This weekend appears to mark the near-demise of my current PC. It’s a long (and vaguely amusing) story of Service Pack 3 and irretrievable crashes, but the game is not worth the candle to set out the anecdote here.

So let’s daydream a bit. I am going to buy a new PC, because PC is the most compatible with the odd software I use. I long for the day when Linux supports my favorite software, but that day is not today.

My wish list is:
a. desktop;
b. enough memory to do mixes and songs;
c. enough processing speed to get the job done;
d. use of a USB hard drive if necessary to reduce the cost of the unit;
and the “real story”, of course:
e. I don’t ordinarily spend a lot of money on things which are basically ways to have fun.

I post this not for the Holy Grail to be identified, but to open a thread to solicit ruminations on what kind of PC traits to look for when one wants to make music and yet not spend like a Rockefeller.

[note to self: try in the newest computer to add the 7 things I actually use regularly rather than every audio, musical, animation pictorial and video freeware known to the internet parked on my computer].

Anyone in the mood to hold forth and teach?

One thing to keep in mind is most new PCs are sold with Vista now instead of XP. I have nothing against Vista but I found most older music software/drivers incompatible. So be aware of that or you may find yourself having to change operating systems.

if you are staying with the PC (rather than a Mac), then my number one recommendation would be to stay with Windows XP Pro. (the OEM edition is just a few dollars more than XP Home edition these days). If you have your computer built to spec by one of the many small independent local PC builders, you can get your dream machine for very low cost.

Suggestions for specs, which you can take to a local PC builder as a starting point):

CPU: Intel Core 2 duo 2.4 GHz (or faster) (NOTE: optionally spend an extra 50 bucks to replace the stock intel fan with a “quiet” CPU fan to make the system less noisy.)
RAM: 2GB (or more)
Disk: SATA II 7000 RPM 320GB (or more)
Video card: 256MB of dedicated video RAM, get one with a good heat sink and WITHOUT a fan (quieter). Get something inexensive, you don’t need a gaming class video card.
Motherboard: I have good experiences with ASUS motherboards, I’d get one with Ethernet and basic audio already on board the motherboard).

Don’t let the computer builder install “free” anti-virus, anti-spyware or other crap on your machine, you can get that for free afterward. Those tend to be bloated trial editions (3 months) by vendors wo pay kickbacks to computer builders to install their stuff. After you get your new machine download AVG anti-virus free edition.

Hope that helps. My number 1 recommendation is to avoid Vista, since it sucks away system performance for no good end user benefit, and you wont’ know if all of your older software (or hardware) works with it.

DISCLAIMER: Of course, all of those are just my opinions and won’t hold up in court ;-)

if you’re going to be recording at home I don’t know how you do that without one of these. I know there no memory issues, not sure about USB connectivity. Reverb unit built in (to your house).