Due to order a 3XS SA-i7 PowerDAW. Help needed.....

[hesnotthemessia]

Hello there everyone. Until very recently I have used a combination of two PCs:-

Main DAW - Pentium 4 3Ghz 1GB RAM Windows XP Running Cubase VST5 (yes VST5!)
2 x Sonic Core (prev. Creamware) Pro DSP sound cards
3 x Powercore DSP cards (2 PCI MKII + 1 PCI)

Second PC - Intel Core 2 6600 2.4Ghz 2GB RAM Windows XP Running Cubase SX2
Frontier Design Dakota + Montana Soundcards
2 x Powercore DSP cards (2 PCI)
4 x UAD1 PCI cards
Powercore + UAD1 in a 13 slot Magma Chasis

The two PCs were linked via midi and audio (via ADAT). I came to this setup over about a 4 year period - at one point I actually had 3 PCs on the go at one time! The main DAW I am sure is going to die soon and the second PC is basically crap! It worked fine when I was using it with Cubase SX2 to just host various plugins (so I was using the PC like a sound module). It had no problem with the Magma Chasis (with the Powercore and UAD1 cards) and the Frontier Design sound card combo. With a view to using just one PC, I tried using this PC as my main DAW over the last few days but it now coughs and splutters when I use the Sonic Core and Powercore cards in it. Having taken out the Fronier Design cards and replacing them with the Sonic Core cards I have come to the conclusion that I don't think it can handle the extra activity on it's PCI busses that the Sonic Core creates. From what I have read on the net the PC Chips P23G motherboard this PC uses is rather useless. I also need a PCIE slot for the new Sonic Core Xite (which will replace my current Sonic Core cards) plus I may possibly buy a UAD Quad PCIE card. There are various other reasons for changing my setup which I won't go into here (unless you want me to!) but I have decided that, as I have some redundancy money available, I should take this opportunity to buy a PC that can run loads of plugins, allow me to play loads of audio tracks, be able to cope with a fair amount of activity on it's PCI/PCIE busses, allow me to use the fantastic Sonic Core Xite now that I will actually have some PCIE slots and won't sound like a Force 10 gale is ripping through my bedroom.
I would like to be able to use the Magma Chasis in one of the PCI slots. The Magma Chasis will house 2 or 3 Powercore cards and 4 UAD1 cards. I would like to use one of the PCIE slots for the Sonic Core Xite which is a sound card/DSP card. I may get a UAD Quad card, in which case I would then remove all but one of the UAD1 cards from the Magma Chasis. This would allow me to use the plugins authorised for the UAD1 card on the Quad card. How I place the PCI cards will depend on the IRQ settings - it might be better if I placed certain cards in any free PCI slot rather than in the Magma Chasis. Can Scan provide details of the IRQ settings for the PCI/PCIE slots?

This looks like the system I will go for:-

System Overview

Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
Case: Silverstone KL03B "Kublai Tower Series"
CPU: Intel i7 965 Extreme 3.2GHz 6.4GT s QPI 8MB Cache
CPU Coolers: Thermalright TRUE Copper 120mm
Overclocking: **No Overclocking Required**
Memory: 3GB (3x1GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics: 512MB Palit 9500GT 550MHz GPU 32 Cores 800MHz GDDR2
ATI Graphics: *No ATI VGA Card Required* (NVIDIA Required)
Power Supply Unit: 650W Be Quiet Dark Power PRO BN073 Modular PSU 87% Eff
System Drives: 250 GB Seagate ST3250310NS Barracuda ES.2 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 1000 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache, 2 selected
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S223Q BEBN 22x DVD±R 8x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 x12 RAM SATA L scribe
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: *No Soundcard Required*
USB 2.0 Firewire Cards: *No USB Firewire Card Required*
Acoustic Sound Proofing: AcoustiPack ULTIMATE Multi-Layered Material Kit
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: ***No Wireless Required***
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 OEM - Single Pack
Software Multimedia: *No Software Required*
Software - Application: *No Software Required*
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Standard Movie Audio Player & Decoder
Software - Security: *No Software Required*
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: *Keyboard Not Required*
Application Specific Keyboards & Controllers : *No Keyboard Controller Required*
Professional Studio Monitors: *No Studio Monitors Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)


