Will my new computer be good for recording?

[voodoochild292]

So I just bought this motherboard off my friend today for pretty cheap:

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bz/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d875pbz&

Next on the list:

- 2.8-3.2 P4 CPU (not sure yet)
- 2 x 512MB Ram
- an 80GB SATA HD (which will be dedicated to recording, I'll run my OS off my current 40GB HD)

And I'll be running my Omnistudio USB into Sonar 3.

Will this work good? I damn well hope so.

[xpine73]

HD is cheap now. So get a larger one.

[KX]

Originally posted by xpine73
HD is cheap now. So get a larger one.

I disagree with that.
You can do a lot with 80gb.
HD prices are always going down.
Before getting new HD, I'd work on my system a few weeks to see what will be my actual needs.

[xpine73]

A Raid0 array of two 120GB SATA HDs with 8MB buffer will make u feel like flying.

[Michael Quayle]

I would suggest a RAID array to be overkill.... 80gb is fine for almost all applications.

xpine, you also conveniently forget to mention this, gleamed from another recent post of yours:

"However,there was something wrong with my Maya soundcard when using the integrated Fastrak Raid controller." Although you may have addressed this problem by using a new RAID controller (incurring an extra expense) you mention nothing about the potential troubles of RAID in your glowing recommendation above.



Voodoo, sounds like the system you're planning on putting together will provide the basis for a perfectly acceptable home writing and production setup - nice fast processor, plenty of ram, and a dedicated hard drive. Got to say I didn't check out the motherboard you listed so I don't know much about it, but it's usually the chipset on the board that's more important, so if you haven't read any nightmare stories of that chipset clashing with your soundcard, for example, you should be pretty good from the outset. KX's advice about adding new components slowly is sound I think, and not adding more than you need is a wise idea too. Although you don't mention whether you have these components or not, I would suggest that any extra money you may have would be spent on a higher quality PSU and a decent AGP card such as a model from Matrox, rather than on "turbo charging" your disk subsytem with a raid array that will double your chances of data loss, double the noise of the drives, and double the cost of your expenditiure, whilst probably not doing a great deal, in real terms, to improve the actual disk performance of your system. My opinion only, and others may diagree, but unless you are trying to run in excess of 50 audio tracks with LOTS of edit, I honestly doubt you'll see the difference. Maybe extra cash could also be spent on quieter case fans and cpu coolers, things that will reduce the noise of your system, not increase it (as a raid system would), after all, with a sound card like the omni studio, it sounds like you'll be doing a lot of your recording in the same room.

Anyway, hope this helps,

Mike.

[xpine73]

If u will never deal with video-based audio postproduction,an 80G 2M HD is enough.

But mostly i have to work with Samplitude media link or Pyramix virtual transport to synchronize my audio files to a reference video track which has been captured on my HD.

In order to meet the demand of video capture or playback while audio editing and processing,my system HAS TO get the ability to handle the capacity and bandwidth of video stream as well as audio files.Everybody knows the size and bandwidth consumption of video.A double 120G Raid0 array makes it possible to capture one project while editing another at the same time and store plenty of video and audio files.It saves time,and time is money.A video track,sixteen or thirty two sound tracks and dozens of realtime effect plugins r basically what i need.Efficiency or money,u need the balance.But for me,i dont wanna waste my time in waiting when capturing and rendering.

Well,if kept far away from video,u will be satisfied with an 80G 2M HD obviously.

As to Asus p4p800E-deluxe motherboard,when arranging RAID with the onboard Promise Fastrak Raid controller,my Maya Pro 44 soundcard conflicts with onboard IEEE1394 port ,which causes lost frame while recording sound and capturing pictures.I think the bandwidth from system to Fastrak is not enough to handle video and ASIO simultaneously. After turning to CH5R RAID0,everything works fine now.

[voodoochild292]

Nope no video for me.

Thanks for the suggestions Mike, I was already contemplating getting a quieter PSU.

Can't wait till I have this all up and running!

Cheers