Building a "PERFECT" computer for Audio from scratch!!!

pisces7378

pisces7378

New member
Ok I have already searched all day here at work for information on motherboards. I am clueless as to which is the "best" motherboard to lay down the foundation for my newest project... "THE SUPER PC AUDIO WORKSTATION"!!!!!

I want to install a Pentium IV 1.7 GHz CPU

At least 256 MB of SD-RAM

One smaller "normal" hard drive, 2 GB or so, only for running windows and software.

Then one, as large as possible, Maxtor 7200 RPM Audio dedicated Hard drive.
____________________________________________________

Now this leads me to a few questions.

1.) What seems to be the most "Audio geared" motherboard that you guys can think of? Price is no object (within reason or course). I do nto want an onboard sound card... I will be adding a high end sound card from an external company like M-Audio, or Creamware , or Protools etc...

2.) What is"better", Universal Serial Bus (USB) or "Firewire". I mean, USB is obviously more widley used and more compatable with products on the market. But is it better? And as well, does anyone recognise a trend to shift away from USB towards Firewire for use in MIDI-Interfaces etc.?

3.) Has anyone ever heard of someone requiring more than 256 MB of SD-RAM? If I load a PC up with 512 MB RAM, is that pure over kill? Or is it justifiable? Taking into account the cost to benifit ratio.

4.) ***IMPORTANT*** Is it cheaper in the long run to build the PC yourself? Or try to find a pre assembled PC that "closely" fits to what you are looking for and just modify it to suit your needs?
Help me out all you gus that have have "Done It Yourselves"... in the end were you glad or regretful?

just trying to get some preliminary advice. Concentrating on teh motherboard at the moment.

Thanks guys,

Mike
 
There aren't any motherboard on the market yet that can use SDRAM with a Pentium IV. There will be shortly but it doesn't look like the performance will be very good compared to using RDRAM or DDR memory. I believe the only DDR solution on the market is on a motherboard using a VIA chipset, and I'm not sure I trust that.

Good luck finding a 2GB hard drive, nobody makes 'em that small anymore. I wouldn't even bother looking, as you can get a 7200 rpm 20GB drive for under $100.

There is no such thing as overkill when buying memory. It's ridiculously cheap right now and my advice is always to buy as much as you can afford. There's no reason not to buy 256 or even 512 MB.

I know very little about specific PIV motherboards, but if I were building a brand new audio workstation right now I wouldn't even go with a PIV. I'd get:

Asus CUSL2 mobo: $120
PIII 1GHz CPU: $210
256 of SDRAM: $40 (maybe two of these - the 512 modules aren't as cheap)
IBM 60GB 7200rpm hd: $165
 
Oh, and on the subject of building versus buying pre-built systems, I think building it yourself is the only way to go if you can do it. Pre-built systems can sometimes be slightly cheaper but they cut corners to do it. When I build my own system I get exactly what I want, I know every nook and cranny of the system inside and out, and it's easy to keep it up to date because it's a standard ATX rig in a nice roomy case unlike the mini-ATX crap in the cute little custom designed cases that most major retailers are pushing. I use premium components where I want them and cut corners on the stuff that I don't care about.
 
Do a careful search on Pentium IV around here... last I heard they are problematic in this application....
 
You've got the Delta 66 right? I know that Delta had specific warnings about AMD stuff on their website. But, this stuff is always changing and may be worked out by now. Thoroughly check this kind of stuff before committing.

FWIW, I looked into this stuff pretty freakin' thoroughly a couple of months ago and went with something very close to what Diragor said(though I would say the cusl2-c).

I was leanin' toward T-bird but just wasn't 100% trusting it. I know Slackmaster2k was talking about building and testing an AMD DAW a while back but I'm not sure of the outcome.

Slack?
 
The CUSL2-C is the same as CUSL2 except the CUSL2 has onboard video, right? Onboard video always sucks, at least until that NVidia motherboard chipset gets out there. So yeah, good call.

The only AMD experience I've had was with a Duron system I put together. I used what was supposedly one of the best AMD mobos out at the time (can't remember exactly, Abit KT133 RAID or something like that) and the whole experience completely turned me off of AMD for good, or at least for a very long time. Maybe I'm the exception rather than the rule, but I've heard enough to make me think you're better off sticking with Intel.
 
