Spec check please?

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The_Raven

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Howyadoin,

Here's the specs for the DAW I'm building... If anyone knows of a reason why these components should not be wed, speak now before I hold a piece...of @#$@!

Mobo: MSI K7N 420 PRO - nVidia nForce chipset, UDMA 100, onboard gForce MX graphics and 10/100 Ethernet. No RAID support.

CPU: Athlon XP 1700+

RAM: 256 MB DDR

Drives:
(1) Maxtor 30GB - system drive, UDMA 66 7200 RPM
(1) Western Digital 80 GB UDMA 100 7200 RPM

Audio cards:
Delta 1010 (analog/digital)
SB Live (for MIDI)

Burner:
Plextor 24X IDE

O/S:
Win 98SE

Software:
Cakewalk Pro Audio 9
Sound Forge 4.5


I assume I'll need some MIDI interface since the Delta doesn't have it, so I specced a SBLive just to handle MIDI. Is there a better choice in the same price range (~$50)?

What is your experience with 98SE for DAW apps? I've had pretty good success on my home rig with just an SBLive, at least as far as stability is concerned. Is Win2K a better choice for stability? Plus, with 2K I can run 512 MB of DDR RAM and have it all available for cache, as opposed to 98SE which kinda wastes anything over 256, right?

Also, I'm speccing a nForce mobo because I've heard the VIA horror stories... Is this still the case with the newest VIA chipsets?

Lastly, should I be thinking about SCSI for the data drive to avoid IDE bus contention? I'd rather not spend double the money for a SCSI drive, and I'll already be splitting the system and data drives between the primary and secondary IDE controllers, with DMA enabled for both.


Any input would be appreciated... I've put together more than a few rigs in my day, but I'm a n00b at building a DAW box. TIA for any assistance!

-Rav
 
Raven, I am also board shopping, and my post on that subject is up right now. Unfortunately I have not heard good things about the NVidia motherboard chipset. You might check out the following link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q4/011126/kt266a_nforce-24.html

This takes you right to the end of the review, if you want the details you can click on the links at the bottom of the page.

As for OSs, I've pretty much of the mind that the best Windows OS to use is the most recent one that has stable hardware drivers for your gear. My main "studio" box is using a card (Gadget labs 824) that isn't supported in 2000 or XP, so I'm using Windows 98 and it's working fine for me. However I'm looking to upgrade my other Pc (using a Soundblaster) to Windows XP as soon as I decide on a new motherboard for it.
 
Howyadoin,

I had previously read that THG review, and I kinda thought it was a little odd, bordering on biased. Looking at the benchmark charts didn't bring the word "trounce" to mind. The spread from best to worst was at most 10-15% or so, and the nForce boards were in the middle of the pack on most of the benchmarks. Also, this isn't going to be a gaming box of any sort, so the OpenGL/Direct3D stuff is kinda irrelevant.

Also, it should be remembered that nVidia is widely acknowledged for their ability to wring performance out of hardware with excellent driver programming. Each new Detonator revision seems to squeeze a couple more fps out of even the older TNT2 and GeForce 256 cards.

The O/S vs. drivers issue is a tough one, and a big reason why I'm leaning towards 98SE. I know I can pretty well run anything I want, without having to deal with spotty support issues like the famous, "Oh, you're running under Windows 2000? Let me transfer you to our Win2K expert <click> <dialtone>" or "We don't support XP yet" .

Appreciate the reply, please let us know what you encounter, as will I!

-Rav
 
Raven, I have an Asus A7N266-C, which uses the nvidia 415-D chipset (integrated audio but no integrated graphics).

It's been working flawlessly for 10 days now with my Delta 66 under win2k (it's been up 24/7, used both as a DAW and as a server for sharing my internet connection), as I've reported here http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=45279&highlight=nforce

I've recorded a project since then, no problems whatsoever.
Also, these benchmarks
http://www.hardware.fr/art/lire/412/8/
http://www.hardware.fr/art/lire/412/9/
show that in most situations the nforce 415D beats the Via KT266A, and even the new KT333 in some benches.

As I said I'm using Win2k but I have read about people having problems under win98se with an nforce chipset (movies and sound playing too fast), so I would recommend going with either win2k or XP
 
Howyadoin,

Thanks for the info db! Good stuff, especially the Win98 issue.

I guess the next question is Win2K drivers and S/W compatibility, no? Can Cakewalk 9 and SF 4.5 co-exist with 2K? Does M-Audio support 2K? Frankly, I'd rather run 2K so I can load up the box with 512MB and get some breathing room. Or perhaps even go to 1GB RAM and set up a ramdisk? Has anyone tried recording to a ramdisk? Is this a moot point with ATA100 and 7200 RPM drives?

Thanks all, youse guys rock!

-Rav
 
Have you looked at the Gigabyte GA-7DRX+? It's a bit costy, but is long on the feature list and has an AMD North Bridge chipset.

The ramdisk is an interesting scenario, made even more interesting if you are using a P4 with RDRAM. SCSI U160 does what, 160MB/sec sustained? RDRAM at 533mhz is 4200MB/sec. That equates to lots and lots of tracks.
 
Howyadoin,

The Gigabyte GA-7DXR+ is an interesting choice, but the idea of two different manufacturers producing the north bridge (AMD) and south bridge (VIA) could be a recipe for pain, no? The driver situation could get a bit tetchy...

I'm heartened by db's reports of solid operation with his Asus A7N266-C, so I'll probably go in that direction, or the MSI nForce mobo. Most of the negative info I've seen on nForce boards involves overclocking, which I won't be getting involved with on this system. Like I said, this isn't going to be a UT/Quake box...

Anyone else using Win2K or XP for DAW work? What's your impressions?

Thanks again folks!


-Rav
 
Mixing of northbridge and southbridge chipsets should not be an issue, and drivers shouldn't be an issue either - the mobo manufacturer should issue ONE BIOS update for both.

In my opinion, the Gigabyte's config is preferable because the AMD chip controls the cpu, memory, PCI bus, and AGP, which hopefully will mean that problems like the one with SB Live cards and VIA chipsets will not occur.
 
Raven, M-audio works fine with win2k. Here's another link you should check out if you're going with an nforce mobo:
http://kazemizadeh.net:8080/nforce/nforce.html

Might seem scary at first, but the problems listed are under Win98 se, no reports of problems under win2k...and no need for 4-in-1 patches (aka Via bug fixes:D ) !
 
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