It all starts with a good motherboard. Are you wanting to use the same CPU, or are you looking at a bigger upgrade than that.

Also, the only thing I'll plug a computer into is a UPS. Even if you don't see power problems, they can be there.

Art, Most of your system looks okay but a few concerns are.

1. The Mobo. VIA chipsets are not the best for audio. I would suggest getting a new Mobo and processor while your at it. This could all but eliminate your issues with latency, freze ups etc. AMD socket 939's are a great value and are the best non dual core solutions available.

My choice for 939 Mobo is,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128263

The starting processor for this Mobo is, but if you afford more by all means get the fastest you can.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

Since this Mobo supports dual channel RAM I would suggest this,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450

This is the best RAM on the market and one hell of a deal at that price.

My other concerns are the RAM and that PCI 1394 card. Budget RAM can sometimes lead to the lockups your seeing and I've also seen budget PCI cards (firewire in your case) cause issues with noise the PCI bus. Both of these issues would also be solved with the new Mobo and memory as the new mobo has firewire on board and you'll never have issues with Corsair RAM.

Your video card and hard drives look fine. I can't comment on your case as I don't know what form factor Emachines uses but you can get a nice case for under $100 if it's needed.

That's $364 for a smoking system (not including case). I don't think you can go wrong with this setup. If it's beyond your budget let me know, I'm sure we can find something for you.

Good Luck!

$364 is half of what I paid for this chunk of ass. That is a great price! Thank you!

It doesn't look like that mobo has on board firewire.

I agree with most of what Big D said although I've not had problems with a VIA chipset before or Kingston RAM. Corsair RAM does Rock though for sure. And I'm an AMD fan.

I'm mostly commenting here though to second his recommendation on newegg. I've ordered thousands of dollars in product from newegg and never had a days trouble with them or what they've shipped me. Great service, great prices.

therecordingart wrote: It doesn't look like that mobo has on board firewire.

It does Art, that's what 1394 is. As a matter of fact it's 2 ports of FW 800 and is backward compatible with your FW 400.

Pretty cool huh!

Thanks....sweet!

hi, the recording art,

why don't you make it easy on yourself and by a M... you know making and recording music instead of wasting time searching and building and re-building and re-configuring, blah blah on the search of a stable system, but enough now! i don't want to start this endless discussion again, just wondering!!, just simply wondering, oh and i see you saved money having to buy cards and the like once again... (including the wasted recording and editing time :-)) LOL

8)

Big_D wrote: Art, Most of your system looks okay but a few concerns are.

My choice for 939 Mobo is,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128263

The starting processor for this Mobo is, but if you afford more by all means get the fastest you can.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

Since this Mobo supports dual channel RAM I would suggest this,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

This is the best RAM on the market and one hell of a deal at that price.

Good Luck!

what was the link to the memory?

what was the link to the memory?

Oooops, :oops: Sorry about that guys. I fixed the link above but here it is again.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450

hey big D...
do u think its really a big deal to have CAS 2 over 2.5 or 3 for audio?

I'm not D, but I say get the best RAM you can afford (with the best timings). Your memory bandwidth will increase with lower CAS latency, therefore more overall power (P4's are usually starved by the memory bandwidth IIRC) - so every bit helps.

The 2-3-3-6 RAM D linked to is a fantastic compromise opposed to spending $$$ for 2-2-2-x type RAM IMO. I run simular Geil DDR400 DC RAM, and it even OC's to 480MHz with relaxed timings (I stay at 430MHz @ 2.5-3-3-6 for stability).

:cool:

Sorry for the irony; buy a Mac!

It's simple...

Regards

I'd suggest that before you do anything, you go out and find updates, download and install them. You'd be surprised by how many problems and issues get cleared up that are specific to audio performance. Update drivers/firmware/patches for your BIOS, VIA chipset, SX2, video, FW chipset, Tascam unit, ect...

Clean up and defrag your hard disk often? Is you PC optimized for audio? See Tuning Tips at http://www.musicxp.net

WD Raptor's 74 GB, fastes SATA, (I have two) make noticeable difference to my can.

axel wrote: hi, the recording art,

why don't you make it easy on yourself and by a M... you know making and recording music instead of wasting time searching and building and re-building and re-configuring, blah blah on the search of a stable system, but enough now! i don't want to start this endless discussion again, just wondering!!, just simply wondering, oh and i see you saved money having to buy cards and the like once again... (including the wasted recording and editing time :-)) LOL

8)

Oh give me a friggin break!! :-? (Not being a butt, just goofing)

But... I'm tired of Mac people saying how much better and more stable they are for audio. One thing's for sure - they're a hell of a lot more expensive. The only problem with PCs is that -
1. PCs are geared for 60 year old women who don't know how to operate a PC AND Microsoft and the PC manufacturers have to make a buck - SSOOOO, they load down PCs with CRAP software such as AOL access, crappy games, and tweak it so that it runs just fine for these apps.
2. There is such a diversity in users of PCs that there's no way to offer good configurations for all of them.

