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mitchy_boy
Senior Member
   

 Australia
381 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 13:37:50
I've been producing for a while now and my shitty computer isn't really useful anymore...
so im saving up a bit of money to buy a new one
can anyone give me a good idea of what id need in a decent computer for producing?
i no that a fair bit of ram is needed and a decent processer...
but like whats a good sound card and any other stuff that will help...
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www.myspace.com/e4kz
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bulby_g
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
7,205 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
430 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 14:17:05
My set up which I find great for producing:-
3Ghz Duel Core
4GB 800mhz ram
Echo Mia Midi Soundcard.
1 x 320GB HD
1 x external 500GB HD
2 x 19" monitors
I find having two monitors a god send tbh and I couldn't live without them now. A big widescreen would do the job though.
You will want a way to back stuff up and I find an external drive great for this.
They're all the important things really and a setup like this should keep you going for a bit. Just get the best you can afford though really. Avoid laptops as you will get so much less for your cash and they overheat far too easy. Avoid the temptation to get a great graphics card for games and put the money into the other stuff. I couldn't resist though personally. :P
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www.myspace.com/bulbyg
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Edited by - bulby_g on 2008/07/30 14:21:58 |
DarrenJ
Advanced Member
    

 Australia
2,626 posts Joined: Jul, 2003
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 18:55:05
well mitch if u want a monitor, msy.com.au have the viewsonic 28" for 625 atm.. bargain :P Im tempted to buy one
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☻hardcore
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Underloop
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
3,895 posts Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 19:47:26
My setup I find more than adequate:
P4 3.0GHz (old single core so its a slow 3.0GHz)
2GB RAM (although 1GB did me fine)
2 internal hard drives - highly reccomended if you are recording and playing back stacks of audio tracks at the same time.
1 External drive (backup!)
Decent soundcard (I reccomend anything by M-Audio)
Get a wireless keyboard/mouse too - its nice having the freedom to wander around and still operate your 'puter.
Oh yeah, and upgrade from Vista to XP!
__________________________________
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Jax
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
2,676 posts Joined: Apr, 2005
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 20:34:32
quote: Originally posted by Underloop:
Oh yeah, and upgrade from Vista to XP!

I currently have -
AMD Opteron 148 (i think) 2.2ghz
2GB Geil Ram
Couple of HD's
GTO 256mb Dual Output GFX Card
Its ok but it does max out before id like it to, this is going to be my next pc
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whispering
Moderator
    

 Finland
8,453 posts Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 20:47:51
quote: Originally posted by DarrenJ:
well mitch if u want a monitor, msy.com.au have the viewsonic 28" for 625 atm.. bargain :P Im tempted to buy one
It all depends on resolution with monitors IMO. I bought a 24" BenQ, Full HD (1920 x 1200) and costs less then 400€. The ones that have better resolution are 30" displays with 2560x1600 resolution, those cost 1000-1500€ ATM.
But with that 400€ displays price, you can get two 19" monitors that may have little more space compared to one big, but the real advantage comes when you use 2 programs at the same time, so at work i have 2 displays.
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Edited by - whispering on 2008/07/30 20:51:26 |
DJ Acidix
Average Member
  

 United States
173 posts Joined: May, 2008
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Posted - 2008/07/30 : 22:58:10
quote: Originally posted by bulby_g:
My set up which I find great for producing:-
3Ghz Duel Core
4GB 800mhz ram
Echo Mia Midi Soundcard.
1 x 320GB HD
1 x external 500GB HD
2 x 19" monitors
I find having two monitors a god send tbh and I couldn't live without them now. A big widescreen would do the job though.
You will want a way to back stuff up and I find an external drive great for this.
They're all the important things really and a setup like this should keep you going for a bit. Just get the best you can afford though really. Avoid laptops as you will get so much less for your cash and they overheat far too easy. Avoid the temptation to get a great graphics card for games and put the money into the other stuff. I couldn't resist though personally. :P
add a nice graphics card and you got your self a professional gaming system... my lord those are such sexy specs
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mitchy_boy
Senior Member
   

