Are those mini-tower things good for gigging?

Hello!
I am a total Noob (not to Djing in general, but to digital djing.

I am considering assembling my own mini-tower pc (as I heard this was the cheapest was to get the most raw processing power for the least $$$). Is this a good solution? If not, what should I get instead. I am a diehard mac fan, but I'm willing to go with a pc if necessary, I just want something good, stable for under a grand.

Any help as to what I should get would be appreciated. Noob terminology is a plus!!
-Devon

 

For most processing power for least money, of course a desktop system beats any laptop.

But there are advantages to not getting every part on its own and assembling yourself. Most importantly stability - the more equally set-up systems someone sells, the more you can hope that they have really tested them. You can run into all sorts of surprises with components that you assemble yourself (that have nothing to do with your know-how). And I'd assume that it'll comeyou cheaper than the sum of the parts.

So get a complete system that you like (tower, mainboard, processor, RAM, power-supply, gimmicks like USB-hub / card-reader) and add DVD/CDR, graphics card and most importantly a decent sound card to your wishes.

Ooops - almost forgot the display... If you haven't got one yet you'll have to decide - a tube for almost no money at all or a flat screen that would be loads easier to carry around but comes with a price tag...

If you mainly want to do audio and not play games, you can save a lot of money on the graphics adapter and the display. Get a good CPU, but don't overdo that - 2GHz is more than enough. Instead, spend the money on RAM - the more the better. And for sound cards check the forum here, the really good ones are expensive, so any moeny you save elsewhere you can use here.

HTH, h00la

 

the thing about sound apps is that they are really dependent on processor power, a lot of RAM memory, and a good low latency sound card...

with today's processor speeds you dont have to worry about the first issue unless the processor is below 1.8 Ghz (1.3 ghz for a mac G4, 1.2 ghz for a centrino/pentium 3)...

...512MB of RAM memory is a decent amount to have, and can be seen as a "standard" amount to have for running a few apps in multitasking.... 768 or more is better of course....

the last ingredient for a good sound pc is the soundcard...

there are a lot of high-end low latency (fast response) sound cards made for professional sound use, but many of those are expensive - upwards of $200-$500... for the money, id say the audigy 2NX is a great usb based soundcard with load of ins/outs and features for a little over a franklin.... there are some other ones like by EMU that i cant think of off hand as well... just look for the lowest possible latency, and the highest possible sample rates like 96hz recording and 192hz playback, and spdif digital output.... also surround sound is great for home theaters, but not necessary for traktor - 4 channel outputs for cue/master and 2 or more channel input for recording is fine...



that said... id go with something like a dell inspiron 5150 or inspiron 1150, which can be had with a 2.6 ghz pentium4 processor, 15 inch lc monitor, 512MB or RAM, a 40GB hard drive, a cd burner/dvd drive, and a 1 year warranty for like $1170.... then add another $120 for the external sound card, if you want master and cue outputs.... (you can knock $150 off the price if you get 256MB of ram and get it elsewhere for cheaper later.... but if youre trying to save money, DO NOT GET A CELERON PROCESSOR NO MATTER WHAT!!!! the celery has a tiny on board memory cache that will utterly CRIPPLE your timestretching in traktor and multitasking... save your $$$ elsewhere)...

you may also be able to find an inexpensive refurbished laptop from dell or on ebay (be careful on ebay) as well...

if you want to get a mac, then id suggest saving your cash up for a G4 powerbook... the g3's just wont cut the mustard when it comes to timestretching and multitasking as well.... my friend's 17" G4 is a beauty, and it runs audio apps like traktor and live smooth as butter....

id try to avoid a desktop, unless its a small-formfactor mini-atx like the FIC ice cube or one of those other 1' cube box pc's - you'll still need to cart around the monitor, the keyboard and mouse, and then hook the package up at the gig, which can be a bit of a pain.... but may be cheaper than a laptop

good luck

btw, i run a dell latitude d800 with a 1.6ghz pentium m (like a 2.4-2.6 ghz pentium 4), 15.4" WUXGA lcd monitor, 1024MB RAM, 60 gb 7200rpm HD, radeon 9600 pro 128MB video, and external audigy 2 NX soundcard... at my gigs, i use this guy to run traktor, ableton live, soundforge, reason, and a few VST plugins all simultaneously and smooth as butter, with (combined between the internal soundcard and the audigy 2NX) 4 (out of 6) channels @ 96hz input recording into soundforge, and 8 channels coming out - 2 master/ 2 cue from traktor @ 48hz, and the 4 other channels @ up to 192hz, 2 channels for reason/live, and 2 for stereo effects send/return into the mixer...

 

my

my laptop is goin for a grand on ebay, and the soundcard i have is goin for 150, and mine works rock solid. get back to me if you want details. oh yeah. its a pc. yeah. i said it. pc. (its kinda a dirty word around here to some people)

 

I recently got a Shuttle XPC P4 2.6GHz and am very happy with it. All the power of a desktop PC in 1/3 the form factor for 1/3 what a laptop costs. Will post pictures here soon (I modded the crap out of it, woodgraining it & making it look like an old radio). Very transportable, very reliable, astonishing heatpipe/fan combination for cooling (the thing doesn't overheat), and pretty quiet. With an LCD screen, you're good to go. http://ww.shuttle.com

 

I have to disagree about the desktop thing.

I use a rack mountable machine in a 6U music case and a flat panel monitor and a roll up keyboard and track ball.

By using a rack mounted case, I am able to add regular mother boards, regular processors, PCI based cards, like fire wire or sound cards.

I can add a new hard drive when ever I want for plenty of storage.

When I get to the club, I take two trips from the car.

On one trip I carry my mixer case and a case that holds my Oxygen 8, mouse and monitor.

The next trip I carry the computer and a case with misc cables and adaptors in it.

It is not any worse than setting up a pair of decks, probably the same number of cables to connect. And none of the cases weigh more than a crate of records.

I put all of this together for probably about $1200, with shopping on ebay and buying stuff on sale.

I guess I could bring my 15 inch G4 laptop, but I would still have to bring an external HD and the sound card and hook all that up.
Plus if something happens to my laptop, I am screwed and have to wait for apple to repair it.