Building my DAW

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Member Since: Apr 27, 2002

heres a list of some proposed components for my custom built DAW...

-MSI K8N NEO2-F NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard (www.tigerdirect.com/appli...amp;CatId=1746)

-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ / 512KB Cache / 2000 MHz FSB / Socket 939 / Processor with Fan (www.tigerdirect.com/appli...amp;CatId=1949)

-Diablo ATX MidTower Case with 450 watt power supply (www.tigerdirect.com/appli...p;Sku=D15-1010)

-1 Gig of RAM
-Not sure what to do as far as a Hard Drive
-Not really sure of this whole "cooling" deal either...but oh well...ill try to figure that out...

look good to you guys??

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Member
Since: Apr 27, 2002


Oct 26, 2005 03:05 pm

ill just yank the floppy drive from my old computer and buy a cd-rom/cd-r drive...and that should about do it...ehh????

oh, and obviously an OS, like XP proffesional

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Oct 26, 2005 03:24 pm

Motherboard should work fine; lots of PCI slots are always good. The link to the processor/fan combo doesn't work, but as long as it's compatible with the MB.

I'd spend a bit more on your case/power supply. Go for something that doesn't have the plastic side on it (like I have). They look cool, but ultra cheap and will break easily. (and I find the LED glow late at night annoying after a while). A case that's heavier would be better. Actually, steel cases with lots of plastic on them are generally quieter than other cases (correct me if I'm wrong). Mine's aluminum and it's a bit noisy. Also, the lower end cases will have fitment issues (I had to attack mine with some pliers to get a videocard connector to fit in the back panel).

For a hard drive, get a 7200rpm, SATA (150mb/sec) hard disc. Don't get a no-namer.

1gb of ram should be good.

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Oct 26, 2005 04:00 pm

Don't forget a graphics card either. Those bastards can be spendy. I have a chaintech fx5700 le, and it works fine ($70). Get a geforce 6600gt or 6800 at a minimum if you want to do gaming though.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Oct 26, 2005 04:04 pm

Yeah, I got a PNY card that uses the nVidia chip for under $100 and it rocks...lots cheaper than the real deal nVidia's :-)

Member
Since: Oct 07, 2005


Oct 26, 2005 05:20 pm

Okay, the video card thing has always confused me. Unless you're doing soundtrack work, is there a compelling reason to spring for an uber-duper video card? The only thing I can think of is that it would take a bit of the processing burden away from the CPU, but how much of what we're doing is all that video-intensive anyway? Please educate me...

The Eternal Student
Member
Since: Oct 08, 2005


Oct 26, 2005 05:29 pm

Switching between programs and stuff that you have open as well as live monitoring (i.e. level monitors on your screen) will use your graphics card... sometimes it can be very taxing on graphics depending on how much time the software developers spent on making a "pretty interface".

Also, if you ever want to upgrade to dual monitors... get one that'll support it now so you don't have to throw out your card later on (like in my situation).

It's been my experience that you, under NO circumstances, want to get a system with integrated graphics because it will SIGNIFICANTLY slow down your system overall (and thus hurt your ability to record more tracks and/or run more plugins, etc).

Graphics cards are relatively cheap. $160 will get you one that'll rock the games, and support dual monitors. $70 will get you something like mine that'll play the games at low res, but not tax your CPU time for other things.

I'd have to be filthy rich (or way more incensed with games) to ever justify spending over $200 on a videocard.

In short, do whatever you want, just don't do integrated graphics, you'll regret it in about 10 minutes.

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004


Oct 26, 2005 05:45 pm

Also, automating the software-'scene' dose pose some draw .

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Oct 26, 2005 11:09 pm

Indeed, it doesnt have to be top of the line stuff. Like dB stated, a card under $100.00 will do the job. Just do the research and get a sturdy card. A 128mb card is really the only thing I would stay with. Going under that much video memory can cause some drawing problems on some of the higher end audio programs.

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