NVIDIA Graphics: 512MB Palit 9500GT 550MHz GPU 32 Cores 800MHz GDDR2
Not sure about whch graphics card to go for and I could really do with some help here. I currently use two Acer AL2416W 24inch analogue (DSub) monitors. Ideally I would to be able to use 3 lots of 24" monitors so that I could view my Sonic Core stuff (mixer and routing area) on one screen and Cubase5 (getting today hopefully) over two screens. But I don't think this is possible with any of the graphics cards Scan can supply. I may have to stick with using two monitors and maybe save up for two larger screens in the future (man, this redundancy money is going fast.........I am going to have to find a new job pretty quick at this rate! All this lovely gear but no time to use it then!) Plus, with my heavy use of DSP cards, I don't want my graphics card hogging the PCI/PCIE busses (should this be a concern?). One other concern is that I don't want to be prevented from being able to use one of the PCIE slots because the graphics card blocks it. Could this be a problem?

Due to phone Scan today to speak to someone about all this. Thanks for reading.

All the best.

Nev.

[PeteG@Scan]

Originally Posted by hesnotthemessia

Hello there everyone.

Hello

I tried using this PC as my main DAW over the last few days but it now coughs and splutters when I use the Sonic Core and Powercore cards in it. Having taken out the Fronier Design cards and replacing them with the Sonic Core cards I have come to the conclusion that I don't think it can handle the extra activity on its PCI busses that the Sonic Core creates. From what I have read on the net the PC Chips P23G motherboard this PC uses is rather useless.

You don't mention if that board has been loaded with ddr 1 or ddr 2 memory. Your right on what you say through, the specs don't read as particularly pleasant to work with and being a hybrid board I don't imagine you have enough bandwidth at all to cope with the amount of data your transferring around the system. You may actually see a large improvement by fitting a better board to that machine with some faster memory if you fancy reusing some of those parts at a later date.

There are various other reasons for changing my setup which I won't go into here (unless you want me to!)

If it's relevant, please do. Always handy to know the background info as it can help shape the system knowing how it's going to be used.

I would like to be able to use the Magma Chasis in one of the PCI slots. The Magma Chasis will house 2 or 3 Powercore cards and 4 UAD1 cards. I would like to use one of the PCIE slots for the Sonic Core Xite which is a sound card/DSP card. I may get a UAD Quad card, in which case I would then remove all but one of the UAD1 cards from the Magma Chasis. This would allow me to use the plugins authorised for the UAD1 card on the Quad card. How I place the PCI cards will depend on the IRQ settings - it might be better if I placed certain cards in any free PCI slot rather than in the Magma Chasis. Can Scan provide details of the IRQ settings for the PCI/PCIE slots?

Windows since XP (maybe even 98M.E.) has been assigning IRQ's itself so bios assignments are not really that relevant. I can grab a screen shot later on when one goes onto software with the standard assignments that it dishes out but I'm not sure if this will be too helpful. Devices ship with a few different IRQ settings in the hardware and they'll choose whichever one is free and relevant at the time of install thus if you have a device in there that takes priority then the IRQ list I give you now will be invalid.

Slot wise you need a minimum of 1 x pci for the magma and 2 x pcix for the sonic xite and uad quad if you go for it. I'm thinking the UD4P or UD5 maybe better choices for reasons i'll go over below.

