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Small Music Editing PC

post #1 of 15
Thread Starter 
I have been asked to build a small music editing PC for a friend and I'd like some input please.

He said it doesn't need to be quick so I'll be using a dual core processor, wants to use dual monitors and be fairly quiet.

Anybody got any suggestions?

Haven't been given a budget but the cheaper the better.

Thanks.

EDIT:

What about this http://www.ebuyer.com/389623-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-1066 and then add this http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0052MJQN8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=A3F5BGC3U9H8PE
Edited by VulgarDisplay88 - 10/27/12 at 3:53am
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15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
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AMD Athlon II P340 Dual-Core Processor 2.20 GHz AMD M880G ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 64GB LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double ... Stock Windows 7 Home Premium 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
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Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and 2-w... Altec Lansing speakers 
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post #2 of 15
That APU wouldn't be too good for what they'll be doing, there isn't enough RAM, probably somewhere down the line run out of HDD space as well, and from what I've experience with pre-builts, they tend to have pretty crappy PSUs and the case is usually not very good either.

I'll put together a list, give me a sec.
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post #3 of 15
Here you go:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£78.78 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 6450 1GB Video Card (£28.37 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£36.18 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£70.36 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £485.59
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I recommended the case because I built one with it for one of my mates and it's just so so quiet. thumb.gif
Edited by StayFrosty - 10/27/12 at 4:26am
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post #4 of 15
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by StayFrosty View Post

That APU wouldn't be too good for what they'll be doing, there isn't enough RAM, probably somewhere down the line run out of HDD space as well, and from what I've experience with pre-builts, they tend to have pretty crappy PSUs and the case is usually not very good either.
I'll put together a list, give me a sec.

Thanks for the reply. I had a feeling that it was a terrible idea to use a pre-built. He has just given me a budget of £200 for the tower and I was struggling to keep to it. He has £350 for the whole thing and £120 of that is for the monitors and £30 for peripherals.

He plans to use it to edit music then transfer it to an external device and then delete it off the hdd so a smallish hdd will be ok.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StayFrosty View Post

Here you go:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£78.78 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card (£76.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£36.18 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£70.36 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £534.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

That looks awesome but unfortunately because he is a bit tight it is way out of budget. Thanks anyway.

I'm starting to think it's impossible to get a semi decent one within his budget.
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AMD Athlon II P340 Dual-Core Processor 2.20 GHz AMD M880G ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) 
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Crucial M4 64GB LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double ... Stock Windows 7 Home Premium 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
MouseAudio
Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and 2-w... Altec Lansing speakers 
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R4
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HP G62
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Athlon II P340 Dual-Core Processor 2.20 GHz AMD M880G ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 64GB LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double ... Stock Windows 7 Home Premium 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
MouseAudio
Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and 2-w... Altec Lansing speakers 
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post #5 of 15
First thing
Use g850 pentium
Second use cheap 64 bit radeon 6450 like gpu

H61 asus random will be good
P/p rate of 1 tb hdd's are good also take 7200 rpm

4 gb ddr3 1333 kingston 2x2
300w psu and a micro atx case which should be 10£ i think
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post #6 of 15
If he's only editing music, does he really need a discrete GPU? Which software is he using? Does he need a CD burner or does he transport his music over email or with USB sticks? 200 quid is a bit limited tbh.
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post #7 of 15
I can tell you from experience that the amount of processing power you need for music editing can range from almost nothing for simple microphone recording to sky's the limit dual 8 core CPU workstations with 32GB+ RAM if you are using a ton of simultaneous processing effects and virtual instruments. Definitely don't get a dedicated GPU for this. If he's recording from microphones then I can also tell you from experience that even the most quiet PC fans will drive you crazy; you have to either put the computer in a different room and get long USB/video cables to reach your recording room or you have to go fanless. See the hdplex rig in my signature for an example fanless computer. WIth the budget you're dealing with it's going to be very tricky to get anything too quiet, so hopefully no microphones are involved here.
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post #8 of 15
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the help but I've told him that unless he increases the budget it's a no go. Appreciate the help though and I might revive it when he increases it.
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AMD Athlon II P340 Dual-Core Processor 2.20 GHz AMD M880G ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) 
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Crucial M4 64GB LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double ... Stock Windows 7 Home Premium 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
MouseAudio
Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and 2-w... Altec Lansing speakers 
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R4
(18 items)
 
HP G62
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TJ08-E
(19 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Athlon II P340 Dual-Core Processor 2.20 GHz AMD M880G ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 DIMM) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 64GB LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double ... Stock Windows 7 Home Premium 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LE... 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with... 65W AC Adapter with 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Ba... HP G62 
MouseAudio
Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and 2-w... Altec Lansing speakers 
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post #9 of 15
I just put in the GPU for the multiple monitors. redface.gif
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Intel Core i5-2415M Apple HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000  Kingston 1x4GB 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2  Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit LG 32-inch Full HD LED TV 
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MSI POWAAA
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Intel i5-3570K MSI Z77IA-E53 MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edtion Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 
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Seagate 2TB 7200RPM HDD None Coolermaster Seidon 120XL Windows 8 Pro 64-bit 
PowerCaseMouse
Seasonic M12II 520W 80+ Bronze Power Supply Fractal Design Node 304 Roccat Pyra 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2415M Apple HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000  Kingston 1x4GB 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2  Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit LG 32-inch Full HD LED TV 
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post #10 of 15
This is the best I can do and I cannot possible fit two monitors within that budget, but I did include one awesome monitor that I can vouch for.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£26.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.48 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£69.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£36.18 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: LG IPS224V-PN 21.5" Monitor (£102.86 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £434.07
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

The Define Mini is such an awesome silent case. biggrin.gif

The mechanical hard drive would probably the only thing that would be audible if you opened the case up, so ask your friend to consider an SSD. smile.gif
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Intel i5-3570K MSI Z77IA-E53 MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edtion Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate 2TB 7200RPM HDD None Coolermaster Seidon 120XL Windows 8 Pro 64-bit 
PowerCaseMouse
Seasonic M12II 520W 80+ Bronze Power Supply Fractal Design Node 304 Roccat Pyra 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2415M Apple HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000  Kingston 1x4GB 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2  Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit LG 32-inch Full HD LED TV 
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Apple Wireless Keyboard Apple Wireless Magic Trackpad Home Theatre 
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MSI POWAAA
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Mac Mini (HTPC)
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i5-3570K MSI Z77IA-E53 MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edtion Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate 2TB 7200RPM HDD None Coolermaster Seidon 120XL Windows 8 Pro 64-bit 
PowerCaseMouse
Seasonic M12II 520W 80+ Bronze Power Supply Fractal Design Node 304 Roccat Pyra 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core i5-2415M Apple HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000  Kingston 1x4GB 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOSOSMonitor
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2  Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit LG 32-inch Full HD LED TV 
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Apple Wireless Keyboard Apple Wireless Magic Trackpad Home Theatre 
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