RE: (amb) OT: Custom built computer for sound and graphics

From: Gary Hendershot (ghenders@gary-hendershot.com)
Date: Fri Sep 15 2000 - 03:43:48 MET DST

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    I've built many a "big I/O" boxes using the following specifications:

    * Supermicro SC760A chassis with 400 watt power supply
    http://www.supermicro.com/PRODUCT/Chassis/sc760A.htm

    * Supermicro P6DBU dual-processor mobo (made in USA)
    http://www.supermicro.com/PRODUCT/MotherBoards/440BX/p6dbu.htm
    http://www.supermicro.com/images/Imag_html/P6DGU.htm

    * 1 or 2 Pentium iii "Coppermine" 650 MHz, 750 MHz, or 850 MHz processors

    * 256 MB, 512 MB, 1024 MB PC-100 SDRAM (or ECC-SDRAM)

    * Matrox G-400 "dual-head" AGP graphics card (can feed 1 or 2 monitors. 2
    monitors for a very wide display of 2560 pixels x 1024 pixels or very tall
    stacked display, which works very well for multi-track recording.
    http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/mill_g400/home.htm

    * 1 or 2 Mitsubishi DP-2040U 22" *flat* screen CRT monitors
    http://www.necmitsubishi.com/products/home/product.cfm?productid=106&cfid=32
    7133&cftoken=31711925

    AUDIO
    ------

    It depends on exactly what you need. I'm guessing you don't need to
    digitise 8 audio channels at one time or interface to a digital audio
    standard like ADAT, so...

    * Lynx Studio LynxONE 4 channel digital/analogue audio card. Simply one of
    the best pro audio cards with the highest audio quality you can get, without
    resorting to expensive outboard A/D convertors -- and affordable at about
    US$300. Full-duplex MIDI. Drivers for Windows 2000 / NT4 / 98 /95.
    http://www.lynxstudio.com/

    OPERATING SYSTEM:
    -----------------
    Windows 2000 Professional (i.e. -- Windows 2000 workstation). Better at
    *everything* than WinNT 4.0 ever was and FAR more stable and robust than
    Windows 95/95OEM2/98/98SE.

    APPLICATION SOFTWARE:
    ----------------------
    Any Windows 2000-compatible audio application, like:

    * Sonic Foundry Vegas Video / Vegas Audio
    * Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 4.5

    (PS: these 2 can utilise dual-processors under NT 4.0 or Windows 2000)

    ...there are others!

    STORAGE:
    ----------

    Supermicro P6DBU mobo has built-in Ultra2 LVD SCSI channel, so you could
    attach one high performance 10kRPM or 15kRPM SCSI hard drive of your choice
    (IBM, Quantum, Seagate), or use just any IDE drive (preferably a 7200 RPM
    drive like the IBM 75GXP series 30 GB, 60 GB, or 75 GB) in the IDE channel,
    or go with RAID (below) for "big I/O"...

    RAID:

    * Adaptec ARO-1130U2 Ultra2 SCSI "zero slot, RAID-Port iii" RAID controller
    (plugs into Supermicro mobo)
    http://www.adaptec.com/products/overview/aro1130u2.html
    For RAID, 2 or more of the following IBM 36LZX Ultra-160 SCSI hard drives
    (18 GB, 36 GB), or 2 or more Quantum Atlas 10Kii (18 GB, 36 GB, 72 GB), or 2
    or more Seagate X-15 (18 GB only).

    Alternative to SCSI RAID would be 3-Ware 6200 (2-port) 6400 (4-port) or 6800
    (8-port) IDE RAID controller. (PS: Stay the hell away from the Promise IDE
    RAID controller)
    http://www.3ware.com/products/index.shtml
    Stick with IBM 75GXP IDE hard drives, since they work much better in arrays
    than other brands.
    http://www.storage.ibm.com/techsup/hddtech/table.htm

    Except for mouse and keyboard, chances are I missed something above. E-Mail
    me for questions / details.

    I'm running out of time here, so, got to go...

    C:\Gary H@>
    http://www.gary-hendershot.com/
    mailto:ghenders@gary-hendershot.com
    mailto:ghendershot@gmx.de (junk mail)
    Houston, TX USA

    ================================================================
    >
    > Please excuse the slightly off-topic post but I just couldn't pass up on
    > your collective wisdom. After fighting with my Compaq Presario and
    > formating the HD four times now I decided that I want to build my own
    > system. I plan to give the Compaq to my parents and just take the 2nd HD
    > (30 gigs) and the CDRW. I plan to use this computer explicitly for sound
    > and graphic editing and of course MS Office type stuff. Here is what I'm
    > thinking:
    >
    > Motherboard: Asus -- maybe dual processor, depending on the price
    > Memory: Micorn or Simple Tech -- I want at least 256
    > HD: 30 Gigs
    > CDRW: HP 10X
    >
    > What kind of soundcard and videocard should I get? Any and all leads are
    > greatly appreciated.
    >



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