Thread: New Computer - Pick it apart

I myself use 2 250 Barracudas. I have heard that they have some reliability issues once you get to the larger two platter disks.

Other than that, the P5 is a quick MB and that Q6600 is a beast, my friend gets the clock to 3.0 ROCK SOLID stable, like the most stable I have ever seen, on air alone.

And, did you check on drivers for your DAW for XP64?

I didn't check for 64 compatibility. I figure if it doesn't work, I'll load that on another machine and move to XP 32 bit. Of course I'll pull out one of the sticks of RAM if I do.

I'd leave it in, it's not doing any harm - and you can access up to 3326MB (well, I can) with a 32bit OS.

I've had minor issues with that before - 2x2GB sticks in a 32bit system getting memory blue screens.

It should be a solid system. I would have gone for one of the 45nm processors as they use less voltage and generate less heat, but they are just a bit more expensive too.

500 watts should be plenty. I went with 850 under the (possibly incorrect) assumption that if I have a super powerful power supply it won't have to work very hard to keep everything working properly and thus generate less heat/noise. So far so good.

I'm still scared to put a computer into a mobil rack. They get jostled around, bumped dropped etc and I just would be worried about having my computer in one. But if you are the guy doing all the lugging around, you can keep an eye on it and take care of it.

I'm not terribly worried about shock and impact. I'm always the one who handles my case. Also, I've seen how computers are handled in shipping - the little bit of bumping around that I'll subject it to won't be a problem.

Remy -
Practicallity is exactly what I'm aiming for. I haven't been very pleased with the laptops that I've been working with. First, I don't know the hardware that is going into this stuff - even on the high-end audio only laptops. Second, I can't really add too much - I can't add UAD cards, e-SATA cards, and other daughter cards.

In the near future, I plan on upgrading to either a Pyramix system or a Sonoma system - both require full form-factor PCs.

Also, I really don't like having a single point of failure being a cable that sticks rather flimsily 2.5" outside of the chassis (firewire plus Express Bus card).

My new setup will be a fully redundant rig -
Preamp with dual outputs per channel.
1 set of outputs going to the AD Converter and into the computer
1 set of outputs going to an analog summing buss and into an A/D converter and into a dedicated 2-track recorder.

Ideally, I'd think the 2 track, if mixed well, would be the ideal mix. However, the computer still needs to be powerful. I do a lot of recording at 192kHz. Sometimes as many as 24+ tracks. I've not had great luck with my laptops running that hard without hiccups.

Besides, the weight is going up from my current setup, but the amount of crates won't.