[J@ck]

If you want it cheap, or you'd rather spend money at audio stuff, I recommend get a Dell SC420 as a barebone unit.
It often priced at 229 with free shipping. You got a whole computer without the software, that includes a ok case, a ok power supply, good mother board, CPU, RAM, 160GB SATA HD...etc. That's a lot of stuff for $230.
It is quiet with only 2 large fans, one for the PSU and one for the case/CPU.

 

[Ojannen]

I am not an expert on computers but I have built a few. Here are a few things to think about:

- You will probably be satisfied with whatever processor/motherboard you are getting. The best buys right nor are the Barton core athlonxp and the athlon-m processors. 2500 is good and a little higher or lower will not really hurt or help a lot. If you would like the next step up, get a socket 754 motherboard with either a sempron 2800 or athlon 64 3000+. This socket allows for more upgradeability in the future, especially if you get into gaming

- This may be personal preference but for value for money the ATI 9x00 is better than the nvidia 5x00 series. A 9600 pro or even a 9000 or 9200 would probably do what you need. For reference, i have a 9600 pro with a ahtlon 64 3200+ processor and i average around 75 fps in most areas with the graphics levels split between medium and high. With some tweaking, I could probably get it closer to 100 fps.

- 512 of ram is an absolute minimum. You will only really notice the extra 512mb of ram for load times in games and 10+ programs. Newegg has a sale right now on the corsair value select 1 gig (512x2) pack for about $110. If you can get a gig for a similar price, go for it, otherwise just stay with 512. Do not get 256x2. AMD doean't benefit as much s intel from dual channel and you will regret it in the future.

- this has already been covered by a couple people, but any case with a power supply made by antec will be a good buy. The sonata is known for being quiet but in my experience is not significantly quieter than other similar antec cases. I would not go with a mid tower rather than a small form factor case.

- Unless you really want to put together a computer or you really hate dell, dell might be a good path for you. I use to be very anti-dell but I now realize that if you can deal with your tower having a dell emblem on it, they are actually pretty good. The price they charge will be very similar to what you can get on your own. You can upgrade to better sound/ram/etc after you get it

- I would not worry about getting a special heatsink. The only cases where I would get one is if I am overlcoking or I want a completely silent computer. The stock amd or intel heatsink does the job fine ans is reasonably quiet.

- If you plan on getting a video capture/tv tuner card, I recommend the hauppage pvr-250 or 350. In most HTPC forums this card is generally described as the best you can get in the price range. When I compare my ATI TV Wonder to my brothers pvr-250, the difference is noticeable.

- Jeremiah

 

[kerecsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disiskurt I'm down to two cases: Antec SLK3700AMB Antec Sonata

I'd like to chip-in on this particular sub-topic. I had both the SLK3700AMB and the SLK3700BQE. I'm convinced that the BQE is worth the extra $$$. It is that much more quiet.

My current PC is in the BQE case, with an ASUS P4P800 mobo, P4 2.4/800 CPU, Zalman 7000B/AlCu CPU cooling and Seagate Barracuda drives. You literally can't tell if it's turned on. I regularly have to stare at the leds to figure out whether it's screen saving or off...

Also, don't underestimate the importance of hard drive noise. The Maxtor 120G in my Motorola HDDVR is louder by itself than my entire PC.

 

[AdamWill]

"- I would not worry about getting a special heatsink. The only cases where I would get one is if I am overlcoking or I want a completely silent computer. The stock amd or intel heatsink does the job fine ans is reasonably quiet."

Reasonably quiet by the standard of white box PCs from three years ago? Sure. Reasonably quiet by the standards of other consumer electronics and *anything* you'd want to use in a decent audio setup? Not really. The stock AMD cooler is much noisier than I'd want to deal with in anything that calls itself a quiet PC, let alone silent. A $40 heatsink and fan are absolutely worth the price in terms of noise reduction, IMHO.

 

[TooNice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ojannen - Unless you really want to put together a computer or you really hate dell, dell might be a good path for you. I use to be very anti-dell but I now realize that if you can deal with your tower having a dell emblem on it, they are actually pretty good. The price they charge will be very similar to what you can get on your own. You can upgrade to better sound/ram/etc after you get it

Felt like commenting on that. To be honest, I don't hate Dell to the point that I wouldn't suggest it to friends on budget. Their price is highly competitive, and if you are going pre-built, it is also one of the best known brand.

