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anonymous 23 March 2005

I'm one of the unfornute guys who went out and bought
a pci-e/SLI motherboard with the intention of using it for a DAW. I also "jumped the gun" and bought a pci-e video card prior to doing my homework.

(To sum it up I took advice from SOMEONE WHO HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT) :evil:

From the research I've done I've realized I made a big mistake in buying the new Asus SLI Deluxe motherboard with a PNY 6600 GT pci-e video card and now must return these items.

I need some guidance on the best Mobo/chipset out there for an AMD 64 Socket 939.

Here's a relevant list of the components I have already bought and plan on using:

2GB Dual PC3200 Kingston Ram
Amd 64 4000 CPU
Thermalright XP120 Sink w/Recommended Panaflo 120mm Fan
120mm & 80mm Silenx Fans for the Chasis & Case
(1) 120gb Western Digital SATA Drive (For OS)
(2) 200gb Western Digital SATA Drives (For Music & Production)
(2) 16x Sony DVD-R/RW Drives
Lacie Firewire800 PCI Card
Thermaltake Silent Purepower 560W power supply

(Will also be getting a Dual DVI 6600GT 128mb AGP Video Card - I plan on doing minor video stuff in the near future)

I'll be using an RME Fireface 800 along with Nuendo Version 3. I'm looking to do at least 48 tracks @ 96khz with multiple plugins/vsts.

For the pc/daw components I've bought can someone recommend/suggest a good & stable motherboard?

Input on a cool/silent convenient casing would help also...

For motherboards I've looked at the Gigabyte GA K8NSNXP Ultra 939/nForce 3 Ultra but am definitely open to suggestions here?

Please Help...

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Comments

Big_D Wed, 03/23/2005 - 20:06

Welcome to RO

Gigabyte, MSI, and DFI all make excellent mobo's for Athlon 64's along with the old standby Asus. If your planning on using socket 939 you'll probably want to limit your mobo choices to those with the nForce 3 chipset (nForce 4 is for PCI express). I would avoid VIA chipsets for DAW use to avoid potential conflicts with your hardware. That said 2 mobo's jump to mind that should be suitable MSI's K8N Neo 2 and Gigabyte's K8NS Ultra. Either should do the job for you. Performance will be pretty close amongst them and it may come down to features more than anything else.

As far as cases go I prefer full tower designs with at least 5 fans and a speed controller for them. Just about any case that fits that criteria would be an excellent choice.

Good luck on your build

anonymous Thu, 03/24/2005 - 16:25

Thanks for the input fellas - It looks like I'll be getting the Gigabyte K8NS Mobo.

(Seriously wished I ran across this forum sooner)

Scott - any particular reason that you recommend the Matrox video card for Nuendo?

Would a higher end AGP card effect performance on the DAW in spite of the fact that it would not use the Mobo's PCI Bus?

Thanks

Guest Fri, 03/25/2005 - 06:48

HI,
ok heres the deal.

with Nuendo/Cubase we tested a number of video cards for
CPU Spiking, CPU usage when zooming to track, Heavy Cross fades, Punch in.

the winner was matrox. P650/750
both ATI and Nvidia especially ATI had as much as 20% higher spikes and usage.

in standard record mode it dont matter.
so if you dont zoom to track alot or just do 1-2 tracks zoom at a time, or dont do huge amounts of cross fade its far less an issue.

Scott
ADK

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