DAW Home Computer

jadamso · 11-28-2009, 10:22 AM

Hi All!
I'm hoping you guys can give me some suggestions.
I'm looking into building a computer to run a digital audio workstation (DAW).
I've spent weeks going on the Internet trying to research components
and I've come up with the following:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5Ghz 1333FSB (which I believe I should be able to overclock
to 3.0Ghz with 1600FSB if necessary)
2 x 2GB Crucial DDR2 800Mhz RAM
(Seagate?) Hard Drive with 32MB cache, 7200rpm (Any suggestions?)
M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 soundcard.
Sapphire HD 4670 Silent Graphics Card.

All I really need is to be able to run Cubase, for example, alongside
some Virtual Instruments/Plug-Ins. I'm not interested in live recording.

My questions are as follows:
1. What motherboard should I get?
I'm pretty much decided on either an Asus or Gigabyte but am concerned
about which chipset I should get. I've looked at pro audio pcs and alot
use the P43 but it doesn't look like it supports RAID or Firewire (at least
not the boards I've seen. Is it worth having a firewire port built in or
can I get a PCI Firewire interface. Similarly is it worth getting two hard
drives and/or running them in RAID? If I did, which drive should I store Cubase and the Instruments on? The other concern about the chipset is
that there appears to be the potential for incompatibility. Is this more
about connecting external devices rather than internal devices? Steinberg advise
caution on when choosing a chipset but don't say which ones to get!
Is it worth trying to go for a motherboard which has DDR3 instead. From what I've read PC-6400 still seems to be the sweet spot.

2. Is there any point in going for RAM sold as low latencies?

3. Is there any point in going for the Asus D2X Xonar PCI-express sound card.
I'm thinking more about low latencies but am dubious as to how much real
advantage PCI-express would make. How are the latencies for external devices e.g.
Emu 0404?

4. Because of space I'm limited to a case height of 40cm. Again Asus seem
to be the only one who have cases smaller. Is anyone using a TA series case and if so
what CPU cooler are you using. I'm pretty sure that Xigmatek ones will be too big.

5. Would you advise running the system on a 32 bit or 64 bit OS.

Sorry that's a lot. I suppose my main concern is the chipset.

stormjh · 11-28-2009, 12:23 PM

I'd go for DDR 3 RAM and a motherboard that supports that, and be careful you get a board with the right processor socket as well.

11-28-2009, 10:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
jadamso Groupie Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 1	DAW Home Computer Hi All! I'm hoping you guys can give me some suggestions. I'm looking into building a computer to run a digital audio workstation (DAW). I've spent weeks going on the Internet trying to research components and I've come up with the following: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5Ghz 1333FSB (which I believe I should be able to overclock to 3.0Ghz with 1600FSB if necessary) 2 x 2GB Crucial DDR2 800Mhz RAM (Seagate?) Hard Drive with 32MB cache, 7200rpm (Any suggestions?) M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 soundcard. Sapphire HD 4670 Silent Graphics Card. All I really need is to be able to run Cubase, for example, alongside some Virtual Instruments/Plug-Ins. I'm not interested in live recording. My questions are as follows: 1. What motherboard should I get? I'm pretty much decided on either an Asus or Gigabyte but am concerned about which chipset I should get. I've looked at pro audio pcs and alot use the P43 but it doesn't look like it supports RAID or Firewire (at least not the boards I've seen. Is it worth having a firewire port built in or can I get a PCI Firewire interface. Similarly is it worth getting two hard drives and/or running them in RAID? If I did, which drive should I store Cubase and the Instruments on? The other concern about the chipset is that there appears to be the potential for incompatibility. Is this more about connecting external devices rather than internal devices? Steinberg advise caution on when choosing a chipset but don't say which ones to get! Is it worth trying to go for a motherboard which has DDR3 instead. From what I've read PC-6400 still seems to be the sweet spot. 2. Is there any point in going for RAM sold as low latencies? 3. Is there any point in going for the Asus D2X Xonar PCI-express sound card. I'm thinking more about low latencies but am dubious as to how much real advantage PCI-express would make. How are the latencies for external devices e.g. Emu 0404? 4. Because of space I'm limited to a case height of 40cm. Again Asus seem to be the only one who have cases smaller. Is anyone using a TA series case and if so what CPU cooler are you using. I'm pretty sure that Xigmatek ones will be too big. 5. Would you advise running the system on a 32 bit or 64 bit OS. Sorry that's a lot. I suppose my main concern is the chipset.

11-28-2009, 12:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
stormjh Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 161	I'd go for DDR 3 RAM and a motherboard that supports that, and be careful you get a board with the right processor socket as well.