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#1
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Best Motherboard for DAW.
Hi Chaps,
I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? Cheers, M. |
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#2
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"mich (at work)" wrote in message news:0V5Hd.14$VU1.1026@news1-hme0... Hi Chaps, I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? You could look at changing your DAW app to something more efficient ? geoff |
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#3
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"Geoff Wood" wrote in message ... "mich (at work)" wrote in message news:0V5Hd.14$VU1.1026@news1-hme0... Hi Chaps, I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? You could look at changing your DAW app to something more efficient ? geoff Hi Geoff, I've had no problems with the apps perfoemance, until I bought Gold. I'm asking it to do a hell of a lot. This is a big library which uses a lot of CPU / Memory when you try to get a full symphany orchestra running :-) M. |
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#4
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For starters, with that application you need more than 1 GB of RAM. If you
went up to 2 GB you might find this alleviates the issue with the equipment you have. With that processor I am guessing you are using PC2100 RAM which could be upgraded as well if your motherboard supports it. Regarding dual-processor motherboards, I am not sure where you read that but a dual-processor setup always helps with processor-intensive tasks like lots of Insert effects. Since you have DSP cards your host processor is probably not handling much in the way of effect processing anyways so this may be a non-issue. But if you are set on getting something new, and I am guessing that you want to stick with AMD or Intel, make sure you get a mobo that supports dual-channel RAM, at least up to 400 Mhz in speed (PC3500), 2 GB of RAM, and as fast a processor as you can get for the money you want to spend. Unless you are going to go for a dual-processor setup, I would not get a server class processor like a Xeon. I would also stay away from 64-bit processors because unless your OS and software are 64-bit you are wasting your money. Regarding brands everyone has their own opinions so I won't comment on that. Find something you like then spend a day on Google researching comments and opinions on it before you make your decision. -Ben "mich (at work)" wrote in message news:0V5Hd.14$VU1.1026@news1-hme0... Hi Chaps, I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? Cheers, M. |
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#5
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On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:53:56 -0000, "mich \(at work\)"
wrote: I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? I don't think you're going to make a huge difference by changing motherboard/processor. In what way is the system not coping? Are the orchestra samples on a separate physical drive to your audio data? Are your drives set to DMA mode? (Check - this setting can revert to PIO under some circumstances). Have you tried a higher latency setting for the dsp2000? Can you get more RAM in? This makes a HUGE difference when using large sample sets. This may not be what you want to hear, but have you tried taking the SW1000 out of your system? CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm "Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect |
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#6
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Laurence Payne wrote:
On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:53:56 -0000, "mich \(at work\)" wrote: I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? I don't think you're going to make a huge difference by changing motherboard/processor. In what way is the system not coping? Are the orchestra samples on a separate physical drive to your audio data? Are your drives set to DMA mode? (Check - this setting can revert to PIO under some circumstances). Have you tried a higher latency setting for the dsp2000? Can you get more RAM in? This makes a HUGE difference when using large sample sets. This may not be what you want to hear, but have you tried taking the SW1000 out of your system? CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm "Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect I disagree with part of your statement - He's on an XP2400... a new mobo/processor will make a huge difference. Either a MSI or ASUS NVidea nForce chipset (socket 754 or 939 - 754 is cheaper and you won't notice the difference for a DAW) for an AMD based system or an ASUS mobo with an Intel chipset for an Intel based system (there are others, for sure, but I can't speak to them - you really can't go wrong with these). In either case, get the fastest processor with the largest L2 cache you can afford and at least 1GB memory. Memory may indeed be the only thing keeping your system from handling your new sample set though. I'd try that first, and you can always use it in a new system if it doesn't work... Dual proc system are nice, and VERY expensive. You can probably do what you need to do with one of these suggestions. |
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#7
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"mich (at work)" wrote in message news:0V5Hd.14$VU1.1026@news1-hme0... Hi Chaps, I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? Find out what. if any, mobo chipset incompatabilities your c-port may have and start from there. Bear in mind that for what you are talking about, a newer chip isn't going to make more than a marginal difference. Another 3 gigs of RAM might. jb |
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#8
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"mich (at work)" wrote in message news:yt6Hd.15 I've had no problems with the apps perfoemance, until I bought Gold. I'm asking it to do a hell of a lot. This is a big library which uses a lot of CPU / Memory when you try to get a full symphany orchestra running :-) OK, maybe you do need all the ergs you can get then Z! ASUS always seem to be top quality boards. geoff |