NVIDIA Graphics: 512MB Palit 9500GT 550MHz GPU 32 Cores 800MHz GDDR2
Not sure about which graphics card to go for and I could really do with some help here. I currently use two Acer AL2416W 24inch analogue (DSub) monitors. Ideally I would to be able to use 3 lots of 24" monitors so that I could view my Sonic Core stuff (mixer and routing area) on one screen and Cubase5 (getting today hopefully) over two screens. But I don't think this is possible with any of the graphics cards Scan can supply. I may have to stick with using two monitors and maybe save up for two larger screens in the future (man, this redundancy money is going fast.........I am going to have to find a new job pretty quick at this rate! All this lovely gear but no time to use it then!) Plus, with my heavy use of DSP cards, I don't want my graphics card hogging the PCI/PCIE busses (should this be a concern?). One other concern is that I don't want to be prevented from being able to use one of the PCIE slots because the graphics card blocks it. Could this be a problem?

One of the reasons audio p.c's use low spec cards is so they don't hog the bandwidth. Long as you stay low end you'll be fine. If you want to go 3 screens you have a couple of options.

The first option is fit two video cards. Windows will use whatever ports it has access too so you could add in a pair of video cards and have upto 4 displays. As a side note if you had monitors with hdmi you could in theory run 6 as the's a few cards (including ones for under £40) that have dsub/dvi/hdmi. I've seen someone running a 32" tv as his main screen (cubase monitor) with a pair of 24"'s below it (sample editing & vsti's).

The only issue here is that using passive cards will block up the slot underneath which makes configuration hard enough with just one card in there, let alone two.

The second if space is at a premium inside the machine is a video signal splitter.

The's two options here as any card you go for will have the option of 2 monitors on the outputs (dsub & dvi (which can be converted to a second dsub) so you could add a duel head splitter and still run a 3rd monitor off the card.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Matro...C-and-Notebook

That option uses the power of the video card to handle the signal and is more common for gaming set ups as it's the most powerful option for handling video in this fashion.

The's also (and this is the cheapest option I think) usb monitor outputs. These have a small on board chip to handle the gfx (think something along the lines of the onboard intel solutions in a box) and should be fine for any 2d applications.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=854534
Full selection: http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-4-397-0 (last 4 items)

If you go for the two card option the ud4p and the ud5 are the best options. One problem with the gigabyte range is that the pcix x1 on all of them has a heatsink nearby that will make it useless for a uad quad. With those two boards at least you have a 3 pcix gfx slot you can use for the UAD.

If you go with a single gfx card and duel head/usb monitor output then going with either board is fine but the ud4 will handle 2 more pcix cards and still give you an extra pci slot to squeeze another of your older cards in.

The biggest issue i think is finding you a suitable gfx card. Most passives take up more than one slot. Looking at what's about we have these now http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/256MB...D-Sub-DVI-HDMI which take up a single slot (through clearance is tight with the card next to them). Might be worth trying one of these with an spliter or you may even be able to fit two in with your cards. With the not being much clearance it may come down to how much heat the rest of the cards give off, but it well be a workable solution.

[hesnotthemessia]

:Hi there PeteG Thanks for the info, very helpful. I have decided to do the following:-

Buy the system as quoted in my first post. Go with the NVIDIA 9500GT.
Buy an Xite1.
Fit my 2 Powercore MKII cards into 2 of it's PCI slots.
Fit the Magama Chasis into the other PCI slot and use 2 more Powercore MKI cards in it.
Fit the Xite1 into one of it's PCIE slot.
Sell my UAD1 cards.

I have decided that 2 screens will be enough for now. The dual head splitter option is always possible. Thanks for pointing this out to me.

The Xite1 is a great as it has loads of DSP and none of the latency incurred with the Powercore and UAD cards. I will still use the Powecore cards for their Virus and VStation plugins. Plus it does have loads of other great plugins that I love (Filtroid, NonLin2, Dynamic EQ etc.). I like to mix (add EQ, compression etc.) as I track rather than do it all at the end, so the UAD cards can be a bit of a hassle with all that latency building up! The UAD plugins do sound lovely but with my Sonic Core Xite1, Powercores and, of course, all the extra CPU power, I think I should be able to cope without them. I do have every UAD1 plugin except for 4, so hopefully I should get a decent price for the UAD1 cards That money will come in very handy once I have purchased the 3XS SA-i7 PowerDAW and Xite-1!