That said... I don't like the fact they refuse AMD. I suppose that Intel is probably giving them too much incentive to change... Still, I hate it when they mention that they are considering AMD only to drop the idea after they get that fat check signed by Intel.

Note that I am not anti-Intel. Just that I think AMD deserves more recognition than they are getting from the average Joe. Guess there is no getting around mass marketing, or support from giants like Dell.

 

[Disiskurt]

Ok, it's been a long time...but I have the parts together. Thanks to everyone who advised me on what parts to get. Here they are:

Antec Sonata w/ 380W Truepower PS
AMD Athlon64 3400+ (Socket 754)
Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard
Seagate 160 GB IDE HD ($50 after rebate, forget SATA)
Rosewill 1 GB (1x1GB) RAM
E-MU 1212M

Lite-On DVD/CD-RW Drive
NEC 3520A DVD Burner
Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis (256 MB)
Powercolor ATI Pro Theater 550 (TV Tuner)
Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu Heatsink/Fan


Ok, so now I have two concerns/problems...

1. Is the Antec PS going to be enough to power everything listed? I'm concerned because I've heard about E-MU cards underperforming because of not-so-beefy power supplies.


(Kind of a toughy, as it's a very specific problem)
2. My Zalman, which claims to be compatible with my motherboard, is giving me a ton of headaches on installation. The MB already has a bracket on underneath it (supported by two tall, cylindrical nut-type things,) and the installation calls for Zalman's bracket to replace it. The screws supplied to go into the motherboard are much smaller than the holes that would be created by pushing out the nuts. So just doing that would allow for a jiggling of the entire heatsink when installed. I'm really confused as to what to do at this point, and if anyone has some expericence or advice on installing that Zalman onto a Socket 754 motherboard, your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Disiskurt]

Ok....well, can anyone recommend a smaller heatsink/fan that can actually fit onto my motherboard without the constant fear that it's going to snap it in half?

 

[nicknameless]

"Antec Sonata w/ 380W Truepower PS
AMD Athlon64 3400+ (Socket 754)
Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard
Seagate 160 GB IDE HD ($50 after rebate, forget SATA)
Rosewill 1 GB (1x1GB) RAM
E-MU 1212M
Lite-On DVD/CD-RW Drive
NEC 3520A DVD Burner
Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis (256 MB)
Powercolor ATI Pro Theater 550 (TV Tuner)
Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu Heatsink/Fan"

I like where you are going. But if I may suggest one little thing. S754 is now the budget line (Now that socketa is dead

) I would suggest s754. I would take off the 9600 and go with a 6600GT. Also change to a DFI Ultra-D (Or A8N-E) and a A64 3200+. Also I would be tempted to go for a TT silent boost and a silent cat fan. I am not familair with New Egg prices though. I am from Canada and this would cost me about $850 CAD so it is about the same.
That is good for a AMD setup and with Intel (I am surpised of no AMD vs. Intel wars) I think it would be better for you. I don't want to lay out an Intel system becasue I am not currently familair with the Intel mobos. Haven't experimented with them lately. So I don't want to give you bad advice. But I would say go intel for multitasking.

 

[Disiskurt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicknameless "Antec Sonata w/ 380W Truepower PS AMD Athlon64 3400+ (Socket 754) Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard Seagate 160 GB IDE HD ($50 after rebate, forget SATA) Rosewill 1 GB (1x1GB) RAM E-MU 1212M Lite-On DVD/CD-RW Drive NEC 3520A DVD Burner Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis (256 MB) Powercolor ATI Pro Theater 550 (TV Tuner) Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu Heatsink/Fan" I like where you are going. But if I may suggest one little thing. S754 is now the budget line (Now that socketa is dead ) I would suggest s754. I would take off the 9600 and go with a 6600GT. Also change to a DFI Ultra-D (Or A8N-E) and a A64 3200+. Also I would be tempted to go for a TT silent boost and a silent cat fan. I am not familair with New Egg prices though. I am from Canada and this would cost me about $850 CAD so it is about the same. That is good for a AMD setup and with Intel (I am surpised of no AMD vs. Intel wars) I think it would be better for you. I don't want to lay out an Intel system becasue I am not currently familair with the Intel mobos. Haven't experimented with them lately. So I don't want to give you bad advice. But I would say go intel for multitasking.

