suggestion. You may want to look into a quad core setup as they are more suited to running editing and business apps.

How about this:

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz - ECS BLACK SERIES GF8200A (V1.0) Combo

OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066

HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 500GB

HEC 6C11BBX585 Mid Tower Computer Case 585W

Total cost - $306.95

You wont need a video card as the motherboard has an integrated GeForce 8200 graphics chip.

 

[jdrum10j]

I'd like to make a suggestion. You may want to look into a quad core setup as they are more suited to running editing and business apps.

How about this:

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz - ECS BLACK SERIES GF8200A (V1.0) Combo

OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066

HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 500GB

HEC 6C11BBX585 Mid Tower Computer Case 585W

Total cost - $306.95

You wont need a video card as the motherboard has an integrated GeForce 8200 graphics chip.

That actually looks great. Thanks for the find!

However (and I forgot to mention this), one of the pieces of hardware he's going to buy in the near future apparently has problems with Nvidia chipsets. In a handful of reviews, some users have stated that they have trouble using it on a mobo w/ Nvidia, while others say they have no problems at all, even w/ Nvidia. So just to play it safe, I was planning on avoiding Nvidia. On the other hand, some of the people that had problems using it with a Nvidia chipset said that they fixed the problem by buying a new USB card and hooking it up through there.

Does that make sense that a new USB card would be a fix? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind grabbing this board and a USB card to go with it. I just didn't want to grab the board and card without understanding how/why it acts as a fix and if it would be a "guaranteed" fix.