32 inputs/32 outputs in M-powered with four(4) m-audio Delta 1010LT on WinXP32

[chrisNova777]

Motherboards with 4 pci slots or more for use with pci based recording interfaces & peripherals


http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/multiple-m-audio-delta-1010/

this page serves as a resource to those interested in using m-audio (& any other stackable types of) pci hardware (RME, Echo/Event Audio, Marian etc) but the main idea behind the thread is the ability to use m-audio stackable pci cards with pro tools m-powered.

the information here can also be used to create cubase + logic systems that utilize cascaded pci devices from other manufacturers.
the biggest hurdle in making the most of this type of retro build, is having enough of the sound cards + a motherboard
that can utilize many pci cards.. since about 2006 motherboards have been coming with pci-express slots rather then old 32bit pci 33mhz slots, pci-express is fast + alot better for high bandwidth peripherals like raid controllers but for audio, its really overkill,
unless u have a single card that is channelling 64 channels + audio its really not neccessary for audio track waveform data.

anyway lets move on and look at some example hardware. this article was originally written looking at the very low end pentium 3/4 boards, and these boards will work fine to record with, but dont expect to be piling on 64 plugins in real time on a build like this.
the article has expanded past its original scope, covering hardware for quad core intel socket 775 cpus all the way up to i3/i5/i7 capable boards.. please keep this in mind as u read ahead!

top on the list of criteria for an xp 32bit daw for the purpose of recording audio from other synths + machines
much audio ins + outs.. allowing u to use seperate channels for each little sound of your track which lets u mix + master + add effects after recording. after that, we require gigabit ethernet of course, and the max ram for xp 32bit which is 4gb.
disk io is also a concern as many recording apps highly reccommend recording to a dedicated disk.
adding disk io to any motherboard is trivial usually, but not when u have all your expansion slots spoken for. so we require a motherboard with enough disk i/o.. preferrably a pair of disk connections for the system drive, intel matrix raid is a bonus here because it allows u to have 2 seperate levels of raid, one for performance and one for redundancy protection + backup, so with the same 2 disks you can achieve 1 partition of RAID1 mirroring to protect your daw os from a disk failure, and also a RAID1 stripe so that your applications on your OS drive will have the fastest disk i/o for loading programs. after that first pair we require an additional pair of disk i/o for a pair of RAID0 for all your sample libraries..(of course u want to have said libraries backed up on another raid array on another fileserver machine aswell). and after that either another single drive for recording to, or a pair for RAID1 mirroring again to protect your recorded audio against hd failure.

the whole purpose of this build is doing the most with old hardware.. available cheap..
these are the best of the best boards that still included mostly 32 bit pci expansions slots
you want a board from around the 4th quarter of 2004 for this purpose!!
an example setup would include:
4 x PCI card audio io (such as 4 x M-audio Delta 1010LT card providing 32 analog i/o + 8 digital i/o + 4 midi i/o)
1 x UAD-1 DSP card (optional but reccommended!)
1 x Radeon 9000 series graphics card (or any other x8 AGP graphics card)

another thing to mention is that this system,when done, can also boot + work with mac os x 10.4 or 10.5
on the pentium4 + up cpus (845e chip + up i would guess) but that is beyond the scope of this article
look elsewhere on this ssite for that info!



common desired features:
4gb of RAM (the maximum for 32bit Windows)
at least 4 pci slots
gigabit Ethernet Controller
firewire connection (for compatibility with audio/midi interfaces)
parallel port (for compatibility with audio/midi interfaces)
usb2.0 ports (for compatibility with audio/midi interfaces)

the main purpose of this document existing is that it can be quite challenging to find a motherboard that meets all of these criteria..


