PC Advice, Specific Information Inside...

[technominds]

My PC has caused me problems for the last 2 years with annoying BSOD errors, driver errors and general hardware failures. I've replaced CPU's, memory, graphics cards, hard drives... basically the LOT except for the motherboard. I'm guessing its a problem with the motherboard and i'm willing to give up its tiny 3.0ghz single-core processor in order to upgrade to something that will not only stop all these errors, but will also give my audio workstation a nice kick up the backside.

My few questions, for audio; Single, Dual or Quad processor for audio applications? I've heard quad can be better for video, will it be too much for audio?

How much RAM would you recommend at minimum? I run pretty intense plug-ins such as Akoustik Piano, and other native instruments plugins which totally failed on my last machine.

Do I buy an entire new machine or do I just buy the new parts? I will be keeping my graphics card, hard drive, sound card & maybe even my DVD writer. Is it worth buying a whole new machine and putting these in or should I just buy the individual parts? (CPU, Motherboard, Case and Memory?)

I just bought a 500GB HD, which I will use for the windows installation (I'm sticking with XP) and i'l use the H/D it comes with to stream the samples from (as i'm guessing it'l come with SATA, and mine is slower than that).

Any answers to my question will be greatly appreciated as I need to buy this asap and get recording again!

- TM

 

[nomad1970]

"My few questions, for audio; Single, Dual or Quad processor for audio applications? I've heard quad can be better for video, will it be too much for audio?"

Either or. Processors have been plenty fast for audio work for a number of years.

"How much RAM would you recommend at minimum? I run pretty intense plug-ins such as Akoustik Piano, and other native instruments plugins which totally failed on my last machine."

2GB is a good base amount for running XP 32bit. Anything more then 3 will end up not being addressed.

"Do I buy an entire new machine or do I just buy the new parts? I will be keeping my graphics card, hard drive, sound card & maybe even my DVD writer. Is it worth buying a whole new machine and putting these in or should I just buy the individual parts? (CPU, Motherboard, Case and Memory?)
"

Well you sound technically inclined, so I'd suggest you buy the parts and put it together yourself. I recently upgraded my computer:

Asus P5K
2GB DDR 800
Intel Core 2 Duo 8500 (overclocked to 4.1GHz, easily overclockable to 3.7 with stock cooling).

"I just bought a 500GB HD, which I will use for the windows installation (I'm sticking with XP) and i'l use the H/D it comes with to stream the samples from (as i'm guessing it'l come with SATA, and mine is slower than that)."

Having 2 hard drives installed is benificial. Not so much from a performance aspect, like the old days. From an organizational perspective, and reinstalling the OS, it's nice to have your data seperate. Of course, you need to backup your DATA somewhere else as well.

 

[technominds]

Thanks for the swift and accurate response!

As for anything above 2GB not being addressed, are you sure thats completely true? There is no point in me going for 4GB?

I was thinking about going for this processor:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.6GHz 95W (OEM 775)

and this motherboard:
Abit IP35 Pro XE Socket 775 Motherboard

I may buy a new case, as they aren't expensive and it would be good to keep all my old parts in the old case!

I really want optimum speed with this machine to makeup for the huge problems the last one caused me.

I think internet access will be a definite NO.

I just hope my two BCF2000 controllers do not cause any driver issues, as now and again my BSOD's were due to these damn things. If they play up, i'l have to swallow my pride and stop using them.

Am I missing anything that you can think of? I want to make sure i'm doing this all correctly so I dont go and blow £300 or so!

- TM

 

[nomad1970]

"As for anything above 2GB not being addressed, are you sure thats completely true? There is no point in me going for 4GB?"

Well I should of said more accurately, 3GB and above. It does depend a lot on your hardware though, especially your video card RAM amount and your chipset / bios of your motherboard. Here's a short little article that explains it better then I am:

http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/downloads/RAM_Allocation_w-WinXP_HP_MWP_x64.pdf

Abit make decent motherboards. I'm more familiar with the ASUS products but I'm sure that one will work fine for you. I checked the Abit IP35 Pro out and it looks good. Intel P35 Chipset. Layout is very similiar to the P5K. Probably the same board / different name.

Am I missing anything that you can think of? I want to make sure i'm doing this all correctly so I dont go and blow £300 or so!

If your current powersupply is an older 20pin, or is 'old' period I'd suggest replacing it with a good quality one. Coolermaster / Antec / Thermaltake etc. Spend $50 at least on just the powersupply, it's an often overlooked component, but is super critical to a stable computer.

 

[wheelema]

My PC has caused me problems for the last 2 years with annoying BSOD errors, driver errors and general hardware failures. I've replaced CPU's, memory, graphics cards, hard drives... basically the LOT except for the motherboard. I'm guessing its a problem with the motherboard and i'm willing to give up its tiny 3.0ghz single-core processor in order to upgrade to something that will not only stop all these errors, but will also give my audio workstation a nice kick up the backside.

My few questions...

...for audio; Single, Dual or Quad processor for audio applications? I've heard quad can be better for video, will it be too much for audio?

Nothing is 'too much' unless you are talking about money. Is a single processor adequate for audio? Yes. As is anything more powerful.

How much RAM would you recommend at minimum? I run pretty intense plug-ins such as Akoustik Piano, and other native instruments plugins which totally failed on my last machine.

Broadly speaking, the more the better, but 2GB should be adequate and anything over 4GB excessive. MAKE SURE YOUR MEMORY CAN KEEP UP WITH YOUR PROCESSOR!

Do I buy an entire new machine or do I just buy the new parts? I will be keeping my graphics card, hard drive, sound card & maybe even my DVD writer. Is it worth buying a whole new machine and putting these in or should I just buy the individual parts? (CPU, Motherboard, Case and Memory?)

I would buy a 'basic box' consisting of the case, PS, mobo, processor, and memory. Personally I would also get a new keyboard and mouse, but that's just me.

I just bought a 500GB HD, which I will use for the windows installation (I'm sticking with XP) and i'l use the H/D it comes with to stream the samples from (as i'm guessing it'l come with SATA, and mine is slower than that).

Any answers to my question will be greatly appreciated as I need to buy this asap and get recording again!

- TM