computer upgrade recommendations?

[kyunghwee]

Hello fellow Pulsarinas/Scopers

My 6-year old Intel P4 3GHz system is showing its signs of age as newer plug-ins effects & synths start to demand more power. Considering now multi-core systems are fairly reasonably priced and Sonic Core is getting ready to release its next generation platform, I feel it's time to catch up with the current and build myself a new multi-core system.

Well, ever-so-trusty GaryB has suggested Intel DP35DP motherboard as being quite suitable with current DSP cards. So I'm thinking I'll probably stick to that since the board would be able to accomodate XITE-1 PCIe when I can afford to upgrade.

In terms of CPU, those fancy quad cores have become a lot more affordable these days that I may as well go with one of those, possibly something like Q9300...and maybe that'll last me another several years to come.

Now, I've posted the title as general computer upgrade question, but I guess my main crux of the question comes down to video card. I have not been keeping track of all these PCIe development...as my current system still runs on AGPx8 card...so I have no idea what would be the most suitable video card that won't drain all resources from the system and yet good enough to support multiple monitors at decent quality and work with Scope cards in perfect harmony.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated in all aspects of my new DAW system building project.

[garyb]

hello,
i'd just get an inexpensive nvidia card. they work very well indeed and should be well under $100. i usually use EVGA.

don't forget, that motherboard uses 1.8v memory ONLY....

[kyunghwee]

Ah, thanks so much for such a quick response, from none other than...well, you know who, the resident expert GaryB!
I was looking at something like GeForce 8600 GT with dual DVi. Seems like it would be a decent choice.

Now, please forgive my ignorance. I must ask about this '1.8v memory' business. Not all 240-pin DDR2 SDRAMs will work with this motherboard?

[garyb]

correct. it must be 1.8v in the spec.

some memory is 2.2v, some 1.9v, some 1.8v. many motherboards don't care. that one does.

i've had lots of luck with good ole kingston value ram. it's cheap, it's good. you can always add the fancy heatsinks if you want to. regardless, be sure it's a name brand stick.