On 2002-02-25 10:07, subhuman wrote:
WayneSim,
AMDs are good, but <i>with Creamware</i> it is quite clear the motherboard is more important than the CPUs here, and for the least amount of tech related time and the most MUSIC related time spent on a PC, I would really suggest an Intel solution or a Mac.
I am a techhead and appreciate all that AMDs have to offer, but they require a lot more skills to troubleshoot and debug to get a solid working system. The chipsets and motherboards seem to be the key to a rock solid Creamware setup. This advice comes from someone who has had multiple Creamware cards in a motherboards with the following chipsets: KT266A, KT133A, KX133, 440BX, i815, i815EP, i845, i850, nForce420. I know enough about SiS chipsets & their performance with CW to know that I probably won't use them. Understand that ALL of these work with CW cards, but some definitely perform much better and with fewer headaches and tweaks.
I still think the i8xx series are the best for use with Creamware cards, as they have excellent PCI performance, with the onboard IDE channels NOT sharing PCI bus. Again, this assumes MY way of working, which is using a lot of Sampler/Reverb and delay based effects in my projects, and having head room so it can run solid without thinking about it. Sometimes a limit can become creative inspiring, too...
So I say let the techheads and 'hardcore computer guys' go with Athlons... after all, most musicians won't be spending the cash on water cooling when they could get a P4 that works almost straight away out of the box with the stock heatsink. And if price is a main consideration, AMD has and probably always be a bit cheaper, good bang for buck.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2002-02-25 22:33 ]</font>
Great discussion right here!
Good points made by Subhuman!
Do you have any Creamware benchmarks on these Motherboards? Also do you run any tests AMD vs Intel. Because you seem to have played with many motherboards. I just think that P4 are only just now starting to catch up to an AMD system. There first batch of P4's really did sux comparied to AMD. The gap is very close now. But price is not.
I'm just not convinced about P4 because of price vs performance. I would never touch a MAC! Iv'e used them with a Full ProTools setup. For the amount of money G4's are worth I could build a PC that could fly to the moon and back. Not to mention record the sound of the moon rotating. (ok, i'm getting carred away).
Water Cooling is mainly for silence as far I go. I hate fan noise with a passion and will never put up with it ever again! The cost of water cooling I believe makes up for itself with overclocking. So therefore Water Cooling really costs nothing! And you have SILENCE. I would use water cooling no matter what computer I was using.
Anyway this debate (amd vs intel) will go on and on. I guess the only test will be with benchmark tests on Creamware and other Audio products that also including price.
So please someone run some high end equal set-up tests. Of course the tests have to be done fairly also regaurding price. And then we will see!
That means you spent it right!!