Another custom DAW build thread...

[Tony Ramone]

Hey everyone, sorry for starting a new thread for this, but I've been trawling through various fora and sites for a couple of weeks now, but I figured it would be handier to have my own thread to get the advice brought to me instead of going out to gather it all myself

WARNING: long-winded post below, here's the wishlist of parts so far if you don't want to read the whole post:
Alesis io26 (already have this)
Q8200 quad 2.33GHz
500GB Western Digital Caviar, 7200RPM, 16MB cache
Corsair Powersupply 450W, 120mm Vifte, 6xSATA, ATX/EPS, 1xPCI-E, 20/24pin (don't know if this has all the connections I'll need)
4GB RAM
Some sort of motherboard (help please)
Some sort of graphics card (also, help needed)

Anyway, here's the long bit: I'm shit sick of using my crappy Vista laptop for recording so I'm gonna build myself a desktop.
A few months back, I bought myself an Alesis io26 that I got for €250 (I had already intended then to get a desktop, at the moment I can't use the io26 as my laptop has no firewire).
I've got a case off a friend of mine, which has a 160GB hard drive that I'll use for the OS & software. It also has a firewire card, but I'm not sure if it has the TI chip, so I'll probably just use it for external hard drives or whatever.
Now to the parts list/spec/whatever...
I plan to get a Q8200 quad, I've selected a silent PSU (silent according to reviews as opposed to ads) and a 500GB western digital caviar (7200rpm 16MB cache).
The main area of concern for me is the motherboard - there are just so many choices out there. After reading an article in soundonsound though, it seems a Gigabyte might be the way to go as they have onboard TI firewire chips, so I guess the only consideration then is RAM and PCI(e) slots (I wonder if I'm answering my own questions as I type them out, isn't life funny that way...).
Also, I've heard that it's best to get an additional graphics card as opposed to relying on any onboard graphics so as not to tax the CPU too much, but I know nothing about graphics cards, so I'd probably screw up there - I don't know if I should be looking for 256 or 512MB, or what. I figure though I should get one that'll let me connect 2 monitors (eventually), but should the 2 outputs be VGA or something else?

If you've read this far, you are awesome! Hooray for you, now it's time to put your thinking cap on and help out a fellow music-dude

Cheers

[fortyseven]

Originally Posted by Tony Ramone

I'm shit sick of using my crappy Vista laptop for recording so I'm gonna build myself a desktop.

Good for you, man. Personally Ive never quite understood the fascination with laptops.

The main area of concern for me is the motherboard - there are just so many choices out there. After reading an article in soundonsound though, it seems a Gigabyte might be the way to go as they have onboard TI firewire chips, so I guess the only consideration then is RAM and PCI(e) slots (I wonder if I'm answering my own questions as I type them out, isn't life funny that way...).

Dont worry, you are not alone here. Ive been in the computer business all my life and if I had a buck for everytime someone asked that question, I'd be chilling out on the beach of my own island.
IMO, the only boards I'll even think about looking at are Gigabyte and Asus. They have always given me awesome service; I had problems with a Gigabyte once and the manufacturer swapped it for me with no questions asked.
Make sure that whichever mobo you go for has the right slots for your needs. You'll be needing something with PCIe and SATA. I also like to have at least one IDE channel for any old devices (or DVDROMS).

Also, I've heard that it's best to get an additional graphics card as opposed to relying on any onboard graphics so as not to tax the CPU too much, but I know nothing about graphics cards, so I'd probably screw up there - I don't know if I should be looking for 256 or 512MB, or what. I figure though I should get one that'll let me connect 2 monitors (eventually), but should the 2 outputs be VGA or something else?

I wouldn't go as far as to say that its best to get an add-on graphics card as opposed to the onboard. For music production you will have no need for an extra graphics processor. However, if you're into gaming or video editing/production, the I would suggest another graphics card.
Also I suppose if you're going to want to have a dual-monitor setup then it wouldn't be a bad idea. For now though, I dont think you need a graphics card; the onboard will be fine.

Hope this helps a little.

[Tony Ramone]

Cheers man, thanks for the quick reply
So far most of the boards I've been looking at have been gigabyte, but I'll check out what Asus has to offer too.
It's funny, I read on the SOS forum that people don't seem to like Asus, but then when you check the megathread where people post the specs for their perfectly working DAWs, nearly all of the most recent ones have Asus boards
Time to start whittling away a little more.
Cheers

[fortyseven]

I think its all relative really. According to me, Asus and Gigabyte are the only boards out there of any significance. However for every one like me there are probably ten other people who absolutely hate what I like. For example, I hate Intel CPU's. To me AMD has given me much better performance. I also hate Windows; I very, very seldom use it. Yet there are millions of people out there who would violently disagree with me. To each his own as they say.
At the end of the day you should go with what YOU want and what will work for YOU. Too many people IMO, get way too caught up in the "which is better?" trap; always wanting the best and never happy with what they have. Its very easy to fall into that and at the end of the day spend too much time comparing meaningless crap instead of just getting what you want and using it.
I remember reading a thread where Brandon was talking about how fairly cheap and easy it was for him to build his new pc. He wasn't worried about the biggest and best; he kinda knew what he wanted and went ahead and got it. He realised what was (and is) important to him and never bothered about the unimportant stuff. If I remember correctly he ended up buying an entry level motherboard and has never been happier.
Be careful. I find that most computer stores are primarily geared up for gamers and will try to sell you the ultimate gaming machine the moment you walk through the door. While gaming machines are awesome if you're a gamer, 80% of it would be completely useless to you the home recording enthusiast.
Just my opinion.

[Tony Ramone]

Thanks. I think you're right, I need to stop thinking about it so much - I've actually read brandon's comments - he got a €50 motherboard
As far as stores go, I'm going to be doing all my shopping online so I can avoid all those sales guys.
There are few Irish based companies, so I should have plenty of choices and not have to pay too much for shipping. Hopefully I'll get it all ordered this weekend and start building next week sometime. Can't wait

[fortyseven]

Personally I would start with the CPU. That would narrow down my choice of motherboards slightly. I would then look at what I need from a motherboard such as PCIe slots, USB or FW ports etc. That would narrow down my choices even more.
Then its simply a case of getting RAM, a HDD, a case, PSU and various other odds and ends.
Good luck, Tony. Let us know how it all works out for you. Scream if you need help.

[drgamble]

What software do you plan on using? If you are ever going to use Pro Tools you must have an external graphics card. For whatever reason, Pro Tools does not play nicely with integrated graphics cards. I have a 128 MB ATI Radeon card and have no problems running Pro Tools.

[Tony Ramone]

Well, at the moment I use Cubase SX3, so I'll probably stick with that for the time being - all my available funds are going into the machine, so none left for new software . Of course, I could always try Reaper...

[garww]

All very good advice. The big board companies will often have better driver support.

[Tony Ramone]

OK, well, I got all my parts during the week and started putting it all together
Q8200 Quad
Gigabyte EP43-DS3
some sapphire radeon PCI-ex card that should let me use 2 monitors (although 1 would have to be vga)
4GB RAM
Antec earthwatts 430W silent supply
Western Digital Caviar 640GB SATA drive

Oh, and it turns out the old HDD in the case is actually 40GB IDE not 160GB - dunno where I got that figure from...

Anyway, after a few hiccups (took a while to figure out how to set jumpers on the OS drive & optical (I've ordered a SATA DVD burner that should be here next week...), I am now installing windows XP...
I'll let you know how it goes