Spoke to Lee at Scan today who was very friendly and helpful.

Just about to put the orders in now......................

[PeteG@Scan]

Cool, glad Lee could help.

That Nvidia 9500, it's heatsink will obstruct the pci slot below, so if you need that slot then you will be better off with the 8400 I mentioned before. Other than that all good.

[hesnotthemessia]

System Overview

Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
Case: Silverstone KL03B "Kublai Tower Series"
CPU: Intel i7 965 Extreme 3.2GHz 6.4GT s QPI 8MB Cache
CPU Coolers: Thermalright TRUE Copper 120mm
Overclocking: **No Overclocking Required**
Memory: 3GB (3x1GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics: 512MB Palit 9500GT 550MHz GPU 32 Cores 800MHz GDDR2
ATI Graphics: *No ATI VGA Card Required* (NVIDIA Required)
Power Supply Unit: 650W Be Quiet Dark Power PRO BN073 Modular PSU 87% Eff
System Drives: 250 GB Seagate ST3250310NS Barracuda ES.2 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 1000 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache, 2 selected
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S223Q BEBN 22x DVD±R 8x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 x12 RAM SATA L scribe
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: *No Soundcard Required*
USB 2.0 Firewire Cards: *No USB Firewire Card Required*
Acoustic Sound Proofing: AcoustiPack ULTIMATE Multi-Layered Material Kit
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: ***No Wireless Required***
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 OEM - Single Pack
Software Multimedia: *No Software Required*
Software - Application: *No Software Required*
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Standard Movie Audio Player & Decoder
Software - Security: Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 1 User 1 Year
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: *Keyboard Not Required*
Application Specific Keyboards & Controllers : *No Keyboard Controller Required*
Professional Studio Monitors: *No Studio Monitors Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

Decided to go for the NVIDIA 9500GT - I don't think I will miss losing one PCIE slot, at least for some time yet. I think the 8400 might be a bit underpowered for my needs - I don't play any games but use plenty of screen space with the two 24" monitors. Still, anythings better than my current Radeon 9250 AGP card!

Any particular preferences regarding hard drive size/configuration and manufacturer? The only plugin I use which relies heavily on samples is Battery3. Total hard drive space filled with samples at present is about 23GB. Yes just 23GB! I don't do any hard disk recording at the moment - all finished stuff is recorded to CD and I have never recorded to hard disk from Cubase. I do intend to record to hard disk with this new system though. Internal hard drives are so cheap now. 1000GB drives seem the most cost effecient, though I can't really see myself ever needing more than 1000GB in total for all my needs. But it's better to have too much than too little! I will use one 1000GB drive for audio and another for samples. Plus a 250GB system drive.

I ordered a Sonic Core Xcite today from The Production Room. Should be with me in about 10 to 14 days. Just need to get this 3XS SA-i7 PowerDAW ordered and then wait patiently..............

If anyone needs 4 UAD1 cards with all the plugins except for the Cooper Time Cube, Little Labs IBP, Precision De-Esser and Precision EQ then I have them for sale. Might have a spare 13 slot Magma Chasis aswell. Could be a cheaper option to purchase most of the UAD1 plugins this way (can be used with the UAD2) plus you will, of course, get the extra processing power of 4 UAD1s.


Probably put my Scan order through tomorrow........Cheers



Nev.

[PeteG@Scan]

Originally Posted by hesnotthemessia

Decided to go for the NVIDIA 9500GT - I don't think I will miss losing one PCIE slot, at least for some time yet. I think the 8400 might be a bit underpowered for my needs - I don't play any games but use plenty of screen space with the two 24" monitors. Still, anythings better than my current Radeon 9250 AGP card!

If you still have the UD4 board in there, then you'll be loseing a pci slot not a pcix slot, althrough going off what you stated you'll proberly notice that even less!

I have one of those 8400's in my media box at home currently. It drives a 32" tv and a 22" monitor in their native resolutions without any issues. As long as your not playing games, you can get away with just about any of the current cards for display useage.

