building audio computer from donated computers

[Daniel]

First post for me (and note that I am a beginner to computers/audio
editing so please grade your language accordingly...now if we are
talking yoga or himalayan trekking, I can hold my own) .
I will be building a computer using old systems. I will build it at a
non-profit computer recycling/donation center in Portland Oregon
(www.freegeek.org) where I am volunteering. There are about 200 used
systems that I can choose from. The used systems are all ATX with
Pentium 3s. The Pentium 2s get recycled.

My short term goal is to have a starter system where I can record
guitar, vocals tracks, something to get up online to start networking
with other musicians to form a band (I just moved to Portland). Note
that the short term goal is minimal financial investment (no job yet!).


Questions:


1. What case/motherboard/cpu brands should I look for in these piles
of P3 computers? What should I avoid? I was told to stay away from
Dell, Gateway and HP as they are
not the best for rebuilding. Note that most computers are at least two


years old.
2. What sound and video cards should I look for? We have boxes of
cards to choose from, from two to five years old.
3. What are the cheapest options for getting my guitar and vocal
sounds into my computer? Is plugging directly into a sound card an
option? I believe I need a preamp....


After attaching all the components I will be installing a Linux OS.


Any other advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Daniel

[130dB]

Howdy neighbor. :)

After attaching all the components I will be installing a Linux OS.

I think you will find that your choices for audio aplications are minimal to non-existant on Linux, let alone, drivers for multi-input recording sound cards.
Win2K or XP is the way to go for an audio pc.

You can get away with a pretty modest system to use as a musical "sketchbook" but in this industry, quality can get expensive. It all comes down to what you want to do with it and how high your expectations are.

I did my first pc recordings on a 200MHz AMD K6, a $150 Presonus Blue Tube pre-amp connected to a basic Sound Blaster 16 card, and an $80 Sure SM57 mic. All recorded and mixed on $99 (?) Cool Edit 2000 software. Since I already had a good background on recording techniques, the quality was pretty impressive for just a few hundred bucks on gear, but still a far cry from what my skills and equipment can do now.

For an audio workstation, you don't need anything fancy for a video card.
For audio cards, you have a ton of choices. Again, it all comes down to what your needs are. Simple songwriting demos with just two inputs, recording a full drum kit, etc...

Anyway, I'll leave the CPU/motherboard stuff to someone a bit more knowledgable.


Stay dry. ;)

[itsplayed]

All sound advice from 130dB, so i'll weigh in a little on my thoughts on your parts search. In your situation the case will pretty much be irrelevant, but a mid to full tower ATX case is what you want. Start your search with the motherboard, look for one that is identifiable as far as make/model is concerned and make sure you can still obtain support for it on line. This is critical as I would suggest updating all drivers and performing a reflash of the Bios if necessary. A new Mobo battery is also called for. Try to find a MoBo that is using the intel chipset, the newer the better and avoid one's using VIA. Search for one using the i845 chipset. If your parts are only 2+ years old you should be able to come across one. Ram will be your most challenging find unless the boards have these pre-installed. Dells, Gateways, HP's etc. are fine as long as there is still support for it. These companies tend to drop support rather quickly and most of these companies tend to use micro-ATX boards for their consumer level products.

[130dB]

I just had a look at the freegeek website. I didn't know that place existed. I'll have to come down and have a look sometime, as I'm a perpetual packrat when it comes to tech-toys. There are a couple old servers that I'm rebuilding and I definately need some parts.

If you have the freedom to pick and choose your components, this should be a fun little project.

Oh yeah, stuff as much RAM into it as the motherboard will support. ;)

BTW, welcome to Portland. I've become somewhat detached recently since I've mostly "retired" from live sound, but we've got an awesome music scene here.