Shopping for a computer...
Home > Home Recording Forum > Computers & Software > Shopping for a computer...
Posted on Apr 25, 2006 02:35 pm
AarCanaduh
Member Since: Apr 25, 2006
I'm in the market for a new computer - a new PC. I'm going to be purchasing through Dell since they have a monthly payment plan which is lovely. I've been recording on an old Dimension with a Celeron. It's worked out surprisingly well but I need something faster. I'll give you the specs of the model I'm looking at buying. Looks fast to me but I'm not the most computer saavy person in the world and I'm afraid I'll get something I don't want. I'm fairly limited in that I need to go the monthly payment route but people I know have made said that certain computers aren't good for recording music.
If one or a few of you could give me a yay! or a nay! as to whether this model will suffice, I'd really appreciate it.
This is a Dell Dimension 5150.
Processor
Pentium 4 Processor 640 w/HT Technology (3.2GHz,800FSB
Memory
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x512M)
Hard Drive
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
Thanks,
Aaron
[ Back to Top ]
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Apr 25, 2006 03:03 pm Specs look good to me. What you will want to do is find a sound card option for that computer that's OK at playback, 5.1, whatever you want. Then you'll need to buy an aftermarket sound card that's actually designed for recording.
No matter how nice of a sound card you opt for from Dell, it will not be ideal for recording. So you'll want to find a good one to add to the computer after you receive it from Dell.
Jason H.Jack of all trades master of ___Member
Since: May 28, 2004
Apr 25, 2006 03:13 pm Yup, sound card will be needed as stated...
Depending on your musical needs and situation...take a gander here...
www.zzounds.com...nterfaces--2418
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 27, 2006 08:44 pm And the biggest thing to consider with the Dell is, will it accept a third party PCI card. Unless you are going to go the USB or Firewire route. Dell is a very propriatary type box, and they only allow certain things to be added. AS well they dont give you much space either. You may find it does not have a spare PCI slot or room for an additional hard drive, which is almost a necessatiy for good recording.
If you have someplace like Micro Center www.microcenter.com/ near you they have an open format CP called Pwer Spec. THey are much more open to having bits added to them. As well they use Mother boards and hardware that are commonly available to mainstream consumers.
Apr 29, 2006 09:50 pm I've heard several people say the same thing about Dell lately, but I haven't found that to be true. I've been using Dell machines to record for the past 7 years. I presently have a Dimension 4600 that I got about a year ago and I don't find any problems in upgrading anything in it. In fact, I've disabled the sound blaster chip that is on the mother board and installed a Gina 3G PCI card. I've also installed a 4 port Firewire PCI card in it. Beefed up the RAM and added a 2nd 250gig hard drive. It's now running Sonar 5 and Sound Forge 8 and has no problems at all. I also changed out and added a bigger power supply about 6 months ago and went with a 450watt one.
I think the ones you are referring to are the ones they advertise in the Sunday papers that sell for $450.00
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 29, 2006 10:49 pm I have had personal experiance with them in the past, and they were not the budget PC's from Dell either. But I would guess if you match the right hardware they would work fine.
The PC has very good specs indeed, but I would honestly do some research first into what kind of Audio interface you are going to be adding to it and make absolutely certain it is compatable with the PC. It would be a shame to waste money on a good PC and find out you cant run a good audio interface on it. Those are major issues with a lot of the newer firewire and USB interfaces.
As well if going the PCI route IRQ sharing is a real PITA on prebuilt mass produced PC's.
But as JD stated, he is having goog luck with his, so I suggest doing a little background checking first and make sure you will be able to do what you want.
Apr 30, 2006 05:43 pm Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it.
Aaron
