Best Computer

Posted: Sat May 10, 2003 8:30 am

I'm going to be buying my new system in about a month, and I'm trying to figure out what to get.

The new P4 800mhz fsb seems to be shipping again (newegg.com has had them in and out and in again).

It seems to me that for a DAW, memory bandwidth is crucial - and its hard to argue with an 875 based board - 800 mhz fsb, dual channel ddr.

I'm seriously wondering about the Gigabyte board as opposed to the Asus. I need mutiple IDE masters (I use removables with a Mackie SDR, and if they are masters, I don't have to open the carrier and rejumper the drive, I just pop it in), and the Gigabyte board would give me 4 seperate parallel ATA channels. I could probably use the Asus board if I went serial ATA for the system disk.... choices choices!

So what do you guys think about the Gigabyte board versus the Asus one? I want to get this system as right as possible - probably won't be able to get a different one for 4 years or so.

Thanks!
-lee-

Posted: Sat May 10, 2003 9:08 am

Well, remember that the true L2 1MB cache CPU's aren't out yet. Probably won't be out for a few months or so!

It's best to wait for those to be out. That way you truly get the performance you need!

As far as the Gigabyte boards go, some say they're ok and some say they aren't.

Personally I would add an extra PCI ATA Controller card than use 4 ATA controllers on a motherboard. The less that's implemented into the baord that way the better for audio based applicational use.

Again, I'm waiting(not that I truly need to update now Very Happy

Posted: Sat May 10, 2003 9:22 am

Just a thought - I wonder how much the larger L2 cache will make in a DAW environment if you aren't doing much in the way of plugins?

I'm thinking of using a couple of UAD cards, not the main CPU for as much plugin processing - so I'd expect the main CPU to be doing mostly primary memory accesses - the 1mb cache will get blown past in the typical song quickly. I could see it being more useful the more I would be using the CPU for compute intensive work.

OK, maybe I'm just trying to justify what I can get now <grin> My situation is a little weird - I can get a system in the next couple of months, but then the window closes and I won't be able to do any big upgrades for quite a while. Of course, when my wife really sees my budget, she'll probably want to cut it back to about $1.50.

I guess I could go with an extra controller- but I was trying to keep the PCI slots as free as possible. Right now, I've got one Aardvark interface which I really like. I was going to get one more, and two UAD cards. That's 4 cards on the bus - and only 1 or so slots free in the typical system. I'm reluctant to start off a system with all the slots full.

It gets back to the question - if you were putting together a top-notch killer system, *today*, what would it be?

-lee-

Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 3:55 pm

So - question 1: What video card? I'm seriously looking at the Matrox line, but I can't decide between the 450, 550 and parphelia. All I need is 2-D simple drawing. The main thing I want is for the card to make things easy for the main CPU. I also want two monitors. I don't *think* I'll ever use three. Is the parpehlia worth the extra money, or should I go with the 450/550? If the 450/550 - is there any reason for a 2-d guy like me to go for the 550?

question 2: Is there a problem with going with the sata 10K rpm, 8mb buffer, 36 gig drive from Western Digital for my boot/operating system drive?

Question 3: whats the best CD writer these days? I'm leaning toward the Plextor Premium. Seems incredible to write over 900 meg on a CD in form that other computers can still read. Also, I think Plextor has had a reputation in the past of making CD writers that don't bog the IDE cable down if they are on the same cable as the hard disk. Is that true?

Question 4: How about DVD? I'll be putting a dvd writer in the box for backup/data transfer. I'm leaning toward the Sony drive (~$350) that reads/writes +R, -R, +RW, and -RW. Sound good?

Thanks,
-lee-

Posted: Mon May 12, 2003 11:17 am

Wicked bling site Opus! Looks like a lot of fun... I would do something like that, but my cpu goes in a closed cabinet inside the desk and completely out of sight. I did sorta trick the desk out... apparently the designer didn't foresee a need to vent the box, so I drilled a hole and added a quiet-fan. It's kinda ugly, but it works, and it's underneath the desk where it can't be seen anyway.

So.... until PCIExpress and 1MB L2 are ready, would you recommend the Asus P4PE as an interim mobo? Or is there enough performance gain to justify going with a 875 right now for the extra ~$100?

Posted: Mon May 12, 2003 8:22 pm

Well, I'm sure it does the job....
Check out my desk mod... hee hee!
E-cue will probably laugh his ass off on this one!

Pretty Desk Mod

Ha ha ha ha ha!!

Opus Very Happy

P.S...
Cool Revised

Posted: Mon May 12, 2003 11:06 pm

OMG!

Did that cuase any rolling blackouts?

ROTFLMFAO!!! :s: That's great.

Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 7:31 pm

Nah, no rolling blackouts! All connected via one socket! they connect to each other!

Makes the room seem nice and relaxed! Good mixing environment!

Got some other pictures I'll be putting up as well soon....

Opus Very Happy

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