The Energon Pub

Just wanted to know what the computer guys around here might think about these choices. I need a new system so badly, it's not funny.

• Mainboard: Asus M2N-SLI DELUXE

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+ Socket AM2

• I would like to get an SATA DVD burner with Lightscribe capability, but can't seem to find one

• I'm going with SATA for all my new HDDs. I plan on getting a few (Windows + programs, video, audio, external backup)

• Would also love a remote to control audio and video functions


My new system will be used mainly for audio editing & recording, and some dabbling in video editing. I also use my computer to watch DVDs, so I need at least 5.1 capability for the surround sound experience I've always wanted. (My current sound card has four channels; came out right before 5.1.) I don't play many games, just some older ones. I'm thinking about keeping the new system off the internet, and just using my current one for that. The internet is only so fast after all. I plan on getting a KVM switch so I can have both computers running at once, and I can switch back & forth as I need. Maybe I'll get a new, second monitor, but I'm thinking flat panel since my desk is limited in available space as it is.

Speaking of sound cards. My old Sound Blaster Platinum has this great 5.25" bay "live drive" that I would like to have for my new system. I'm wondering if there's a USB or Firewire "break-out box" alternative to that bay? I kinda need the MIDI, headphone jack, and inputs. Would that mobo's onboard audio be enough? Or does onboard audio still suck compared to a separate card?

It seems video cards have some new standard. I have an AGP Radeon All-In-Wonder that I know I won't be able to throw into the new system. I mainly use that for the TV tuner and inputs / outputs. I think there's a USB solution now...?

Any ideas would be much appreciated. I'm trying to research this as much as possible, but since I've been out of the loop for so long, I'm starting to go cross-eyed.

The new video card are usually PCI Express x16, which that board does have. There are a lot of PCI bus capture cards. One I'm looking at is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116620

Make sure you case has a lot of ventilation if you are going to do hard core video editing. My case has 2 120mm case fans and that works just fine for me.

If your mainly using the pc for audio editing and recording yoour better off with an intel setup, in fact at the moment your better off with an intel setup period, which is why i built my first non amd rig last year, you should be able to find early core 2 duos for a reasonable price now that they have been replaced or superseeded by core 2 quads.

As for a remote, there are quite a few remotes that work with windows media centre and come with a dongle for the interface.

Video card wise a dx10 card would be a wise investment, i suggest either an nvidia geforce 8600gts or an 8800gts, the 8800 is better for not much more money but budget can usually get in the way of these things.

And for video capture as muswo1 said there is a variety of pci capture cards available.

Finally the dvd drive, I'm pretty sure that all dvd burners are still using an ide interface rather than sata, but i could be wrong as i haven't been looking at them for over a year.

Thanks for the replies. DVD drives & burners are SATA capable now... I found one that I'm thinking about. I just wanted the Lightscribe option for labelling discs... but it seems I have to choose between Lightscribe and SATA. I can't get one with both

The mainboard looks as though it has two of those PCI express 16 slots. Is there another use for that slot other than a video card? (See Newegg's pics for some better board pics.)

That video capture card looks pretty good. I would like outputs too, though. I added it to my wish list just in case. Newegg and ZipZoomFly seem like pretty good places to do parts shopping... free shipping sometimes.

I'll have to look into the AMD vs Intel CPU thing. I know I had favored AMD way back, but perhaps times have changed.

Spike wrote:Thanks for the replies. DVD drives & burners are SATA capable now... I found one that I'm thinking about. I just wanted the Lightscribe option for labelling discs... but it seems I have to choose between Lightscribe and SATA. I can't get one with both

The mainboard looks as though it has two of those PCI express 16 slots. Is there another use for that slot other than a video card? (See Newegg's pics for some better board pics.)

That video capture card looks pretty good. I would like outputs too, though. I added it to my wish list just in case. Newegg and ZipZoomFly seem like pretty good places to do parts shopping... free shipping sometimes.

I'll have to look into the AMD vs Intel CPU thing. I know I had favored AMD way back, but perhaps times have changed.

Just my opinion here, but I've heard some bad things about light scribe burners printing really faint unless you have exactly the right combination of media, burner, and software.

Not so up to date on SATA drives, though I hear the sata burn drives leave a bit to be desired. As for hard drives, your standard Western Digital Caviar is always a good choice, PCI or SATA because the quality is great.

The ASUS SLI DELUX series is amazing. I have the A8N SLI DELUX model and I've never had any problems out of it, and it's the third PC I've built with that sspecific board, and I build my boxes for alot of power, and these things can handle ANYTHING. So good choice on the mobo.

I always just rammed the newest most powerful graphics and physics cards in the slots, and as for the tv input,output I have no idea. Never messed with those.

As for lightscribe, I haven't used those in 5 years, because they were trash way back when.

Spike wrote:Just wanted to know what the computer guys around here might think about these choices. I need a new system so badly, it's not funny.

• Mainboard: Asus M2N-SLI DELUXE

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+ Socket AM2

• I would like to get an SATA DVD burner with Lightscribe capability, but can't seem to find one

• I'm going with SATA for all my new HDDs. I plan on getting a few (Windows + programs, video, audio, external backup)

• Would also love a remote to control audio and video functions


My new system will be used mainly for audio editing & recording, and some dabbling in video editing. I also use my computer to watch DVDs, so I need at least 5.1 capability for the surround sound experience I've always wanted. (My current sound card has four channels; came out right before 5.1.) I don't play many games, just some older ones. I'm thinking about keeping the new system off the internet, and just using my current one for that. The internet is only so fast after all. I plan on getting a KVM switch so I can have both computers running at once, and I can switch back & forth as I need. Maybe I'll get a new, second monitor, but I'm thinking flat panel since my desk is limited in available space as it is.

