Another barebones kit question

[lbjamm]

Hey all, I need opinions please. I am looking at a barebones kit and wondered if it would be good for a DAW. This is the link Asus M2N68-AM SE2 Barebone Kit - GeForce 7025, AMD Phenom X4 9600, 4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800, 750GB HDD, Samsung DVDRW, ATX Case, 500W PSU ASUS M2N68-AM SE2, X4 9600, 4-750, DVDRW,500W at TigerDirect.com. I have an EMU 0404-USB and I was planning to run XP SP2. EMU's site says that the 0404 will work with any AMD compatible chipset so I think it will work with this system but I'm not exactly sure. Also this would be a dedicated daw with no internet or networking. Also I'm not sure about the integrated video as I know that sometimes they steal ram from the cpu. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Audio~Geek]

looks decent I guess, I much prefer Intel Core2Quad chips though.

You'll want at least 1 more hard drive, separate video card.

Win XP is on SP3 now.

"dedicated daw with no internet" in 2009 this should not be necessary. So much software is painlessly internet activated, why jump through the extra hoops?

I <3 my network actually. it allows me to keep my Macbook internal drive light and still be able to access my music and sample library and any recording or document on my desktop PC, instantly, effortlessly.

[brandondrury]

separate video card.

I took a chance on my latest rig and went with integrated video. It's been good to me thus far.

"dedicated daw with no internet" in 2009 this should not be necessary. So much software is painlessly internet activated, why jump through the extra hoops?

There are certainly extra hoops when activating software. However, this is something I'd deal with next to never if I wasn't reviewing so much gear.

In the past I've taken a 100% anti-internet stance on recording computers. I took a chance on my latest setup and went ahead and put internet on there. So far I've had no problems. However, I'm extremely paranoid by the possibilities. I go NOWHERE other than the sites to activate my gear. No myspace. No email. No Google.

Brandon

[Audio~Geek]

I record while talking on Skype, a necessity for my podcast.

A router with a firewall will block a lot of bad things, also makes filesharing between your computers very simple.

I don't run the Windows Firewall and no anti-virus software. I last ran a virus scan in May, had no anti-virus from November to then and had zero infections.

Firefox+router firewall+common sense=no problems

[whomper]

Originally Posted by Audio~Geek

looks decent I guess, I much prefer Intel Core2Quad chips though.

You'll want at least 1 more hard drive, separate video card.

Win XP is on SP3 now.

"dedicated daw with no internet" in 2009 this should not be necessary. So much software is painlessly internet activated, why jump through the extra hoops?

I <3 my network actually. it allows me to keep my Macbook internal drive light and still be able to access my music and sample library and any recording or document on my desktop PC, instantly, effortlessly.

yes
but
so much internet software is very painful later on
they phone home with your data
they download buggy fixes you dont want even if you said not to
they download adware spyware and other stuff that can run and interfere with recording
even the antispyware stuff does this

the only safe way to avoid viruses and all the other problems too is to never put your daw pc on the internet for any reason

then you can safely strip out all the needless software that sucks up cycles at the wrong times and cause ticks pops etc

you only have to activate once
you will have to keep scrubbing and cleaning forever once the bad stuff gets in - eg rootkits and worse

[magno]

Originally Posted by Audio~Geek

Firefox+router firewall+common sense=no problems

This is the way to go.
+online virus scan every few months or so+some kind of of anti spyware, again only started up the occasional Sunday.+backup any important stuff externally+have a backup computer in case of emergencies e.g. your internet stops working on your recording computer.
I guess that's the common sense part of the equation broken down.