Giga DAW with Athalon 1.4 gHz?

[Aenigma]

In just a couple weeks I plan on buying the parts and building my dedicated Giga PC. I\'ve read many of the threads here and at other message boards, consulted specs for prebuilt systems, etc,etc. Here are a few questions for the masses:

I haven\'t seen any specs for a system built around an ADM Thunderbird 1.4gHz chip, but that it what I would prefer. Many people have recommended the ASUS A7V133 motherboard, however all the specs for this say it\'s rated for up to 1 gHz. I don\'t want to risk causeing any problems by putting a higher speed CPU in it, so is there something else that would work?

RAM -- It was reccomended that I get Mushkin High Performance RAM chips. However, these only come in 256 MB modules, which places my limit at 768 MB. Will Windows 98 and giga work well with even more memory than this? And if so, what is a good type of RAM that comes in 512 mb chips that is as good or better than the Mushkin High Performance.

I will be using an Aardvard Direct-Pro LX6 for my soundcard. Aardvark recommended that whatever motherboard I get, it should have an AMD chipset who\'s number begins with 76.

Any help you could offer would be appreciated.

[Kenn159]

I also looked at the Asus web site and could not find reference to a higher than 1.2 CPU
for the A7V-133 motherboard.
But I bought a 1.4 AMD CPU and installed it on the A7V and it worked fine.
I just got it have half way configured it , so I should know more later.
But from what I have leared that you have to go into the Bios and change the Multiplier to 10.5 and on the same page set the ram and CPU to 133 that will give you 1.4 gigaherz.


n the A7V-133 .-*9

[Simon Ravn]

If you need the system only for Gigastudio there is no reason to buy such a speedy CPU. It\'ll just generate unnecessary amounts of heat = noise. Get an 800mhz Duron or something http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Aenigma]

Yes, I know that I don\'t need to go quite this high for running Giga now, but who knows what might be coming up that may require more. Now we have Maestro-Tools coming with Garritan Orchestral Strings, so theres a little more CPU usage. (And besides that, it\'d just be pretty cool!)

As for the noise factor, it\'s not. I live in the midwest and I\'ve got huge window AC units that will easily drown out any possible noise from my PC.

Back to my system specs, I\'ve found some motherboards that are rated for 1.4 gHz, and have the correct chipset that was reccomended for my soundcard. As a side benefit, it\'s got a 266 bus speed, and takes up to 2 GB of DRAM chips (also at 266).

Certainly these aren\'t necessary for Giga, but having faster components certainly shouldn\'t hurt giga\'s performance.

I think I\'ve made the mistake too many times of getting just enough to do the job, only to regret not getting something better. I certainly don\'t want to make that mistake again.

[SteveHanlon]

check out roll-your-own at www.prorec.com (\"http://www.prorec.com\")

Pete Leoni recommends an IwillK266 motherboard for the T-bird\'s

[Simon Ravn]

Aenigma - MaestroTools doesn\'t use any measurable CPU time. And no library requires more CPU time than any other, playing a sample is playing a sample - maybe filtering requires a little more CPU but it\'s very very little. If you don\'t plan on using NFX plugins your CPU will never be the bottleneck. I think I use 30% CPU time on my TBird 1Ghz when performance is maxed out.

[Simon Ravn]

Memory transfer speed and the HD\'s and the HD interface are the most important factors.

[Munsie]

I think we can all agree any mhz from 600-900 is going to be fine for a dedicated GigaStudio system. I have found in reading various messages and building my own system (around a 933mhz PIII), that the hard drive system is pretty vital as well. You\'ll need at least 2 drives. One for the main program data files and any other programs you install, and another drive JUST for your samples. Make sure you research your hard drive(s).

[JoE]

While we\'re at it, is there any problem using Windows 98 (on an ASUS A7V) with 1.5 GB of RAM? Some people claim that the OS cannot manage this amount of RAM, but I couldn\'t find any precise information on this.

Thanks,
Jens.

[Simon Ravn]

I use 1gb on Win98se, and I think 98 can handle up to 2 or 4 gb - however you have to set a specific VCACHE min/max - if you let Windows handle it, your system will not boot... http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Aenigma]

I\'m getting my PC this week. The motherboard ASUS A7A266 can take up to 2 GB of DDR memory, and 3 GB of regular PC133 sdram. I\'m assuming I can\'t use both at the same time? 3+2=5? I\'m planning on going with 1 GB of DDR - is this a good idea?

Thanks everyone for your help in this thread.

[Aenigma]

Oops, duh.. forgot the main thing I was going to ask. At what time to do I change the vcache settings in win98? If this prevents it from booting, how does one get it to boot in the first place to make these changes?

[Simon Ravn]

You can use safemode to boot... Or you can go into DOS and edit the system.ini file.

[Aenigma]

Thanks Simon.

Since I will also have 1 GB, can you tell me what values have worked best for you?

[SOD213]

It\'ll boot fine with 1GB. I haven\'t had the chance (or the necessity ;-) ) to try it with more than that. Set your VCACHE to:

[VCache]
MinFileCache=32768
MaxFileCache=524288
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/12.ASP (\"http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/12.ASP\")

If the system gives you any other performance issues, up the MinFileCache to 65536 (64MB) or 131072 (128MB) . I\'m still testing with these settings, but so far, so good.

[Simon Ravn]

Mine didn\'t boot with 1GB - Microsoft even has info on this and warnings that it can happen and you should therefore set a fixed min/max cache value.

[NAZARU]

Aenigma,
Beware of the Asus A7A. I got rid of mine. There are stability problems with the Ali Majik chipset. A friend of mine who is the technician at Prime Computer told me that they are geting nearly 30% returns on this board. I really trust his opinion. Check out Tom\'s hardware guide for benchmark testing of the latest DDR motherboards to get some more insight into these boards before you take the plunge. Hope this helps. Peace.