[Kyle8956]

hello,
i'm looking to build a new computer or upgrade my old one. the old one is a crappy little emachines with a 3.06 ghz single core processor. i need it for recording music in the program 'protools le' which is an awefully large digital audio workstation. i'd like to keep the total cost under $1,000. i don't play video games so the video card doesn't need to be anything great. i'm also running 'reason 3.0' for writing music so it does at least need to have a decent 24-bit sound card.
would a 2-core processor with a faster speed or a 4-core one with a slightly slower speed be better? should i go all out and get 4 gb of memory or more? any other specifics or info i should know about what will work best would be great. if the information i'm looking for is already on another page, please send me a link. i'd love to check it out and get some more experienced people's opinions on this stuff. thanks.


kyle

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Do you still need a monitor, keyboard and a mouse?

[kamille316]

Do you still need a monitor, keyboard and a mouse?

[Kyle8956]

no, i have all those parts.

[kamille316]

Here is what I'd recommend:

Case: Cooler Master CM 690 - $84.99
Motherboard: ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel - $126.99
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - $244.99
Memory: mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) - $75.99 (before $10 rebate)
Video Card: HIS 2600XT 256MB - $74.99 (before a $15 rebate)
Power Supply: SILVERSTONE ST50EF-SC 500W - $87.99
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.11 320GB - $79.99
DVD-Drive: Pioneer Black - $30.99
Total comes to - $806.92

The case I suggested was more a personal opinion. I have that case and it works great for my needs so if you find something you like, you can post it here and we'll tell you if its good or not. There are some cheaper ones from Coolermaster that you should check out.

For the motherboard, I usually suggest Gigabyte but I did some research about Pro Tools LE and the majority of people uses ASUS.

For the processor, I suggested the Q6600 because its price is so cheap now.

For the memory, Mushkin is very reliable, works great for me and is the cheapest 4GB kit in newegg.

For the Video Card, since you don't need anything for gaming, the 2600XT should be well enough for your needs.

For the power supply, Silverstone is a good brand and also one of the cheapest 500W out there.

For the hard drive, I went with a 320GB but a 500GB costs $104.99 if you need more hard drive space.

For the DVD-drive, this particular drive is very good, you could also go with the Samsung drive for $29.99

If you need an OS, here are the prices:
Windows XP Pro - $139.99
Vista Premium - $99.99
I am unsure if Pro Tools LE works with Vista so you might need to research that part.

I am also unsure about the sound card, you probably don't even need an expensive one for reason 3.0.

Hope this helps.
Kamille