Any particular preferences regarding hard drive size/configuration and manufacturer? The only plugin I use which relies heavily on samples is Battery3. Total hard drive space filled with samples at present is about 23GB. Yes just 23GB! I don't do any hard disk recording at the moment - all finished stuff is recorded to CD and I have never recorded to hard disk from Cubase. I do intend to record to hard disk with this new system though. Internal hard drives are so cheap now. 1000GB drives seem the most cost effecient, though I can't really see myself ever needing more than 1000GB in total for all my needs. But it's better to have too much than too little! I will use one 1000GB drive for audio and another for samples. Plus a 250GB system drive.

That's some remarkable restraint on the drive usage. I know how bad I am for loading up whatever packages I can find to tinker around with. The original idea of the drives was to do what you discribed and keep samples and project data on seperate drives. As you say for the price these days you may as well have the extra just in case. For the system drive I like the seagate e.s. which you have in there already for it's speed and longlife (it's a searver class drive). The samsungs are in there for speed as well, althrough the 750gig one's have the same cache (which give it the speed) if you don't think you need quite as much as you've already got.

I ordered a Sonic Core Xcite today from The Production Room. Should be with me in about 10 to 14 days. Just need to get this 3XS SA-i7 PowerDAW ordered and then wait patiently..............

I admit i've never played with any of the sonic core gear, looks interesting but they've never been common enough, that i've come across one. How does it measure up against the UAD your trading up from?

If anyone needs 4 UAD1 cards with all the plugins except for the Cooper Time Cube, Little Labs IBP, Precision De-Esser and Precision EQ then I have them for sale. Might have a spare 13 slot Magma Chasis aswell. Could be a cheaper option to purchase most of the UAD1 plugins this way (can be used with the UAD2) plus you will, of course, get the extra processing power of 4 UAD1s.

Sound on sound readers ad's time!

Pete.

[hesnotthemessia]

System Overview

Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
Case: Silverstone KL03B "Kublai Tower Series"
CPU: Intel i7 975 Extreme 3.33GHz 6.4GT s QPI
CPU Coolers: Thermalright TRUE Copper 120mm
Overclocking: **No Overclocking Required**
Memory: 3GB (3x1GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics: *No NVIDIA VGA Card Required* (ATI Required)
ATI Graphics: *No ATI VGA Card Required* (NVIDIA Required)
Power Supply Unit: 650W Be Quiet Dark Power PRO BN073 Modular PSU 87% Eff
System Drives: 250 GB Seagate ST3250310NS Barracuda ES.2 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 1000 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache, 2 selected
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S223Q BEBN 22x DVD±R 8x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 x12 RAM SATA L scribe
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: *No Soundcard Required*
USB 2.0 Firewire Cards: *No USB Firewire Card Required*
Acoustic Sound Proofing: AcoustiPack ULTIMATE Multi-Layered Material Kit
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: ***No Wireless Required***
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 OEM - Single Pack
Software Multimedia: *No Software Required*
Software - Application: *No Software Required*
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Standard Movie Audio Player & Decoder
Software - Security: Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 1 User 1 Year
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: *Keyboard Not Required*
Application Specific Keyboards & Controllers : *No Keyboard Controller Required*
Professional Studio Monitors: *No Studio Monitors Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

£2,015.19


Gainward 8400 GS (£24.28)


TOTAL:- £2,039.47


I thought the NVIDEA 9500GT would take up the two PCI-Ex16 slots which would leave with me with 1xPCI-Ex1, 1xPCI-Ex4 and 3 x PCI slots. I would then put the Sonic Core Xite in one of the PCI-E slots and fill the 3 PCI slots up with my Powercores. Leaving one PCI-E slot free.

The Gainward 8400 GS looks like a better option though - this would take up just one PCI-E slot giving me an extra spare PCI-Ex16 slot? Though, as you point out, clearance is tight with the card next to it. I think I will go for this one.