Personally, I would take the PC any day over Macs (and I get to use both) because I get to choose my processor and my board to make sure I get the best benefit of both.

And, I use my PC, which I built personally to record on-location classical music. I've recorded 20 tracks of 24/96 simultaneously for 108 continuous, non-stop minutes. (Do the math - that's one HUGE file, er a, set of files).

I've NEVER had my audio pc freeze - ever.

D. -

Could you elaborate on the advantages of dual channel RAM? I think it would do some folks well to understand it and why/when to use it.

Thanks!

J 8)

Thanks for the info guys, i'm starting to look at building a dedicated DAW myself, and i think it will be my first AMD machine. I have seen comments posted elsewhere that Intel were far better for audio work, but i trust the opinion of the experts here on RO who are building dedicated audio machines more than the gamers who want to rip a few CDs in the background.

It seems the real pitfall which has not been discussed directly so far, is the chipset of the mobo. I did some research this afternoon, and it looks as if the nForce4 chipset is a big headache for audio machines. Here's a couple of threads that provide some interesting reading on that topic...
http://www.cubase.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=17509
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57659&start=30

In short, the nForce4 is a bad choice at the moment. Probably the best choice would be nForce3, which means you miss out on PCIe which may be a big part of the problem anyway, and of course it will therefore have AGP graphics as well, which is fine for a DAW. And this chipset will work with dual-core CPUs, which provides a good upgrade path for when those chips become affordable.

Another option is the VIA K8T800pro, which also supports X2 (dual-core) CPUs.

Apparently the K8T890 chipset does NOT support the X2, so that may be worth avoiding as well.

So yes, thanks Don, it looks as if that Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 would be a good choice (it is nForce3).

As far as the Mac vs PC choice is concerned, i think most people have already made that decision when they start a thread like this.
If i ask for advice on what guitar to buy, i don't need people telling me the piano is a better instrument. They may be right, but it's not what i want. :P

Norville wrote: As far as the Mac vs PC choice is concerned, i think most people have already made that decision when they start a thread like this.
If i ask for advice on what guitar to buy, i don't need people telling me the piano is a better instrument. They may be right, but it's not what i want. :P

That has got to be one of the most wise and true statements regarding this age-old debate. I'm going to quote you often (or just steal the line... :wink: )

J.

D. -

Could you elaborate on the advantages of dual channel RAM? I think it would do some folks well to understand it and why/when to use it.

I sure will but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I just finished my new DAW and all's well except Cubase won't recognize the security dongle so it won't launch. I'M PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

I've got to get this fixed quick or move to software that doesn't use that F@#$ing little dongle. Does current Sonar use it?

I'm going to quote you often (or just steal the line... Wink )

Thanks, please feel free. A one-liner for all the free advice i've got from RO, what a bargain!

Apparently the K8T890 chipset does NOT support the X2, so that may be worth avoiding as well.

is also has the same issues ans Nforce 4. PCIe and AMD do not mix!

Scott
ADK

Norville wrote:
So yes, thanks Don, it looks as if that Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 would be a good choice (it is nForce3).

Actually Scott gave me the heads up on this Mobo and it's every bit as good as he said it was. I wouldn't choose it for gaming, I'd go with DFI there but for a DAW it's as good as it gets for single CPU.

Big_D wrote:

D. -

Could you elaborate on the advantages of dual channel RAM? I think it would do some folks well to understand it and why/when to use it.

I sure will but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I just finished my new DAW and all's well except Cubase won't recognize the security dongle so it won't launch. I'M PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

I've got to get this fixed quick or move to software that doesn't use that F@#$ing little dongle. Does current Sonar use it?

Didja install everything in the right order? I bet you are one of those throw-out-the-manual kinda guys. :wink: I remember there was kind of a weird order to installing the dongle software and the Cubase software, but I don't remember offhand. Check the instructions and if you don't find it I will try. Or maybe you already did it correctly and something exotic is wrong with it.

Reggie wrote: [quote=Big_D]

D. -

Could you elaborate on the advantages of dual channel RAM? I think it would do some folks well to understand it and why/when to use it.

