Help building advice

shatners basoon

Laptop died a couple of weeks ago (i believe the video card has died) so i decided i'd build a pc in order to learn a lot more about them and just for the fun of it. However, like many (I hope); I must admit that i'm a bit lost when it comes to choosing what components i should pick. Looking at sites and threads has probably confused me somewhat due to the overwhelming number of choices so i'm hoping you could help me pick something out.


What i want it to do
Direct recording/music production - nothing hardcore (not like running 12 tracks or anything) but i'd need a soundcard with 1/4 inch jack input & midi support, decent amount of ram (2-3 gb or so) and for the rig to be quiet
Gaming - Can't say i care too much whether it can play crysis etc. at full blast but i would like it to be able to play new releases relatively competently for a year or two basically so i don't have to buy a console.
Futureproof - good case & motherboard so it can be easily upgraded.


Budget - roughly 1k or so (including monitor/low priced hdtv etc. - noticed good deals in your bargains thread which i'm grateful for.) so i dunno around 700-800 for the rig.

What i've picked out/pondered over so far

sound card - echo mia midi - http://www.thomann.de/ie/echo_miamidi.htm 129

Graphics card - MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E-HD-OC bulk, NVIDIA 8800GTS, 320MB, PCI-Express - 115 http://www2.hardwareversand.de/1/articledetail.jsp?agid=394&aid=9032&lid=2
Though i noticed a Chaintech GeForce 8800GT 512MB PCIe for 113 in the bargain thread http://www.comsun.de/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=284 which looks like a good deal also. If its the better card i'd probably go with it.

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Box 4096Kb, LGA775, 64bit, Conroe http://www2.hardwareversand.de/1/articledetail.jsp?aid=10620&agid=398 133.35

HDD - Samsung HD753LJ 750GB S-ATA II, 32MB Cache - 78

Mbd - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ,Intel P35, ATX, PCI-Express - 64.83

Ram - 4096MB DDR2 Corsair Valueselect-Kit CL 5, PC5400/667 - 67



Thus i've yet to look too much at the case, PSU or the cooling system.
Excluding the sound card & HDD, i've by no means settled on any of above anyway and have more or less picked them on what i thought might be good components around the price range of what i'd be willing to pay (no idea whether i'd need a boxed cpu or not - little interest in overclocking by the way as i'd rather not spend too much on trying to keep the thing cool).

Hope you can help point me in the right direction anyway as my eyes are a bit tired from trying to focus on the difference between the hundreds of different graphics cards that are available on the hardwareversand site! Cheers.

AlmightyCushion

This will work out a little over budget (well when you include your soundcard it will). Quality system though. If you want to save a bit of money though go with a 19" monitor and a 9600gt.

shatners basoon

Thanks for your help, the quad looks like a good investment alright. Would the computer be quiet do you think? Its something i would be willing to pay a bit extra for. Friend of mine was urging me to go for a water cooling system but it looks a bit complicated to set up plus i've heard its more expensive. Pretty damn happy with the look of that rig though, probably get it next week or something very similar next week.

Feckin hate bank transfers though, had some bad experiences doing it with thomann.de before. think i just hate banks though, they tend to screw up and charge you extra for it!

uberpixie

Case + psu: Antec Sonata III with 500w antec psu.
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338137

Great if you are on a tight budget. Dacent PSU with a dacent case with good airflow.

you will spend much more on a crap case and a crap psu separately.

If you end up buying from someone else other than hardwareversand :-)