realtrance Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 I have not been able to find this kind of thread in searching here so starting it again, hopefully not for the millionth time. Goals: 1. Low-budget: give me your best recommended configuration for a music-focused Windows PC for under $1500, everything included. 2. Medium budget: assume advanced hobbyist/semi-pro. Again, recommended configuration. 3. No-limit: the ultimate setup. Only what's needed, but no compromises in any area where it counts. Thanks! rt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Realtrance...don't know if this helps at all, but we have a pretty good audio PC optimization document on the TASCAM site that should apply to whichever setup you end up going with: http://www.tascam.com/support/faq/pc_optimize/index.php And if you want to buy Jeff a birthday present in June, you can get me a new dual 1-GHz PowerPC G4 with 256K L2 cache & 2MB L3 cache/processor, 1.5GB SDRAM memory, 2x80GB Ultra ATA drive, CD/DVD SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce4 MX, 56K internal modem. Only $3699 at the Apple Store! - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realtrance Posted February 5, 2002 Author Share Posted February 5, 2002 Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: Realtrance...don't know if this helps at all, but we have a pretty good audio PC optimization document on the TASCAM site that should apply to whichever setup you end up going with: http://www.tascam.com/support/faq/pc_optimize/index.php And if you want to buy Jeff a birthday present in June, you can get me a new dual 1-GHz PowerPC G4 with 256K L2 cache & 2MB L3 cache/processor, 1.5GB SDRAM memory, 2x80GB Ultra ATA drive, CD/DVD SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce4 MX, 56K internal modem. Only $3699 at the Apple Store! - Jeff Thanks, Jeff! In one way that's really all the info I need. Good price, too (seriously) -- by the time I've saved up for that hopefully dual G5 will be at same price point! What would be a reasonable Windows equivalent? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr. rob Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Tyan tiger mp mobo: Dual athlons...oh yeah 2 1.4 ghz athlon mp cpu's matrox g450 dual head videocard storage-(2 hd's one of wichis 7200 rpm, and a cd rw drive) case with power supply windows xp professional Keyboard and mouse 1024 megs pc 2100 ddr-sdram Grand total: Helluva lot less than the new dual g4 and the performance is probably very similar give or take depending on the application... This pc would cost less than $1,500.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Originally posted by realtrance: by the time I've saved up for that hopefully dual G5 will be at same price point! You're probably absolutely right, at which point the dual 1GHz G4 will be under $3,000. Geez...you can now get the dual 800MHz G4 for pretty cheap, comparitively speaking. Fast freakin' computer, too. Sorry I can't help with the Windows machine advice...I'm just not qualified since I'm personally so Mac-centric. But the Windows machine will indeed be less expensive. - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobT Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 Originally posted by mr. rob: Tyan tiger mp mobo: Dual athlons...oh yeah 2 1.4 ghz athlon mp cpu's matrox g450 dual head videocard storage-(2 hd's one of wichis 7200 rpm, and a cd rw drive) case with power supply windows xp professional Keyboard and mouse 1024 megs pc 2100 ddr-sdram Grand total: Helluva lot less than the new dual g4 and the performance is probably very similar give or take depending on the application... This pc would cost less than $1,500.... Now you are talkin' RobT RobT Famous Musical Quotes: "I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve" - Xavier Cugat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realtrance Posted February 6, 2002 Author Share Posted February 6, 2002 Jeff, If I were spending that kind of money on a new setup, I'd probably go totally Mac, too. As it is now, though, that would cost far too much for me. As always, this means I'll keep the Evil Windows Machine in its dungeon and only let it out to play a little bit for now, and stick with my anciente olde-fashioned synths for a little while longer. Good info on both hardware fronts, though, thanks, I think we're done here. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonnici Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 You should check out the Dell Outlet . The machines are refurbished because people return them within Dell's 30-day no-questions-asked period. They run them through their production line again, run them through QA, and repackage them... but since someone "touched it" they can't sell it as new. You save anywhere from $250 to $500 over the same new machine and it has the SAME warranty as a new machine. I just bought a 2.0GHz Pentium 4 machine, with 1GB of RDRAM, 120GB 7200RPM drive, 64MB GForce 3 video card, 3Com NIC, 250MB Zip drive, 48X CD, and 24X CD-RW... Windows XP Pro, Office XP Pro, and Norton Antivirus. I've got a nice monitor already, so didn't need that... $1950 plus shipping. Now I just have to replace my 8x8 MIDI interface. -- jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realtrance Posted March 26, 2002 Author Share Posted March 26, 2002 Oh, I've got a perfectly fast, RAM-sufficient PC; I just use it for more than music, so I don't trust it a bit. And, worst of all, even though I went and specifically purchased the quietest fans available for it, it still makes enough white noise to compete with a drunk at a frat party. [p.s. I know about the "silent PCs" being advertised now, if I were full-time professional building a serious studio that would be a reasonable option] The day I can find a laptop approaching the specs Jeff describes (and, preferably, a Mac) is the day I'll start thinking seriously about softsynths. I think I'm about 3-5 years away from that decision point right now. Thanks again for the input! rt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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