Quote:
Originally Posted by flat5
Thank you LordEden for your comments.
The comments about ram are interesting.
I thought 4gigs would be enough though.
Perhaps for Win7 it should be greater?
Audio & graphics cards I can deal with later.
I should find out what more "modern" motherboards have to offer and what they cost.
I don't play games. I may be wrong but I think soundcards
are only used for input/output - not for audio processing.
I don't know what advantages new memory offers.
Are they better for multitasking?
I don't know how much I want to spend. I just want good value for money and don't think I need the latest and greatest.
I'm thinking slightly older technology gives good value for cost.
I put many computers together in the last 23 years but have no experience with the newer multiprocessing systems.
I think the last machine I put together was 5 years ago and it used older parts to save money. It was a basic machine.
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To address your concerns in order:
1. Audio and Video work use enormous quantities of RAM. Even merely photoshopping things can take gigabytes of ram just by itself, rendering audio or video can be even harsher. Windows 7 is a good idea... mainly because it supports 64bit (which is required for really using more than 3gb of ram) and is very good at handling multiple cores and whatnot compared to XP and Vista.
2. Given the work you will be doing you should consider those right now as they are going to be quite important to your work. Think of it like a Search and Rescue group buying an off-road vehicle and deciding they would deal with wheels later.
3. Motherboards don't offer features that are relevant to what you will be doing, but they do decide which hardware you will be able to use based on what they support on a hardware and software level. You can't put a modern videocard in a motherboard that doesn't have the right plug, and you can't put a modern processor in a motherboard that doesn't support it.
4. Whether or not you play games has nothing to do with this. Soundcards, especially quality ones like from Auzentech, are often used to process and render audio. You could do it on the CPU only... just like you can do anything on just the CPU. Just because you can does not mean you should. Not having, or having a poor quality soundcard, could leave you hearing things inaccurately or your computer working harder or longer to process and render audio work. It's a matter of whether you want to use the CPU or specialized hardware designed specifically for audio work.
5. More memory means your computer can hold more data in the right place at a given time instead of needing to constantly shuffle stuff onto or off of the hard drive which is FAR slower. Think of it like having many cans of beans which need to be put on the shelf. Having more RAM, and being able to use it, is like having carts to carry the beans to the place where you are working.
6. Slightly older technology... OR technology that isn't in the highest class. When new technology comes out nowadays a company doesn't just release "X" item and that's it, they release many different versions. You can get "X", or "X+1" or "X-2", all of which are better or worse and priced differently.
You're going into a very specialized field and doing very computer intensive work, before you buy a computer and start working on this you really should take the time to become familiar with all the hardware and what it means and does again as that knowledge will be extremely important to your ability to manage your money and use what you have as best you can. Especially since what you have said you will be doing specifically can often be very reliant on, or improved greatly through specialized technology like the right graphics or sound cards.
Using the right technology can go all the way up to cutting in
half the amount of time it takes to do something, knowing what is what can have the same effect on what you spend.
Just for example: A gamer needs a very fast graphics card and a good CPU but will never need more than a basic soundcard and will likely never use more than 4-6 gigabytes of ram. You on the other hand do not need a very fast graphics card, can use the same processor, but will benefit from a more advanced soundcard that supports professional standards and may actually use anywhere from 6 to 8 gigabytes of ram depending on what programs you use.