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Audio engineering system advice..

T

Thunderdel

Junior Member
Hey there, for the last few weeks ive been trying to put together a system able to cope with high end audio software which uses gigabytes of sample data, from reading about 2000 reviews and guides I gather Intel with HT is the best bet.. however with all the DDR2 options with mobos, im completely lost 😕 I would be very greatful for any advice as to which motherboards will deal with fast ram access, and also hold alot of high speed DDR2 ram....

I have been looking on alot of sites also for 1gig chips (2gig dual DDR2) and cant seem to find any, they all appear to come in 1gig 2x512 sets for ddr2.... how are we meant to get 4gigs of ddr2 with this? 🙁



Thank you for your advice in advance ^^


Greg
 
Hey, thanks for your replies, Looking on some UK sites, overclockers.co.uk, ebuyer and dabs, the whole dual processor thing looks to be very expensive, from compairing what other pro studios use for systems I came to the conclusion something like this would be appropriate...

Asus P5AD2 Premium 925X (LGA775) Motherboard (MB-070-AS) (real nice features on ram transport and such)

Intel Pentium 4 550 "LGA775 Prescott" 3.4GHz (800FSB) with HT Technology - Retail (CP-059-IN)

Crucial Ballistix 5300 667MHz 512MB DDR2 (MY-022-CR) x4 (going to make a difference? I dont know >_<)


Got any critisisms? please post! hehe, the whole dual processor thing seems ok, but none of the top end audio systems ive seen use them, so I assume there cant be such of a difference from a standard high spec intel HT to justify the extra couple of hundred dollars/pounds, else they would be used more?

software im using is sonar3/nuendo, dfh superior, gigastudio format samples... each sample approching 1 gig (hence my need for lots of fast ram + powerful system)



Thanks again for the replies + future replies! 🙂


Greg




ps. sharkeeper, look for urself, there are no 1gig DDR2 chips on any of the sites listed above, GIEL apparently do a 2gig DDR 5200 dual set, but do you think they have a UK distributer selling them? 🙁
 
One point - a lot of professional music software seem to NOT like Intels HyperThreading. You'll want to turn that feature off, should you get one.

Second, it seems some pro-audio progs are already gearing for 64-bit extensions.... you way want to consider the Athlon64 as your platform for audio engineering.
 
Originally posted by: Thunderdel
*sob* so many options... which audio software is gearing for 64bit extensions?

cheers
Click to expand...

I noticed the growing trend while scouring around the Steinberg.net forums...
It would APPEAR that ost of the Steinberg software is planning to go that route. I know for SURE that GigaStudio3 already is.
 
Im sorry to keep posting...


AMD vs Intel for audio engineering.... AMD does seem to be much better at most things, but intel is better for multitasking ye?

considering running your sequencer prog (nuendo/sonar), 4 audio tracks all with real time effects being used, then some sample software using gigs of ram, on my current system its taking 80% of the CPU, and sometimes drops out (not sure if the 7200maxtor or the 1gig of 3200 crucial ram)

so would the intel be the best choice, as multitasking is the word here? or is amd going to handle this type of processing better....... (tbh im just looking for best mobo, best ram, best cpu for the job hehe 🙂)


thanks
 
Nope - this is not a multitasking issue. It's one main program.

Not only is it one program (plugins run through the main prog.) most of those pro-audio apps seem to dislike Intel's HT technology. Some will fail completely and the only way to make it go is to turn off HT.

The Athlon64 is really, really gaining popularity in the pro-audio arena for its ability to process lots and lots of effects! There may be Intel processors just as good at the job, but expect to pay $hundreds more to do the same job. Put that money into a good sound card. (If you get anything from Creative Labs, the entire audio community will shame you and start casting stones...) 😉
 
hehe ive been using midi mia for a year or 2 now 😛 its great! 🙂

could you advice the best mobo for amd64? ive just been reading some bad reviews about that gigabyte mobo which i thought had it all 🙁
 
Originally posted by: Thunderdel
hehe ive been using midi mia for a year or 2 now 😛 its great! 🙂

could you advice the best mobo for amd64? ive just been reading some bad reviews about that gigabyte mobo which i thought had it all 🙁
Click to expand...

Would your budget iclude duallies ? If not a lot of people lately seem to like the Chaintech vnf3-250 board. And for for I gig memory sticks (NOT Registered or ecc), since you can only get 2-3 gig may on those boards.
 
I dont know if it is worth the money doing a dual amd setup really, sounds like a few hundred more... and if the normal amd64+good mobo can cope with my stuff, then a dual setup would be overkill
 
What would be pretty easy to do, is just get a dual CPU motherboard then just throw in one CPU. You can just purchase one opteron and see if it copes okay.
 
how about these amd64 FX things, real expensive...? better than a dual setup?

also opterons seem to come in really low speeds?
 
Don;t get an FX, they are for rich overclockers, which you AREN'T going to do from what I see. And I don't know what you mean, really low speeds. The Opteron 250 (top of the line )is 2.5 ghz, and the Athlon64/FX top of the line is 2.4 ghz.
 
Originally posted by: sharkeeper
ECC is *essential* in a mid grade workstation.

With 1GB modules, you should be using it.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat.... what's the big deal about ECC? I know it's more expensive, but what makes it so much better?
 
cubase sx3 will have amd 64 bit extensions. im currently using sx2/reason on my athlon64 with very good results. much more stable than the athlon xp it replaced. no more crashes finally.

 
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