Putt,
Whomever told you that your 500 gig hard drive was too big didn't have a clue. Now, it may have been severely fragmented, but that's a totally different issue all together.

The first and foremost rule for buying a computer is:

Get as much computer as you can afford.

That doesn't necessarily mean getting all the bells and whistles, and the stupid stuff that doesn't really matter. It does mean getting the fastest CPU with the most cores, the most memory, the largest hard drive or hard drives, best video card (although that isn't going to play too much into this, unless you're planning on two monitors, or syncing to video). Get the best name brands you can find.
A lot of us build our own computers, which isn't that really a difficult task, but for someone who hasn't done it before, it can seem a bit daunting.

1. Multicore processors. Today, unlike several years ago, you have a plethora of choices when it comes to processors. You can get multicore processors which will run multiple tasks at the same time. Kind of like having three or four CPUs in your computer at the same time, only they are all in one CPU. This allows you to run a program like Real Tracks, and the plug in effects will run on a different core, speeding up your program. Hence, the more cores, the better. So, look for a Quad Core processor. AMD and Intel are the two players in this field, one usually trumps the other every other month, so unless you're on the bleeding edge, one is not better than the other. Some music programs seem to prefer one motherboard chipset over another, but if you're buying off the store shelf, it's hard to determine what chipset you have. I would say that for BIAB and Real Band, it's not going to be an issue.

2. RAM. The more RAM you have, the better off you're going to be. We're seeing computers with 8-12 GB of RAM now. However, to get that, you MUST use a 64 bit Operating System. To use a 64 bit OS, you must have a 64 bit CPU. All current multicore CPUs support 64 bit, so not a worry there. The 'traditional' 32 bit OS will only support up to about 3 GB of RAM (in the real world).

3. Hard Drive(s). Multiple hard drives are a good thing. One hard drive can be your 'System Hard drive' and will be used for storing and running your programs on, which the second drive can be used to record, store, and play back audio files from. That way, especially with Real Band and Real Tracks, you'll be accessing audio data from two different hard drives at the same time, instead of trying to get everything off one drive, which slows it all down.

4. PCI slot. To use the 2496 in your new computer, you must have a minimum of one PCI slot. You'll find most computers today have PCI-e or PCI-Express slots, either in the x16, x4 or x1 variants. The PCI card will not fit in any of those, and M-Audio does not yet have a PCI-e card for the Delta series. So, you must have a PCI slot. Most new computers, although not all, will still have at least one PCI slot.

Operating System. Some companies are still offering downgrades to Windows XP. I recommend against this. Windows 7 is a good system, the driver support is there for everything you have (including the 2496) and it's stable. Plus, with more than 3 GB of RAM, you won't be able to use XP, since it is a 32 bit system. You'll need to stay with Windows 7, 64 bit.

Recommendations:
Right now, for 'COTS' (Consumer Off The Shelf) systems, I'm recommending HP. The HP desktops are actually pretty good, built on an Asus motherboard, using good quality equipment, and they tend to be quiet(er). As with most computers today, the power supply is underrated in my opinion, and if you wish to install a better quality graphics card, you may wish to upgrade the PSU to a minimum of 500 watts with a name brand, i.e., Antec, Thermaltake, Seasonic (my fave) CoolMax, or others.
You can buy dedicated music computers.

http://www.pcaudiolabs.com/rokbox_i5.asp

This is a Quad Core CPU, but only a 32 bit OS, and it's $1,600. It does have three hard drives, though.

Here is a Dual or Quad Core with Windows 7, and options. Starts at $1,200 for the Dual Core and goes to $1,500 for the Quad Core, before options.

http://www.rainrecording.com/products/solstice/

Finally, you might consider this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147095

This is a Quad Core HP system, 8 GB of RAM, more than enough RAM for the built in video system. You can easily add a second SATA drive to it, something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136040
for not much more money.

Finally, there are two different video outputs, but I do not know for sure if you can run dual monitors with it, but what I've read says you can. That way, you can spread across two monitors, if you have them. With the price of monitors coming down, two is not unusual any more.

Anyway, I hope this helps you.

Gary

Last edited by Gary Curran; 04/03/10 01:28 PM.
I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!