Allenstein machine questions...

[stereocp]

I've been researching a new system for my home studio. I like the looks of the Allenstein machine as per his post on this forum. I printed out the specs of this system and took it to a local PC builder who has been in business locally for quite some time, and he passionately tried to talk me out of the AMD Athlon setup. He said, "these processors are not well made, they run hot, and are prone to failure." He continued, "why not put up a little more money and get a much more stable P4 chip."

He was very adamant about his position and felt that perhaps someone at the Digidesign forum has some interest in pushing AMD for some reason or another.

Are people out there really pleased with their "Allenstein" setups? If so, please share!

I'm still looking at purchasing the following unless I can be convinced otherwise:

X-Alien 420 Watt Aluminum Silver Side-Window Panel ATX
Intel P4 - 2.8
Asus P4P800 Deluxe i865PE
1 GB (matched 512MB) PC3200 DDR400 SDRAM
2 Maxtor 80 GB 7200 RPM ATA133 drives (one for OS, one for audio data)
Lite-ON CD-RW 54x34x54x
Sony DVD+RW 4x
SoundBlaster Audigy X Gamer w/1394 port (I know.... not necessary, but it comes with it)
256 MB GeForce FX5200 AGP 8x DVI/TV
Windows XP Pro
generic modem
generic keyboard/mouse
19" Viewsonic CRT Monitor .25 dot pitch (2048x1536 pfs)


Any reason not to go with the above for a ProTools system with the M-Box and a USB MIDI interface????????


Thanks folks!

stereocp

PS> I posted this system last week,and allen responded by not even mentioning the above system, but simply said to refer to the "allenstein" machine specs. I'm open to his ideas, but would really like some feedback on the above mentioned system. Cheers!!!

[Nitronick]

[QUOTE]
I've been researching a new system for my home studio. I like the looks of the Allenstein machine as per his post on this forum. I printed out the specs of this system and took it to a local PC builder who has been in business locally for quite some time, and he passionately tried to talk me out of the AMD Athlon setup.[QUOTE]


Sounds like he is a diehard Intel fan or, see below....

He said, "these processors are not well made, they run hot, and are prone to failure." He continued, "why not put up a little more money and get a much more stable P4 chip."

Here's you're first hint. "Why not spend a little more money". The more money you spend, the more money he makes.
As far as stable, the only time my machine has been turned off was to install PTLE 6.x. Other than that, it is on 24/7.
No BSODs, no overheating, etc.

He was very adamant about his position and felt that perhaps someone at the Digidesign forum has some interest in pushing AMD for some reason or another.

Yeah, they work. Can you think of a better reason?

Are people out there really pleased with their "Allenstein" setups? If so, please share!

I am extremely pleased. Have you read the PT Performance thread?

I'm still looking at purchasing the following unless I can be convinced otherwise:

X-Alien 420 Watt Aluminum Silver Side-Window Panel ATX
Intel P4 - 2.8
Asus P4P800 Deluxe i865PE
1 GB (matched 512MB) PC3200 DDR400 SDRAM
2 Maxtor 80 GB 7200 RPM ATA133 drives (one for OS, one for audio data)
Lite-ON CD-RW 54x34x54x
Sony DVD+RW 4x
SoundBlaster Audigy X Gamer w/1394 port (I know.... not necessary, but it comes with it)
256 MB GeForce FX5200 AGP 8x DVI/TV
Windows XP Pro
generic modem
generic keyboard/mouse
19" Viewsonic CRT Monitor .25 dot pitch (2048x1536 pfs)


Any reason not to go with the above for a ProTools system with the M-Box and a USB MIDI interface????????

It sounds like it will work. Do you want the best performing system, or do you want this one?
Don't rely on some techs recommendations for a DAW, when he knows nothing about building computers for DAW work.

PS> I posted this system last week,and allen responded by not even mentioning the above system, but simply said to refer to the "allenstein" machine specs. I'm open to his ideas, but would really like some feedback on the above mentioned system. Cheers!!!

Well, they didn't dub it the Allenstein machine for no reason. Allen is the one that spearheaded this. He stays on top of what components work and what components don't, and updates his post at least monthly.

[Booyah]

I'd have to disagree about the "prone to failure" comment, Ive had Athlons running for years with no probs, seen a couple fry only because people didn't have the heat sync flat on the CPU on some "do it yourself" systems, some early Athlon classics & t-birds did run very hot, but the AthlonXP's are at reaonable temp's, this XP2500+ running at
43c idle with a case fan and copper heat sync(for quietness), hows that for cool?

That said, I think "most" parts you listed above should do fine but these are known to cause conflicts:

- SBLive & Audigy's cards.
- generic modem.

A workaround would be to disable these (while using PTLE) in device manager "if" you have a problem getting low latency...etc.

Don't think anyone here is trying to "Market" or hype up AMD sales, It's all about getting more "bang for the buck" and having more $ left over to buy plugins, external preamps/converters and misc studio gear.

[rpowell]

If you or your tech are adamant about using an Intel machine, go with a Centrino laptop like Dell 8600.

RP

[stereocp]

THanks guys for the replies!

I'm not trying to ruffle anyones feathers by my post. I am simply trying to figure out why the AMD based system workes so much better than Intel's P4. I am still very much undecided on which way to go. I tried to price out a system on UnitedMicro.com and it turns out that the AMD system was actually a little more expensive, everything else being equal. They only provide the Athlon 64 3200+ processor for something north of $400 bucks! THe 3000+ option wasn't even available on their website. So......

Again, thanks for the input. I'm trying to make a good purchase here; one I won't regret. I too want to spend as little as possible for a good system in order to have more for the plugins/preamps/processors,etc.... I'll buy Athlon if that's the thing to do. Sounds like it is from you folks so far.

Regards!

stereocp

[neatguys]

Read my results below for some allenstein davec results.Guysv like Shan have even got better results then this on this forum!

[Sugarnutz]

I am very pro AMD. My first AMD was a 486/40. I have always gotten tremendous value for my dollar with AMD and the same holds true today. My system is 100% stable and I have yet to run out of CPU power doing real world sessions, also note that the infamous "D-verb bug" only seems to happen with intel processors.