ABit
Abit ZM6  *440ZX *100FSB *256MB SDRAM
ABIT SL6  *socket 370 *815 *133fsb *512mb sdram
Abit SE6  *socket 370 *815E *ICH2 *133FSB *512MB SDRAM
Abit  AB-BM6 *socket 370 *440BX *100FSB *768MB SDRAM
ABit Be6  *440BX *150FSB *768MB SDRAM *IDERAID
Abit BW7 *845 *400fsb *3gb SDRAM
Abit BE7-G  *845PE *ich4 *533FSB *2gb DDR333
Abit IT7  *845PE *ich4 *533FSB *2gb DDR266
Abit BE7-S  *845PE *ICH4 *2gb ddr333
Abit BE7-RAID  *845PE *533FSB *2GB DDR333 *usb2.0 *ideraid
Abit BH7 *845PE *2gb DDR333
Abit BG7E  *845GE *533FSB *2GB DDR333 *USB2.0
Abit BD7-E  *socket 478 *845D *ICH2 *400FSB *2gb DDR266
Abit BG-71  *socket 478 *845GL *ICH4 *400FSB *2gb DDR266
Abit IS7-E2  *865PE *800fsb *2gb DDR400 *sata150 *usb2.0

Abit IS7-M  *865G *800fsb *4gb ddr400 *usb2.0
Abit IS7 *865PE  *800FSB *4gb ddr400 *ich5r
Abit IS7-G *865PE *800fsb  *4gb ddr400 *ich5r
Abit IS7-E *865PE *800fsb *4gb DDR400 *ideraid *usb2.0
Abit IC7  *875P *ICH5R *4GB DDR400
Abit IC7-G Maxll Advance *875P *ICH5R *Gigabit *4gb DDR400
Abit AS8-V *socket 775 *865PE *ich5 *4gb ddr400
Abit Ai7 *865PE *ICH5R *800FSB *4gb DDR400 *fw400
Abit AS8 *socket 775 *865PE *ICH5R *4gb DDR400 *fw400
Abit AS8-3rd Eye *865PE *ICH5R *4gb DDR400 *fw400 *usb2.0
Abit IC7-MAX3  *socket 478 *800fsb *875P *ICH5R *4gb DDR400 *sataraid *fw400 *gigabit *usb2.0

search all abit boards on ebay




AOpen
Aopen AX3L  *384MB ram
AOpen MX4SG-L  *MATX 3 PCI *GIGABIT LAN *2gb ddr
MX4SG-N  *2gb DDR400
MX4SG-L  *2gb DDR1
AX4SPE  *4gb PC3200 DDR266
AX4SG-N  *4gb pc2700 ddr333
AX4SG Max  *4gb DDR400 *Gigabit *fw400
AX4SPE-N  *4gb DDR
AX45F-4DN  *4gb DDR *SIS CHIPSET
AX4SG-UN *865G *ICH5 *4gb ddr400 *agp8x *sata150 *5pci *usb2.0
AX4SPE Max *4gb DDR266 pc3200 *gigabit
AX4C Max II  *4gb DDR400 PC3200 *gigabit
AOpen AX4SPE www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1264_2.html
AX4C Max II  *4GB DDR400 fw400
Aopen AK77-600N *4gb *Agp8x *400fsb *Athlon XP AMD cpu *SataRaid *usb2.0
AX3S





Asus

p4pe2-x *845pe *533fsb *ich4 *2gb ddr333 *usb2.0 *HyperThread
Asus p299 *440ZX *512MB RAM *100FSB http://www.dansdata.com/images/p299/p299320.jpg
Asus P4B533 *845E *ICH4 *533FSB *2GB DDR266 *usb2.0 *6xPCI
Asus P4B  *845 *400FSB *3gb SDRAM
ASUS CUBX-L *440bx *SOCKET 370 *100fsb *1xISA *6xPCI
Asus P2B  *440BX *768MB SDRAM *100FSB *3xISA *4xPCI
Asus P2B-D  *SLOT1 *440BX *2xISA *4xPCI *100FSB *1GB SDRAM
Asus P3C-E *SLOT1 *133FSB *820 *1GB RDRAM
Asus P4GE-V/L  *845 *ICH4 *2gb DDR333 *usb2.0
Asus P4XP-X  *socket 478 *845 *ICH2 *2gbSDRAM or DDR *usb2.0
P4T-E *850 *ich2 *2gb rdram *socket 478
P2B-VE *440BX *11FSB *512MB SDRAM *graphics *1 ISA
Asus CUSL2   *socket 370 *815E *133FSB *512mb SDRAM
P4PE *845PE *ICH4 *533fsb *2GB DDR333 *fw400
P4PE BP   *2GB DDR333
P4GE-V  *2GB DDR
P4B533  *2GB DDR266
Asus P4B533V *845G *ICH4 *533FSB *2GB DDR266
Asus P4T533   *850E *ICH2 *2gb RIMM *usb2.0 *ideraid
P4T533-C  *socket 478 *850E *ICH2 *533FSB *2GB DDR266
P4B533-E  *2GB DDR266
P4P800S-X  *2GB DDR400
A7V600 *Athlon XP aMD cpu *400fsb *3GB DDR PC2700 *AGP8x *SATARAID


