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Hi all

I'm building a new dual-use DAW and I was hoping for some advice on set-up.

Here's the plan so far:

amd 64 3000
1gb Corsair XMS(will need more eventually)
Gigabyte k8ns ultra
80gb os/audio apps
120gb sata for audio files/soundbanks
80gb for 2nd os/office/etc.
9800 agp vidcard
soundcard not sure yet
some minimal outboard gear eventually
Sonar/Reason/Waves

I'm really looking for advice on the HD setups for dual-boot usage. I know it can be done and I just can't afford to run 2 pc's right now. The one I have now is a p2 233 and is screaming to be put out of its misery. Yes, I do sometimes play games but I've been told if you keep a separate HD w/os& games & internet apart from the audio stuff, I should be ok.

Sounds great...but how do i do it? Does the mobo come with enough connectors/IDE channels for the 3 hdds?

all your wisdom would be appreciated!

Comments

Big_D Tue, 04/05/2005 - 19:54

Welcome to RO,

What you are suggesting will work but probably not the way you envision it.

First dual boot systems are for 2 different operating systems, ie XP/Linux, 2k/98 etc.

Second no matter how many HDD's you have the boot sectors of all the OS's must reside on the same disk.

My suggestion would be this, use your old 233 for internet, email and office if you like. It should be more than fast enough for that. Then build your new system as a DAW and Gaming machine. That way you can keep your DAW off of the internet (except for multiplayer games) and kill alot of the services that would slow down your DAW/Gaming system and still have a dedicated internet PC.

Good Luck!

anonymous Wed, 04/06/2005 - 10:27

thanks for the advice. you're the 2nd person who said to use removable drives.

a couple more questions regarding setup and usage...

if I have 2 'music' drives and 1 gaming drive, should I remove both 'music' drives when using the gaming drive or is removing the master 'music' ok?

Given that I plan to use the Gigabyte mobo, any opinions for or against using all SATA hd's?

How do I actually set up the hd's in regards to IDE/SATA channels & master/slave relationships? Is there only 1 master or is there a master for each channel?

I'm assuming that both 'masters', each w/own OS would have its own settings for the pc, correct?