AMD vs INTEL and ASUS vs MSI ... help me out here, thanks

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RyantFromHC

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Hey everyone, im new to homerecording.com, ive read a few things here before but i used to only be a harmony centraler. so hello everyone.

I am upgrading my recording comptuer. It is only used for recording music (sonar 3, wave lab, and many dx plugins is what it mainly uses).

Im looking at getting 2GB or so of ram (ddr400) so i can run more effects and such.

should i go AMD or intel for this? I understand that some people are going to say amd and some people are going to say intel but why?

for motherboard should i go ASUS or MSI? MSI is cheaper, and acording to a friend of mine much better then asus.

Do you guys think i should spend the extra money and go 64 bit? Is music recording software going to turn 64 bit any time soon?

thank you all,
Ryan
 
i'm a computer engr by training years ago and admittedly biased for amd.
but there are reasons. pricing and i believe in the company.
i would suggest an amd64 if you can afford it or wait for 64 price drops.
from my experience 1 gig of ram should be way more than enough.
if you want a cheap starter system as an alternative to the 64 amd sempron systems in my area are being advertised for 449 bucks - what - 300 USD ?
thats might cheap. a lowly duron will do 40 tracks. who needs more ?
if you need more just mix down to stereo and reimport thus freeing up 38 more tracks to add.
or you could consider a amd barton - some folks get 80 tracks with these.
one thing is a MUST - 2 7200 rpm drives. windows on one , your tracks on the other. MAKE SURE THE DEALER ENABLES DMA otherwise your PC will not run fast.
try powertracks from pgmusic.com that i use - 29 bucks. 48 tracks plus a superb midi sequencer.
others can comment on chipsets. suggest nforce. i use sis though and no probs so far. a KEY is to ask the vendor of your soundcard which amd chipset is recommended.
all the best.
 
I use an MSI board with an AMD chipset. Works great.

I suggest going with the 64 athlon, they are much faster then the P4 or athlon xp, i run a dual MP 1900+ config. and when running around 50 tracks with a ton of high quality efx my computer will sputter, i want 2 2800+ :eek:
 
thanks guys. I do all the assembling and configuring of the system myself and i have DMA enabled and all that. Someone suggested to me to leave my windows harddrive on my ide connection but to get a new SATA harddrive for the audio, is this a good idea?

I also live in canada, and im looking to spend about $1200 or less on a new motherboard, CPU and ram. I already have a video card, wireless network card, and 2 m-audio delta cards (44 and a 66). With this money could i get an athlon64 CPU and a GB of ram with a good motherboard?

also does anyone want to support Intel? I was looking at a MSI 875P board and a 3.2ghz cpu. That configuration left me with a fair amount of money for ram and a sata harddrive.

thanks again,
Ryan
 
athlon xp, p4, amd 64 will all work just the amd 64 will work faster then the rest especially when the 64 bit OS and all that other stuff get sorted out.
 
Teacher said:
athlon xp, p4, amd 64 will all work just the amd 64 will work faster then the rest especially when the 64 bit OS and all that other stuff get sorted out.
Click to expand...

do you think audio software is going to turn 64 bit and everything? if so would it be anytime soon?

thanks again
 
RyantFromHC said:
do you think audio software is going to turn 64 bit and everything? if so would it be anytime soon?

thanks again
Click to expand...

i doubt anytime soon, but the amd 64 are still much faster @ 32 bit
 
would an AMD Athlon64+ 3500+ socket939 CPU be a good one to get?
 
i have never used either motherboard, but i for the computer i just ordered, i went with the ASUS board. I chose ASUS because there is some issue ( i lost the email that it was in so i don't remember completely) that the MSI board cannot handle as much RAM at a certain clockspeed as teh ASUS. Somethign like that, where ASUS can hold 4 sticks of 512 Ram at 400 mgz and MSI can only hold 3 sticks of 512 at 400 mgz. That may be wrong but something like that.

Also, at anandtech, there is a post about somebody's MSI board dying, and how nobody seems to give them good reviews.

Again i don't know, check out www.anandtech.com for yourself to see.
 
