Building DAW...OS/Vid Card/RAM?

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sjaguar13

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I'm building a computer just to record. I already have an AMD XP 2.2GHz CPU, Asus A7V333 Mobo, and some other stuff, but what's a good video card to get? Does it really matter? I won't be playing games or anything. Also, how much RAM should I get? I was planning on a stick of DDR2100 512mb, but the mobo holds up to 3gb, should I get more? Once I get this stuff together, what OS should I put on it? I've been using a Compaq with Windows 98. I would like Windows XP, but would my recording programs work on it, too? I use Sonar, Pro Audio 9, and Cool Edit.
 
I would recommend a Matrox G400, G450, G500 or G550.

All of these cards have great driver support, but also the advantage of dual out.

Believe me when i say that when your knee deep in Logic or Nuendo, there is nothing better than dual monitors.

:)

cheers

d
 
Matrox makes very good dual monitor and even 3 monitor cards which can be a godsend in the editing room. Aside from that you really can't go wrong with an nVidia card either, excellent drivers and support :)
 
I 2nd nVidia. Used to really like Matrox, but I just popped in a dual head GeForce MX 440 into my new system and it flies. Performs better with Jedi Knight II than a Matrox would as well.
 
I use a ATI Rage, but that's just me. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the above.
 
I was just wondering what the purpose of two monitors would be, would each on be exactly the same any way?
 
sjaguar13 said:
I was just wondering what the purpose of two monitors would be...
Click to expand...

Real estate. Open up your chosen software. Open the channel mixer. Open VSTi menu. Open the EQ. Open an effect (or three). Where you gonna put all these damn windows? Laying them over the top of each other sucks. What you need is real estate.
 
I don't get it. If you pull down all the windows and put them on top of each other, isn't that going to show up on both monitors?
 
No. Negative. With a dual-head video card, like the ones mentioned above, what you wind up with is, in essence, a double-wide single monitor. You don't get two copies of the same image. You get one wide image split in two.
 
A dual monitor video card gives you that big of a desktop...the interface spans both, or in some cases 3 monitors. Very cool for doing sound editing indeed. Believe me, I'm recording my band multitracked on a 15" single 1024x768 monitor and it sucks ass to have to move things out of the way every few minutes or more cause there's no room on the screen ;)
 
So half of the desktop is on one monitor and the other half on the second? If you move the mouse far enough, it just jumps to the next monitor?
 
sjaguar13 said:
So half of the desktop is on one monitor and the other half on the second? If you move the mouse far enough, it just jumps to the next monitor?
Click to expand...

You've got it. It's a little strange at first if you've never used it before, like your pop up warnings and stuff get split down the middle of the two screens. But once you use it for editing you'll never want to go back to a single low res screen, it's so nice to have that much real estate for all the little details and windows you will want to see while editing (like Sky Blue Lou said). Our video editor at work uses dual monitors for Premiere and After Effects (similar interfaces to sound editing, even smaller though) and he loves it :D
 
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