new computer time

[Andrew Bohan]

holy shit, it's been so long since i've built a computer. i think 2002 was the last time i did. 1.8ghz amd with a gig of ram, worked fairly well.

after that motherboard blew in 2006 i decided just to get a laptop. the laptop's cool and all, but not awesome enough for music and video production.


i think i want like ~2.8ghz at least, and at least 2 gigs of ram.
i still have an old case and everything...might need a new power supply, but i think i'll be okay with just a mobo/cpu/ram combo from somewhere.

problem is, i have no idea what's good shit anymore. i don't care if it's amd or intel. built in firewire would be cool. i'm probably going to pick up a sweet sound card, so i don't care about onboard sound.

ok now recommend me something

[Future240]

my desktop is powered by the AMD phenom processor, its a quad core processor that has 2.0 ghz on each core. Shit is a powerhouse. If you are running vista get three gigs of ram.

As far as there rest of the stuff, I have no idea

[lflkajfj12123]

new macbooks come out tuesday

macrumors.com

[MegasquirtCA]

dont bother with mac waste of money. Also Soap he doesnt want a Notebook he's looking for a desktop.


Andrew what is the biggest thing you're gonna be using the computer for? Surfing, Video Production, I figured sound so possibly a Creative Sound Card. Whats your budget also?

[drftwerks]

prob wants it for graphic since he does the sticker shit.

[spirit]

Intel quad core 45nm processor!! AMD for the price is good, but speed, intel is just better.

Decide on what video you want before choosing the motherboard. Single card, or dual ATI go intel G (microatx) or X chipset, Dual Nvidia 790i.

Get a beefy 600watt+ power supply, I would go with corsair, seasonic, or silverstone. I don't trust any other brands right now, others might work, but are not as good. You will need a powersupply older ones put more power on 5v rails than new ones that put the power on 12v rails. If you plan to go multi video card, think 750watts or more.

WinXP, 2gb ram, Vista 3gb or more (might as well run vista 64bit if vista, 99% of apps work on it now, EXCEPT for cisco vpn, lazy cisco bastards).

If you go vista, I recommend getting one of the new western digital 300gb raptors. Unless you like waiting a long time during reboots.

My computer:
Vista 64bit (i run winxp virtualPCs inside of vista to connect to work's cisco vpn, also why I have 8gb of ram)
8GB Gskill 8000C5 5:5:5:13
Asus P5K-VM (g33 chipset)
Q9450 @ 3.09Ghz 1.225v xp90c
Evga 8800GTX
RaptorX 150 (kinda loud, I'm going to get the new 300 when I have $)
LG GGW-H20L HDDVD/BLURAY
Corsair 620watt Powersupply
Ultra MicroFly (micro atx, fits inside my desk)
Samsung SyncMaster 225BW

Sign up for the newegg.com news letter, good deals from time to time in it, and since were so close to november, wait till black friday. Awsome deals that day. Also good deals can be found here: [H]ot|DEALS - [H]ard|Forum (http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28)

[cc4usmc]

search newb.. there are already computer threads.

:love::ddog:

[lflkajfj12123]

dont bother with mac waste of money. Also Soap he doesnt want a Notebook he's looking for a desktop.


Andrew what is the biggest thing you're gonna be using the computer for? Surfing, Video Production, I figured sound so possibly a Creative Sound Card. Whats your budget also?

macbooks starting at 800

and macbook pros starting at 1800

can't go wrong with that

dual core? nvidia is rumored to be behind graphics this time

VMware lets you run windows inside osx

HRMMM....

sounds worth my money

[Andrew Bohan]

my current laptop is a dell latitude with intel 2.13 gz and 2gb ram and i run it hard 24/7 with photoshop and illustrator going at the same time and like 15 firefox windows, and my sticker cutting program. it does start to get bogged down by the end of the day, but whatever. that's expected. all in all, it works great for what i'm doing.

with my 1.8ghz 1gb ram machine, video editing was doable, but rendering effects took daaaaaaays. i was using premier pro 1.5 on xp.

for music i was using cakewalk pro audio 9 with a sound blaster pci 512 and that worked pretty good most of the time. if i had much else running it would fuck up on playback of songs with a lot of tracks. i'm thinking to get an external sound processor or something too.

when i got my laptop, cakewalk wouldn't work on it. the midi was fine, but anything i recorded wouldn't come out right. i guess it was some kind of incompatibility.

i'm not really into macs. i might get one if all i was going to use it for was final cut pro, but i'm using it for way more, so no.

i'm not really into gaming, so any generic video card will work, BUT! i liked my GeForce Ti4200 and its dual monitor outputs. since they were on the same card, i could have one background span both monitors, instead of the same one-monitor-size background on both monitors (i have two 19" viewsonics).

chances are i could still use that card.

[Gnnr]

The best starting point are Ars Technica's system guides. They have 4 budget ranges and tell you what the best options are for each.

Ars Technica System Guide: September 2008 Edition: Page 1 (http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200809.ars)
System Guide: the Ars Ultimate Budget Box: Page 1 (http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200810.ars)

[RJF]

dont bother with mac waste of money.

Watch the Mac cracks! Zilvia runs on Mac and oh a few Linux servers. :l101:

[atom]

The new intel processors (nehalem/core i7) are coming out very soon so it depends on how long you can wait and how much you want to spend....

[JRas]

read some reviews on hardware and find out what fits you best

[cserrano86]

i'm not really into macs. i might get one if all i was going to use it for was final cut pro, but i'm using it for way more, so no.

Get yourself an iMac and run VMWare Fusion...
YouTube - Unity in VMware Fusion for Mac OS X (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIApJMzGzDQ)

Watch the Mac cracks! Zilvia runs on Mac and oh a few Linux servers. :l101:

+Rep for Mac...