computers...

nydeath

New member
what are some of you guys using as far as the computer goes for your daw's? finally starting to build mine and was wondering what others are running as far as cpu/motherboard/hd/etc.
 
Intel iMac.

www.store.apple.com

It's an amazing machine. I've been a long time windows user. I have a new beefy Windows box to play games on. I wouldnt dream of trying to record with it.

I love the iMac. It's semi portable, to move around the house, and easy to bring to friends houses and out to live venues.

It comes with garageband, which is an easy to use, powerfull multitrack recording program. I added a presonus firepod, and am loving it. Next is an upgrade to Logic Express.

I really enjoy the feel of the operating system. Add to that the value, the lack of virus threats, and the fact that everything just works (and works very well) and the Mac was really the only choice for me. No more searching for Drivers or troubleshooting a broken OS for me.

If you are serious about a DAW, than you MUST check out what Apple has to offer.
 
I'm in the process of building one now.
Athlon64 3200+ CPU
ASUS A8N-E Motherboard
1.5GB RAM
Radeon X300 video card
M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI interface
1 x 20BG HDD for windows
2 x 150GB HDD for audio
 
Enchilada said:
I'm in the process of building one now.
Athlon64 3200+ CPU
ASUS A8N-E Motherboard
1.5GB RAM
Radeon X300 video card
M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI interface
1 x 20BG HDD for windows
2 x 150GB HDD for audio


Whatever RAM you decide to get, get 2 of the exact same sticks, or even 4 and set your memory for dual channelling in the bios.
 
Creamyapples1 said:
Whatever RAM you decide to get, get 2 of the exact same sticks, or even 4 and set your memory for dual channelling in the bios.

can i ask why that is? i was told to do this by a few other people, too.
 
nydeath said:
what are some of you guys using as far as the computer goes for your daw's? finally starting to build mine and was wondering what others are running as far as cpu/motherboard/hd/etc.

Quad.

For audio work, nothing beats pure, unadulterated floating-point performance. :D
 
AMD X2 3800+
2gb DDR
200gb HD (80 + 120)
Geforce 7900GTX 512mb PCI-E Video
M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 Audio
Asus motherboard

I'm about to swap my mb/cpu out for a Pentium D though...
 
Main PC:

AMD Athlon 3400+
1GB Ram
610GB Total Storage (7200rpm IDE HDD's)
Onboard Video Card
M-Audio Delta 1010
Adobe Audition/Cool Edit Pro

Laptop:

Celeron D 1.6Ghz
512mb Ram
40GB HDD
Onboard Video Card
M-Audio Firewire Solo
Adobe Audition/Cool Edit Pro
 
Intel Celeron D
2.67 mgz
512 of ram (this is my first upgrade to this machine Ive had it for less than a month)
2 60gb hard drives and I think Ima grab a 120 external as well
 
Creamyapples1 said:
Whatever RAM you decide to get, get 2 of the exact same sticks, or even 4 and set your memory for dual channelling in the bios.
TYPO!!!
Running 3 x 512MB in single channel is very much more beneficial than running 2x 512MB in dual channel
 
Last edited:
Enchilada said:
Running 512 in single channel is very much more beneficial than running 2x 512GB in dual channel

That's the whole point of dual channel - to double the bandwidth between ram & cpu. I don't understand where you're coming from.

Unless you're high :D
 
Enchilada said:
Running 512 in single channel is very much more beneficial than running 2x 512GB in dual channel

That's a first :confused: . Typo? I can see saying running 1x 512mb is more beneficial than running 2x 256mb but I guess that'd still be relative to some. Care to elaborate?
 
