hello everybody,
i appreciate any advice you can give me regarding configuring a daw. i have been in contact with various companies who build them and have of course have heard quite a range of opinions that have left me wondering if maybe i should take matters in my own hands and try building one of these myself, however daunting that may seem. before i do that however, i would like to submit for your review a couple of systems which i have found for roughly $1500 which are similar in spec but not completely.
system #1:
case. Evercase 4U rackmount (steel)
psu. .350 watt (brand?)
processor. .Intel 3.0 GHz 800 FSB
motherboard. .Intel D865PERLL
ram. .Kingston 2x 512MB DDR400
hard drive 1. Seagate 80G SATA
hard drive 2. Seagate 120G SATA
video card. Radeon 64MB dual
CD-RW/dvdrom. .LG 52x32x52x16
floppy drive. ?
o.s. .XP Home
system #2:
case. Maxtop 4U rackmount (aluminum)
psu. .Antec 330 watt
processor. .Intel 3.0 GHz 800 FSB
motherboard. .Intel D865PERL
ram. .Corsair 2x 512MB DDR400
hard drive 1. Western Digital 80G IDE
hard drive 2. Western Digital 120G SATA (raid 0)
hard drive 3. Western Digital 120G SATA (raid 0)
video card. Matrox G550 dual
CD-RW/dvdrom. .Lite-On 52x32x52x16
floppy drive. ?
o.s. .XP Pro
Comparing these two systems bring a few questions to mind:
case---steel or aluminum?
psu---who is the quietest? how much is enough?
ram---which brand?
hard drive---who is the quietest? most reliable?
to raid or not to raid?
as well as a few other considerations i'm sure i am missing.
As for the rest of the system i plan on using my trusty Ramsa DA7 mkll along with an RME Digiface and Cubase SX.
I thank you for any advice you might have as to which system/components might work the best and also to whom i may turn to build such a system.
Topic Tags
Comments
Case - The biggest advantage aluminum casings have over other me
Case - The biggest advantage aluminum casings have over other metal casings is that they are lighter and they dissipate heat faster.
PSU - Others would be more qualified to handle this inquiry. Enermax has a good reputation though. I'd suggest that you get a healthy PSU, at least 400, if you plan on having a few PCIs and HDDs.
(Dead Link Removed)
(Dead Link Removed)
RAID - How many tracks you wanna run? Theory doesn't always hold in this arena, but you should be okay as long as the mobo has a hardware RAID controller. Because a software controlled RAID, will suck away at your resources. And PCI RAID controllers sometimes conflict with PCI soundcards. It happened to me with a Delta66 and SIIG IDE RAID controller card. Pops and clicks.
Anyone else have input?
MJ, I ordered my system with RAID disabled, which provides space
MJ, I ordered my system with RAID disabled, which provides space for 2 more drives. I've heard it slows everything down, effectively cuts drive size in half as well. I may add 2 extra drives and put my Sonar on the Master of the new pair and make it bootable, strictly a DAW based platform.
delmastro, Check out this box. I got one after shopping around a
delmastro, Check out this box. I got one after shopping around and not finding exactly what I wanted. This has most of what I was looking for built in. Go here: http://www.directron.com/cometsys2.html