Saving up for my new rig, please take a look at the setup...

[Adam Frechette]

Motherboard:
Soyo P4X400 Dragon Ultra Platinum Via P4X400 P4 (533FSB) Skt478 DDR
ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, RAID Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)***
533FSB, ATA/133, AGP 8X, 3DDR DIMM, 5PCI, USB 2.0, Audio, LAN, RAID
Socket 478 compatible.

Price: $139.99
--------------------------------------------------
Processor:
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Processor (Northwood) 3.06GHz, 533MHz FSB, Socket 478 Retail
***(Free 2nd Day)***
w/Fan and Heatsink, 512KB Cache, .13u

Price: $473.00
--------------------------------------------------
Hard Drives:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y200P0 200GB ATA/133 7200PRM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer &
Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motors
***(Free 2nd Day)*** Superior Performance combined with Industry-leading capacity.
Delivering a performance hard drive using
a highly leverage design with state-of-the-art quality and reliability!

Price: $228.00 x 2 = $456.00
--------------------------------------------------
Memory:
Corsair TWINX1024-3200LL 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 Dual-Channel Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail

Price: $304.00 x 3 = $912.00
--------------------------------------------------
Case:
Antec Performance II Series SX1040BII Soho File Server Case (Black) Retail
w/400W Power Supply

Price: $94.99
--------------------------------------------------
Keyboard and Mouse:
Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard & Optical Mouse Combo ***(Free 2nd Day)***
Experience maximum comfort, performance, style, and value!

Price: $32.50
--------------------------------------------------
Monitor:
Samsung 191TBlack SyncMaster 19in LCD Monitor (Black) Retail

Price: $710.00
--------------------------------------------------
Video Card:
Asus V9280TD GeForce4 Ti4200-8X AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI Retail
***(Free 2nd Day)***

Price: $145.99
--------------------------------------------------
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Single (Full Version) ***(Free 2nd Day)***

Price: $92.50

Microsoft Windows 98 2nd Edition E2E w/MS Press (Full version) ***(Free 2nd Day)***

Price: $99.99
--------------------------------------------------
Soundcard:
MAudio Delta 44 Digital Audio Sound Card

Price: $229.95
http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD442 (\"http://www.zzounds.com/item--THKMIMD442\")
--------------------------------------------------
DVD Drive:
Toshiba SD-M1712 16x/48 IDE DVD w/PowerDVD 4.0 Software ***(Free 2nd Day)***
Replacement of SD-M1612

Price: $44.99
--------------------------------------------------
CD-RW Drive:
Artec WSM-52X 52x24x52 EIDE/ATAPI CD-RW Drive Retail
***(Free 2nd Day)***

Price: $47.50
--------------------------------------------------
Midi Controller:
Fatar SL880PRO Studiologic 88-Key Full-Size MIDI Controller

Price: $599.95
http://www.zzounds.com/item--FATSL880PRO (\"http://www.zzounds.com/item--FATSL880PRO\")
--------------------------------------------------
Speakers:

Price: $
--------------------------------------------------
Headphones:
Sennheiser HD280Pro Headphones

Price: $99.95
http://www.zzounds.com/item--SENHD280PRO (\"http://www.zzounds.com/item--SENHD280PRO\")
--------------------------------------------------


Ok now can anyone make some recommendations as to what I might want to replace and/or correct errors I may have made.

Thanks in advance

[kid-surf]

Total = $4,179.30


graemlins/tounge_images/icons/smile.gif

[Nuno Fonseca]

Just some ideas (after all i don\'t know exactly what do you want to do with it):

Considering that you want a very good machine, i would go for a better motherboard (it\'s a question of balance between components)

With that price, why not buying 2 (slowest)computers. Some times, at the same price, it\'s better 2 computer, than 1 very good computer...I\'m not telling you to do this, just some ideas...

[Larry Negro]

Adam

I agree about the motherboard. The Via chipset might burp along the way. I always go with Intel chipsets....the 845E serious is pretty powerful now. Take a look at the Abit IT7-MAX2. It has more features for about the same price (including firewire and Serial ATA) and I believe it will be more stable.

I also don\'t think you need the Corsair memory (expensive) or a 3gig cpu.....can save some money there. You can get a 2.4gig for the 533 FSB for 150 these days.

Everything else looks OK, though I might rethink the MAudio card.....Put some of that money you\'re saving toward a better audio interface like an RME9652 or MOTU2408 or Digi 001

Good Luck
Larry

[Adam Frechette]

Well I wasn\'t really looking at the price. I just want top of the line stuff. But I also want an extremely good soundcard. Also, what about speakers are those good, I thought Behringer was one of the best?

Anyways thanks for the help so far

[johnhutch]

For sound cards I would look into RME. I like the Multiface.

john

[Haydn]

I would also opt for the 2 computer option as Larry mentioned. The 2.4 GHZ processor will get almost as many voices as the 3.06 GHZ. I use the 845PE chipset on an ASUS board and it works great. This board also has serial ATA and raid capabilites. The hard drives are more important than the expensive Corsair memory. Also, you don\'t need the fastest video card. You can get GeForce type boards for $40 that work great.

[Sapkiller]

Hi Adam
I tend to agree with the advices given on the CPU,
however if you plan to buy the 3GHZ P4, at least make sure the MOBO supports hyper threading.
I don\'t think the SOYO does ( in fact I don\'t
think there\'s many out there that does ).
Take a look at the Dual Ram MOBO\'s if you wan\'t
optimum DDR power. They rival RD1066 in memory
bandwith.Look for either the Intel E7205 or the
SiS655 chipset, for dual DDR operation.