Asus P4P800S-X  *socket 478 *848P *ICH5 *800FSB *2GB DDR333
Asus P4B266-E *socket 478 *845d *ich2 *800FSB *2gb DDR266 *agp4x *6xPCI *ideraid *usb2.0
Asus P4B266-C  *socket 478 *845D *ICH2 *800fsb *6xPCI *2gb ddr
Asus P4B266  *socket 478 *800fsb * ich2 *845D *2gb ddr/sdram *agp4x *6xPCI

P4G8X *4gb ddr266
P4R800-V  *4GB DDR333 *fw?
P4P800-SE *4GB DDR400
P4P8X  *4GB DDR400
P4G800-V  *4GB DDR400
P4P800  *4GB DDR400 SATARAID0
P4P800   *fw400 *4GB DDR400 MULTIRAID
P4C800-E Deluxe   *fw400 *4GB DDR400 ICH5R
P5P800  *4 GB DDR400
P5P800SE *4 GB DDR400

search all asus boards on ebay

p4p800-e

p4p800-deluxe

Intel
D865GBFL *865g *800fsb *socket 478 *4gb ddr333/sdram *graphics *sata150 *usb2.0
D865GBF *865g *800fsb *4gb ddr266 *graphics *sata150 *usb2.0
D815EGEWU *815EG *133FSB *512mb SDRAM *usb 1.1
D865PERLX  *socket 478 *865PE *800fsb *4gb ddr266 *sata150 *usb2.0
D815EEA  *815 *ICH *512MB SDRAM *133FSB
D815EEA2U  *512 MB RAM
D865PERL  *865PE *ICH5 *socket 478 *4gb ddr400 *usb2.0 *fw400
D865GBF  *4gb DDR400
D875PBZLK *875P *ICH5R *800FSB *4gb DDR400 *gigabit *AGPx8
D915PCY  *4gb DDR2 533 *socket 775
D915PGN *4gb DDR400 100 base t only, p4 support only *socket 775
D915GAV *4gb DDR400 *socket 775
D915GEV *4gb DDR400 *socket 775
D925XECV2  *4gb DDR2 533
INTEL D925XECV2 *925XE *4gb ddr2 533 *gigabit

D945GNT   *4gb DDR2 667 *FW400 *PENTIUMD *GMA950
D945GNTLR *4gb DDR2 667 *PENTIUMD *GMA950
D945PSN *4gb DDR2 667 *PENTIUMD
D945PVS  *4gb DDR2 667 *PENTIUMD
D945PWM  *4gb ddr2 667 *PENTIUMD
D955XCS *8gb DDR2 667 *pentium D
D955XCS  *socket 775 *pentium D *955 *800fsb *8gb ddr2 667 *gigabit *
D975XBX  *8gb DDR2 667 *PENTIUMD

