PC self build recommended sites (1 Viewer)

[RayRay]

What the title says.

I've tried Komplett, dabs (no idea what motherboard a zoostorm has), and eBay but i found that it can be a little confusing when shopping for self build when it comes to seeing if certain components will be compatible with others. The ideal the site i would want would be to choose a motherboard and then the site will give me a list of all the components it has that are compatible with this (e.g. chase, RAM, processor, etc). Does one of these exist?

What I'm looking for is to get/build a PC for home recording. So its gotta be powerful, quiet and not a Mac. I have some of the hardware already like sound card/interface so I'm leaning towards the self build option to save on some cost.

 

[magicbastarder]

i think komplett can confirm that the components are mutually compatible before you order.

 

[lemonbravo]

I had a pc made by these guys: http://www.scan.co.uk/
Not a self build, but the customer service was great and the pc is still running like a dream almost 2 years down the line.
I'd say they could easily help you put together something.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Scan.co.uk is pretty good, I've used them too.

 

[pete]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=2384&sortby=priceAsc for motherboard / processor / ram bundles - might be a handy reference if you're not sure what works with what

some nice custom builds there too http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=2385&sortby=priceDesc

This should do you, but make sure you go for the video card upgrade.

 

[GO]

Buy an i7 offa eBay like I did.Same price if not cheaper, much handier,no chance of frying anything during assembly and you know its gonna work.Plus its gauranteed.



Whatever you do..the intel stock cooler is grand...mine hasnt gone into overdrive even crunching video...quiet as a mouse..just watch out and get a quiet PSU.
Oh yeah!and dont bother with a gfx card..the i7 has dual monitor support onboard..mind you..its only digital..you can have HDMI & DVI ..but not either of them and the VGA.But its cool because having no dedicated card means less traffic ITB..lower latency..MORE BITCHIN MIXES

 

[GO]

Heres some reading for ya I just came accross http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=238426

Protools for Profools mind you.Heh.Just kidding innit.

 

[pete]

if you're worried about noise, get a watercooler. best thing i ever did.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004OD7N0O/?tag=thumpedcom04-21

 

[RayRay]

This should do you, but make sure you go for the video card upgrade.

Jesus Pete that's a fucking beast of a thing!!! And WAY out of my budget. Its for small time home recording so i reckon what Mr.Music suggested is right about the i7 processor and then with 16GB of RAM should cut it really. I do like the liquid cooling option too.

Thanks everyone for your replies, some good site there i never knew of. It looks as if i have to stop being lazy and educate myself on part compatibility.

 

[GO]

Check this out man BAMMM Same crowd I got mine off..the case on mine is pants but it does the job..managed to squeeze a couple extra hard drives in no prob.Runs like a champ.

Its got the all important PCI slots ...no firewire but.But sure firewire sucks.What soundcard you rocking with Rayray?

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Check this out man BAMMM Same crowd I got mine off..the case on mine is pants but it does the job..managed to squeeze a couple extra hard drives in no prob.Runs like a champ.

Its got the all important PCI slots ...no firewire but.But sure firewire sucks.What soundcard you rocking with Rayray?

You bought one of these yokes from that ebay site did you?

Intel Core i7 2700K Quad Core 3.5GHz PC Computer 16GB RAM 1TB HDD

quad core means 4 processors does it? can reaper and the plug ins you run on it take advantage of all that stuff?

Slowly working myself up to a new computer, i've no money though. I was thinking of trying the self-build option but I'd probably make a balls of it

 

[D0njo]

Ah, it's not that hard, everything just slots into place really. It's not too difficult to get compatible parts

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I get all confused when I think about choosing a motherboard, then finding a case it'll fit in, wondering if i'll choose a suitable power supply - all this stuff is a nightmare

 

[GO]

You bought one of these yokes from that ebay site did you?


quad core means 4 processors does it? can reaper and the plug ins you run on it take advantage of all that stuff?

Slowly working myself up to a new computer, i've no money though. I was thinking of trying the self-build option but I'd probably make a balls of it

I most certainly did..and I honestly couldnt be happier..HOWEVER..if I was doing it all again would I do it differently?Maybe..a little.

For one thing...Reaper can use as many cores as you can throw at it..and the i7 in fact has 8 available coes sorta..so it makes sense to get as many as you can..BUT..

an i5,with 8 gigs Ram will have you covered out the ying yang for audio.More than enough power than you'll ever need..so I would advise downscaling to that and getting the all important second hard drive (although you'll probably do as I did and just reuse one you're using now)as well.

Or better still go with the i5 and get it in a nicer quieter case..don't get me wrong..the case on mine is grand..and I've only just taken my sound proofing measures of it (I had it surrounded with a sorta baffle..long story)because..the noise is'nt audible above my monitors and my mic is cardiode so it dosent pick it up.And my lappy is in fact as loud..

Edit..one thing about the i7 I have though(Sandy Bridge) though,and I don't know if this is the case with all the i's,is that it has on board dual monitor support..so no GFX card is needed which is ideal in a DAW..less heat..less noise and less chances of audio problems due to GFX drivers being flaky in audio machines..so thats a decnt consideration

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i see. Interesting and encouraging. If you're running sample libraries are you better off having those on a third hard drive and would a usb external one work?

 

[GO]

i see. Interesting and encouraging. If you're running sample libraries are you better off having those on a third hard drive and would a usb

external one work?

An external one will work,because samples are loaded into RAM..and yeah..if using samples you ideally want 3 HDS..as I have..one for the OS,one for recording and one for samples

an i5 with an SSD for the OS..and you'd be rocking big shtyle!

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

Edit..one thing about the i7 I have though(Sandy Bridge) though,and I don't know if this is the case with all the i's,is that it has on board dual monitor support..so no GFX card is needed which is ideal in a DAW..less heat..less noise and less chances of audio problems due to GFX drivers being flaky in audio machines..so thats a decnt consideration

My sound card sounds like a drill at times, very quiet lately though for some reason. If my hard drive keeps telling me that a particular partition needs to be checked for errors every time o boot the pc is that an indication that it's on the way out?

 

[GO]

My sound card sounds like a drill at times, very quiet lately though for some reason. If my hard drive keeps telling me that a particular partition needs to be checked for errors every time o boot the pc is that an indication that it's on the way out?

Yeah.Its on its way out would be my guess,if its an internal one.Although,I would take everything off that partition and format it and lash the stuff back on..because it could be nothing as well.Just a gremlin.

I never heard of a noisy soundcard.sure theres no moving parts..must be something else surely?

Anyhoo...building your own pc is a nice idea..but you won't be able to do it as cheap as you'll buy one..I did all the research..and even though them cheapo eBay ones are a bit flimsy in the case dept,they come good to go outta the box.Thats worth something in my book

 

[GO]

Mind you,I just thought of something here,something I did'nt do my homework on and thank feck got lucky with...but I never checked out what mobo was gonna be in the yoke I bought..I just saw that it had a PCI slot for my soundcard and thought grand..but it'd be wise to google audio performance with whatever the mobo is your getting..just to be prudent that it'll be grand.


Mine is an el cheapycheap asrock budget board...and it handles audio with a 1ms roundtrip..so I was blessed.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

i meant to say graphics card is noisy

yeah, i'll have to start taking note of this shit, make a checklist