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Hi

Im putting together a new DAW. I'm going to go Intel with it B/c I heard that 002s and AMD x2 don't get along too well. My problem is that I'm about $300 over my budget. sO I want to see if I can save some money in some parts without compromising performance too much.

I got a couple of questions for you guys.

1) When buying 2g of ram, Do I have to match the PC 800 of the mobo? or Could I get something lower/cheaper? How much does that compromise performance?

2) About HDs. How important is it to get a SATA 10000 rpm? or could you get by with 2 7200 rpm?

3) Is there a case that has it's own power supply that is somewhat reliable for less than $ 150?

That's it for now.

Thanks a lot,

Ish

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Comments

Reggie Tue, 09/12/2006 - 09:01

See if I can help.......

1. Don't know how to quantify the benefits for you, but I would follow the motherboard spec for RAM.

2. I would not worry so much about 10,000rpm. You can get a lot of tracks on 7200 drives. How many tracks do you need to run?

3. Check out Antec cases. They have good power supplies and can be had for less than $150.

pr0gr4m Tue, 09/12/2006 - 16:18

I would not skimp on the RAM or the power supply. RAM is pretty cheap these days. If you are buying a computer from someone as a package deal, check their RAM price. IF it seems expensive, buy the memory somewhere else. Dell likes to charge an arm and a leg for RAM that you can get anywere else for just a fingernail clipping.

It's a good thing to have a dependable power supply. You can find cheap ones and they work just fine for many people. But I feel safer with a nice beefy one. :)

As for the hard drives, you can save your $300 right there. You don't need a 10,000 rpm drive unless you are doing super heavy duty recording. I can handle 32+ tracks just fine with a 7200.

anonymous Tue, 09/12/2006 - 19:46

7200 rpm is the way to go for you *definately but might not save you $300.00 (i think ** since i see several decent 10,000 hd's for 150-250)

I'm not sure what's in you package so far but if you take off the 10kRPM drive and replace it with a 7200 and maybe settle for a 1 gig stick of ram (you should leave room for an upgrade so you dont waste a stick) you'll be set for some hardcore recording...

I can record 16 96k tracks perfectly fine on my 7200rpm maxtor (amd 64 3200+, 1gb ram, 16 individual 96khz tracks via firewire from mackie onyx 1620) and it easily handled my 45 track project (32bit) with eq and fx on every track.

and after a while when you get the cash -- buy the extra ram and maybe another hd.

*One thing I can't stress enough is that you're computer will perform looooaaads better if you keep it empty (don't pack your hard drives) and off the internet...*

anonymous Thu, 09/14/2006 - 09:44

Since PT Le runs everything off the CPu and your RAM I'd get at least 2gb of RAM.

Also, if you plan on getting PT HD later you'd be better off making sure the DAW is Digi-approved (just a thought).

You do NOT need 10k drives. A good 7200 drive (with 8mb of buffer) will do. You know, of course, that you should use separate drives for MUSIC and one for you system :)

I use and prefer the servers, rack cases - Newegg has severals which fit any budget.