Got some very very valuable information today. I will share some of it but can only give limited information.
Basically...if you are going to buy WD drives...buy the 120GB ones.
Buy Micron Memory
Use Maxtor drives more so than anything for the OS.
Never buy IBM drives...Fujitsu makes their drives and IBM slaps their labels on em..
Crucial, Kingston and many others no longer use Micron chips...cheaply made memory now!
Athlon XP Processors are actually garbage(this is almost from the horses mouth folks!) But we knew that one huh! lol
ANUS RULES!
Opus :D
Comments
Great...but what type of memory and how much? Make sure to updat
Great...but what type of memory and how much? Make sure to update the BIOS as well on that board. It's really easy...download BIOS update from Asus site. Put it on a blank floppy(MUST BE BLANK!!!) Press ALT+F2 on boot up and type in BIOS name...usually P4B533100X.awd( X Being the revision number)Press enter and follow instructions...usually Y or N...do press Y! :D
Please post back with what memory you are going to use...
Side note here....SOME P4's 2.8Ghz AND LOWER MAY BE HYPER THREADING CAPABLE!!! I AM LOOKING INTO THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Opus :D
OPUS wrote: "Athlon XP Processors are actually garbage(this is
OPUS wrote:
"Athlon XP Processors are actually garbage(this is almost from the horses mouth folks!!!)"
Okay, okay, I hear ya, I hear ya. I've been trying to configure an AthlonXP system for weeks now, and frankly, I'm pretty fed-up with it. Athlons are great for Joe-Schmoe internet surfer, since they're great on a good KT333 board, but to design one for audio is still damn-near impossible. The ASUS A7M266-D has no CPU clock multiplier, the two 64-bit PCI slots are far from "backward compatible", the included USB 2.0 card uses-up one of the three 32-bit PCI slots, and the rest of the features (very few) are old, lackluster technology. Conversely, the new ASUS nForce2 board has all the new bells and whistles, but DDR400 is proven to bog down the performance, SATA is still in it's infancy, and if you buy one you'd better be prepared to play the role of "public beta tester".
So, before I fork over my cash to be a beta tester, I'm going to explore the option of ... I don't believe I'm saying this ... a P4. I definately can't afford the latest, greatest Intel stuff on the market (considering the incredibly bloated price tags), but I'm going to see if I can do it within my budget (VERY small). Any advice will be welcome since I've never dealved into "the dark side" before.
I'm having this vision of walking into a puter store and Darth Vader is the P4 salesman. "We can get you easy credit, Luke." LMFAO
Hmmmm ... maybe I should just head down to Walmart and get one of those $199 Lindows machines!
SATA is not going to be anything truly until Phase 2 as they cal
SATA is not going to be anything truly until Phase 2 as they call it...this is where the real speed and flexability of SATA will come to play nicely and most mainboards are outfitted with it. Right now Asus has it on all their new boards!
The one I am configuring for Berklee College of Music has it but I disabled it...
Asus P4PE W/2.8Ghz CPU 1GB PC2700 DDR333....thing runs like a champ!!
Anyhue, you're on it now SOS...join the dark side!!!
Opus :D
OPUS is the P4PE/R/GBL/F/SATA okay? I'm thinking Seagate 80Gb SA
OPUS is the P4PE/R/GBL/F/SATA okay? I'm thinking Seagate 80Gb SATA drive? Also, I'm not sure about the CPU. I remember a post about needing to get one that is manufactured in one place as opposed to another. Keep in mind that I'm on a tight budget and will probably have to get one of the bottom of the line CPUs, which will probably be fine anyway I'm guessing.
Crucial, Kingston and many others no longer use Micron chips...c
Crucial, Kingston and many others no longer use Micron chips...cheaply made memory now!
:roll:
OPUS
U didn't mean to say not to buy Crucial. Its Micron Technology's online company brand of ram. Unless they don't use thier own chips anymore... [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.crucial…"]Crucial=Micron[/]="http://www.crucial…"]Crucial=Micron[/]
When you buy Crucial memory, you're buying directly from the lar
When you buy Crucial memory, you're buying directly from the largest DRAM manufacturer in America and one of the top three in the world. Crucial Technology is a division of Micron, a multi - billion-dollar company with 19,000 employees worldwide at facilities in Idaho, Texas, Italy, UK, Singapore, and Japan. We have more than 20 years of industry experience and are the lowest-cost, most efficient DRAM manufacturer, and many of the world's leading computer manufacturers use our memory. Crucial brings that same high-quality memory directly to you, the end consumer.
What in the holy hell? I just took this right off their website. Man am I out of the loop...and so are they! Did somebody aquire Crucial recently, and they havn't changed thier website recently?
Man, you really are connected! I just searched all my old sites,
Man, you really are connected! I just searched all my old sites, and havn't come up with anything on it.