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#9
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"mich (at work)" wrote in message news:0V5Hd.14$VU1.1026@news1-hme0... Hi Chaps, I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? Cheers, M. Thanks for all the comments. The Motherboard can only handle 1.5 GB of 133 SDRAM and ata100 IDE devices As far as removing the SW1000 from the machine, I need it for it's XG instrument set. I'm seriously thinking of buying a full machine from Carillon (or someone similar), as I would pretty much need to replace most of the main components in my existing machine anyway. That way I could use this machine as a host for samples etc. Cheers, M. |
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#10
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On 2005-01-18, mich (at work) wrote:
So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? ASUS P5P800. No fan. LGA775 P4 3.0Ghz, Zalman 7000(B)Cu, set to silent mode. Seagate SATA ST-series drives. Antec Sonata case. Previous generation SVGA card (no fan, no gaming nonsense). |
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#11
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The NVidia nForce2 chipset has pretty decent audio capability, most
notably digital audio in/out. I got a FIC AU13 motherboard with the nForce2, but the supplied audio connector didn't have a connection for digital in. (I use a lexicon mpx 100 for outboard d/a.) It was pretty easy to hack the audio connector though and wire it to an rca socket to a blank slot cover. @D Vinny wrote: Laurence Payne wrote: On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:53:56 -0000, "mich \(at work\)" wrote: I know this question gets asked periodically, but with new hardware coming out every day, I thought I'd ask again. I'm thinking of upgrading my DAW. I currenty have a GIGABYTE 7ZXE motherboard with athlon XP2400. 1GB ram, Yamaha SW1000 and c-port dsp2000 soundcards.and a matrox dual head graphics card. I've just bought EWQL Gold orchestra and find my setup can't cope. I run Cubase SX 2.01 I read somewhere that the dual chip motherboards are not the way to go for DAW. So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? I don't think you're going to make a huge difference by changing motherboard/processor. In what way is the system not coping? Are the orchestra samples on a separate physical drive to your audio data? Are your drives set to DMA mode? (Check - this setting can revert to PIO under some circumstances). Have you tried a higher latency setting for the dsp2000? Can you get more RAM in? This makes a HUGE difference when using large sample sets. This may not be what you want to hear, but have you tried taking the SW1000 out of your system? CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm "Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect I disagree with part of your statement - He's on an XP2400... a new mobo/processor will make a huge difference. Either a MSI or ASUS NVidea nForce chipset (socket 754 or 939 - 754 is cheaper and you won't notice the difference for a DAW) for an AMD based system or an ASUS mobo with an Intel chipset for an Intel based system (there are others, for sure, but I can't speak to them - you really can't go wrong with these). In either case, get the fastest processor with the largest L2 cache you can afford and at least 1GB memory. Memory may indeed be the only thing keeping your system from handling your new sample set though. I'd try that first, and you can always use it in a new system if it doesn't work... Dual proc system are nice, and VERY expensive. You can probably do what you need to do with one of these suggestions. |
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#12
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On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:53:56 -0000, "mich \(at work\)"
wrote: So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? I just went through an recent upgrade of my DAW. ASUS A7N8E Deluxe MB Nvidia Nforce2 Chipset AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 1.5 GB PC3200 Memory 1x 80GB Maxtor System drive 2x 160GB Maxtor 7200rpm 8mb Buffer Data Drives BENQ 1620 DVD/CD Burner RME Audio 9652 I/O Card Working great w/Windows XP SP2, Samplitude, lot's of plugins I managed to O/C the processer by raising the frontside bus speed and got the processor to run at 2.4 GHz from 2.1 Ghz without addition cooling. Very stable and running fast as all get out. Mark "In this business egos can be wonderful, but they also can be a curse." Michael Wagener |
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#13
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On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:53:56 -0000, "mich \(at work\)"
wrote: So, what motherboard / chip combo would you recommend? Start with the hardware requirements of your software. A computer is just a box to run your software. Since I'm planning to add a firewire audio interface, I chose a motherboard with an IEEE-394 port based on an Agere chipset (Agere and TI are the only makers of PC Firewire ports that comply with the complete IEEE standard). I also intentionally chose an "older" chipset rather than the Latest and Greatest. It's both cheaper and the drivers are likely to be more stable, both of which are a Good Thing. I chose an Intel mobo because at the time (early 2004) there was some question about the stability of DAW software on non-intel CPUs. Based on my needs, I chose the D465PERL motherboard with a Northwood generation CPU (runs cooler so needs less exotic (QUIETER) cooling). YMMV, Not valid in Vermont . . |
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#14
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#15
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"jackfish" wrote in message news:jackfish- I recently purchased the same board (actually the A7N8X-E Deluxe). Having problems with dual-channel memory. What type of ram are you using and is it working in dual-channel mode? Both sticks must be *identical*, if by any chance you are mixing brands. geoff |
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