What to look for in motherboards?

V

vicevursa

New member
Alright, I have been saving my pennies and I am thinking I am ready to purchase a new DAW. I have received a few recommendations, but I would like a little more specifics. I am curious as to what types of things should I be looking for in a motherboard/cpu combo? I want to be able to record up to 6 to 8 tracks at a time. I think I have finally narrowed down the sound card I want to use (C-Port), but that can change if needed. I want to build a stable system. I will be using WinXP (PRO). I would appreciate in feedback. If you suggest a motherboard/cpu, please state why.

Thanks in advance,
Vice
 
I think the only real issues you need concern yourself with are compatability of memory supported by the CPU you choose, chipsets supported by the soundcard and the bus type for your hard drive; ATA100, etc..

I would select the soundcard first and work from there. I'm going with a C-Port myself as soon as the guy from pcrecording.com re-writes the manual.
 
Also, for what it's worth: based on price, I went with an Athalon 1000mhz on an abit K7 board. It doesn't support the latest DDR memory (or what ever the latest is), but I'm running 512mb of equally inexpensive PC133.
Before I sold my Darla I was able to get 16 tracks with FX without stuttering or lock-ups.

In my most humble and uneducated opinion, I think the new operating systems and memories are probably more hype than solid performance improvements.

Anybody want to throw valid rebuttles at that? :D
 
getuhgrip:

ahem... hrumphh. Actually I have seen more improvement than I expected, specially in upgarding hardware. Reason is I moved from an AMD K6-2 400 straight to a Duron 750, and then to my new XP 1500+.

Having said that, I would agree that incremental changes in hardware would not bring very much difference. I have felt a difference moving to DDR memory, though. This in direct comparison with a similar configuration, an XP 1500+ running on an SDRAM board. Fast, but not very fast. To check the difference, both machines were running Folding@home for the whole night. Folding is a genome research project: Very resource hungry. I got a 50% difference between the SDR and DDR machines!

About OS, I couldn't agree more with you. Actually I've noticed something wierd: Today's hardware with a slightly old (say, Win 98) OS is actually a killer combination, if tweaked right. New OSs simply are too resource-hungry.

vicevursa:

I still think you should get the best you can afford. Check out the thread tubedude started about the XP processors. A good system will keep you going for a while, a few years I think.

How much do you want to spend? The three best combos going now are the AMD Athlon XP1800+ or 1900+ with any of the Asus A7V266-E, The Soyo Dragon Plus or the Soltek SL75 DRV2 (not available in the US but I think www.newegg.com has some). check www.tomshardware.com for reviews of all these boards and some interesting reading while you're there. Don't look at the audio/video guide though...

Sang
 
Sorry. I don't think I answered the question completely.

A good motherboard should be able to support a range of processors, and should be easily upgradeable.

It should be easy to install devices on to.

The layout should be neat, with minimum crossing over of wires and cables.

It should have support for the current technology, and have a provision for upgrades later without causing much headache (read as 5 PCI slots, minimum and 4 USB ports as an example)

It should be resonably fast, within a 5% range of boards with similar configurations, and be stable. Much of this info can be gotten from sites such as Anandtech and Tomshardware. Generally boards that OC well are stable but slight laggards at stock speed, and boards which have agressive memory and FSB timings don't overclock so well (this, of course is an extreme generalisation).

Sang
 
Hmm, that's another thing I forget to mention, I do plan on using Sonar. I don't know if that helps any...


Vice
 
Actually, Via chipsets have a very bad rap (deservedly so, I think) for major bugs and design flaws in their chipsets in the past. However, I think this is a thing of the fast, and Via has managed to put out some very good chipsets with fewer problems than earlier.

There is still some way to go before they have as formidable a reputation as Intel, but I believe the new crop is reasonably bug free, so long as you go with a decent manufacturer, Like Asus (IMHO still the #1 board out there).

About specific hardware and software not getting along, it is true that most software is tested and therefore approved for use with Intel chipsets/hardware simply because they are the most widespread and common. However that is slowly changing, and developers are slowly coming to terms with the performance possibiliteis of an AMD/Via combo.

Remember, there is always the AMD chipsets for the AMD, which get you solid stability at a slight performance hit.

Well, there it is.

Sang
 
Speaking of Windowsxp

Do you guys realize the amount of spyware that is imbedded in xp ? It has a program in it called passport that you can't disable or delete that sends all keystroke info (social sec number, passwords, usernames, credit card numbers, etc.) directly to microsoft when you go online. Plus msn is the only search engine allowed, and internet expllorer the only browser allowed. I hate microsoft, I use netscape and am going to be switching to Linux soon. Just my two cents. Silver
 
vicevursa,
New chipsets are coming out every 3 - 4 months or even faster. Every few months we see higher processor speeds, new processor cores, allowing for smaller footrpints, faster operations, bigger cashes, wider bus etc. etc.
It is nice to thinks that you have room for upgrading. In reality, whether it is $160 or $60 mobo available today, it will not be able to accept cutting edge processors and memory that will come out next year.
No matter what you buy now, it will be old in 6 months. For this reason from price/performance standpoint, it is better to stay a step or two below cutting edge.
I will probably be getting ESC K7S5A mobo and something like AMD XP 1700+ cpu. It will allow me to use SDRAM chips, which I already have aplenty. I will upgrade to DDR if and when I decide to do so, and that will probably be the only upgrade. It is a very cheap mobo, so if I decide to get a new one next year, not a big loss. Maybe this combination will not score top ranks in tests, but it will provide me with more than enough power for my current needs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top