Information and sites

As long as you aren't dedicated to the Pentium cause, there's a "recipe" for a top-notch Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) at http://www.prorec.com

If you don't want to build it yourself, you can buy it, fully assembled, from http://www.advanceddesignky.com

As for the motherboard, the one in that DAW is an Iwill. I've heard good things about ASUS as well. Last I heard, VIA chipsets' compatibilities have gotten better, plus you can disable the chipset fairly easily if you have problems.

Finally, from my own research, popular sentiment is that you will be better off with either a high-end PIII or an AMD Thunderbird, either of which outperform the P4. I read that the Thunderbird processors fixed a lot of compatibility issues that were present in the Durons. Plus, they're fairly inexpensive.

Best of luck, and let us know how everything turns out! :)
 
intel vs amd

if you know what kind of sound card/ad converter and or software you will be getting and using, call their tech support NOW!

Say"I have a amd processor with via chipset and I need help"

If they say I will try to help BUT....or they say NO WAY....or they say So THAT'S the problem or anything other than WHOLE HEARTED SUPPORT FOR AMD, then forget it.

START with the software package, then work backwords to the best platform to run it.

As a 27+year computer vet I run Intel processors with intel chipsets (BX or 815E) so that I give the tech support people NO WEASEL ROOM.

Industry consensus is that AMD processors are clock for clock faster than INTEL, SUPPORT chips by intel are more stable and about 1 to 5 percent faster than via support chips.
 
MAC vs. PC

Just a question... why do Mac Computers have such low Mhz compared to PC. Like a 400 Mhz Mac, is as good as something like a 800-900Mhz PC. Why? I thought that the rule was... More Mhz, better "puter".

Just a question for my info.

Mike
 
Brand?

Greetings,

I originally had a somewhat snotty (naive?) attitude that for stable fast DAW's you got Intel ram and motherboard, and a huge fast harddrive. More and more I see people showing their custom made systems from small computer companies all filled with non "brand name" stuff, but all having specs that match up tit for tat with the brand stuff (expensive).

Is this really true....will these Teacco and such supplied computes with their Iwil motherboards and stuff really give you long term reliability and be compatable will all the major software (which is all tested with microsoft/intel stuff isn't it????).


I don't know, my horizons are expanding I guess, but is it true?

SirRiff
 
Re: MHZ Is'nt Everything

T.J.Hooker said:
Check this out mike.

http://www.apple.com/g4/myth/

T.J.Hooker:cool:
Click to expand...

Yeah, that proves Adobe optimized photoshop better for the G4. They're using a P4 which performs worse than a P3 unless you optimize the code. I wouldn't trust something I found on the developers homepage too much.
 
Apparently, now there's a TUSL2-C which supports 1.2ghz cpu where the CUSL is limited to 1ghz, I believe.

Saw it mentioned on another forum- haven't checked it out.
 
Re: Re: MHZ Is'nt Everything

Apa said:


Yeah, that proves Adobe optimized photoshop better for the G4. They're using a P4 which performs worse than a P3 unless you optimize the code. I wouldn't trust something I found on the developers homepage too much.
Click to expand...


First of all, I didn't say trust this, buy a mac or anything of the sort, Believe me I know better around here. All I did was try to help pisces, find the destination of his query. I would'nt trust the photoshop tests either. I'm sure, like most of us here, I don't use photoshop, so those tests are nothing to me, Although I do know what it takes to perform the tested tasks with the program.

Anyway, your reply leads me to believe you did'nt watch the download. Maybe you did I don't know. Hell, don't trust John Rubenstein for all I care. I'm not even sure if I spelled the dudes name right.;)


One thing I was wondering though before I leave this thread for good so I don't get in trouble Bro, I think you said everything when you Said:
"They're using a P4 which performs worse than a P3 unless you optimize the code"

Is this company going backwards ? I want to record music not go to "code geek" training school.


Goodluck to all,
T.J.Hooker:cool:
 
Pentium 4 info

I can't remember where I read it, but there was something on the web explaining why the PIII out-performs the P4.

Essentially, Intel developed the P4 to a specific vendor's specifications (I believe it was for Radius's DDR memory, but I'm not certain). That's why P4 compatibility is shaky, and why the PIII runs faster than the P4. The P4 was designed with a client, not the consumer, in mind.

That's also why Pete Leoni (www.prorec.com) recommends the AMD Thunderbird for a DAW system... it's the only way to actually break 1GHz. (a P4 over 1GHz is apparently slower and buggier than a 933MHz or 1GHz PIII)
 
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