im under 500 without an OS/monitor/keyboard

Small correction to this...it's the 32bit OS in question, not the processor.

32bit OS can usually handle max 4gbs, however most of the time, even if all goes well, when you look at your system stats in Windows, it will display less the 4gbs, usually around 3gbs.

64 bit OS can support 128gbs+

Anyway, JDM how much are you looking to spend? That will greatly help in choosing parts.

Also on a side note to my comment above... If you are going to install Vista, if you have any problems while installing, remove 2gbs of memory and install it with only 2 installed. There is a pretty common known issue with Vista sometimes not installing correctly when 4gbs are being used during setup. Then just install if after installation is complete. If you are going to use 64 then you shouldn't have the problem.

like 700 without a OS. Its mainly a computer for me to just use the internet, download lots of stuff, and mess with music producing. i spent a **** load on a laptop last year and just want another desktop since mine is outdated.


is a processor with 3mb cache enough(e7300), or should i get one with 6mb(e8400). its a 50 dollar difference.

onboard soundcards are perfectly fine provided youre not an audiophile.... video card just pick something for 150ish lol

stock heatsink/fan is very good actually, i just built a 3.0 ghz dualcure intel setup which idles less than room temperature :D (granted theres a bit of mobo powersaving stuff too, but still)

ive heard of 32bit vista taking over 2 gigs too with the new service pack or something, and you'll very likely have less problems with that (in terms of driver issues, compatibility, etc) over 64bit

ordered it a few minutes ago, ill post up the links. it was 600 shipped and i get like 80 bucks back thru rebates

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136178
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131347
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106264
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156098

Not bad at all.

If you are looking into music production, then look into a decent speaker set. You might also need something that can accept MIDI inputs as well. WIlldue might be able to explain a little better

I mean to say processor and OS.

It's simple math: A 32-bit operating system can handle 2^32 bytes = 4,294,967,296 bytes = 4,096 MB of memory = 4 GB of RAM.

You're almost on the ball with the 64 bit processor/OS. They can handle a theoretical limit of 16TB of RAM.

i have good speakers and sub, ive been looking into it a bit. right now i use the music lab at bucks so hopefully by the time i leave for school ill be all set wit my desktop. i have a synth already that i can use, just need to get it up and running

nice, thats almost the same mobo i have too, so theoretically (with decent case airflow/cooling) you can be idling at below room temps too :)

the case i got is bigger than i wanted but it is supposed to have enough cooling to handle anything and its really cheap with the mail in rebate

2 80mm fans and 2 120mm fans

edit: i just looked at it again and the price went up on it after i ordered. haha

lol thats always good; yeah i looked at the case afterwards too and it seems good with the two sidefans blowing air onto the proc and extracting from videocard (or at least thats how i'd set them up)

the only thing is that i have no idea why they put the one fan on the OTHER side of the case too.... it would have been more useful as a topfan (kinda weird that they list 4 fans but pics show 5)

im only seein 3 in the pics

i just hope its relatively quiet and itll fit somewhere easily(21x8x18) is the biggest tower ive ever had but have seen way bigger

picture 4: front intake fan
6: sidefan on door (laying down, clear fan), sidefan on frame (green fan), and you can see the rear exhaust fan
9: rear exhaust fan (and also green sidefan)
10: other sidefan (also green), rear exhaust fan, original green sidefan in frame

if its too loud you can always swap the fans with quiet ones (i think silverstones were recommended to me by a comp builder, but on newegg you can see dba specs on fans) just make sure to mount them blowing the same way :)