This Canadian site used to be the first place I'd surf to before hitting HARDOC or Toms :
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/index.html
Few more questions: *The CPU I'm considering is "Intel Pentium
Few more questions:
*The CPU I'm considering is "Intel Pentium 4 2.4BGHz 512K 533MHz CPU Northwood P478 Processor Retail Box". $197 from Newegg, free shipping. Is this adequate? Is it the right one to use with that mobo? Do I need to make sure it comes from the right country?
*Given that you guys use the stock hs/fan, is it safe to assume that I can use a Zalman CNPS6500A-Cu (914g pure copper) on it WITHOUT a fan, and achieve the same or similar overclocking results?
*You are recommending Micron memory, which is typically CAS 2.5. I've read a LOT that Corsair CAS2 PC2700 gives better overclocking results, but it costs a little more. Is that adviseable?
I have the weekend to gather my info and make up my mind, cuz if I don't set myself a limit I'll never get the damn thing built. Any and all help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
SOME P4's 2.8Ghz AND LOWER MAY BE HYPER THREADING CAPABLE!!! I A
SOME P4's 2.8Ghz AND LOWER MAY BE HYPER THREADING CAPABLE!!! I AM LOOKING INTO THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Opus
yes, i even saw an example of a p4 2,4B with HT enabled. What i read it's only some engineering sample CPU's lower then 3,06 that have it.
division by 0
Brock according to this, that mobo doesn't support the pc2700 dd
Brock according to this, that mobo doesn't support the pc2700 ddr-ram. Some of it is in swedish but you get the picture:
http://www.datorbutiken.com/se/datasheet.php?artId=ASP4B533V
Eskimo....but it does!! Just not officially!! Trust me...built a
Eskimo....but it does!! Just not officially!! Trust me...built a few systems with that board and PC2700 memory and it rocks!!! It supports it...just not something Intel was willing to "officially" state that it did...the reason...wanting you to get the newest chipset and make them more money! lol
Opus :D
Opus, Are you saying that the WD 80GB (that I just ordered) Is
Opus,
Are you saying that the WD 80GB (that I just ordered) Is fundementally f++ked? why? Is It the platter size or onboard electronic's which make It so? And you can/should divulge since you mentioned It at all! If your right I have 1 year of WD's faith In their product.
Alex The 80GB drives have a mainboard problem on them whereas i
Alex
The 80GB drives have a mainboard problem on them whereas it will fail after about two years...I just found this out the other week! I have two of em myself so I'm making back ups of everything regularly just in case!
It sucks because 80GB is a good size to get...not too big yet not too small! 120GB is nice but a lot of space especially if you have to defrag at some point! I do have a 100GB one but that's all storage...
Opus
Regarding the warranty, I found this Western Digital web page: h
Regarding the warranty, I found this Western Digital web page: http://
It says: "Extend your 1-year warranty to 3 years for $19.95.".
Assuming I am looking at the right drive, unless there is something special for these 80GB Caviar drives (WD800JB) (http://www.westerndigital.com/products/Products.asp?DriveID=32) it appears that they only have a 1 year warranty.
Question:
- Should we leave our PCs on 24 hours a day to force any problems to occur sooner?
Eskimo, You are RIGHT about the three year warranty. What I r
Eskimo,
You are RIGHT about the three year warranty. What I referenced above is not true for the JB drives (http://www.westerndigital.com/products/products.asp?DriveID=32)
I sent a note to Western Digital and they confirmed the three year warranty. Then I went to http://
picked 'US' and on the next page entered the serial number from top of the disk. It replied with an expiration date of 6/23/2005, which is three years after I got the disk.
Sorry for the confusion,
Originally posted by BrockStapper: I would suggest going with t
Originally posted by BrockStapper:
I would suggest going with the p4b533-v as it uses the 845g chipset which can support 2700 ddr with no problems. any thoughts, opus? do you think this would be a better board?
I was looking at the P4B533-E with the 845E chipset instead. Does it support 2700DDR too? For SURE? :) From what I can see, the PB4533-E has no integrated graphics that need to be to disabled. Or is the P4B533-V actually better and just use the integrated graphics?
I thought I'd be popping an AGP graphics card in it and use it for some mild gaming. But, after reading some other posts, I'll likely keep the games away completely. Maybe the integrated graphics would be fine for mainly audio use? I'm certain you can discern that I'm in the learning stage.
Thanks for the heads up, OPUS. I was wondering about waiting on a Seagate SATA, now I think I'll hang with Maxtor for the moment.
well, there are a couple of reasons to go with the 845g chipset
well, there are a couple of reasons to go with the 845g chipset in my opinion. It is quite possible that the 845e chipset will not support hyperthreading in the new piv's for one thing. That may change at somepoint. Also, the 845g will support 2700 ddr and the 845e will not. That's a couple of pretty darned good reasons. The onboard graphics would be fine for daw use and light gaming (still, keep your games elswhere... they make changes to your system upon install that are graphics oriented and could cause headaches with daw work...) but it really is no big deal to disable it and install a nice agp dual head card like the matrox g550. As a matter of fact I wouldn't be surprised if it disables itself automatically when an agp card is installed... Opus?
well, looks like the 845e will support hyperthreading so cancel that argument...