search all intel desktop boards on ebay



Gigabyte
GA-6LA7  *768MB RAM
GA-8I865P  *4gb DDR1 333
GA-8ITX3  *2GB
GA-8IDX3  *3GB *SOCKET 423
GA-8PENXP  *4gb DDR/SDRAM
GA-8IPE1000-L  *4gb ddr1 400 100base-t only
GA-8IPE1000-G *4gb ddr1 400
GA-8IPE1000PRO-G *865PE *800fsb *ICH5 *TIfw400 *gigabit *sata150
GA-8IKXW-E  *4gb DDR1 400
GA-8IP775-G   *4gb DDR1 400
GA-8IPE775-G  *4gb DDR400
GA-8IKXR *4gb ddr1 400 IDERAID (no sata?)
GA-8IKXW  *4gb ddr1 400 MULTIRAID
GA-8IKXR   *4gb DDR1 400 MULTIRAID
GA-8KNXP  *FW400 TI 4gb ddr1 400
GA-8IG1000 Pro-G  *FW400 TI
GA-8IK1100  *FW400 TI  4gb ddr1 400
GA-M55plus-S3G *AMD cpu *nvidia chipset *fw400 *gigabit *am2 cpus only (no am3)
Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 *geforce 6100 *4 x ddr2 800 *sataraid *fw400 *AM3 CPU SUPPORT (limited to certain chips?)
Gigabyte GA-M52LT-S3P *nForce 520LE *2000 MT/s  *penom X6 *16GB ddr3 1600+ *sata2 *spdif out

search all gigabyte boards on ebay


GA-8IPE1000PRO-G



Biostar NF4U-AM2-G  *nforce4 *4gb ddr2 800 *sataraid *gigabit
Biostar TForce 550 *nforce 550 *4gb ddr2 800 *gigabit *sata
P4TCA Pro  www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=240
Biostar/P4TSG Pro http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=230
Biostar/P4TSE Pro http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=238
BIOSTAR PT880 Pro-A7 www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113511&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
BIOSTAR I86PE-A7 www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113498&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
Fujitsu-Siemens D1627-A http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/roundupmobo/fs-d1627-a-i865pe.html *4GB DDR400 *FW400



4CoreDual-VSTA *pt880 ultra *1066fsb *kenstfield quad cpu support *agp 8x * sata150 *sataraid
775Dual-VSTA *pt880 pro *1066fsb *agp8x *sata150 *spdif out
4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 *pt880 pro *fsb1066 *agp8x *sata2 *quad cpu support
asRock 775V88+ *Via PT880 *800fsb *p4 cpu *5 x pci slots *4gb ddr 400
asRock 775Dual-880 Pro *VIA PT880 Pro *1066fsb *core2duo *sataraid *2gb ddr2 667
asRock AM2NF3-VSTA *nforce3 250 *16gb ddr2 *5 pci slots! *agp x8 *sataraid
 



SuperMicro
Super 370SEA www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=106917&cat=316&search_str=bsearch *512 MB RAM
SUPER 370SBA www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=106906&cat=316&search_str=bsearch *768 MB RAM
SUPERMICRO P4SCI http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/E7210/P4SCi.cfm
Supermicro P4STA www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=106873&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *SOCKET 423
X7SBE *xeon3000 + core quad support *ich9r *4 PCI-X slots!!!
Supermicro PDSG4 http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/PD/955/PDSG4.cfm * 8GB DDR2 667 *PENTIUM D
Supermicro PDSGE http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/PD/955/PDSGE.cfm  * 8GB DDR2 667 *PENTIUM D




my personal pick of these is the ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE the slot postioning on this board allows for a graphics card with a cooler
such as the radeon 9800. this board has multiple raid chipsets (intel + promise) and support for both SATA/IDE built in.. aswell as
gigabit ethernet + firewire... on top of the 5 pci slots for pci audio hardware of course.. all of the required stuff built in.


but why use Windows XP 32 bit?
because of the driver for the delta cards... this is the only driver that allows you to stack 4 cards + have the m-powered software recognize the cards, if you try to do the same build on a pci based mac g4 or g5, once u launch m-powered,, you will only have the channels from the first card available to the software. if anyone knows of a way to make this work on mac os x, please post below, i would love to be told that im wrong! anyways combining pci hardware to achieve 40 inputs + 40 outputs on m-powered 6.x, 7.x, or 8.x  pro tools makes it difficult to get this many inputs and outputs and most other solutions from them cap out far before. for info on analog mixers to pair with your multichannel protools rig see my analog mixers section of my site: http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?board=98.0


photo showing 4 stacked pci cards giving 32 analog i/o + 8 digital i/o (and 4x midi i/o) under pro tools m-powered


