[Frunobulax]

Need help choosing components. This machine will be for general use. In my future spare time I'd like to look at getting into music sequencing and would be nice if I could add on to this machine at that time. Would like it to be silent as possible.

The whole thing prices out to $307, that would be great if it's true and I haven't missed anything. Of course I am not including monitor and peripherals which I have already.

Please add any suggestions, I'm having a hard time being confident about compatibility of parts, thanks.

All parts from Newegg

Case
hec 6K28BB8F Black 0.8mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16811121003

PSU
Antec earthwatts EA380 ATX12V v2.0 380W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16817371005

Motherboard
Intel BOXDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16813121035

HD
Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16822136098

DVD Burner
ASUS Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 14X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16827135156

CD Drive
ASUS Dual Panel Black and Beige 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM ATAPI/E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3
http://www.newegg.co...n82e16827135097

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You'll need a processor, some DDR2 memory and a graphics card.
Also 380w power supply - you may just get away with it but ideally one with more power is strongly recommended.

[Neil Jones]

You'll need a processor, some DDR2 memory and a graphics card.
Also 380w power supply - you may just get away with it but ideally one with more power is strongly recommended.

[Frunobulax]

Processor and RAM - I had those picked out but they didn't make it to my posting. Processor will be Intel Core 2 Dual and memory will be 2GB of DDR2 800.

as far as Power supply; any recommendations? I picked that unit out in large part because it was advertised and reviewed as quiet. What is the calculation for how much I need?

Video card - I see I missed that, I don't believe I need anything fancy, but let me know any suggestions.

Other than that, no compatibility issues or extras required?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Neil Jones]

A lot depends on what you're going to be doing with the computer - "general use" is an ambiguous term. What is your main use going to be?

[Frunobulax]

At present: aside from the usual email and web surfing, I do some music transcription and notation using Transcribe and Sibelius. That's probably the most intensive use for the computer and my current out of date machine handles it albeit slowly. Actually sometimes I do work on large Excel spreadsheets, perhaps that use is more intense.

At some point in the future - and I really don't know when this will be - I'd like to start hooking my synths up and do some sequencing. I'm not ready to do too much thinking about that yet. And perhaps I'll get another machine at that point, but I was thinking in terms of this build having the structure in place so that I could add on what cards, etc. I'll need later. Thanks again for any advice.