Integrated graphics suck, period. The only people who are satisf
Integrated graphics suck, period. The only people who are satisfied with integrated graphics are generally people who use their computer for internet surfing, emailing, and doing their family bookkeeping. "Mom & Pop computers". Also, integrated graphics definately do not ensure compatibility with your DAW components and software, where-as damn-near everything in the "DAW world" is compatible with the Matrox G550.
Since a good DAW tower is going to run you over a grand, and a good gaming tower would run you about the same, there is a pretty easy solution if you don't want to spend the cash for both.
Build your DAW tower, with your two HDDs and your Matrox 550. Buy a third HDD, which will have it's own OS installed and will be strictly for gaming, and stick it in your DAW tower (for a total of 3 HDDs). Buy a good gaming video card, such as a Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro or 9700 Pro, an Abit Siluro GF4 Ti4200 OTES, or a Gainward GF4 Ti4600. When you want to play games, disconnect your 2 DAW HDDs, connect the gaming HDD, and switch graphics cards. It'll take you 5 minutes, tops, to do the switch-out. When you want to record, switch it back. NEVER have all 3 HDDs connected to the puter at the same time.
SOS...we need to create you a Gamers section...ON another forum
SOS...we need to create you a Gamers section...ON another forum somewhere......besides here...having the third drive hooked up is fine...who told you you should NEVER do that?
If you want to play games...get a seperate computer and don't look for advice here. This is AUDIO!!!
Opus :roll:
Just took your advice and bought a Maxtor 80GB 7200 RPM ATA/133
Just took your advice and bought a Maxtor 80GB 7200 RPM ATA/133 drive that now includes the 8Mb cache that WD has become so famous for.
Made a wierd buzz at initial start up! But, I doubt it's anything. Seems pretty quiet. After the format, I'll see if it's too hot to touch.
Thanks for the heads up, Opus.
Originally posted by Opus2000: Athlon XP Processors are act
Originally posted by Opus2000:
Athlon XP Processors are actually garbage(this is almost from the horses mouth folks!!!) But we knew that one huh!
Why the hate on Athlon's on this board. Just been fishing around and athlon's get downplayed here. We have 2 systems here on Win2000 Pro w/ RME interfaces running Samplitude 6.04 (hopefully 7.0 soon). System #1: P4 Northwood 533MHz FSB @ 2.53 GHz w/ P4T533-C w/Intel i850E chipset, 2 x Samsung 512MB Rambus PC1066 non-ECC System #2 (just assembled) Athlon XP 2600 w/ 333mhx FSB, Asus NForce2 m/b 2 x Kingston PC2700 ddr ram. Both have WD se 120mb drives for audio and maxtor 20G 7200 for o/s. I am able to run way more plugins waves ren comps and ren reverbs on my Athlon system than the P4 system. The same project opened in both systems: dsp meter is at 60-70% on P4 and 30-40% on Athlon system. The athlon system was way cheaper to construct also. This is the first forum I have seen that slights Athlon's so much. The new P4 Hyper Threading is a myth and will actually slow down your processor when running audio programs. HT is an attempt by Intel to battle the athlon's superior FPU numbers. As we all now FPU is most important for digital audio work & plug-ins
jmoro, Oh, That's just OPUS... Northwoods give him a chub
jmoro,
Oh, That's just OPUS... Northwoods give him a chubby. :D I have an Anthlon system and it has been working quite well, thanks to OPUS' assistance to the tech who assembled and configured it. He (OPUS) was very helpful indeed and I truly believe without his help I would still be struggling with it. I run 16 + tracks, with plug ins (verbs, comps eq's all in real time VST) and CPU use is at 10%! I am very happy with my Anthlon system ....
But even the best advice or preferences can go wrong. When I was assembling my system I was advised to use the WD 80 gig hard drives which I did. It has since been discovered that these drives are faulty and self destruct. Go figure.. the best intentions etc... You have to remember that even moderators have the right to an opinion and after repeated answering of the same questions we can sometimes come off as a bit crotchety.. We don't mean to but it happens. OPUS brings so much to this forum one needs to overlook his occasional displays of loyalty to products he prefers. . He has the best of intentions. He could be spending his time making money at his very good job at Apogee or with his lovely new wife rather than hanging here spoon feeding advice to those of us who don't get it even the fifth or sixth time. But he chooses to stick around and give a helping hand when needed. I think overlooking the occasional outburst or bashing of a favored product is a small price to pay. Just my take on it. Happy Holiday ……. Fats
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It's my opinion, I'll play with it if I want to!
Why the 120Gb WD? I was going for the 80 Gb
Why the 120Gb WD?
I was going for the 80 Gb