zeronyne Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 I use Macs and PCs for my music work, but tow things have prompted me to build out a new Windows box this week. 1) Gigastudio 3 looks like it's going to bereally nice. 2) Doom 3 is shipping in the next few weeks. I've built several PCs before with great success, but I wanted to get some feedback on the processor thig before commiting to a motherboard and proc. What are people using these days for high performance? I don't want to spend $500+ on a MB, but what is accepted widely as a good, reliable platform on which to build a monster box? And which processor do you guys recommend? It's nice to start one of these vs threads where the MAc isn't going to get bashed. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 AMD -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted July 17, 2004 Author Share Posted July 17, 2004 Originally posted by Mike Martin: AMDWhich one? FX51? "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bax Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 09 - I'll second AMD... I just put together an AMD64 based machine using the NForce 3 250GB chipset (MSI K8N Neo Platinum motherboard). It is a Socket 754 board, meaning you could not use the FX51/53 or the newer A64's but would be limited to the lower end of the Athlon 64 family for now. You can check it out here . I chose the 250GB chipset mainly because it removes a LOT of the onboard stuff (especially the NIC) away from the particular PCI bus that the PCI card slots use, letting me use my MOTU 2408 MkII and 2 UAD-1 cards without the grief that comes with with multiple high-utilization PCI cards. Hypertransport (when implemented correctly) rocks, and they did this board right. I looked at a dual Opteron setup, but too many people have been having problems with their UAD-1 cards in that environment, so I decided to stay with a single A64. I've never been happier with a DAW I've built, and this is #7 for me... If you like that board layout but really want to use an FX-series processor, hold off for a few weeks(?) and the NForce3 250GB Ultra will be out (same board, but with a 939-pin socket). This will be *the* board to have in the next month or so...and for a long time to come until PCI Express really gets going. As far as Doom3/FarCry/HL2/other graphics monsters, if you have to get the best available today, get an ATI X800 and don't look back. I have an ATI 9800XT in my gaming machine, and it rocks but I am going to feel the $$$ pain when these next-gen shooters really start hitting and I have to upgrade. Anyway, I hope that helps - if you want more detail, drop me a line and I'd be happy to give you exact specs and details on my latest A64 box. Thanks!bax If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is definitely NOT for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbobus Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 I just read this about Doom 3 for Mac OS X. As PC users are thinking: "When is GB available for Windows", I'm thinking right now: "When the hell is Giga porting their sampler to the Mac?" Are they forgetting that lots of musicians are using Macs? Hell yeah, I'm sometimes thinking too about a PC next to my Mac. Just a simple one for internet, games and Giga. http://www.bobwijnen.nl Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MortenJ Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 AMD Athlon 64 FX 53 939. But also Intel Pentium 4 720 3.73 Ghz 1066 fsb 2 MB level2 is also looking good but ithink it will first be out late this year. Myself is going to buy a new computer is Samsung 193P 19´ TFT a good monitor. Morten Access Virus TI keyboard,Alesis ION,Yamaha Motif ES 6,Roland Fantom XR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magician Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Originally posted by zeronyne: Originally posted by Mike Martin: AMDWhich one? FX51?09 I don't know that the FX-51 will buy you too much in the way of Giga/Softsynth Performance since the use of Dual Channel RAM targets memory intensive applications like Games and Databases. Remember Giga will gain alot from faster Disks and a faster processor. With that said a Socket 754 Athlon 64 is looking like the most "future resistant" processor on the market now. I just don't think the Price/Performance of the P4 line is that good right now. (subject to change at a moments notice) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bax Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Morten - I use 2 Samsung SyncMaster 191T+ 19" LCD monitors for my setup, and they absolutely ROCK. I have always liked Samsung monitors, and these haven't disappointed me at all. I haven't personally used or seen the 193P, but if the 191 is any indication then I'm sure it will be a great monitor for ya... Thanks!bax If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is definitely NOT for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle ggurl Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I'm clearly going against the grain here: INTEL. WHY? I feel very passionately about my decision on this based on problems I had with a computer that was rebuilt by "professionals!" Damn, I'm still so pissed when I think about it I may start sputtering nonsense, but I can distill into two words: video drivers. AAARRGGH!!!! You all know Ms. Geek pretty well by now, and she does not get apoplectically angry very often. Look, she is even so angry about this she is now talking about herself in third person. OK, so I had my PC rebuilt -- the ONLY original parts are: the chassis, the floppy disk drive, one CD-R drive (player only), my 56K modem, one secondary hard drive. Everything else -- MoBo, chip, video, SB-type sound, power supply, CD-R/W drive, Ethernet, FireWire card, 4 USB ports, main hard drive, operating system (XP Pro) -- is new. This last reportedly reputable (I've had PCs built by them before, worked fine) establishment installed an Albatron MoBo --- supposed to be very nice --- some graphic whatever, 512kRAM, AMD XP 2GHz chip, and assorted other sundries. Now. I was there when the dude was hacking together my system. First, it wasn't working so he thought it was a bad processor. He swapped out the MoBo and processor and everything seemed to be working. Well I get the system home, spend a few days loading all my shit in this computer, and the screen starts drawing funny vertical lines on my display ... and that's a permanent "enhancement" to my monitor experience. Then it starts randomly rebooting, usually at importune times, so that I am stuck with "serious error" messages upon reboot as well as the occasional corrupt files. You know, I only like SOME kinds of surprises. This is not one of them. (Remember the new power supply?? No shorts here ...) Then one day, the machine decides it's had enough. It just CRAPS OUT. [Thanks to this, I miss a recording deadline...] Turn it on, get a black screen with a little blinking cursor. So I take it back to this place, who is cranking these machines out with this supposedly tested configuration, and I'm thinking, "How many other f***ups are they having to fix?" I insist on working with a different tech. I get a guy who diagnoses the machine and says the video is not compatible with the MoBo and/or chip ... and he's seen way too many of these problems with AMD configs and quite frankly, he's just gonna gut the whole damn thing and put in an Intel board and Intel P4. Guess what, people? My 'puter is solid now. I've also got this thing stocked with Ethernet, a FireWire card, standard SB-type sound card, more USB ports, and a Digi 001. I think all the bays are full ... It even plays my husband's computer games that he couldn't get to work on the AMD ... Civilizations, a game that worked on our PIII 550! It doesn't even crash in Pro Tools. Serously, I know Mac users who have more problems running it than I do on this machine. Also, I should note this last tech has corporate clients that he does desktop IT for. In his experience, he said it ain't worth the headaches to go AMD because of compato issues that frequently come up. Another outsource-provider desktop tech I know, he says the same thing. If you have the extra scratch, spend it on Intel. That is my opinion won over by MUCH frustration. If you're going AMD, do your research and be VERY picky about what you put in your machine EVERY TIME you put anything in it. Oh, and make sure that config works for what you want to do specifically. I personally don't have time for that bullshit. That's why I consulted "professionals" instead of hacking away myself, even though I could probably build by own. In the end, my computer probs cost me more $$ in lost time than any "brand discount" can ever make up for. OK, end of rant I feel so much better now ... Original Latin Jazz CD Baby "I am not certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur." Patti Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbobus Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Come to think of it, maybe I DON'T get that extra PC... http://www.bobwijnen.nl Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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