need advice on prospective giga-system

[darthmulder]

I submitted this to the TASCAM forum, but didn\'t get much help (except for Todd Rubenstein. Thanks! images/icons/smile.gif )

Below are the specs I\'m considering for a Gigastudio 160 system. I\'m looking to purchase it through (if I can mention vendors here) cyberpowerpc.com, because I have no experience building pc\'s and I have no one here to help me with it.

I think I\'ve included all the relevant details. I would appreciate it if any experienced users would weigh in on any forseeable problems in it and what changes I could make to avoid those.


SX1040 425W
P4 2.4 <to avoid denormaling problems>
GigaByte GA-8IHXP I850E (533MHZ FSB, PC1066/800)
1024 RAMBUS PC800 (CORSAIR w/heatspreader)
40GB 7200 ATA100
WD 80GB SPEC. ED. (7200, ATA100) <or 120?>
NO RAID CONFIG
MAUDIO Audiophile 2496 sound card <may have budget to upgrade>
nVidia MX440 64MB 4X AGP
16X DVD ROM
TDK 40X12X40X CDRW

other software
WINDOWS XP HOME
Cool Edit Pro 2.0
Cakewalk Home Studio 9 (with a view to upgrading to Cubase)
Roland XV-2020 editor (as I expect to use the 2020 in my setup)

Also, the mobo doesn\'t have firewire ports. Can I add that functionality another way somehow?

Thanks, everyone.
Chris

[Bill]

Going the RAMBUS route will almost double the cost of your system. Not worth it. Go with 1.5 GB of DDR.

Cakewalk Home Studio would upgrade to Sonar. If you want to end up with Cubase, why not start with Cubasis?

[darthmulder]

Originally posted by Bill:
Going the RAMBUS route will almost double the cost of your system. Not worth it. Go with 1.5 GB of DDR.

Cakewalk Home Studio would upgrade to Sonar. If you want to end up with Cubase, why not start with Cubasis? <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Thanks, Bill. So, my assumption is that the mobo is \"backwards compatible\" with DDR and not exclusively a RAMBUS setup? And it\'s safe to go over a gig of ram?

My selection of Cakewalk is only because I already own it, not that I plan on buying it (not a fan). Do you recommend, then, that I purchase and work with Cubasis for awhile, that it might be all I need? Or should I leap straight for the latest Cubase?

Thanks again,
Chris

[Vertigo50]

You would save a lot of money by building a system yourself. I could give you some help and advice if you need it. PM me if you\'re interested.

[darthmulder]

Cool. I\'ll do that.