I'll throw in a thumbs up for Intel ....
I use an Abit IC7-G mobo that uses the 875p chipset and a 3.0E Prescott.
Seeing as how you are thinking about using SATA for the audio drive, the 875p chipset offers SATA support via the south bridge. That means it doesn't have to compete for bandwidth on the PCI bus as with systems that use the Silicon Image chip for their SATA support.
Don't know much about AMD's , but if you go that route and wish to use SATA .... look for chipset support ... steer clear of SATA via Silicon Image.
The Silicon Image is a fine SATA controller for a regular computer, but it ain't so cool for a DAW's audio drive.
 
What about Mac DAW systems?

I'm currently researching PC based systems and initially found there were so many variables that it was very confusing.

As I learn more about putting together a PC based DAW, I'm feeling more confident, but have been told that for digital audio - and especially digital video editing - something like the G4 would provide a much more seamless, problem free solution.

What does anyone think about this?


Geert, in Toronto.
 
macs are pretty cool. When thinking about this route, you have to factor in the cost and the limited software chlices and support.
You could get a G4 but those are old technology, you know you want a G5 but they have a hefty price tag. Also, your software choices slim down a bit, no sonar, cool edit, cubase (maybe im' not sure). Finally there's the time when you run into a problem and you come to this board and ask for help. Insted of 100 people helping you, only 20 will be able to cause fewer people use mac DAWs. By that i mean home recording enthusiests, not professionals.

Still consider a mac though, i know i would if i was looking for a new system, just remember to think about all of the factors.
 
crankz1 said:
I'll throw in a thumbs up for Intel ....
I use an Abit IC7-G mobo that uses the 875p chipset and a 3.0E Prescott.
Seeing as how you are thinking about using SATA for the audio drive, the 875p chipset offers SATA support via the south bridge. That means it doesn't have to compete for bandwidth on the PCI bus as with systems that use the Silicon Image chip for their SATA support.
Don't know much about AMD's , but if you go that route and wish to use SATA .... look for chipset support ... steer clear of SATA via Silicon Image.
The Silicon Image is a fine SATA controller for a regular computer, but it ain't so cool for a DAW's audio drive.
Click to expand...


im looking at a block diagram of the AMD chipset and it seems the drives go to the south bridge, but it also looks like the PCI cards and everything go there too. Can you check it out for me and tell me if it will have to compete for bandwidth or not?

thanks again

http://www.via.com.tw/en/images/Products/k8-series/k8t800pro_blkdiagram.jpg thats just the diagram, the page for the chipset itself is here http://www.via.com.tw/en/k8-series/k8t800pro.jsp
 
gvdv said:
What about Mac DAW systems?

I'm currently researching PC based systems and initially found there were so many variables that it was very confusing.

As I learn more about putting together a PC based DAW, I'm feeling more confident, but have been told that for digital audio - and especially digital video editing - something like the G4 would provide a much more seamless, problem free solution.

What does anyone think about this?


Geert, in Toronto.
Click to expand...

The G5 with Logic 6 is well suited.
The G4 platform still outperforms Intel PII & III. (DAW based)


Im currently using P4 and ASUS P4PE800 Deluxe with dual SATA drives with Logic & XP Pro.
Cant afford the G5 Rig
ASUS boards have never failed me at all. I've had 3 cooking for several years now flawlessly.
 
Im currently using P4 and ASUS P4PE800 Deluxe with dual SATA drives with Logic & XP Pro.
Cant afford the G5 Rig
Click to expand...

how did you get logic working on your PC? i thought they moved entirely over to the mac? is it an old version or something?
 
shackrock said:
for 1200, you can get mass awesome stuff. ha.
Click to expand...

ya, the hard part is deciding what. I cant make up my mind on anything really. Im leaning towards AMD Athlon64+ 3500+ socket939 with a MSI motherboard, im not sure if i want a VIA or NVIDIA chipset, which is betteR?
 
Looking at the specs for the VIA K8T800Pro, tells me that it does in fact offer native SATA support, not on the PCI bus. Just about all peripherals will go through the south bridge except for AGP. The main thing is that the SATA controller is not on the PCI bus. Thus no competition with other legacy devices (ie soundcard).
I can't find any info on the nForce chipset that tells me, without a doubt, that it offers native support.
I guess if I where in your shoes .... I'd go with the VIA if I where going AMD and SATA.
 
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