PC BUILDERS - How is this setup?

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B.C.Johnson

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This will be my first fling with computer building, but it seems easy enough. I intend to use top quality components, so budget is not a big issue (good things come to those who wait...and work for money.) *Mind you, this pc will be used for other [heavy] tasks other than music recording, such as 3D animation, and video editing (not simultaneously:)).*

-MAXTOP Server 19" RackMount Case
-Intel 875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU, Model "D875PBZLK FMB 1.5"
-ATI RADEON 9800XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP
-BELKIN PCI to USB/1394 Card, Model "F5U508"
-Antec 550 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans 5.25 Control Panel, Model "TRUE CONTROL 550W"
-Intel Pentium 4/ 3.2 GHz Extreme Edition 800MHz FSB, 2MB L3 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology
-Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-4000
-MITSUMI D359M3D Black 1.44MB 3.5INCH Floppy Disk Drive, OEM
-Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD360GD,
-Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD2000JD,
-Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD2000JB,
-Microsoft Black Multimedia Keyboard & Wheel Mouse Optical Bundle PS2 102keys -OEM
-ViewSonic VX900 19" TFT LCD Monitor w/ Speakers
-Sony DVD-RW/+RW Drive, Model DRU510A
-M-AUDIO PCI Sound Card w/ MIDI and Digital I/O, Model "Audiophile 2496"
-Microsoft Windows XP Professional

The grand total is just under $4000. Before I start buying this stuff are there any incompatibilities I should be aware of? Are rackmount cases causes for ventilation concerns?
 
Is the intel 3.2gHz extreme really worth the extra over 500 dollars compared to the normal one? The main diffrence is the 2MB L3 Cache right? Does that really help you 500 dollars worth?!?!?!
 
OK! the part of me that is Tim "The Tool Man Taylor" from home improvement says "grrr grr grrr more power" on paper that sounds kick ass....however 4000 can be cut down if you just make two computers.....everything you have there kicks ass for graphic processing with recording on the side.....is that what you want? cause i got a feeling that bad boy is going to sound like a small diesel engine.....maybe gas/electric hybrid. but noise will be a key factor..the audiophile seems out of place in that whole set up.
 
I'd go:

same rackmount
Asus SK8N for FX51 AMD 64, nForce3 chipset
AMD Athlon 64 FX51
2 Gig DDR RAM
2 WD 250gig EIDE HD's
2 WD 74gig SATA Raptors, striped on RAID 0 for performance for your audio drive (appears as one 148 gig drive).

Everything else pretty much the same. The FX51 is on par with the EE P4, plus it is easier to get, cheaper, and ready for WinXP 64 when it comes out (hopefully) this year.
 
fldrummer said:
Is the intel 3.2gHz extreme really worth the extra over 500 dollars compared to the normal one? The main diffrence is the 2MB L3 Cache right? Does that really help you 500 dollars worth?!?!?!
Click to expand...

I've asked myself the same question, and the inexperience dolt sees that the 2mb cache over the 512k, and I want to go for the bigger beast. The only problem is that I don't have a clear idea on what a cache even is, so I'll thank you for talking me out of that one.:)
 
distortedrumble said:
OK! the part of me that is Tim "The Tool Man Taylor" from home improvement says "grrr grr grrr more power" on paper that sounds kick ass....however 4000 can be cut down if you just make two computers.....everything you have there kicks ass for graphic processing with recording on the side.....is that what you want? cause i got a feeling that bad boy is going to sound like a small diesel engine.....maybe gas/electric hybrid. but noise will be a key factor..the audiophile seems out of place in that whole set up.
Click to expand...

I know the noise this thing will make is going to be horrendous. I would like to have 2 separate computers for this reason, but it would actually cost more to build 2 workstations.

I know it doesn't take much processing power to track and mix, but I hope to get a little thing called Vienna Symphonic Library if you've ever heard of it. The Gigastudio supported sample library is best used with about 3 or 4 computers networked together because of the sheer size of the samples, but I'm not in the position to buy 3 additional PCs at the moment.

For the time being, I'll have to get an isoraxx or just put the darn thing in another room.

*edit*
Also, as for the audiophile card, what would be better? A 1010LT maybe? Or an RME perhaps? I need a good starter card, and I will eventually use some kind of breakout box, i.e. MOTU 2496 Mark III, or the Tascam DM-24 when firewire support comes out.
 
Your going to need 2 monitors and a dual head video card if you are at all serious about video editing and DAW work. There is not enough realestate on one monitor no matter how big it is.
 
I think you should just go with a 42" plasma and throw it up on the wall :)

If you really wan't to have the best why not a dual xeon?

You might wan't to get just a normal dvd player or something and wait out for the blue laser dvd burners that can burn almost 28gb on a single disc.
 
