Advice need for new build/ first build ? ?

rxkevco · 13 Oct 2008 at 21:37

Hi all, ,
My first post, and indeed my first venture into building my own machine.

I am a songwriter/musician and am moving into the world of pc recording studio and selling off most of my hardware gear. With some of the proceeds i am investing in doing a self build.
I have started by buying an ASUS P5Q PRO motherboard, which i hope is a good board for my requirements. I have been looking at ram for the mb and dont really know what to go for.
I have been told that the mb will support....

PC 6400 800mhz
PC 8500 1066mhz
PC 9200 1200mhz

The PC 8500 running at 1066mhz seems like a good deal for my requirements and i have been told to be cautious with the 1200mhz PC9200 as its not treid and tested properly yet, , besides it appears that its like rocking horse ***** to find ( expensive too ! ).

I have found an ebay deal for 4GB (2 X 2GB ) of GEIL ram. I can honestly say that i have never heard of this brand before, , , dont forget, i am new to all this overclocking and pc building ! ! !
All the reviews seem to indicate that its crackin ram and well worth the money, , but can anyone advise me any different. What is the best PC8500 to buy , , or is the 9200 a better deal ? ?

I have roughly £100 for a 4GB set up , , can anyone recommend for me please as i want to get this right.

I have both 32 bit vista premium and 32bit xp pro and dont particulary want to invest in a 64bit OS at the present.
I know that a 32 bit system will only recognise just over 3gb and this should be more than sufficeint for my recording needs , ,but, , would i be better buying a 2gb module, and a 1gb module to ensure i stay withing the 32 bit platform, , or shall i go for the 4gb package, , and lose 2/3 of a gb....will it cause any problems with the system at all , only recognising part of the ram ? ? ? I cant see any problems myself, , but want to be sure i am taking the right path.
I am nearly ready to start putting things together (although i could do with a better case, , ,
ASUS P5Q PRO,(with 2x firewire 800)
ASUS V-60 COOLER/FAN,
4GB GEIL RAM,
1 X 80GB IDE,
2 X 320GB SATA,
ZALMAN ZM-MFC2 DIGITAL FAN/TEMP DISPLAY,
2 X ZALMAN 120 MM CASE FANS,
2 X PIONEER DVD DRIVES,
350 WATT PSU,
GE FORCE 8800GTS,
External pro soundcard/firewire interface.
24" DELL ULTRA SHARPE MONITOR

I am going to be using a pentuim D 930, 3.4GHZ dual core cpu for the time being until i can decide which core 2 processor to go for. The mb will support up to the latest quad cores i believe, , but i think a quad is not the best cpu for my needs, , but am unsure which core 2 cpu to go for, , obviously it will have to be better than the D 930 i have at present, , any recommendations ? ? ?

I hope someone doesnt mind spending a few minutes to reply and maybe give me a little advice.
I have a funny feeling i will be spending quite a bit of time on here over the next few months, , go easy on me ! !

Many thanks , , kev

jak731 · 13 Oct 2008 at 21:53

4gb kit

do you already have the pc/parts

if not change the 8800GTS to a 4850

you also want a 500W psu min, 350W will run the pc but it will be under a lot of stress since it will be under load a lot of the time

rxkevco · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:07

So go for the 4gb (2x 2gb ) package. Are GEIL any good , , seriously never heard of them. Was also looking at OCZ , and corsiar ram. Same spec, pc 8500. Or is it worth waiting to see if i can get some pc9200 for the £100 mark or therabouts if it going to be compatible , , i havent seen any reviews of the 9200 on any asus board as yet ?? ?

I have everything already, apart from the ram. The pentuim D is in the pc i am using at present , , but am going to get a C2D in a month or so , , i believe that the PD 950 will work with the P5Q.
The graphics card is already in my present pc and i dont really see the need to upgrade as i dont need particulary fantastic graphics for music studio recording. I was going to get a bigger psu as well, , in fact, will get one before i start putting it all together, , brother in law has a 650watt one for me,, , just gonna be a little while till i see hime next, , the 350 will do for now though surely ? ?
Yes, so apart from the ram and psu, i already have everything else. If i didnt buy it new, , then its on my present pc waiting to be salvaged for the new build ! !