Harddisk: I opt for Seagate
They are not quite as fast as the others, although the 7200 series is catching up,
but they are reliable and virtually noiseless.

As for the Windows XP - just a warning:
There\'s a limit to the number of components you
can replace before needing a renewal/confirmation
from Microsoft of your XP licence.
I think the limit is around 5-6 components.

regards
Bjarne

[MDesigner]

Artec CD-RW? Naah. Get LiteOn.. can\'t go wrong, very solid brand. Ask any hardware geek, they\'ll recommend these. $47 at NewEgg. Here\'s the link:

http://tinyurl.com/4gmp (\"http://tinyurl.com/4gmp\")

The 2nd one on the page, \"on sale\". Get that, it\'s the retail box. I own one, and it ROCKS.

[csduke]

IF you want to save some money and get great performance, buy one of this system (2.4GHx/533FSB/128M DDR, PCI-X, 3 IDE Controllers, 3 fans, CD, ...).
http://www.dell.com/us/en/bsd/products/series_pedge_pedsc_servers.htm (\"http://www.dell.com/us/en/bsd/products/series_pedge_pedsc_servers.htm\") (the one at left, note free processor upgrade, free shipping)

For that price ...

BTW the PCI-X bus (+3.3 Volts, 32 and 64 bit) is new. The only GSIF card that I can find that will work in these new slots are from RME. That\'s good news.

[Hildog]

Originally posted by kid-surf:
Total = $4,179.30<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Yowch!!! For that price I could build 3 systems...they\'d all have considerably slower processors, smaller hard drives, better soundcards, onboard video, less fancy RAM...but my point is that I could get a lot more (like 3x) sound-making power out of them than from a single \"mega\"-system.

Of course, this is assuming that you\'re only going to be using it as a Giga machine...If so, you\'re going to reach a point where you hit the 160 polyphony limit way before you hit the hard drive throughput limit or max out the CPU power.

[Hildog]

disregard

[Adam Frechette]

I bought a liteon drive awhile back and I still have it. But it is not compatible with this crappy system I am running now (Pentium, 200 MHZ, 32mb ram, WIN95 w/MS PLUS lol). Well this system will also be used for gaming. Since there is no way I would become a full time composer anytime soon (do to lack of skills, not desire). Ok then I want a mobo that has the same features if not more then this mobo and possibly something that has less expensive memory chips. I am not sure what the best kind of memory is anyways.

Thanks in advance,

[dwdonehoo]

Monitor:
Samsung 191TBlack SyncMaster 19in LCD Monitor (Black) Retail
Price: $710.00

For that same price, I would go with a Samsung 19 LCD. The best there is, unless you are doing movies or games (any media that goes fast), in which case don\'t get LCD.

I would stay with (latest) VIA and AMD chipsets: fewer problems in my experience and I have put together a boatload of computers.

Get the GF4 card, but get a dual monitor out, unless you actually need TV for something. Then get TWO Samsung monitors. images/icons/wink.gif Same money for the card.

For DVD, get a DVD R/w that writes/reads CD as well. Its about the same money.

If you need a heavy-duty multi channel sound card, the MAudio 1010/lt will do it, but if you need less, get the Revolution: you still get 6 outs in stereo pairs with the same quality of audio. It will also save you $200.

I think DDR 2700 might be better.

MAXTOR drives....I am not sure about these. There may be some noise issues.

Just a few suggestions... images/icons/wink.gif

[Adam Frechette]

Thanks for the info DW. Well I guess I will get one maxtor hd then (just to test it out basically) if it is too noisy I will probably return it, or just save it for games. 2 monitors eh? I guess I could get a cheaper monitor just for gaming if as you say LCD doesn\'t play good (bad refresh rate?). I might as well try out the Soyo board it\'s rather inexpensive anyhow, unless like I said someone knows of a board that has the same features or more. Yeah I don\'t know what I was thinking I shoulda looked for the DVD rw drive before I posted.

As for speakers I have been looking at these:

Behringer TRUTH B2031 Active 2-Way Reference Studio Monitor (\"http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=B2031&lang=eng\")

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone so far.

[Sapkiller]

Nuno found this link with a test by Rip Rowan of Behringer Truth, among others.
Ten powered nearfields reviewed (\"http://www.prorec.com./prorec/articles.nsf/articles/0B7FAE7ED3205D3C86256AE100044F41\")

I\'ve been contemplating buying a set too - but I\'m
a bit concerned with the judgement of Rip Rowan.
Particularly this:

What was worse, the treble was too harsh for my tastes. I found myself dialing the tweeter down –2 dB at first, and –4 dB later. Even with the treble obviously muted, the tweeter performance was still strangely harsh. Over a short period of time I found this speaker to be just too fatiguing to get accurate mixes over the long haul <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Bjarne

[lex]

I work with pair of Behringers for about a year and a half now..

They have their flaws but like with any other speaker, if you know what they are and the sound suits you they do the job well.

I find their sound very detailed and precise, but highs can be harsh and piercing. It has a very nice low end, and the mids..hmm..well the mids are acctualy my only complaint, they are there and they work, but you feel like there is something missing.

What you should consider is that these speakers are dirt cheap, and for that price they are more then perfect, when you learn them, they do the job more then well.

I mix on them every day, and a people said that they like my mixes..

Alex