photo showing stacked pci cards (2 x DELTA1010LT, + 1 DELTA 410) giving 18 analog i/o + 3 spdif connections with a quad core intel cpu


if pentium 4's make you laugh, (or cry)
u might want to try to go for an intel core 2 duo or quad build:
keep in mind you will still be limited to 4gb of ram by the operating system 32bit memory addressing limit when using XP professional +  pro tools m-powered



intel core 2 duo / quad motherboards with 4-5 slots:
GA-945PL-S3E only 2gb ram, no 4 core support
GA-945PL-S3E  *945PL *1066FSB *2gb DDR2 667 *gigabit

non intel chipsets:
GA-VT890P www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2614#ov *CORE2 DUO SUPPORT / VIA CHIPSET
Asus P5VD2X http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5VD2X/
ASUS P5VD2-X www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=109521&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *4GB DDR2 533 / VIA CHIPSET

intel chipsets:
MSI 945P Neo3-F www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=110078&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
BC945G www.bcmcom.com/bcm_product_bc945g.htm *4gb DDR2 *GMA950 *ICH7r
Asus P5SD2-A http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5SD2A/
Asus P5GC www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5GC/ *4GB DDR2 667
Asus P5GC-VM http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=110408&cat=317&search_str=bsearch (ONLY 3 PCI)
Asus P5P43T SI  http://img.hexun.com.tw/2011-07-11/131320918.jpg http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5P43T/
Asus Commando *8gb DDR2 800 *fw400 *ich8r *NO PARALLEL PORT* specs | ebay
GA-P35-S3G *p35 *ich9 *1333fsb *gigabit *8gb ddr2 1066 *spdif out  specs | ebay
GA-P43-ES3G *16GB DDR2 1200 specs | ebay
GA-P43T-ES3G *16GB DDR3 1600 specs | ebay
GA-P45T-ES3G *16GB DDR3 1600 specs | ebay
GA-EP43-DS3R *1600FSB *P43 *ICH10R *SPDIF IN/OUT *gigabit *TIfw400 *16 GB DDR2 1200+
Intel DP43BF *8GB DDR3 1333 *ICH10R *fw400 *NO PARALLEL ebay | specs
Supermicro PDSMA-E+  * 8GB DDR2 667
SuperMicro PDSMA+  * 8GB DDR2 667
Supermicro C2SBE  *8gb ddr2 800
Supermicro C2SBA  8gb ddr2 800
PDSBA *G965 *ICH8 *1066FSB *8gb DDR2 800 *xeon3000 *gigabit *parallel port
Supermicro PDSBE  * 8GB DDR2 800
Supermicro C2SEE  *4gb DDR3 1333 *NO PARALLEL*
Supermicro C2SBX *X38 *ICH9r *1333fsb *gigabit *8gb ddr3 1333 *fw400
SuperMicro C2SBX+  *8 GB DDR3 1333
Foxconn G31AX-S
Foxconn G41AP

search all intel core 2 duo boards on ebay




GA-P35-S3G supports up to 1333Mhz FSB, sata2 3gbps, DDR2 1066 and intel quad core cpu


intel dp43bf *p43 chipset *ICH10R *8gb DDR3 1333 *fw400 *gigabit *esata *spdif


the p5gc is an ideal choice for winxp, because it supports exactly 4gb ram, and has 6 pci slots + ich7r raid support, although note that this board does not support quad cpu, only core 2 duo/extreme, but according to the asus site http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5GC/HelpDesk_CPU/ it does support e7x00 series + e8x00 series cpus making the highest u can go a Core 2 Duo E8600

this gigabyte board includes firewire built in but requires DDR2 ram which is much more costly then DDR3

asus commando also uses DDR2 ram + features fw400 port


if thats still not powerful enough for you...
theres a few i5/i7 motherboards with 4 pci slots
for best pci performance with i7 boards, u want to pick a chipset that is P55, H, Q, or B or X58 as these chipsets have true support for conventiona 32bit pci slots