I think I will go for two lots of 1000GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 hard drives for samples and audio. Scan advised that there wouldn't really be any noticeable improvement in speed using the 750GB model rather than the 1000GB.

The Xcite is a soundcard with DSP processing. I currently use two of their Professional cards. With the Sonic Core cards you do all your routing from within a "Routing Window". So I buss the audio out from the Cubase mixer into the Routing Window where I do all my mixing using the various EQs, compressers, filters, reverbs, delays etc. that are available for the Sonic Core cards. Plus the synths that are available are rather nice too. There are loads of "devices" (Sonic Core speak for plugins) supplied with the cards as standard plus there are loads of third party devices, many of which are free of charge. I just need more DSP and more PCI bandwidth. The Xcite will give me this. The XCite has 10x the processing power of one Scope Professional plus, very importantly, it's PCI-E. Not sure how it compares to the UAD2 in terms of processing power. From what I have read on the Sonic Core forum (PlanetZ) the few users that have got their hands on the Xcite are very, very impressed with it's processing power and stability. The major consideration for me is the latency build up when data is transferred back and forth from the PCI buss. This is a major pain with the UAD cards as I prefer to mix using the UAD plugins as I am creating the song rather than leaving the mixing to the end. Inserting these UAD plugins on my tracks soon creates a noticeable latency - this can be cancelled out by disabling Cubase's plug-in delay compensation but I find this doesn't really suit the way I work. With the Xcite, as all the routing is done within Sonic Core's Routing Window and, therefore, totally within the Sonic Core environment, routing loads of devices in series does not increase PCI bus traffic and latency. The Routing Window provides all you need to send audio and midi to and from Cubase. I will keep my Powercores because I love the Access Virus, Novation VStation, Waldorf DCoder, Filtroid and a few others.

Not looking forward to reinstalling all my plugins though!!

Hopefully put my order in tomorrow with Scan.........


Thanks for your help.

All the best.


Nev.

[PeteG@Scan]

Originally Posted by hesnotthemessia

The Gainward 8400 GS looks like a better option though - this would take up just one PCI-E slot giving me an extra spare PCI-Ex16 slot?

Yep, well you gain an extra pci slot. The Pci-e slots are not next to each other on these boards so they don't really conflict. But yeah you'll gain back a slot that may prove handy.

The board in these systems are this one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...-SATA-RAID-ATX

so that should give you an insight into how the board is laid out, and what you can do with the slots.

I think I will go for two lots of 1000GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 hard drives for samples and audio. Scan advised that there wouldn't really be any noticeable improvement in speed using the 750GB model rather than the 1000GB.

Yep, that's right.

Not looking forward to reinstalling all my plugins though!!

I'm not suprised. I have a box set up with v-stack patched into my desk and it's in dire need of a clean out, but in doing so I know i'm going to have to fight with all sorts of re-registations.

One day....

Thanks for your help.

All the best.

No worry's, what we're here for

[hesnotthemessia]

Hello again!!

Have been researching on the internet about using two graphics cards to run three or four monitors. I want to use 3 displays - 2 x 24" monitors at 1920x1200 and a 26" TV with VGA input - I can't remember the resolution but I know it wasn't 1920x1200 last time I used it with my PC! From what I have read, it should be no problem doing this with two Gainward 8400GS cards. I must make sure they are not setup in SLI mode though as this will spread one display across all the monitors I enable and all monitors will have to use the same resolution. I will also need to make sure that the NVidea software is not setup to use "stretch mode" so that I can set a different resolution for each display.

I see what you mean about the motherboard and it's PCI/PCI-E configuration now! I don't think there will be a problem fitting a Powercore MKII between two Gainward 8400GS card. If there is a problem then I may have to go the USB route that you showed me previously.

Depending on how it all works out, I will, maybe, get another 24" monitor rather than use the 26" TV - well, what's more important eating food or making music?

I think the above is correct. I will need to make sure that Scan are aware of my requirements with the two Gainward 8400GS cards.

i would be very grateful if you could let me know if I am along the right track with this.