Last edited:
fldrummer said:
I think you should just go with a 42" plasma and throw it up on the wall :)

If you really wan't to have the best why not a dual xeon?

You might wan't to get just a normal dvd player or something and wait out for the blue laser dvd burners that can burn almost 28gb on a single disc.
Click to expand...

I thought about dual xeon, and if I just take out that pesky "extreme edition" cpu and motherboard, and replace them with xeon stuff, my cost would be about the same.

When does this intriguing DVD format come out?
 
You should switch to a NVIDIA based video card... and eliminate the 36GB Hard drive. Not worth the extra noise.. even though its a 10k!

You are a moron for buying that CPU. You could spend $200ish on a 800mhz 3gig p4... which would SCREAM.

AND... I dont know much about video.. but dont video-guys like CRT monitors?? easy on the eyes? You should downsize the LCD to a 17"LCD.. and add a 19" CRT.. That would give you two monitors for about the same price.. and your choice of which to use on the day-to-day

Also.. I reckon you are getting mildly ripped off, @4000. Off the top of my head... even WITH a $900 cpu I reckon I could build that machine for about $3k


xoxo
 
camn said:

You are a moron for buying that CPU. You could spend $200ish on a 800mhz 3gig p4... which would SCREAM.
Click to expand...

You might want to think about rewording your comments before posting.

I would have been offended by this statement.
 
camn said:

You are a moron for buying that CPU. You could spend $200ish on a 800mhz 3gig p4... which would SCREAM.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the Xeons or the P4 I decided against a few posts later? And by the way, fuck you, kind sir.
 
Camn's an OK guy - he just gets a little emotional at times. ;)
 
B.C.Johnson said:

-MAXTOP Server 19" RackMount Case
-Intel 875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU, Model "D875PBZLK FMB 1.5"
-ATI RADEON 9800XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP
-BELKIN PCI to USB/1394 Card, Model "F5U508"
-Antec 550 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans 5.25 Control Panel, Model "TRUE CONTROL 550W"
-Intel Pentium 4/ 3.2 GHz Extreme Edition 800MHz FSB, 2MB L3 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology
-Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-4000
-MITSUMI D359M3D Black 1.44MB 3.5INCH Floppy Disk Drive, OEM
-Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD360GD,
-Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD2000JD,
-Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD2000JB,
-Microsoft Black Multimedia Keyboard & Wheel Mouse Optical Bundle PS2 102keys -OEM
-ViewSonic VX900 19" TFT LCD Monitor w/ Speakers
-Sony DVD-RW/+RW Drive, Model DRU510A
-M-AUDIO PCI Sound Card w/ MIDI and Digital I/O, Model "Audiophile 2496"
-Microsoft Windows XP Professional

?
Click to expand...

Thats a killer system dude, I just built the msi p75-neo 3.0c in server case and it is an encoding maniac. 3 times faster than the 2.0b at work. SATA drives own as well. Make sure you do a stripe set RAID for top quality sample performance. But have a good backup plan incase the RAID fails. You cant do striped/mirror set on any SATA board I've seen yet. But Ive seen xp load on a stripe set SATA box in 15 minutes flat.

I think you are getting raped on that price though. Your PC Shouldnt cost you more than 1000 bucks, although all that real estate is pricey. I would invest more in the soundcard than the real estate because you can archive that data to fixed media. Id spend 1000 bucks get everything with a 4 pack of 160GB seagate baracudas SATA and get the TASCAM FW-1884 DAW controller. It is the newest DAW controller on the market. You have to have firewire, but it will pump 16 simultaneous tracks into those drives with motorized automation. You can get all that for under 4000 if you shop arround.

By the way musicians friend rates the FW-1884 10.0 5 star accross the board!;)
 
Re: Re: PC BUILDERS - How is this setup?

VesuviusJay said:
Make sure you do a stripe set RAID for top quality sample performance. But have a good backup plan incase the RAID fails. You cant do striped/mirror set on any SATA board I've seen yet. But Ive seen xp load on a stripe set SATA box in 15 minutes flat.
Click to expand...

The Asus P4P800 Deluxe and P4C800 boards allow Raid 0, 1 & 0+1.

0+1 lets you mirror a pair of striped drives, but you're gonna need 4 drives. Striping without mirroring, while great for performance, is too risky because if one drive fails, you lose all the data on both drives
 
that graphics card is uuuhhhhh so sweet i just built mines a couple of months ago, people that buy computers are such suckers lol..

My sis paid 1200 for her 2.6ghz powered cpu with 512RAM and the 1.6Ghz was working faster then hers lol.. People fail to realize the parts some companys put in there systems..

but man oh man if you get a chance run a game on that soundcard/ graphics card boy, its like nothing out there, I have one for sale for 265.00 if anyone is looking for one, its used but only slightly, i love dual vga... enjoy..

pm anyone if interested in it..
 
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