Well, this is probably a question that shouldn't be coming from an IT professional... I'm getting a new system to use for my home studio. My old system has served me well, but mixdown, CD burning, and MP3 ripping on it take an eternity! So I'm considering hardware, OS, and software upgrades all at once to minimize the studio downtime.
For basis of comparison, my current system is:
P3 550Mhz
256Mb RAM
Quantum 9Gb Ultra2 SCSI drive for OS/programs
Quantum 18Gb Ultra2 SCSI drive for recording
Plextor 32x SCSI CD-ROM
Panasonic 4x SCSI CD-R
SoundBlaster Live
Lexicon Core 2
Windows 98
Cakewalk Pro Audio
What current hardware gives a decent price/performance ratio? I was thinking about the following:
P4 1.6-2.4Ghz (no AMD's!)
512Mb RAM (SDRAM vs DDR--significant?)
WD 40Gb 7200RPM ATA100 drive for OS/programs
WD 120Gb 7200RPM ATA100 drive for recording (IDE vs SCSI--does it matter anymore?)
16x IDE DVD drive
48x12x48 IDE CD-RW drive
SoundBlaster Live
some new DA card ?? (recos appreciated)
Windows XP
new recording software ?? (recos appreciated)
Should that do nicely? Is it overkill? I'm all about saving a buck or too whenever possible!
Thanks,
--Brent
For basis of comparison, my current system is:
P3 550Mhz
256Mb RAM
Quantum 9Gb Ultra2 SCSI drive for OS/programs
Quantum 18Gb Ultra2 SCSI drive for recording
Plextor 32x SCSI CD-ROM
Panasonic 4x SCSI CD-R
SoundBlaster Live
Lexicon Core 2
Windows 98
Cakewalk Pro Audio
What current hardware gives a decent price/performance ratio? I was thinking about the following:
P4 1.6-2.4Ghz (no AMD's!)
512Mb RAM (SDRAM vs DDR--significant?)
WD 40Gb 7200RPM ATA100 drive for OS/programs
WD 120Gb 7200RPM ATA100 drive for recording (IDE vs SCSI--does it matter anymore?)
16x IDE DVD drive
48x12x48 IDE CD-RW drive
SoundBlaster Live
some new DA card ?? (recos appreciated)
Windows XP
new recording software ?? (recos appreciated)
Should that do nicely? Is it overkill? I'm all about saving a buck or too whenever possible!
Thanks,
--Brent