New DAW computer

I started this topic in the SONAR home studio section but I'll continue it here . . .
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=1370371&mpage=1&key=�

As I said, I'm looking for a new computer . . . I don't have a lot of money to put on this so I would like to have your opinion to make the best choice . . .

cpu:

• Intel® CoreTM2 Duo Processor E4600 @ 2.40 Ghz
  800 MHz Front Side Bus
  2MB L2 Cache
  
  
• AMD Phenomâ„¢ 8400 Triple-Core Processor @ 2.10 Ghz
  3600 MHz HT3 Front Side Bus
  1.5MB L2 Cache + 2MB shared L3 Cache
  
  
• AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 5200+ @ 2.70 Ghz
  2000 MT/s System Bus (What is that??)
  1MB L2 Cache
  
  
• AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 5600+ @ 2.80 Ghz
  2000 MT/s System Bus (What is that??)
  2MB L2 Cache
  
  
• AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 5400+ @ 2.80 GHz
  2000 MT/s System Bus (What is that??)
  2MB L2 Cache
  
  
• AMD Phenomâ„¢ 9500 Quad-Core Processor @ 2.20 Ghz
  2000 MT/s System Bus (What is that??)
  2MB L2 + 2MB shared L3 Cache
  

Ram : 2go minimum (maybe 3)

Hard Disks : 2 SATA hard disks @ 7200 rpm (maybe 3 with one I already have . . .)

A NVIDIA graphics card with about 128mb of memory (don't know wich one yet)

the problem is that I need to buy all the computer (I only have a laptop . . .) and with everything else, it can get quite expensive . . .

I don't need something VERY fast . . . Only fast enough!

I won't have very big projects with 50 tracks and 40 effects with 15 soft synths . . . I just want to be able to have 8 to 10 tracks (audio and midi). . . maybe 4 or 5 soft synths max. (and play them live) . .

What about hp pavillion desktops pcs? I Had a pavillion notebook but for the same price, it seems to be a LOT more powerful . . .

And . . . big question . . . If you have to choose . . . Dell or HP?

My Disk meter isn't very high . . . also, I dont know the sample buffers of my soundcard (i'm not at home now but I'll post it here as soon as I can (maybe in 2 or 3 hours))

I think I'll buy a desktop computer anyway . . . just don't know what . . .

I don't think that the soundcard is the problem . . . Yes, if I set the latency higher, the dropouts are gone but I can use a 4ms latency without any dropout if I have only one track . . .

(I have a Line6 TonePort UX2 . . . I know USB isn't the greatest thing but I use it with Gear box and I can monitor myself in real time without any droupout)

I really want to have a desktop computer for this . . . All the configs I wrote before are below 900$ . . . canadian . . . with the monitor and windows (I don't have any of them)

I just want to have the best that I can with those 900$ . . .

I would LOVE to build it myself . . . But to have something as good as the ones I wrote in my last posts, it's A LOT MORE expensive . . . I don't really know why . . .


AHH! Also . . . Is the graphics card VERY important for a DAW (with only 1 monitor . . .) or am I good with a onboard Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 with 128MB dedicated graphics memory and up to 287MB total graphics memory ?

And . . . I hate Acer . . . But I don't know why . . . I never used any Acer products . . . Am I right to hate Acer products??

yeah get the e4600
Oh well the e6550 even better.

By the way, low latency and usb? Pretty much not gonna happen man. Dan is right. Firewire maybe, PCI, the right unit, but usb, good luck. Thats your bottleneck right now more than anything for softsynth production.

Alexandreg,

The reason that it would cost you more to build one than buy a preconfigured (cheap) one, is because they start with a cheap motherboard. That may or may not be a problem in getting good results as a DAW. I know it seems like more to build it yourself, but you will be getting better components, and be able to pick the exact chipsets and components you want for the system.

Have you looked at newegg.com? They have some of the lowest prices on components and great service. I'm not sure if they ship to Canada, though.

I use Delta soundcards and like them. The Audiophile 2496 is an excellent deal, and sounds good, but I don't know if they have good Vista drivers, if that's the OS you are planning to use. I use Windows XP Pro, and most people here are also, although it looks like Vista may be getting better. There is a problem on some Vista systems with DPC latency, which will prevent you from achieving very low latencies, although some people seem to have overcome this problem.

If you are unsure about building a system, or what preconfigured system would work well, try Jim Roseberry at Studiocat or Scott at ADK and see what they offer. They are designed for DAW use.

You don't need a really good graphics card for DAW use, but I'm not sure if intergrated video on a motherboard with suffice. It has more to do with how your resources are allocated to the graphics chip and the video memory.

As you're finding with your laptop, you don't need a huge amount of CPU power to do the projects you want to do. I was using a single core Athlon at one time that is getting better performance than you are.

The hard drive looks fine.

RAM looks fine. At least 2GB will be good.

I am assuming you will be disabling the onboard sound and using either a PCI soundcard or an interface, as that will be the only way you will get good performance.

I'll just say one more time that there is more to a good DAW than just CPU power. There are people on this forum that have quad core machines that aren't getting good latency because of other reasons.

If you are set on getting an HP or other pre-built computer, at least try and find someone using that specific computer as a DAW with good results. And see what combinations of software they are using with success.

ORIGINAL: Alexandreg

Thanks . . . and . . . what is a "good" simple pci sound card (even without any audio inputs . . . I only need low latency output for the soft synths . . . ??? I really don't know what to buy . . .

is something like this is enough?

M-AUDIO PCI AUDIOPHILE 2496 24BIT

M-AUDIO PCI REVOLUTION 5.1 24BIT MAC/PC BTE

edit 2: and for those cards . . . Can I use them with Vista?

The Revolution is more of a replacement for onboard audio. More of a "pro-sumer' card. It does have a line in, but if you think you might ever want to record from an external source, get the Audiophile.

They both have Vista 32 drivers.

ORIGINAL: bentedgz

Take your time and ask someone you trust. It's very easy to get well intentioned but bad advice. For instance USB 2.0 is faster than firewire.

Try extremetech.com, they give excellent hardware recommendations for differing price points.

bent

Errr, no its not...

Firewire 400 is rated speed is marginally slower than USB 2.0 rated speed of 480Mbps, while Firewire 800 is quite a bit faster. (see below)

When USB 3.0 (4.8Gbps) is released in a year or two, it will be faster than Firewire, but then again, Firewire S3200 (3.2Gbps) will be available in a few months with the 6.4Gbps soon to follow.

Also USB (like all things PC) does not ever reach its rated speed. The Max speed USB reaches is in the mid 200Mbps. Firewire 400 will sustain its full 400.