Upgrading my Computer..

[thehorseshoe]

Currently I have a PIII 800 MHZ, 640 megs of PC 133 RAM and am operating under WINDOWS ME. I am using the Tascam US-428 as my DAW along with Cubase 32. I am thinking of upgrading to a dual processor system and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with AMD processors, or if anyone has experienced the OS XP yet? What about Pentium 4? Is it worth the jump? Will there be a significance in performance overall? Or is dual PIII were I need to try and keep it? In the meantime I am going to contact Steinberg via email and see if they have any advice on the matter.

[Stinky]

I'm sort of wondering the same thing. I've got Cubase VST and have heard the AMD with the Thunderbird chipset is SUPPOSEDLY a good match. I've heard the other Athlon chipsets aren't so good with Cubase. I'm days from ordering a computer (probably the AMD 1.2 gig with Thunderbird chipset) and think I'm heading in the right direction, but who knows.

I'm really new to this stuff and am not that adept at using the tools of the forum, but if you do a search for the word "Thunderbird," some references to your (our) situation come up.

Rock On--Stinky

[Emeric]

IMO. Don't get wrapped up in the dual processor scene too much, more for servers not DAW. If you really really feel you need dual cpu, well do it.

Single CPU's work just fine.

It's the same old thing with AMD processors. Chose your motherboard very carefully, more specifically the chipset. Research your soundcard, contact the companies (the soundcard companies, wasting your time trying to contact ..com.tw) See if there are known issues with brand X motherboard/chipset and brand X soundcard.

Intel ain't the pinnacle of compatability either, but tend to be less problematic.

Either way, be prepared for some tweaking, and for unsolvable problems(but ones that can be worked around).

The real question here Horseshoe is 'what do you need'?

How many tracks, what kinda plug-ins, what style of music.

I might be able to offer something other than cynicism with that info.

[thehorseshoe]

Thanks for the insight guys. Emeric, to answer your question, I am able to get roughly about 15 - 20 tracks where I stand now. I want 40 +. This is straight up audio, not MIDI, which I would think would be easier for the system to handle (MIDI that is). But as it stands right now we are looking at roughly 20 tracks of 3.5 minute audio tracks running fairly smooth. Now, no one answered my question about XP. I am seriously thinking of upgrading to it. And I certainly like the way AMD prices their processors. As far as plug ins, I use TC reverb, ren compressor and all the goodies that came with the Cubase 32 bundle. The style is kuntry mainly but I rekon I can rekord anything. Thanks guys!

[Emeric]

Wow, 40 tracks is a lot. I'd be tempted to invest in a couple outboard units to take the load of the computer, might be a cheaper solution in the long run.

The P4's look interesting, I wish I could set one up temporarily to see if it would really offer a increase in track count and stability. I'm also running a P3 800 but rarely exceed 16 continuous tracks.

As for the XP question. I've not tried it for recording, but played around with it a bit. I think you would be better off with W2K based on past experience with 'new' operating systems.

[Automaton]

Personally, I think AMDs work great, so long as you stick with a motherboard holding the KT133 chipset. I have a 1gHz Thunderbird, on a Biostar M7VKB, which I highly recommend, unless of course you are into overclocking and stuff (which I don't see the point), because the Biostar isn't really built for that, but its stable as hell. I've got 256mb of RAM, and I can handle around 32 tracks of audio, but I definitely handle more given a faster hard drive. I have run Cubase, Logic, and Pro Tools on it, and it handles them all without a hitch (except, on occasion, Pro Tools, because basically, I don't think it was ever really meant to be PC software)