Gigabyte GA-P85-D3 *32 GB DDR3 1600
which will allow you to run a haswell cpu and equip 4 pci 32bit delta 1010LTs

this motherboard is socket 1150 (haswell)

other i7 capable motherboards with 4 PCI slots:
GA-H55-UD3H *16GB DDR3 2200, spdif IN & out (optical) *NO PARALLEL
GA-p55-ud3l *16GB DDR3 2200, spdif in & out
GA-P55-US3L *16GB DDR3 2200, spdif in & out
GA-P55-UD3P *16GB DDR3 2200 *NO PARALLEL
GA-P55-UD3R *16GB DDR3 2200, esata & spdif *NO PARALLEL
GA-P55-UD3L *16GB DDR3 2200
GA-P55-UD3L-TPM *16GB DDR3 2200
GA-P55-S3 *16GB DDR3 2200 *NO PARALLEL
GA-PA65-UD3-B3 *16GB DDR3 1333 *NO PARALLEL
GA-P75-D3 *16GB DDR3 1333, spdif out
GA-P75-D3P *16GB DDR3 1333, spdif out

there is also a board from foxconn that features 6 pci slots with 16GB  DDR3 1600
Foxconn H61AP
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186225
Supermicro C7H61 www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113420&cat=471&search_str=bsearch *16gb ddr3 1600
Supermicro C7H61-L www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113421&cat=471&search_str=bsearch *16gb ddr3 1600
Foxconn  H61AP-S http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=motherboard&U=en-us0000581 *2 sata 6gb/s ports

JetWay JNAF93-Q77 LGA 1155 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153243
JetWay JNAF95-Q87 www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153289


GA-P75-D3P features an msata on motherboard for caching of hard drive, its socket 1155 which is sandy/ivy bridge

3 pci boards with firewire

Asus P5Q http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=110431&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
GA-EP45-EXTREME http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=111168&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *ICH10R *16GB DDR3 1600
GA-P45T-ES3G http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=111172&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
GA-EP45-UD3R www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=111188&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *ICH10R
BIOSTAR TP45E Combo http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113364&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
BIOSTAR TP45E XE http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113365&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *Fw400
BIOSTAR TP45D2-A7 www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=113366&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
Foxconn P45AL http://www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=114219&cat=317&search_str=bsearch
Foxconn P45AL-S www.interloper.com/products/product-details.php?productid=114220&cat=317&search_str=bsearch *fw400

GA-P55-UD3L *1156 socket *16gb DDR3 *ATI CrossFireX *spdif IN/OUT

JetWay JNAF93-Q77 LGA 1155

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153243

[chrisNova777]

just a note re: the above mentioned Gigabyte GA-P85-D3
this is a 4th gen haswell board - and CANNOT run windows XP! but it can run Windows 7-32bit!
im not sure if the drivers will work to allow you to run 4 deltas on windows 7-32bit!
but it might be worth a shot? Theres another haswell board called the GA-Z87P-D3 that uses the Z87 chipset that features 6 x 6gb/s sata ports... the GA-P85-D3 uses the B85 chipset and has 4 x 6gb/s sata ports. anyway... neither of the haswell 1150 boards will work for XP apparently so you have to run win7-32bit with those boards. but they do have 4 pci slots.

while this board will never work for the original windows xp, its predecessor
is probably the BEST fit for this project; and uses the B75 chipset, supports PCI-E 3.0, USB3.0, and has a single 6Gb/s port for a high performance SSD to run the os off of.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-P75-D3-rev-10#sp

[chrisNova777]

https://www.m-audio.com/support/download/drivers/delta-6.0.8
64bit drivers for Delta released March 2012

earlier 32bit drivers from 2007?
https://www.m-audio.com/support/download/drivers/delta-wdm-5.10.00.5057v3

[joethelion]

Thanks ... This is a great resource !!!

[6track]

just a note re: the above mentioned Gigabyte GA-P85-D3
this is a 4th gen haswell board - and CANNOT run windows XP!

You are more likely to be able to install Windows XP x86. Although there are no official drivers, such as USB 3.0 or AHCI, this does not mean that you can implement modified drivers. I've seen posts on other forums that have successfully installed on Windows XP on:

Asus B85-PLUS
Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3
GigaByte GA-B85M-D3H

For example, here you can find drivers for SATA (they must be implemented using n-Lite in the distribution):

http://www.win-raid.com/t11f23-Modded-Intel-AHCI-and-RAID-Drivers-digitally-signed.html

Need some googling for this question, I've seen modified builds of Windows XP with embedded drivers for modern chipsets.

