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The RME Reference PC - Hardware recommendations
The RME Reference PC standard version has a very practical and nicely designed case, a fast Intel Coppermine processor, a motherboard with 6 PCI-slots, 128 MB RAM, an IBM hard disk with 20 MByte constant data transfer rate, an unbelievable 50x CD-ROM drive with Hi-Fi like digital output, and a dual monitor graphics card. All this does certainly cost a lot of money, doesn't it? It doesn't. The complete system including 19" monitor, keyboard, mouse and pre-installed Windows Millennium (ME) costs around DM 3000 (German price, around 1500 US$). This is probably more than you would pay at your local discounter - but it will run fast, reliably and with outstanding performance - but without unpleasant surprises. The Case
The Motherboard
For highest performance we not only recommend to use a separate graphics card, but also the usage of PC133 2-2-2 memory modules (see below), which are flawlessly supported by the motherboard. 6 busmaster PCI slots are sufficient for the whole DIGI family. The latest AWARD BIOS (6.0), easy configuration and ASUS' regular BIOS updates and detailed information are further benefits. The CPU
The 866MHz Pentium III EB is the ideal processor for the
ASUS CUSL2, Intel having lowered the price for this 133MHz FSB CPU several
times already. The Hard Disk Modern hard drives have become so unbelievable fast, even cheaper models are sufficient for the majority of multitrack recordings. Nevertheless we still recommend a top model: The DTLA-307030 Deskstar 75GXP from IBM with ATA100 interface, average data transfer rate 20,7 MByte per second (c't 16/2000). This hard disk raises only an eye-brow when performing 96kHz/24bit multitrack recordings. Further specs: 30 GByte, 7200 RPM, 2 MByte cache, average current consumption and thus no critical temperature reaction. Very quiet. SCSI? Never... The CD-ROM Drive More or less by accident we ran into the ASUS CDS-500.
Briefly: a dream came true. This is definitively the most perfect CD-ROM
drive we ever tested. And we tested a few... For us simply the Hammerfall
among CD-ROM drives! The differences in comparison to many other drives
are:
The Graphics Card
The RME Reference PC - Professional The professional version differs from the standard version in a couple of points. When you work with audio, you usually need a CD writer, lots of space for projects (including a backup possibility) and lots of memory. Voilà... The CD Writer
*Even when the internal cache runs empty (Buffer Underrun) and Windows freezes for minutes the writer will continue with highest precision at the exact sector where it stopped. Thus this device can guarantee to finish the CD-ROM writing and to produce a valid CD, no matter what you do with your PC while in the writing process. A must have for professionals. The Hard Drives The professional version contains already 2 IBM 30GB drives. In addition, there is another (empty) exchangeable frame below the CD drive behind a lid, which can be supplied with a hard drive at any time in order to move data from or to the computer. The Memory 128MB is pretty nice to start with. Using many tracks, or a RAM sampler like the LM4, requires significantly more. Therefore the Pro-version is equipped with 256MB PC133 2-2-2 RAM, for 133MHz memory clock at lowest wait states. This gives 25% more memory throughput than usual PC133 modules (3-3-3 or 2-3-3). The modules used even pass the famous memory test of the German magazine c't (ctspd: no error).
Please note: Although we have set up and tested everything
ourselves, we can still make mistakes. We would like to clarify that all
information included in this Tech Info is both our subjective opinion and
subject to permanent change. This Tech Info is not to be understood as a
do-it-yourself instruction, any request on this behalf can not be responded
to and will be deleted immediately. Retail source All RME Reference PCs are available completely assembled and pre-installed. Tillmann Computer in Hannover are assembling the systems strictly according to our instructions and test them prior to shipment. Even the drivers for all RME cards and DIGICheck are preinstalled. Note that RME digital cards are only available through authorized dealers, thus not included in these computer systems. Prices Standard, parts as described above, incl. mouse, keyboard and Windows ME: 2700 DM incl. VAT Same, plus 19" monitor: 3400 DM incl. VAT Professional, parts as described above, incl. mouse, keyboard and Windows ME: 3900 DM incl. VAT Same, plus 19" monitor: 4600 DM incl. VAT
Copyright © Matthias Carstens, 2000/2001. |
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Copyright © 2002 RME. All rights reserved.
RME is a registered trademark. |
The
new Pentium III Coppermine series CPUs are Intel's most powerful audio processors
so far. High clock rates, low energy consumption and the ISSE commands (missing
in the older Celerons) are part of their success. The biggest advantage
though, is the 256kB full speed cache, of which the performance has even
been increased by internal optimization. The difference in performance to
PII and PIII processors is huge.
Our
new reference: the Teac CD-W512E! Already announced in mid 2000 it now hits
the market 6 months later. The good news: it comes with 3 MB internal memory
and Burn-Proof* (don't get fooled from Teac's website or the packaging -
it's both true!). Besides 12x write CD-R, 10x write CD-RW and 32x read CD-ROM
it also grabs audio with bit-accuracy and up to 24x. Compared to the Plextor
12/10/32A the Teac offers an UDMA2 interface, handles the wait command correctly
and has a much shorter read-in time (CD content). Operating noise is very
low under all conditions. The writer comes bundled with the latest Nero
5.0, a powerful, professional writer software, which excited us already
after the first minutes of usage.