Many thanks.

Nev.

[PeteG@Scan]

Originally Posted by hesnotthemessia

Hello again!!

Have been researching on the internet about using two graphics cards to run three or four monitors. I want to use 3 displays - 2 x 24" monitors at 1920x1200 and a 26" TV with VGA input - I can't remember the resolution but I know it wasn't 1920x1200 last time I used it with my PC! From what I have read, it should be no problem doing this with two Gainward 8400GS cards.

1920x1200 is the cut off point for requiring a duel link dvi connection (high speed dvi port), and anything above this resolution needs a different connetion and cabel from a standard dvi.

The good news is, is that those cards have a single Duel dvi port on each one. So reading what you've said so far if the TV has the input as a vga cable then your best running each monitor of the dvi's and the tv off the vga. You'll be able to get all three working one way of another through.

I must make sure they are not setup in SLI mode though as this will spread one display across all the monitors I enable and all monitors will have to use the same resolution. I will also need to make sure that the NVidea software is not setup to use "stretch mode" so that I can set a different resolution for each display.

You can specify how you want the cards configured at the build stage, so we can set them up without sli for you. Setting up the multiple monitors with your set up is fairly easy and shouldn't take more than a couple of mins when you get it.

I see what you mean about the motherboard and it's PCI/PCI-E configuration now! I don't think there will be a problem fitting a Powercore MKII between two Gainward 8400GS card. If there is a problem then I may have to go the USB route that you showed me previously.

Depending on how it all works out, I will, maybe, get another 24" monitor rather than use the 26" TV - well, what's more important eating food or making music?

Hahah, fair point. Tin of beans with every monitor it is then

I think the above is correct. I will need to make sure that Scan are aware of my requirements with the two Gainward 8400GS cards.

i would be very grateful if you could let me know if I am along the right track with this.

Yeah, looking good that lot. Think it'll be the way to do it.

Pete.

[hesnotthemessia]

Originally Posted by PeteG@Scan

Hahah, fair point. Tin of beans with every monitor it is then

Is that a new option on the system configuration? You guys think of everything!

Perhaps a Heinz/HP option could be added? HP man myself! Heinz is vastly overrated.

[hesnotthemessia]

hi there again Pete.

The two 24" monitors I use are the Acer AL2416W:-

From a review:- "The Acer has a single VGA, D-Sub connector – and that’s it. For a monitor that’s capable of 1,920 x 1,200 the lack of DVI is something of a shock, especially as you’d want to maximise quality at this relatively high resolution. Again this compares very poorly with the Dell, which sports, D-Sub, DVI (HDCP compliant), composite, S-Video, and Component. The Dell even shows off with side-mounted card reader slots."

So I would currently need 3 VGA outputs on the graphics cards in total for the two Acers and my TV. So, do I just need a DVI to VGA connector adapter: http://www.svideo.com/dvi.html to convert one of the DVI connectors to a VGA connector? I have one of these adapters supplied with my Matrox P650.

Many thanks for answering all these questions. I usually go straight into something head first when I buy it, but I am making sure I have everything I need this time before I do so. Even the beans!

Cheers


Nev.

[PeteG@Scan]

Yes, we're working on it for all highend systems. We've no doubt many enthusiasts go the route of starvation for thier love of all things hi-tech. Will try to ensure we stock the ring pull tins so they can be opened and eaten cold without the need to leave the p.c. for a tin opener!