Speaking of sound cards. My old Sound Blaster Platinum has this great 5.25" bay "live drive" that I would like to have for my new system. I'm wondering if there's a USB or Firewire "break-out box" alternative to that bay? I kinda need the MIDI, headphone jack, and inputs. Would that mobo's onboard audio be enough? Or does onboard audio still suck compared to a separate card?

It seems video cards have some new standard. I have an AGP Radeon All-In-Wonder that I know I won't be able to throw into the new system. I mainly use that for the TV tuner and inputs / outputs. I think there's a USB solution now...?

Any ideas would be much appreciated. I'm trying to research this as much as possible, but since I've been out of the loop for so long, I'm starting to go cross-eyed.

WOW. That's one powerful motherboard. Geez. O_o

BTW, NewEgg's cheaper than ZZF on the processor price, in fact, for another $10.00, you can get the same processor but at 4200+ from NewEgg. (I highly recommend NewEgg btw. They're super fast, reliable, and dependable when it comes to returns, rebates, etc.)

I wish you luck on building this A/V monster, looks like it'll rock your socks off.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I forgot to give you the NewEgg links...

Your 3800+ processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103733 (Free 3 day shipping)
The 4200+ processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103741 (Free 3 day shipping)

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131013 ($139.99 plus $6.61 shipping)

There we go. Hope this helps.

Thanks again guys. I really do appreciate it. I'm glad to hear the mobo I picked out is good. What about the on-board sound? A friend of mine warned me that sometimes it doesn't sync up with the video. Why would that be...? I'll have to look into that. Or just buy the mobo and see what happens, heh.

And another thing I'll have to look into a bit more, Lightscribe. I hate to say the only reason I wanted one was for whenever I get my music project going, I can make "homemade" CDs that don't look too terrible. In fact I bought an "independant" CD release that was burned using a Lightscribe, and it looks pretty cool. I just hate having to write stuff on my CD-Rs, and then mess it up because my handwriting is pretty bad!

Spike wrote:Thanks again guys. I really do appreciate it. I'm glad to hear the mobo I picked out is good. What about the on-board sound? A friend of mine warned me that sometimes it doesn't sync up with the video. Why would that be...? I'll have to look into that. Or just buy the mobo and see what happens, heh.

And another thing I'll have to look into a bit more, Lightscribe. I hate to say the only reason I wanted one was for whenever I get my music project going, I can make "homemade" CDs that don't look too terrible. In fact I bought an "independant" CD release that was burned using a Lightscribe, and it looks pretty cool. I just hate having to write stuff on my CD-Rs, and then mess it up because my handwriting is pretty bad!

Well, onboard audio used to be quite crappy, but it became a staple and people adapted to it. By now, the technology has come a long way. I'm sure something with an NVidia, ATI, etc chipset must have a pretty good soundchip. Especially if it's 8 channel (7.1) Motherboards aren't simple anymore, and they do so much these days. Still...if you don't like it after you've tried the onboard audio, go into the BIOS, disable the onboard, and install a card.

About that A/V sync up problem, make sure the drivers are updated, that all the settings are just right. Make sure your media player (whatever it might be) is set to whatever speaker setup you have, download all current codecs, etc. Onboard sound *can* work.

Lightscribe drives aren't so bad. I've seen a few discs burned with it and the labels were nice. Another option you might want to consider (in terms of labels) is to get a printer that is capable of printing directly on the disc's face. (Maxell and Memorex make CD/DVD-Rs that have a printable face, but not all printers have the capability to print on a disc) Or...you can buy a Memorex label printing kit. You can use the photo editor that comes with it, add pictures, text, etc (or use Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop to make 'em) and then print them on special label paper that will go on like a permanent sticker. (This example is from Verbatim, but other companies make them as well. http://www.verbatim.com.au/products.cfm?productID=94663)

So you have some options, it's not an open and shut case. (although sometimes it would be easier, wouldn't it?)

Alright... so I'm almost ready to order my parts (finally, been busy lately). I hadn't really looked into a video card, but was wondering your opinions on this:

ATI card

$140 is a lot to drop on a card that doesn't seem to do anything beyond outputting information to a monitor. Am I just jaded in thinking that I spent less for my ATI All-in-wonder (although it's AGP) several years ago? Which has a TV tuner, video in & out, etc? Am I just not looking hard enough? I know ATI is a pretty good brand from what I've looked into.

Also I'm looking at cases / towers, as I'll need a new one for my new system. I plan to use my older computer for browsing online and easy crap like that. I was looking into the Antec cases as someone recommended to me, but they all seem to have doors in the front that cover the bays (like this one). I don't need a door on the front... I don't think that's going to make much of a difference as far as noise reduction goes. Maybe I should just keep my current case for my new computer (with a new PSU though), and buy a cheaper, smaller case for my older computer?

Any ideas? Thanks.

That's not a bad card, although you may want to go up to a 256MB card or a card that has DDR2 memory.

Thanks, I'll keep looking. I'm just trying to have some options so I don't set my heart on one and only get that. Any more ideas guys?