Conrad Blog:

Someone Set Up Us The [Electrical Storm]!!

Well...

My recording computer bit it. I suppose I got off easy, though, when you consider that the same storm that ripped through several states in the south, killed several people, and leveled homes only managed to fry some components in my again Athlon 2800 pc. Especially since Kristin and I were driving home that night in the exact location of the tornadoes... I'm glad that we're all safe and that nothing else got fried.

But still - now I'm faced with a dilemma: how much money is prudent to sink into a new computer? I don't think it would be wise to throw a lot at trying to figure out exactly which component(s) is/are fried in the old one, so I'm going to have to build a new one. As usual, Digidesign (the makers of ProTools, my current recording software of choice) has some pretty specific requirements for pc components and chipsets, etc... ruling out the most cost-effective alternatives. I want the thing to perform well, and hold up under stress (for the relatively few but critically important times I do simultaneous recording of 16-odd tracks of audio), but I don't want to sink huge gobs of money into what is essentially a rapidly depreciating asset.

To complicate things further, i might as well take this opportunity to attempt to build a much more quiet computer. Doing so on a budget is a bit tough, but i'm looking into coolermax "silent" power supplies, a particular WD harddrive that silent pc review recommends, a heat-sink-cooled video card, perhaps a fan controller, and no overclocking anywhere on the system. I think that should bring about a dramatic reduction from my current fuzzbox of a computer. I'd really like to swap out the 20 inch CRT i'm still using for a 20 inch widescreen lcd, not only because they are much more awesome, power-efficient, etc, but because CRTs emit electromagnetic interference, which gets picked up by my guitar pickups ALL THE TIME. I end up recording with the monitor off half the time. Its a hassle. But i'm not sure i can convince the wife of the necessity of that purchase just yet.

So I'm looking at a Core2 Duo, perhaps an Allendale, even... 2 gigs of ram (initially), and a 250 or 500 gb WD drive, and a crappy-ish pci-e 16x 256 meg video card. But even with this spec'd down system, things are still not exactly "cheap."

I've also got sourcing issues: NewEgg has a warehouse in TN, so I would have to pay the nearly 10% state sales tax on the system if I ordered through them. I'm considering TigerDirect as a substitute. Does anyone know of any other good alternatives?

***

Of course, due to this minor hiccup, the "song-a-week" project is on hold indefinitely. I still have the sessions for the music I was working on safe on a grand total of three hard drives, so no data has been lost - yet.