 Australia
381 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
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Posted - 2008/07/31 : 07:53:32
cheers for the advice guys...
lol i my sister has vista on her computer and yeh its uter shit....
and ill probly but a way over priced graphics card so i can play CSS and be a total n00b :p
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www.myspace.com/e4kz
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bulby_g
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
7,205 posts Joined: Apr, 2004
430 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/07/31 : 09:08:41
quote: Originally posted by DJ Acidix:
quote: Originally posted by bulby_g:
My set up which I find great for producing:-
3Ghz Duel Core
4GB 800mhz ram
Echo Mia Midi Soundcard.
1 x 320GB HD
1 x external 500GB HD
2 x 19" monitors
I find having two monitors a god send tbh and I couldn't live without them now. A big widescreen would do the job though.
You will want a way to back stuff up and I find an external drive great for this.
They're all the important things really and a setup like this should keep you going for a bit. Just get the best you can afford though really. Avoid laptops as you will get so much less for your cash and they overheat far too easy. Avoid the temptation to get a great graphics card for games and put the money into the other stuff. I couldn't resist though personally. :P
add a nice graphics card and you got your self a professional gaming system... my lord those are such sexy specs
I've got an 8800gts 640mb :)
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www.myspace.com/bulbyg
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Dain-Ja
Advanced Member
    

 Canada
1,983 posts Joined: Oct, 2004
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Posted - 2008/07/31 : 16:05:01
for production, all you should care about is CPU
the better your CPU, the more VSTs you can run in real-time
that's all that really matters
RAM is useful for some VSTs that have large sample banks (like high end piano VSTs) but it's so cheap that you can also upgrade later
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Producer/DJ/Label owner
Rush Delivery Records
Visit makemeRUSH.com for music from the ONLY North American hardcore label pressing vinyl!
FREE track every Monday: http://www.rushdeliveryrecords.com/?p=229
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Underloop
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
3,895 posts Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/07/31 : 20:07:36
quote: Originally posted by Dain-Ja:
RAM is useful for some VSTs that have large sample banks (like high end piano VSTs) but it's so cheap that you can also upgrade later
I agree to a point. Your system will benefit from 1GB RAM, but not drastically anything above that. Don't get less than 1GB. Also, if you are dealing with large audio files (for instance a 2 hour mix) you will notice a huge difference when working on it - similarly with any other large files such as large images or particularly video if you have a bit more.
__________________________________
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Project-Industrial
Advanced Member
    

 Netherlands
2,481 posts Joined: Nov, 2005
33 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/08/02 : 12:08:08
quote: Originally posted by Underloop:
quote: Originally posted by Dain-Ja:
RAM is useful for some VSTs that have large sample banks (like high end piano VSTs) but it's so cheap that you can also upgrade later
I agree to a point. Your system will benefit from 1GB RAM, but not drastically anything above that. Don't get less than 1GB. Also, if you are dealing with large audio files (for instance a 2 hour mix) you will notice a huge difference when working on it - similarly with any other large files such as large images or particularly video if you have a bit more.
and if u got less then 1gb xp wont even run properly :p so......
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Alias:
- Project Industrial
- Disease
http://www.project-industrial.com http://www.discogs.com/label/Furious+Monkey+Records http://www.furiousmonkeyrecords.com/
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Jax
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
2,676 posts Joined: Apr, 2005
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Posted - 2008/08/02 : 13:30:18
xp runs fine on 512mb?
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Jax
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
2,676 posts Joined: Apr, 2005
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Posted - 2008/08/02 : 13:33:07
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-026-OK&groupid=703&catid=17&subcat=510&name=OcUK%20Value%20L2442WD-VA%2024%22%20Widescreen%20LCD%20Monitor%20-%20Glossy%20Black 24" windscreen for £245.50 delivered, im finding it hard not to purchase, someone help please lol
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Underloop
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
3,895 posts Joined: Mar, 2002
91 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2008/08/02 : 15:07:25
quote: Originally posted by Jax:
xp runs fine on 512mb?
I used to run it ok on 512mb - it ran alot better on 1GB though! Didn't notice much change day-to-day when I upgraded to 2GB.
__________________________________
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw
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Jax
Advanced Member
    

 United Kingdom
2,676 posts Joined: Apr, 2005
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Posted - 2008/08/03 : 00:07:14
Got all my parts this morning! (Slightly different to the spec I posted above) Got it built up by dinnertime and played about all day to make sure it was running ok. I've just spent a while overclocking the cpu, these are now my current specs
3 GHZ Quad Core (OC from 2.4 GHZ)
2GB RAM
160GB HD
640GB HD
500GB esata External HD
M-Audio 2496 Soundcard
2 x 19" monitors
Cheapo gfx as I dont play games on my pc
I am officially happy as larry :)
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Edited by - Jax on 2008/08/03 00:08:16 |