I sure will but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I just finished my new DAW and all's well except Cubase won't recognize the security dongle so it won't launch. I'M PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

I've got to get this fixed quick or move to software that doesn't use that F@#$ing little dongle. Does current Sonar use it?

Didja install everything in the right order? I bet you are one of those throw-out-the-manual kinda guys. :wink: I remember there was kind of a weird order to installing the dongle software and the Cubase software, but I don't remember offhand. Check the instructions and if you don't find it I will try. Or maybe you already did it correctly and something exotic is wrong with it.

No actually I usually do everything by the book as far as software installs go, too many headaches if you don't.

I tried uninstalling Cubase and the dongle drivers (appropriate name huh, they should just call it a dong) and reinstalling again. It worked the first time but after a reboot it wouldn't work again. I went to the Steinberg Forum and found tons of people with the same problem but as is typical with Steinberg they either didn't respond to people or told them to upgrade to the newer LCC driver. That also didn't work so I tried one last thing, I plugged in another USB device (sidewinder game pad) and lo and behold it worked. I can reboot and all. Friggin miracle huh. Great now I have to have a game pad plugged in all the time, but at least I can record again. The new DAW is smokin!!!!

BTW I didn't have this issue with the same software and dong on my old DAW.

Hey Steinberg, how about thinking about your customers instead of your pockets. You know the people who spend $300, $600 on your software only to find out that it won't run because that little peice of crap you force them to use to prevent software piracy keeps the legal owner from using it also. They can't return it or use it and they get no support from you. But you've got their money don't you. Nice.

I for one won't be buying any software from you until it's gone.

Hey Steinberg, how about thinking about your customers instead of your pockets.

You'd probably have as good of a chance getting Steinberg to make a driver to where you can use the gamepad to control fades and knobs in Cubase. :lol:

Big_D wrote:

Hey Steinberg, how about thinking about your customers instead of your pockets. You know the people who spend $300, $600 on your software only to find out that it won't run because that little peice of crap you force them to use to prevent software piracy keeps the legal owner from using it also. They can't return it or use it and they get no support from you. But you've got their money don't you. Nice.

I for one won't be buying any software from you until it's gone.

That's one of the reasons I use Sonar. No dongle, no hassle.

That's one of the reasons I use Sonar. No dongle, no hassle.

I used to be a Sonar user and may go back. What version are you using? I'm really looking for something that excels at audio. I don't really do midi, loops or anything like that just straight forward audio.

I really like Cubase itself, nice software but that Syncsoft LCC has got to go. Steinberg really needs to get rid of it and offer a patch to all users that will remove it from the program.

I use Sonar 4 (studio edition. Which is basically the Producer Edition minus the Sonitus plugs, minus the surround option and Pow-R dithering and a stretch plug if I rember correctly)

There's a demo here: http://

It's a fully functioning version exept:

You cannot save any songs or program settings.
You cannot print.
You cannot perform "Edit | Audio Effects" functions.
5 second time limit on real-time audio effects.
5 minute time limit on StudioWare view Use mode.
15 minute time limit on StudioWare view Design mode.
You cannot perform "Tools | Mixdown Audio."
You cannot perform Pitch Detection.
You cannot stretch audio.

It's Baaaaaack :evil:

That's it. I've had enough!

Good bye Cubase, Hello Sonar.

It worked fine for a few days then all of a sudden, BAM "Protection Device not Found". I'm starting a project next Saturday and need this thing working. At least this way I'll have a week to get familiar with the new Sonar.

Thanks Grooveteer for the run down, I'll let you know how I like it.

Big_D wrote: [quote=Norville]
So yes, thanks Don, it looks as if that Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 would be a good choice (it is nForce3).

Actually Scott gave me the heads up on this Mobo and it's every bit as good as he said it was. I wouldn't choose it for gaming, I'd go with DFI there but for a DAW it's as good as it gets for single CPU.

We just dropped the Gigabyte board in favor of the ASUS A8V Deluxe.

Why;

1. It runs much cooler than the Gigabyte board which is nice for quiet computing.

2. Sound Forge will detect DVD burners that can not be detected on boards using the nForce 3 chipset.

3. No PCI bandwidth problems previously associated with VIA chipsets.

4. No need to replace the noisy active chipset cooler.

5. The firewire ports work just fine and tested with; Firepod, Fireface 800 and 002 rack.

Just a nice board all arround.

My best.

Guy Cefalu
Sonica Audio Labs