Many of these are no longer issues, all of these things are already purchased. I went with Socket 754 because I got a fantastic deal on a processor/motherboard combo on TigerDirect (which actually made good on my $100 rebate!) The reason why I went with that particular video card was because of a reasonable price, very positive reviews, and that it had non-fan cooling. I couldn't find a 6600GT that was priced well and didn't have fan cooling. I just want to play newer games at low/medium settings with decent framerates, nothing special.

Right now, the final piece of the puzzle is chipset cooling. I'm not familiar with what you mentioned, but if you could be a little more specific I will look into it.

 

[uzziah]

i'm going to be honest: you are asking in the wrong forum. you are going to get personal opinions from folks that are: audio first and computers second. you may/will get good solid advice as well but you'll have a hard time determining what advice is best. i can say this since i did the exact same thing you are going about 6months ago. since then i've built two pc's; sold them, had a couple different laptops, and now i'm actually using a pc i got for free from my school for my audio needs (PIII dell old-schoole).

if you had asked a few months ago i would have definitely said you should build from the ground up, but now i have a different opinion. many here might well disagree but i would actually wait for a good deal and then buy a pre-built PC. change out certain parts. but.....to each his own. if money is not a big isssue you'll certainly come out better with one you build from the ground up. my biggest suggestion would be this: DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH AT ONE TIME. you cannot "plan for the future" when building a PC right now, and that doesn't only apply to video cards. get what you want. there are so many options it can easily become overwhelming. i think the only thing that most everyone here will agree upon is that you should make a concerted effort to make your PC quiet.

 

[uzziah]

suggestion: for cpu/fan i would suggest a thermaltake such as xp-90. i wouldn't worry to much about your mobo snapping in half. xp-120 with a 120mm nexus fan would be the quietest choice (turned down with a zalman fanmate) blah blah....

 

[nicknameless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah audio first and computers second

I am new to here. But I am and always going to be Computer First Audio second. At least for a while. The "Chipset" is reffered to the North Brigde and the South Bridge. On most mobos the Southbridge doesn't have a heat sink or anything. And that is fine. It is the Northbridge the dos most of the work in the chipset family. Especially in NF4 mobos. VIA chipsets generally don't run as hot as nVidia from my findings. But your mobo already has cooling on the northbrigde. If you want to make it better you can use one of these products from NCIX. These are canadian prices.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...=ZALMAN%20TECH
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...ufacture=Nikao
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...e=THERMALRIGHT
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...re=THERMALTAKE

I found two at new egg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835116010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103155

Unless you mean CPU cooling. Which is not the chipset. I don't think you are going to be overclocking your rig. So it would be fine to use a silent heatsink. I reccomend these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835106036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999136

The second one is a better fan. Alot better of a fan. It is a 90mm instead of 80mm and blows more air then an 80mm. It has an adapter to 80mm for your heatsink. Do not get hte 80mm silent cat when this blows alot more air and has the same DBa.
Or you can get that fan and this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835109119


If you want more help check out these forums. Don't mention any store name though.
http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php?mode=section

 

[tilt]

Heres your Computer:
2x AMD OPTERON 275 DUAL-CORE
1x TYAN THUNDER K8WE S2895 EATX 2XS940
2x ZALMAN CNPS7000B-CU
1x OCZ PLATINUM EL PC4200 1GB
4x WESTERN DIGITAL RAPTOR 74GB HARD
1x SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 460PN 46IN LCD
2x GIGABYTE GEFORCE 7800 GTX 256MB PCI-E
1x E-MU 1820M
1x LOGITECH LX 700 CORDLESS Package
1x OCZ POWERSTREAM 600 WATT PS
1x PLEXTOR PX-716SA DVD+-RW
1X KLIPSCH PROMEDIA ULTRA 5.1 Speakers

Price: 15,513.22 USD

Or you could Trade the 46 Inch LCD for 2x SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 913T 19IN

Total Price: 9,035.22 USD

 

[nicknameless]

Sorry but I have to ask...

Tilt are you an NCIXer?


Also where is a good place to buy sound cards in Canada? Like the EMU 0404.

 

[blueworm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah suggestion: for cpu/fan i would suggest a thermaltake such as xp-90. i wouldn't worry to much about your mobo snapping in half. xp-120 with a 120mm nexus fan would be the quietest choice (turned down with a zalman fanmate) blah blah....

I'm sorry I just skimmed thru this thread.
Thermalright XP90 is one of the best heatsinks on the market but total overkill if you dont plan on overclocking.
I you are not overclocking the stock amd HSF is more than enough.
BTW the PSU is good to go.