Possible upgrade help

[voidar]

Hi,

I could need some tips. Not very updated on the current HW trends.

I'm on a Intel P4, ASUS P4P800 series mobo, and I would need something that could replace this. I would need to integrate my three DSP boards. I also have an AGP card, so if anything like this is available be sure to shout out.

Anyway, any reports on working Scope systems would be ok. Also, I use mainly XTC mode these days.

[garyb]

off the top of my head, not necessarily gospel-
things have progressed quite a bit. you'll need a new video card to a pcie one, but they're cheap. currently, the fastest, most stable things are i5 and i7 intel based. the step just before that is pretty cheap, though and might be a better buy, depending on how you work. if your old system was basically powerful enough, maybe just a little bit lacking, then a core2 duo or quad based machine would be really inexpensive and a MAJOR upgrade. in that case, the dp35dp motherboard by intel is still the one to get. if you are having exteme issues because of a severe lack of horse power, then the newest i5s and i7s are the way to go. people here have reported success on Gigabyte motherboards(with the latest bios) and i would expect the intel board to work, too. with three pci cards, Asus may or may not be in the running because of irq sharing. there haven't been a whole lot of people running i5 or i7s with three cards yet, so not to many reports come to mind at the moment. hopefully, those with experience will speak up....

[petal]

I'm in pretty much the same situation as you Voider - Well actually I'd like to find a Mobo with 4 PCI slots for an I7 -CPU, but I havn't seen any yet. If anybody know anything please speak up Even boards with 3 PCI-slots are difficult to find these days, but there are some. I guess Gigabyt GA-EX58-UD4:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mot ... uctID=2988

is one of the better choices atm.

Also, I've been looking into getting an SSD-drive for my system-drive, but I get the impression that it's a bit of a jungle where there's good and "bad" ssd-drive's. Does anybody know what to aim for and why?

Cheers,
Thomas

[dawman]

http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/ ... Advantech/

These guys have an i7 w/ 4 x PCI 32bit but I have only read about it.
I would send them an email and make inquiries.
They sell replacement boards for old Macs and PC's still.

[valis]

I'm in pretty much the same situation as you Voider - Well actually I'd like to find a Mobo with 4 PCI slots for an I7 -CPU, but I havn't seen any yet. If anybody know anything please speak up Even boards with 3 PCI-slots are difficult to find these days, but there are some. I guess Gigabyt GA-EX58-UD4:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Mot ... uctID=2988

is one of the better choices atm.

Also, I've been looking into getting an SSD-drive for my system-drive, but I get the impression that it's a bit of a jungle where there's good and "bad" ssd-drive's. Does anybody know what to aim for and why?

Cheers,
Thomas

For OS/App drive duties, OCZ's better performing drives or Intel's X-25M G2 (not the 40GB model) would be ideal, along with Win7.

For 'rompler' and sample storage that is read-only, you can actually widen your choices even more. The write penalties (speed & micro-fragmentation) aren't an issue then. I'd still stay about $2.50/Gb tho as the cheapest ones are dog slow and wear out faster (cheap nand.)

I think most jmicron controllers are still avoided (there is reputedly a newer/better one) but Intel, indilinx and Sandforce (used in the newest OCZ Vertex 2 Pro) ssd controllers tend to be the favored ones for performance. OCZ Summit with the Samsung controller is a decent choice for a read-only (rompler/sampler) drive as well.

[voidar]

... depending on how you work. if your old system was basically powerful enough, maybe just a little bit lacking, then a core2 duo or quad based machine would be really inexpensive and a MAJOR upgrade. in that case, the dp35dp motherboard by intel is still the one to get.

Thanks for chiming in Gary.

The dp35dp route might be a good way to go. Due to the DSP hardware I have been quite satisfied running the old P4 system, though mostly DSP, I find I am running more native stuff these days so a boost would be welcome.
I would also like to be able to run a smaller buffer as I quickly have to jump up to 1024 on mixdowns.

dp35dp would let me use my old RAM (DDR2 800) and drives, but I would still ned a new CPU and GPU. Cheaper upgrade.
Though I should get some new RAM if I want to go the Core2 route, which would be more in line with your "gospel" here right?

I guess this one would be ok? http://www.amentio.no/PartDetail.aspx?q ... 123%3br:pg

[garyb]

yep.

btw-you can always upgrade ram afterwards. ram is pretty cheap these days, though...

[dawman]

Voidar........
If you go w/ the DP35DP you can get really excellent VST / Native power from the E8600.
It's really the best DualCore IMHO.
Quads cannot get the really low latency due to the shared cache design.
The i7 can definately fix that, but IMHO I have used the DP35DP since it came out and it is a very stable mobo for Scope,and when the E8600 is used its on Par with the i7 920 except for Kontakt polyphony.
Sometimes a fast FSB is all that is needed.
And you should also tweak the RAM as described here.
Really low CL5 settings are a big boost w/ VSTi's.

http://xtreview.com/review215.htm

This with the 3GB PAE Switch would be a great DSP/VST rig for at least 4 years....
In case you do a live gig with the DAW rest assured this Dog Will Hunt.

[voidar]

Thanks for these specifics. Really appreciate it. It will make this task much more effective.