[6track]

Patch integrator 3.4.5 (current, February 2023) - The kit includes the main upgraded drivers that allow you to install XP on unsupported hardware.

More information: https://zone94.com/downloads/software/operating-systems/123-windows-xp-professional-sp3-x86-integral-edition

[joethelion]

Agreed 6tr ... It's far the best I've used.

I'm 'feeling my way' for a retro project after a very long lay-off.

Have you been able to overcome Intel chipset RAM limitation ... and with any specific chipset series ?
Eg: It seems 915 series is max 2Gb regardless of PAE fixes and possible OS/BIOS tweaking ?

Have you had success with, eg: 945-965 series to achieve greater than 8Gb RAM ?

Have you trialled any server boards with XPPSP3 Integral ... overcoming chipset driver issues ?

Thanks for any help.


ATB, jtl

[chrisNova777]

ram limitations are specific to mother boards AND operating system

and forgive me guys but the purpose of me making this thread was the opposite
ie: the whole point was to use fully supported hardware.. that was a right match for the os /software not to make unsupported hardware work for something it doesnt..

the original m-audio drivers are solid compared to the newer 64bit version that they basically were forced to give out by pressure of customers complaining.. they literally made no money probably off producing those 64bit drivers but they did it (i think) because there were so many people complaining that they couldnt use their delta 1010 (1010LT) with windows 7 (which probably installed as 64bit by default)

so ya the 64bit drivers are not as robust + complete as the original XP drivers (and also didnt allow you to use 4 cards together as one interface) so unfortunately 4gb is the ram limitation, if joethelion has a 2gb ram max... under XP? then that has to be the motherboard itself (not the chipset??) for example i have a p5pe-vm motherboard it can only take 2gb max... but people forget that 2gb in the early 2000s was still alot of ram.. even 1gb was still alot of ram.. compared to the years just prior.

people made alot of amazing music with computers that had alot less ram than 2gb. maybe keep that in mind|
it sucks that this is a result of the programmer whoever developed the drivers.. and how much they paid or didnt pay him to develop the drivers.

[joethelion]

Yes indeed, Chris ...
I wholly agree with both your intent and with your insight ...

I'm a 'died in the wool' Intel guy; however, I'm not current with much post-Win 7, having despaired of MS OS evolution strategy.

That is not to suggest I'm not open-minded. I've been researching a great deal and (privately)questioning many of the claims made on chipset/os/RAM issues, sometimes for re-purposing otherwise 'obsolete' hardware.

I can only advocate eg, if Intel designed the 915 chipset for max 2Gb RAM on XP, then that is the safe working practise, until Intel revise. I've never been able to indulge (risk) more adventurous approaches ...

I hope you might find time to consider the e-mail I recently sent to you with an outline of my (non-commercial) interest in re-purposing an outdated studio with much good XP/7 hardware ?

There's much to be trialled and proven. I'll be glad to post relevant stuff on OSD if of interest.
It seems to me RAM will, to a large extent, govern possibilities and viable options; especially, in sourcing system boards.

I've no wish to clutter OSD by inconsistent posting; however, I was so impressed by your efforts in this post, in particular, I wondered if we might begin a new continuity topic based on industry stalwarts, RME and Soundscape PCI ... Mixtreme & 968/9636 ?
Strong pressure within that sector ensured a much longer life for what remain excellent PCI cards, even if 32 bit 5v. That such great vfm cards are most reliable and stackable could well open otherwise closed doors to many here and beyond; especially, in such as semi-pro/community live ensemble broadcasting with real players and instruments plus VSTi.

That requires much more RAM, largely governed by chipset on Intel boards.

I well recall times when magnetic flux density was the decisive issue ...

As a brief aside, I'm curious as to why there are many visitors to OSD; yet, few seem to sign-in and contribute when visiting. I guess OSD is not intened to be a 'talking shop' ?

If so, I'll keep that in mind ...

ATB, jtl.