Olibubble · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:31

What DAW are you running. Personally I would go with a 64bit system so you can access above 3Gb. If you are planning to create a DAW then I would install as much memory as possible. Stick with the PC6400 Memory as well. Then buy an E8400 and up the FSB so that you are running at 3.6Ghz with the memory at 800Mhz. Stick on decent after market CPU cooler and you are good to go.

rxkevco · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:47

Am going to be running CUBASE SX3 for the moment , , might go up to studio 4 next year, , its bit on the expensive side at the moment.
I have a stienberg M14 usb audio interface, but again, in the near future, i will be upgrading to a firewire device.
The problem with going 64 bit is that not all firewire devices are compatible. Sure you can get some that work well in a 64 bit enviroment but thet tend to be at the very high end of the market and as such, are out of reach of most humbel home studio owners.
The other thing to consider is that most people i have spoken to say that they have noticed very little, if any difference at all when banging the ram up to 6gb or more.
I will be running qhite a few softsynths as well, , but only one at a time, and cubase itself along with the software synths arent particulary cpu or ram intensive. Its only when you are recording more than one instrument/softsynth at the same time that the ram becomes an issue and i wont be doing that.
3+gb of ram should be more than sufficient for my intentions i think.

Why have you suggested using 6400 ram instead of the much faster 8500 that will run stock at 1066mhz ? ? ?
I will be looking at the E8400 (as well as a few others including quad core ) as a replacement for the Pentium D 930, 3.4GHZ dual core that i have at present.

J.B · 13 Oct 2008 at 22:57

Splash out on 64 bit, there is an overall performance increase!
Whats the 80GB IDE drive for? Also if you are having those 2 DVD drives they better be SATA as that board will only support 2 IDE devices.

Deff up the PSU.

rxkevco · 14 Oct 2008 at 14:17

Thanks guys, , , never thought about the 2 ide drives, ,

.

The 80gb drive is for the OS (vista home premium) and a few small programs, , sata drive 1 is for installing cubase and all my software synths and for recording etc, , sata drive 2 is for storage.
I suppose i dont actually need two identical dvd drives anyway, , its just cos i have em sitting here already.
Anyway, , couldnt i run the two drives off a twin ide ribbon connector, leaving the other ide port for the 80gb OS drive ? ? ?

This pc is not just going to be a standalone DAW , ,its a dual purpose. It will be my daily internet, mail and downloading pc and a DAW, , which is another reason to stay away from 64bit for the time being, , as well as the cost, , i hadnt figured for it, spending more on the MB , the RAM and the FIREWIRE INTERFACE was my main priority.
I have a dual core Pentium D 930 at 3.4ghz, which will have to do for now.

The next puchase list will be a new cpu, ,and possibly a new graphics (4850) followed by a serious think about splashing out on a 64 vista ultimate.

And any musos out there that have a standalone DAW, , please dont give out to me for having a DAW set up on a dual purpose pc , , i have been recording on a less powerful laptop that a daily use pc,, and not had a single problem at all.
I have even ran a standalone DAW that was optomised for sound recording, , no internet, anti virus, nothing, , completly optomised for sound, , , and i didnt notice a single thing different from the recordings on the daily use laptop.
Many, many people use dual purpose pcs as a daw, , with fantastic results. . .! The only difference for me this time is , , A much faster cpu , a much better(future proof) motherboard, and very fast 4gb of ram with a firewire interface instead of usb !

slowrunner · 14 Oct 2008 at 20:24

rxkevco said:
Thanks guys, , , never thought about the 2 ide drives, , .

The 80gb drive is for the OS (vista home premium) and a few small programs, , sata drive 1 is for installing cubase and all my software synths and for recording etc, , sata drive 2 is for storage.
I suppose i dont actually need two identical dvd drives anyway, , its just cos i have em sitting here already.
Anyway, , couldnt i run the two drives off a twin ide ribbon connector, leaving the other ide port for the 80gb OS drive ? ? ?

Modern motherboards only have the one ide port, so thats just 2 drives you can connect. I'd stick the os onto a sata hdd, and use the ide one for storage.