ECS KN1 Extreme Motherboard
4 Gigs Corsair DDR Ram
2 x 36.7G 10,000 RPM WD RaptorHDs(Raid 1) for program files/OS(SATA)
2 x 150G WD IDE HDs for Saving Project Masters(RAID 1)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800 Dual Core Processor
ESI Juli@ soundcard
Nvidia GE Force 6800 GT Dual Head (dvi or vga) Video Card(pci-e)
Sony CD burner
Sony DVD Burner(Dual Layer, All format, 16x)
7 case fans

Software(all bought and paid for, no cracks)
Windows XP Professional with tweaks from www.musicxp.net
Sequoia V8
Samplitude Professional v8.31(got it for 300 bucks!)
Flac Frontend(fully lossless compression )
Algorithmix Noise Reduction Bundle
Algorithmix Linear Phase EQ
 
mentalattica said:
That's a first :confused: . Typo? I can see saying running 1x 512mb is more beneficial than running 2x 256mb but I guess that'd still be relative to some. Care to elaborate?
Yeah typo. I said 1.5GB RAM in my first post & Creamyapples1 said to use dual channel. With RAM it goes without saying that you should use the same sticks or you may run into timing issues but I'd much rather mt 1.5GB in singlr ch mode than down it to 1GB or put up the $$$ for 2 x 1GB
 
this is funny

Dual channel memory spanks regular single channel architecture for performance of between 2%-8% for the "same amount of ram"

Sticking 4 sticks of ram into a dual channel mainboard actually slows down system performance because the memory controller has to use bank interleave mode to read, write and refresh each stick of ram. this causes a significant drop in overall system performance. However 4 sticks of 512mb of ram will be faster IF the application uses all the ram rather than 2 sticks of 1Gb.

If you run small apps and dont have the requirement of more than 1g it pays to use only 2 sticks of 512. IF you need the extra ram then use 2 1Gb sticks NOT 4 512mb sticks. this is true for ALL dual channel mainboards.

The Via KT800 chipset is better off with as few populated slots as possible, if you populate all 3 slots say goodbye to system performance by as much as 15%.

The intel 955 chipset actually gets around the bank interleave mode problem by using much faster DDR2 ram with higher cas to ras timings that dont need to be refreshed so often ( are actually refreshed during idle cpu cycles therefore not wasting processor activite cycles ).

Beware of the cheaper SIS, VIA and intel chipset mainboards . Many of them cannot run PC3200 (DDR 400) bus speeds if you populate more than one slot. Once you introduce a second stick of ram system stability only remains by decreasing the bus speed down to 333 instead of 400 Mhz , needless to say this is actually noticable.

hopes this helps to clear up a few misunderstandings on computer architecture .

Ohh btw i run .....

Intel P4 D duo core 3.6ghz cpu
Asus I955 chipset mainboard
2 GB kit ( 2X 1gb) Geil PC5400
Weston digital raptor 150Gb hdd (boot)
Weston digital 400GB ide drive in network attached storage.
Nvidia geforce 7900gt PCI-E vga card.
SB audigy 4 pro
LG DVD-RW dual layer DVD-RW (external)
21" wide screen Acer LCD flat panel
saitek eclipse keyboard
Microsoft mouse.
Logitech Z680 speakers
1200VA MGE ups battery backup system

;)
 
AMD!!!!!!!!
why? - Because intel's dual proc.'s talk to each other through the front side bus (which means the chips only talk to each other at 800mhz max) but AMD's dual proc.'s are on the same die and transfer data at their full speed. Also AMD's are simply faster, they have proven in the past 2 years to be ALOT better for audio recording than intel (which is also why intel is now designing mac chipsets because they know AMD is taking over PC's) ALOT less blue screens of death when using AMD's

ASUS!!!!!!!!!
why? - Asus has long been one of the most durable and precise motherboards.

NVIDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
why? - it is well known that for audio Nvidia is the BEST chipset. Intel and VIA cannot hold a candle and usually end up being the biggest problem when trying to record multiple tracks of real time audio into a computer

Summary:
Asus A8N-deluxe
AMD X64 X2 4,800+ athlon (or faster)
KINGSTON or Corsair DDR ramm ONLY!!!!!! (all other ramms have been proven to meltdown under high amounts of audio recording "literally meltdown lol" )
At least 2 gigs of ramm if your running 24/48 or better
At least a 256mb Nforce video card (preferably dual vga outs to run 2 moniters 1-for track view 1-for mixer view)
SATA Seagate drives (Glyph)
Lots of cooling!!! very important
Line inside of case with sound dampning material so you don't record the fans inside the computer when using sensative mic's.
Hope this helps.
 
Hamster and an exercise wheel.

I get 8-10 cycles per second with my new improved RAM (Rodent activation module).

Man, it rocks.
 
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