New DAW suggestions

[TornadoTed]

I'm planning on building a new DAW sometime soon'ish. Here are the specs I've settled on so far after a small amount of research:

Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo2, ASUS A8V Deluxe or DFI Lanparty nF3 UT Ultra-D (This is the bit I can't make my mind up on as yet although the ASUS A8V is the one I'm most wary of)
Processor - AMD 64 X2 4800+ maybe a 4200+ realistically depending on finances
RAM - 2 Gig
System Drive - Seagate 80 Gig IDE (which I already have)
Audio Drive - Western Digital Raptor 74 Gig 10,000 SATA 150
Graphics Card - Matrox QID AGP x8
DVD Drive - Optorite DD1205 (which I already have)
CPU Cooler - Zalman CNPS6000 S462
HDD Enclosers - Silentmaxx Aluminium HD-Silencer (x2)
PSU - Zalman 400w ZM400B-APS
Case - My existing Carillon 19\" rack case

Anybody got an suggestions on this spec, any other haardware needed such as extra fans etc?

 

[chewie]

I would opt for a more powerful PSU, at least 500W....

 

[ulundm]

I'm planning on building a new DAW sometime soon'ish. Here are the specs I've settled on so far after a small amount of research:

Motherboard - MSI K8N Neo2, ASUS A8V Deluxe or DFI Lanparty nF3 UT
Anybody got an suggestions on this spec, any other haardware needed such as extra fans etc?

ASUS A8V Deluxe is NOT available anymore !


MITA

 

[Akis]

The ASUS A8V Deluxe is still available here, but you'd better hurry up, as they sell very quickly and it's the only board guaranteed to work with an X2 and UAD-1.

I'd also suggest to go for the 4400 as the cheap solution, not the 4200, due to the extra cache memory. I don't think it's been proved that DAW's benefit from it, but some paople say they do.

 

[TornadoTed]

I read somewhere, I wish I could remember where but I've been to so many web pages looking for information that the 4200+ and 4800+ share the same architecture which is suited to DAW's but the 4400+ and he 4600+ are slightly different and don't suit DAW's as well.

 

[Akis]

Hmmm, I'd like to read that! :-k

 

[Agent Cooper]

Not really true, fact is that the 512 K cache models (3800, 4200, 4600) need ca. 15% less power and run a bit cooler than the 1024s (4000, 4400, 4800). They are also rumoured to overclock better than the 1024s.
Otherwise they are identical.

How much better is the big cache for a DAW ?
I've read everything I could find on the internet and in some trustworthy PC magazines, the bottom line is, nobody knows atm and for sure it will depend on your style of working (audio only, more VSTi based, more sampling based, streaming or not etc.) and all those nice benchmarks are not representative for, say, SX or Nuendo. I guess time will tell ...

I've ordered the parts today for a 4200 / A8V based PC, gonna let you know how it will turn out. I feel a bit like a lab rat, since afaik noone else has reported about the combination of 3 UADs, a PoCo PCI and a HDSP in the A8V, but had to hurry things to still get an A8V. Last upgrade for a long time, hopefully ...

Have a nice day,
Cooper

 

[Akis]

I think that as long as your Powercore PCI is the old version, you're not gonna have any problems.

Now, regarding your next update, it usually happens sooner than planned... :wink:

 

[Agent Cooper]

Hi Akis,
fingers crossed. I've been closely watching yours and other people's adventures in various forums. Shame on TC, if possible I'll try to avoid their computer stuff in the future, not so much out of my own experience (my Element works fine most of the time, and the reverbs & Intonator are really good), but their support and customer relations (as seen with all those initialization issues, now the X2 disaster, the shaky FW stuff etc.) don't exactly make me want to throw more money in their direction.
Are you happy with your new system except for the PoCo ? I certainly hope so. You've been one of the pioneers with the X2 and I'm really grateful to you guys. Would've been hell without all those helpful forum members here and elsewhere.
As for future upgrading, a lot will have to change before I will be able to build another system. First I won't be able to reuse any parts of my current machine, making it an expensive adventure. On top of that I don't want to part with my DSP cards or my Digiface. And then, I don't need or want any of the \"great innovations\" like SLI and the other gamer-oriented stuff, the DRM and \"Trustworthy Computers\" don't ring my bell either.
So hopefully this new X2 rig will last me as long and faithful as my current P4 did, 3 years ain't bad nowadays.
All the best,
Cooper

 

[.mr chris]

do you have already the Matrox GFX QID card? well if you need 4 displays, ok...

 

[Akis]

To be honest, I don't like experimenting with new products like I did now, but I was maxing out my previous system with my latest track, so I had 2 choices:

1) Add one PC via FX Teleport: seeing that DSP cards had problems with X2, I bought a second PC off ebay. However, I found FX Teleport's performance not as good as expected/advertised, so I was forced to go with the next option...

2) Upgrade to an X2 system. After communication with UA, I was assured that UAD-1 should work w/X2 with software version 4.0. Knowing already that PoCo's worked with nForce3, but not KT800, I bought an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum board. Unfortunately, UA was wrong: UAD-1 + MSI = complete disaster. PoCo's worked like a charm, though.

Searching for viable alternatives, ADK's Scott told me that PoCo mkII works with the ASUS. Guess what: wrong!!! However, my 2xUAD-1 and PoCo PCI work perfectly and the mkII sometimes works for ~1 hour without a system freeze, so, if necessary, I just save my project every minute or so and work with all cards. :roll:

With the exception of PoCo mkII, my new system works much better than the old one for audio. I have some strange performance issues when playing .wmv on Windows Media Player 10 that I still haven't solved, but I'm more than happy with the audio side (apart from mkII), so...

Good luck with your system upgrade, AC, it should work fine based on spec.

 

[Agent Cooper]

Thanks Akis,
good to hear !
I hope, TC gets their act together soon concerning the MK 2.
What I tend to do when I've got a codec problem is:
- ghost the system, just in case
- remove all codecs that have an uninstaller, incl. Windows Media Player
- install the latest all-in-one codec pack plus any extra codecs you need that are not included
- most of the time this solved my problems fine
- perhaps consider an alternative media player, I use Zoom Player free for videos, WinDVD for DVDs and Winamp 2.91 (yes, the old one) for audio.
Not exactly a scientific approach, but it works and I can't for the life of me find the time to really learn about this video stuff. I'd much rather play guitar or do some recording.
Cheers, Cooper

 

[Akis]

Thanks for the advice, Cooper! The thing is, Windows Media Player used to play perfectly in my previous systems. I'm gonna try the all-in-one codec bundle just in case.

 

[Captain Caveman]

i just got another asus a8v del (i had one before the uad v4.0 driver and sold it cause uad-1s didn't work in it).

i can also confirm that i have no issues with the uad-1 in the asus on 4.0. (after disasterous msi experience a la akis).

the poco mk2 is gathering dust until tc get an update to their driver though.

although i have just discovered the rev-6 reverb for reaktor, which has been a pleasant discovery i wouldn't have made otherwise.

every cloud....



8)

 

[Agent Cooper]

Hi Captain,
thanks for your ongoing reports about those X2 issues, very helpful !
So it looks like I have to finally try Reaktor, I got it in Komplete but honestly never got around to really use it. I'm a bit oldfashioned as far as synth sounds go, you can still make me happy with a simple fat analog pad or a nice DX piano. :roll:
Kontakt, B4 and Battery get heavier use, though ...
Cheers, Cooper

 

[TornadoTed]

What operating system would you recommend?

Is XP Pro 64 the best option?
What are the potential pit falls with this operating system?
What exactly is OEM?