PC Motherboards

[TFranklin]

I am considering building a PC for my music studio. I have been happy with ASUS motherboards in the past. However, there are so many choices now for motherboards and many come with audio cards on the board. Does anyone have recommendations for a motherboard that will be compatible with an M-Audio 2496 sound card for example? Or, what features in BIOS are important when building a machine for a midi studio. This will be dedicated to only midi activity, no office or other apps....

thanks...

 

[manning1]

advice

if were me
amd 2500 +, 2 7200 rpm drives, 512ddr memory and a sis or n v
chipset. best thing is to select sound card FIRST then check with manufacturer of sound card if there any probs with the chipset.
echo mia state on the box compatible with amd AND intel.
DONT SPEND A LOT ON A PC. even a used duron 1.3ghz will give you 48 tracks if set up correctly.
acheap often overlooked soundcard is hoontech dsp value.

 

[TFranklin]

PC Hardware...

Thanks for the reply. I have looked at the cost of building a system which I have done many times in the past. I ususally put together a system that will last for several years and get a fast processor because I hate waiting on old, slow machines. I priced out an ASUS P4 and related peripherals and found that I could easily spend $1,400 since I need a new monitor. For the same money I can get an IBM ThinkCentre with the features I need and a 3 year onsite warranty. I would just need to change out the sound card it comes with. At that price point it's hard to argue and I don't have to waste time building everything out and ordering parts from 10 different shops. I'll check compatibility for the sound card, thank's for the advice. Any other comments welcome...

 

[manning1]

be carefull

there has been a history of brand name pc's encountering a few problems as a daw. some big names dont follow all open standards. use custom components etc
i would recommend instead a white box clone. ask on various forums on recording if you dont believe me.
most pro's will back me up on the amd choice.
where i live you can get amd 2500 systems complete for 700 bucks max.
do carefull research and you will see i make sense.

 

[fenix]

^ yes very true. Any custom system with the right parts are sure to work as a DAW. The problem with a lot of brand names is they skimp on chipsets (a major component), speed of ram, hard drives with slow seek time, etc. Not only that, but when you buyy a brand name system there are often tons of shit running in the background that hogs up ram.

 

[Bulls Hit]

If I were you I'd stick with Asus & get a P4P800. They got the i865 chipset and are fast as

 

[Stealthtech]

If I were you I'd stick with Asus & get a P4P800. They got the i865 chipset and are fast as

Agreed....Im currently using one with Logic without a hitch

 

[TFranklin]

PC Motherboard

Thanks for the great feedback. Looks like I was on the right track with building my own pc. I certainly could save some $ using an AMD processor as well. Thanks for the solid advice, I'll revisit the ASUS solution. Hopefully processor prices will drop again late January...

-terry

 

[VesuviusJay]

I just finished my new recording box. I am using the MSI p875 NEO, Pentium 4 2.6C, and PC400 dual channel DDR. I got all the parts new for under $500.00, and they are 100 or 200MHz slower than the fastest on the market. I am a PC professional in my day job, and I have had great luck with MSI motherboards and video cards. Asus is a well respected name, but check out the P-875 NEO first.

By the way. I have never seen thus far a PC that exported a 12 track mixdown as fast! If it is time you are trying to save go hyperthreading. I have been in the industry since '91, and my experience is that Intel manufactures the superior parts. I recently put together an AMD 64 bit board, and the only thing I was impressed with was the performance of the SATA RAID.

 

[imecho40]

Riding the tail end of modern technology is always a cost saving measure for home pc'ers. Let the big corporations pay for the R&D costs associated with the "latest and greatest". IMHO

 

[Bulls Hit]

I just finished my new recording box. I am using the MSI p875 NEO, Pentium 4 2.6C, and PC400 dual channel DDR.

Does the p875 refer to the Intel i875 chipset?

 

[manning1]

well

your going to pay quite a premium for going that route.
amd motherboards are really cheap.
another poster on bbs said he put an amd system together for 499 bucks. with current drive technology i dont think its worth paying much for a system. new drive technologies like sata are coming down the pike and i bet most will have to ditch their motherboards currently.
my philosophy is to buy something cheap now that does the job and save up for the good 5 to 10 ghz systems that will be coming. silicon technology will be on its last legs due to heat build up as the processors get faster, so the whole thing goes
deep six anyway and has to move to a different fundamental tech like light quantum computers.

 

[VesuviusJay]

As a matter of fact Bulls it is. One must always consider the fact that new PC technologies, when new enough, always have bugs! So you just have to be carefull when selecting your motherboard hardware, and find out if there are any known issues with your sound card before you jump into that upgrade.

 

[Bulls Hit]

I was just interested you chose the i875 over the i865, given the 875 boards are currently a lot more expensive. Do you think it's worth the extra cash?

 

[Shakuan]

I just finished my new recording box. I am using the MSI p875 NEO, Pentium 4 2.6C, and PC400 dual channel DDR. I got all the parts new for under $500.00, and they are 100 or 200MHz slower than the fastest on the market. I am a PC professional in my day job, and I have had great luck with MSI motherboards and video cards. Asus is a well respected name, but check out the P-875 NEO first.

By the way. I have never seen thus far a PC that exported a 12 track mixdown as fast! If it is time you are trying to save go hyperthreading. I have been in the industry since '91, and my experience is that Intel manufactures the superior parts. I recently put together an AMD 64 bit board, and the only thing I was impressed with was the performance of the SATA RAID.

Well dude, the Ahtlon64 will only reveal it's true power once you run it on a 64bit OS.

 

[manning1]

well as i was working on computer tachnology back in the stone age, i would say pc technology is a twisted beast anyway.
your right about the athlon 64. great chip. needs a great OS.
linux anyone ?
what i'm curious to see from my semiconductor experience is how major manufacturers deal with the heat problem asmore transistors are crammed on the vlsi as we move towards 8 to 10ghz.
the holy grail.

 

[Bulls Hit]

what i'm curious to see from my semiconductor experience is how major manufacturers deal with the heat problem asmore transistors are crammed on the vlsi as we move towards 8 to 10ghz.
the holy grail.

I read recently that they're going to replace silicon with a new material that features very little electrical noise that allows voltages to drop, so heat becomes less of a problem

 

[VesuviusJay]

The 875 chipset is awesome. Reduces coding time to less than half of my 1GHz pentium 3. Which is exactly what I needed. Although what I really bought it for was a firewire connection to the Tascam FW-1884 I will be purchasing early next year. I think the 1884 coupled with the Box described here will be a great combination for a Nuendo DAW.