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nudone's new pc

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nudone:
i see your point Black Mamba about the sound card and money saving ideas. but saving money isn't the main thing this time around. the asus a8n motherboard is something i arrived at because of the good reviews i read, i won't be using the sli dual graphics card option - not for a long while anyway.

if i was a big overclocker then i'd consider the DFI board - maybe it's something i can play with if i buy one in a few months after becoming bored with the asus a8n.

soundcard choice is kind of artificial for me: i do play games when i get chance, but the X-Fi card choice was mainly because of the front audio connectors panel that comes with it. i want to be able to plug various audi leads in and out on the front of the case.

i've also read that the new creative labs cards make mp3s sound amazing. i do listen to a lot of music on the pc but i'm actually sceptical that this creative labs hardware method (the crystalizer) will sound any better than the winamp plugin 'izotope ozone' which is what i currently use. so, again, maybe the X-Fi card is the wrong choice.

i'm intending to use this new pc for music creation, using cubase sx and various other programs and plugins. so really i want a sound card with low latency and good audio cable connections. i ought to be getting a more dedicated audio recording sound card i guess but maybe this would be limiting in other ways.

the X-Fi seemed like a happy medium or simply it just seemed like an easy choice for me. it offers all i need to a degree. if the latency on it wasn't any good then i'd get another dedicated music production card when the time came (i don't think i'll be making any music for a few months yet). M-Audio will certainly be on the list to look at.

Carol Haynes:
Some of the ATI graphics cards have dual monitor graphics as standard, and from what I have read the ATI monitor management software is excellent.

I have to agree with others on the Creative Soundcard options ... I am using an Audigy 2 ZX Platinum with 7.1 speakers and whilst it is OK it has never totally lived up to expectations. It is also frustrating that Creative drivers are always so bloated and often quite buggy. Add to that the somewhat limited ASIO drivers supplied and if I was buying again I would look elsewhere - particularly if you really are in to music, there are much better cards out there. Plus Creative cards are just as expensive as some of the more professional studio products.

Check out some of the cards on http://www.etcetera.co.uk/cgi/show_bycategory.pl?cat=Sound+Cards+-&class=0 for some professional quality offerings.

mouser:
many (most?) ati and nvidia cards now come "dual-headed" to drive 2 monitors simultaneously.

nudone:
the dual SLI card system isn't really aimed at providing a means of using dual monitors. it's quite the opposite you may be surprised to hear.

with SLI you use two cards to combine into one. so both cards link together and provide output to one monitor - this is for games and nothing more (maybe 3d applications can use it - i don't know).

the idea is to provide greater frame rates with games running at very high resolutions.

nudone:
brotherS, sorry, i've just noticed you've got a Zalman Resorvator (the image was off my screen so i didn't see it before).

what are your thoughts on the Resorvator - it looks like you've got an extra pump or did that come with it?

if/when i go water cooled then i'll be looking into getting the Zalman kit but i've read bad things about the pump making a noise after a short time.

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