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peacock1987 · 10-29-2008, 10:55 PM

Hi guys, i have been in the market for a desktop pc so i can do some home recording via an audio interface into cubase 4. I have came across this PC and was just wondering what people think. I have to adhere to a budget by the by. anyway here is the info:
AMD athlon 64 bit dual core 5000+ processor with 4GB of Ram. 7200rpm 250 gig hard drive (ill probably invest in an external one also). asrock alive NF5 motherboard, comes with screen n mouse n whatnot, 6 usb ports, microsoft windows vista operating system and microsoft office for about 510 pounds stirling. What do you think????

digitalscream · 10-30-2008, 07:54 PM

From previous threads, Vista sucks for audio. Also, the CPU is a bit weak (read: fairly cheap), as is the motherboard (Asrock are the budget arm of Asus). I'd say that machine would be worth not much more than £400 all built - for £510, you could put together a damn spiffy machine with a more powerful Intel CPU.

Incidentally, to use all 4GB RAM you'd have to use a 64-bit version of Windows, which is also not so good for audio software/hardware compatibility. While Vista 32-bit will "recognise" that you have 4GB RAM installed, you'll only be able to use about 3GB of it.

peacock1987 · 10-30-2008, 08:16 PM

interesting point about the ram there. I was told that today at PC world also. So, where would I look to go for a computer that i can get for about 500 but does the job? I need to have office installed which bunks the price of these up. Im not a serious hardcore recorder i just want something decent to be able to do a job acoustically on.

digitalscream · 10-30-2008, 08:32 PM

Well, I'd suggest that you give OpenOffice 3.0 a try - it reads and writes all Microsoft Office formats (not quite 100%, but damn close), and provides 90% of the functionality including some stuff that doesn't exist in MS Office. More to the point, it's much better value for money (it's free).

Question is, are you capable of building your own PC? Everything gets a lot more reasonable then.

peacock1987 · 10-30-2008, 08:43 PM

I am not capable at all haha. There is a pc i could get for ten pounds more than mentioned at the top and the processor is an intel core 2 duo. Perhaps this would be a better idea??

tehLORD · 10-31-2008, 12:53 AM

www.computerplanet.co.uk

You can spec every component to your PC and they're cheap.

For example

Intel E7200 Core 2 Duo (faster duo's a cheap upgrade option, E8500 +£43 for example)
Asus P5 Mobo
2GB Geil DDR2
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD/RW
Windows XP Home (Pro optional but either comes with install disc which is rare)
19" Widescreen TFT monitor
Open Office pre installed
Keyboard and mouse etc

Comes in at £513 with free delivery.

The one you listen is overpriced and not a great spec IMO. If you really do need M$ office it might be a better idea to track down a much cheaper older version online or ebay or something. They all do the same thing really unless there's one of those MUST HAVE new features that you cant live without.

peacock1987 · 10-31-2008, 10:31 AM

Office would be quite important for uni. I wonder if two gig of ram would be suffice. There is a PC from the same place as i mentioned above that is about ten pound more and that has an intel core 2 duo E7300 processor. It has an Asrock wolfdale motherboard but i do not know if thats a bad thing. That would also come with office.

digitalscream · 10-31-2008, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peacock1987

Office would be quite important for uni.

Don't knock OpenOffice 3.0 until you've tried it. You could save yourself a significant amount of money, which you can put into boosting the spec of your machine quite a bit. If it makes any difference, my sister (and most of her friends) are at University, and they all use OpenOffice; they're perfectly happy with it.

And yes, 2GB RAM will suffice.

peacock1987 · 10-31-2008, 11:34 AM

how about this one
http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/cust...duo/step6.html
So what exactly do i get with open office, basically i need powerpoint and word. This system looks good but its 32 bit operating so it wont recognise 4 gig of ram but i cannot find a 3 gig option.

digitalscream · 10-31-2008, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peacock1987

how about this one
http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/cust...duo/step6.html
So what exactly do i get with open office, basically i need powerpoint and word. This system looks good but its 32 bit operating so it wont recognise 4 gig of ram but i cannot find a 3 gig option.

With OO, you get applications which are equivalent to all the main apps in Office Pro, with the exception of Outlook (which you can easily replace with a free mail client like Thunderbird, if you like). Hell, just download and install it - it costs you nothing to try or use except your time. Also, the interface is closer to Office 2003 and previous versions than Office 2007, so you might even find it easier to use.

RAM is cheap - I'd suggest going for the 2GB option, and upgrade it later if you want to.

10-29-2008, 10:55 PM	#1
peacock1987 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	new pc Hi guys, i have been in the market for a desktop pc so i can do some home recording via an audio interface into cubase 4. I have came across this PC and was just wondering what people think. I have to adhere to a budget by the by. anyway here is the info: AMD athlon 64 bit dual core 5000+ processor with 4GB of Ram. 7200rpm 250 gig hard drive (ill probably invest in an external one also). asrock alive NF5 motherboard, comes with screen n mouse n whatnot, 6 usb ports, microsoft windows vista operating system and microsoft office for about 510 pounds stirling. What do you think????

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10-30-2008, 08:16 PM	#3
peacock1987 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	interesting point about the ram there. I was told that today at PC world also. So, where would I look to go for a computer that i can get for about 500 but does the job? I need to have office installed which bunks the price of these up. Im not a serious hardcore recorder i just want something decent to be able to do a job acoustically on.

10-30-2008, 08:43 PM	#5
peacock1987 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	I am not capable at all haha. There is a pc i could get for ten pounds more than mentioned at the top and the processor is an intel core 2 duo. Perhaps this would be a better idea??

10-31-2008, 12:53 AM	#6
tehLORD Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 2,047	www.computerplanet.co.uk You can spec every component to your PC and they're cheap. For example Intel E7200 Core 2 Duo (faster duo's a cheap upgrade option, E8500 +£43 for example) Asus P5 Mobo 2GB Geil DDR2 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD/RW Windows XP Home (Pro optional but either comes with install disc which is rare) 19" Widescreen TFT monitor Open Office pre installed Keyboard and mouse etc Comes in at £513 with free delivery. The one you listen is overpriced and not a great spec IMO. If you really do need M$ office it might be a better idea to track down a much cheaper older version online or ebay or something. They all do the same thing really unless there's one of those MUST HAVE new features that you cant live without.

10-31-2008, 10:31 AM	#7
peacock1987 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	Office would be quite important for uni. I wonder if two gig of ram would be suffice. There is a PC from the same place as i mentioned above that is about ten pound more and that has an intel core 2 duo E7300 processor. It has an Asrock wolfdale motherboard but i do not know if thats a bad thing. That would also come with office.

10-31-2008, 11:34 AM	#9
peacock1987 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 271	how about this one http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/cust...duo/step6.html So what exactly do i get with open office, basically i need powerpoint and word. This system looks good but its 32 bit operating so it wont recognise 4 gig of ram but i cannot find a 3 gig option.