New system for Gaming and Recording

[TongueNgroove]

Hey guys.

I am looking to build a new system. In this system I need to know what I should get for a Mother Board, RAM and CPU.

I am going to reuse my Video Card and Monitor and I already have a Sound Card picked out.


I need the mother board to support 2-3 PCIe slots, 2 PCI slots, SATA hard drive, NO on board Sound please. Does Gigabyte have anything like this? I had no luck finding it.

Also, I am not sure what the newest CPU's are now, I don't want top of the line, I want best bang for buck. What would that be right now. I am thinking Intel for sure.

I would like fast ram, but it doesn't have to be overclockable. Something like Corsair's RAM witha reasonable CAS latency. I will be needing 3gigs of Ram since I am using 32bit windows XP.

A really good 200gig or so SATA hard drive.

I am getting an M-Audio 1010LT PCIe or E-mu 1212m PCIe sound card and keeping my Nvidia 8600GT PCIe and monitor.

Can you guys help out please?

Thanks!

 

[foothead]

Ummm.... we need a budget, and what the system will be used for.

Also, why no onboard sound? and 3GB of 'fast ram' will not work on anything besides LGA1366 platform. You need 4GB for dual channel support.

 

[TongueNgroove]

I said what the computer will be used for....

Budget is not important, I explained what I wanted, not top of the line, but best bang for buck.

No onboard sound, because I don't need it and it always conflicts with my sound cards.

RAM can run as two 1gig sticks and two 512meg sticks and be dual channel supported.


Thanks.

 

[foothead]

Yes I did read what you posted. 'gaming and recording' is about as nonspecific as you can get.

It's going to be very difficult finding a mobo without onboard sound. Just go into device manager and disable it. After this, it will not be a problem.

It is typically a bad idea to be running different sized DIMMs in dual channel. Optimally, everything should be identical if you are looking for high speeds. TBH, I'd just get 4GB in a 2x2GB kit and let Windows cut it down a bit. XP really is not gonna last much longer, so when you upgrade, get 64-bit and all 4GB can be used.

 

[GibsonSGKing]

Yes I did read what you posted. 'gaming and recording' is about as nonspecific as you can get.

It's going to be very difficult finding a mobo without onboard sound. Just go into device manager and disable it. After this, it will not be a problem.

It is typically a bad idea to be running different sized DIMMs with dual channel. Optimally, everything should be identical if you are looking for high speeds. TBH, I'd just get 4GB in a 2x2GB kit and let Windows cut it down a bit. XP really is not gonna last much onger, so when you upgrade, get 64-bit and all 4GB can be used.

Or just turn it off in the BIOS. It's not 1995, this stuff actually works now, and your computer won't crash if you plug in a scanner without the drivers first. I promise.

 

[TongueNgroove]

Well, thanks for the help guys.

BTW foothead, I ment, did you read anything but the title. Obviously you didn't.

Anyways, nevermind. I will figure it out on my own.

 

[Remeniz]

Hey guys.

I am looking to build a new system. In this system I need to know what I should get for a Mother Board, RAM and CPU.

I am going to reuse my Video Card and Monitor and I already have a Sound Card picked out.


I need the mother board to support 2-3 PCIe slots, 2 PCI slots, SATA hard drive, NO on board Sound please. Does Gigabyte have anything like this? I had no luck finding it.

Also, I am not sure what the newest CPU's are now, I don't want top of the line, I want best bang for buck. What would that be right now. I am thinking Intel for sure.

I would like fast ram, but it doesn't have to be overclockable. Something like Corsair's RAM witha reasonable CAS latency. I will be needing 3gigs of Ram since I am using 32bit windows XP.

A really good 200gig or so SATA hard drive.

I am getting an M-Audio 1010LT PCIe or E-mu 1212m PCIe sound card and keeping my Nvidia 8600GT PCIe and monitor.

Can you guys help out please?

Thanks!

I built my system for audio production/recording. Check the sig...

Also i'm running XP Pro 32 and use an M-Audio Delta 1010 interface. The interfaces you mention are great.

I recommend components similar to mine...

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R.
TR3X3G1600C8D - 3GB (3x1GB) Corsair Dominator.
Intel Core i7 930.

The motherboard has 3 PCIe slots and 2 PCI slots that you require. You also get 10 SATA ports and although it has on-board audio you just disable this in the BIOS. The RAM is fast! 1600Mhz Corsair and the CPU is the i7 930.

Seriously for audio work it's fantastic. It comes into its own when you start processing audio, using lots of plugins/virtual instruments. Also with a nice graphics card it'll make a great gaming machine.

I recommend using at least two hard drives. One for the OS and applications and the other for streaming your audio/sample. As long as you choose a 7200RPM 16MB cache or 32MB cache drive for you audio drive it won't restrict the number of tracks you can record/stream to your audio software.

The graphics card will be fine for audio applications, single or dual screen, but will struggle on some hardcore games.

EDIT: Just after posting the link to a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 the removed the product.

 

[TongueNgroove]

Thanks a lot Remeniz, this sounds like a good rig. Now to check out the cost.

I think the i7's are the newest thing right? Are there any other recommendations for the CPU, maybe at a closely related performance, but cheaper price?

Thanks again.

 

[Remeniz]

Thanks a lot Remeniz, this sounds like a good rig. Now to check out the cost.

I think the i7's are the newest thing right? Are there any other recommendations for the CPU, maybe at a closely related performance, but cheaper price?

Thanks again.

About £480 for the previous rig.

The i7's have been out a while now. The i7 930 is great as it's cheap and has a hell of a lot of number crunching ability. You can go for the i5's to save a few quid but the i7 platform is more future proof.

Intel i5...

Intel Core i5 750
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD5 There are a few cheaper alternatives we can go with.
4GB(2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Dominator

£460

Also you have the AMD set ups too...

Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
4GB(2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Dominator

£418

I choose Gigabyte for the T.I. firewire chipsets. The T.I. firewire chipsets work better with firewire audio interfaces/equipment and they're great motherboards. The Phenom II X4 965 is currently top of the line for AMD and again you get the fast Corsair 1600Mhz RAM. Regardless of the cost reduction it's still a cracking set-up. And remember all these rigs with the right graphics card will give you hours of gaming pleasure as well as productive audio creation/production.

We can go for cheaper RAM and motherboards but at least here are 3 rigs you can start with.

 

[foothead]

Well, thanks for the help guys.

BTW foothead, I ment, did you read anything but the title. Obviously you didn't.

Anyways, nevermind. I will figure it out on my own.

Yes I did read everything you posted. It is hard to build a system without knowing specifically what it will be used for.

I need to know what type of recording, what games you will be playing, what resolution, etc. to be able to put together a good system for you.

BTW, ditch the 8600. If you are considering an i7, the 8600 needs to go. It is going to be a massive bottleneck.