[linux-audio-user] Motherboard recommendations

Ismael Valladolid Torres ivalladolidt at terra.es
Sun Apr 9 09:46:52 EDT 2006


BJaY escribe:
> I've just managed to lay my hands on enough cash to upgrade to a decent
> computer for audio, and I haven't got a clue as to which motherboard to go
> for. I'm thinking of AMD64 3700+1Gig RAM (I use big sound fonts). I'm a
> little confused by the motherboard blurb, there seem to be loads of boards
> with similar specs but very different prices. If anyone could help with the
> following questions I'd be grateful (sorry if some of them are a bit OT):

I'd stick to Asus, whichever model you take you can't get a better
mobo IMHO.

> Is integrated graphics still bad ? Will I run into driver availability
> problems if I'm stuck with O/B graphics ? Will memory bandwidth be a problem
> ?

Well, I'm a kind of a late adopter guy who always looks for more or
less old Matrox MGA adapters when building a computer. Their display
quality and stability can't be beaten. I'm not a fellowed 3D user.

> Do I want to pay extra for SATA 2 ?

Well, the faster the disk I/O the better, I guess...

> Is AMD still better for Audio ? I'll be using loads of LADSPA effects. Is
> there a value for AMD's advantage with the De-Norm problems ?

AMD mobos are right now good enough for audio, which didn't use to
be. I'd stick to AMD for a homebuilt system. Better prices, very high
performance.

> Is processor cache size an issue for digital audio ? Do I need to go for the
> processors with larger cache's ?

Yes it's as far as I know but I never have a look at that spec!

> Is NFORCE4 chipset OK now ? It seems to be on alot of the cheap
> motherboards.

I don't know and also would like to know.

> Can I still use my old ATI Rage Pro AGP on the new motherboards with AGP x4
> and x8, is there a bandwidth penalty anywhere for using an older card ?

Yes you can. As far as AGP is a separate PCI bus you shouldn't
notice. You can even in most cases disable IRQ for your AGP bus and
save it for a PCI card.

Of course I'd like to be corrected if I'm misunderstanding something.

Cordially, Ismael
-- 
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