[hesnotthemessia]

Placed an order for the following at about 5PM Thursday:-


Custom Coloured Cases: *No Custom Colour Required*
Case: Silverstone KL03B "Kublai Tower Series"
CPU: Intel i7 975 Extreme 3.33GHz 6.4GT s QPI
CPU Coolers: Thermalright TRUE Copper 120mm
Overclocking: **No Overclocking Required**
Memory: 3GB (3x1GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) 240 Pin Non-ECC Unbuffered CAS 9-9-9-24
NVIDIA Graphics: *No NVIDIA VGA Card Required* (ATI Required)
ATI Graphics: *No ATI VGA Card Required* (NVIDIA Required)
Power Supply Unit: 650W Be Quiet Dark Power PRO BN073 Modular PSU 87% Eff
System Drives: 250 GB Seagate ST3250310NS Barracuda ES.2 7200 rpm 32MB Cache
Storage Hard drives: 1000 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200 rpm 32MB Cache, 2 selected
Solid State Drives: *Solid State Drive Not Required*
Floppy Drive Flash Card Readers & Writers: Akasa Multi Memory Card Reader & USB 2.0 Port
DVD Writer: Samsung SH-S223Q BEBN 22x DVD±R 8x DVD±DL DVD+RW x8 -RW x6 x12 RAM SATA L scribe
Blu Ray Reader Writer: *Blu Ray Not Required*
Sound Card: *No Soundcard Required*
USB 2.0 Firewire Cards: *No USB Firewire Card Required*
Acoustic Sound Proofing: AcoustiPack ULTIMATE Multi-Layered Material Kit
Internal External (USB) Wireless Adaptors: ***No Wireless Required***
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 OEM - Single Pack
Software Multimedia: *No Software Required*
Software - Application: *No Software Required*
Software - DVD Blu Ray Decoding: CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Standard Movie Audio Player & Decoder
Software - Security: Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 1 User 1 Year
TFT Monitor: *Monitor Not Required*
Keyboard & Mouse Pack: *Keyboard Not Required*
Application Specific Keyboards & Controllers : *No Keyboard Controller Required*
Professional Studio Monitors: *No Studio Monitors Required*
Extended Warranty: Standard 3XS System Warranty - 2 Years (1st Year Onsite 2nd Year Return to Base)

Plus 2 x Gainward 8400 GS graphics cards.


Need to speak to Scan about backing up options with the possibility of purchasing additional internal or external hard drives and using a RAID setting. Would you recommend RAID1 as a good system to use Peter? Would this be a viable option with this system? Hopefully I should hear from Scan on Moday with regards to my order....I thought they would call today.

[PeteG@Scan]

Not personally, no.

The's pretty mixed feelings on Raid in these types of systems.

Raid 1 - If one of the drive's dies a physical death, you have a second drive with your data. The price for this is a slow down in write and read times over a single drive (the controller has twice as much data to write).

Raid managament software on consumer boards can be slow and cluncky, and to be honest from experiance can introduce more issues that it may help prevent.

If a drive currupts, then the mirror may help. If a stick of memory currupts the data going to the drives then you still have O/S curruption, except now you have two copys of it, and a raid controller to deal with when trying to rebuild them (if the raid controller isn't native to the O/S your trying to repair, this can be a nightmare to fix)

The best defence against data loss is to keep a secure backup "outside" of the box. Mirroring won't help in the case of fire/theft/act of dog.

Raid 1 or Raid 3 or the options I'd go for depending upon number of disks available if I had to go for an option. The spec of 1 x 250 drive and 2 x 750 was set up with the 250 OS drive being imaged to the 1st 750 using acronsis. This 750 was also a sample streaming drive. The second 750 gig was designed as a storage & project drive. At the end of each project the drive partition could be imagined to a external drive using acronsis and then kept in another location away from the p.c.

More information on Raid configerations and performance benifits http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels

If you have a lot of experience with raid, and know how to do rebuilds and manage your raid then by all means go for it. Make sure you still have a good back up policy in place with it through, as most people don't when they implement it, and then are suprised when something it can't fix crops up, that would have been adverted by just backing it up properly.

You can add drives or discuss options with Phil who books in and manages the system build workload. He was out of the office on business last Friday and should be in some point today or tomorrow to start booking systems in again.

Pete.

[hesnotthemessia]

Cheers Pete. Never used RAID before and my deeper understanding of it (how it actually does what it does, how you set it up to do what you want etc) is pretty much nil. Thought the negatives of RAID would outweigh the positives for me.

Thanks again.



Nev.