DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

kees · Post by **kees** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:17 am

Hi,

I'm gathering components together for a friend who wants to have a silent pc for audio (especially DSP processing). He is planning to use a pci RME audiocard.

Please shoot on this setup:

case: Antec 183
PSU: Seasonic X-460, 460Watt, Fanless, ATX
What is a good PSU WITH fan?

Mobo: Asus P6T SE, S1366, X58, 6xDDR3, PCIe, ATX (should have firewire Texas Instruments right?)
heatsink: Prolimatech Megahalems, RevB, Socket 775/1156/1366
fans: Nexus 120mm Real Silent case fan, 500-2000rpm, PWM
CPU: Intel Core i7-930 2.80GHz, 4.8GT/s, 8MB,S1366, Box
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 Silent, 512MB, PCIe
Hdd (maybe a SSD for audio projects and one for the OS)( backup via a server.)
memory Corsair XMS3 4GB(2x2GB) PC3-16000/2000MH
or
Corsair XMS3 4GB(2x2GB) PC3-12800/1600MHz
(does speed matter much?)
DVD Lite-On iHAS124 24xDVDRW

Thanks in advance,

joetekubi · Post by **joetekubi** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:22 am

everything looks good AFAICT.
You WILL need to populate triple-channel ram (6 GB) for X58 / 1366 motherboards.

boost · Post by **boost** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:59 am

Imho the setup looks good.
Some tips:
Afaik only Gigabyte S1366 boards have TI Firewire chips, i.e. X-58 UD3R.
Intel i950 cost only a little more than i930 ~20€, S1366 CPUs.
In January Intel will introduce a a new plattform based on socket 1155 with higher clocked CPUs than current socket 1156, if you can wait that long.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:09 pm

kees wrote:fans: Nexus 120mm Real Silent case fan, 500-2000rpm, PWM

I don't know how good the PWM version of these fans are. Also, the max speed of 2000rpm is a bit high - unless you plan on using something like SpeedFan to control them. You might want to stick with the non-PWM version.

If you want a PWM fan, the Scythe Kama PWM is pretty good.

kees · Post by **kees** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:22 am

@boost, how do you know it will be January, not April for instance?

Thanks!

What about the Nexus 120mm Real Silent case fan?

And what is a good active PSU for this setup? edit: Enermax Modu87+ 500W ?

boost · Post by **boost** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:26 pm

Preview

kees wrote:@boost, how do you know it will be January, not April for instance?

First, previews of socket 1155 board are all over the net,Gigabyte, Asus and MSI. Second, January 5th.
Preview of the platform @Anandtech.

Why do you want a PSU with a fan when a fanless one will do fine? You can have a single fan computer, one single source of very low noise (when using a SSD). You can unplug the case fans and test how many you need at full load, I guess not one in a P183.
The best cooler/fan combo for low noise atm is the Thermalright HR-02/TY140. Review @Xbitlabs.

In regard to your other questions, for most workloads RAM speed doesn't matter at all. Good SSDs have either an Intel or Sandforce Controller. Like these.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:43 am

I would ask about the motherboard on RME forums (if there are any) to see if anyone else is using that board to see if there are IRQ problems.

I would poke the Gigabyte GA-X58A-xxx series, they're rock solid and have TI for FW if you really need to use onboard (otherwise I would suggest a dedicated card for this).

I would go with Triple Channel RAM because you do get a little more for the money, and much more expandability (Max 24gb rather than max 16gb).

Other than that, the build looks good. Would probably work well with PT9 as well (or just about any DAW software of choice).

kees · Post by **kees** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 10:41 am

How do I know whether it is possible to connect two screens (at best with DVI)?
for example with the Asus EAH5450 SILENT?

PSU: Seasonic X passive or the Enermax Modu87+ 500W (active)? What do you think or feel?

tim851 · Post by **tim851** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 2:10 pm

kees wrote:How do I know whether it is possible to connect two screens (at best with DVI)?

Every card released in the last 5 years (or more) can do that.

If you want to connect two displays via DVI, you just need to check if the card has two DVI ports. Lower end cards (like the 5450) often only have one alongside a VGA port.

kees wrote:PSU: Seasonic X passive or the Enermax Modu87+ 500W (active)? What do you think or feel?

The Enermax is very quiet, almost inaudible. I have one.
The Seasonic X will be totally inaudible (save for possible coil whine, but that can affect every PSU) and it will easily power the system your building. So unless price is an issue, I'd go for it.

kees · Post by **kees** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:58 am

Thanks!

How would you build the PC? How much fans and where to place them?

boost · Post by **boost** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 6:28 am

On such a tight budget I would wait till January.

Intel i5 2500K (3.3GHz) 180€ (estimate) Expreview price list
AData ValueRam 8GB 90€ 1333MHz Anandtech Test of RAM speeds
Gigabyte H67A-UD3H 90€ (estimate) Pics and overview @ overclockers.com
Thermalright HR-02 70€
Crucial C300 128GB 210€
Seasonic FL-460 150€
DVD Burner 20€
Define R3 90€ (30€ cheaper than Antec, easy 2.5" SSD mounting)
900€

I would use exactly one fan, the TY-140 on the HR-02 CPU cooler, mounted to blow hot air out of the back of the case.
If the temperature gets too high you can reconnect/remount the rear and front case fan.
The mainboard has 4 graphic ports: D-Sub, HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort.
You can connect at least two monitors with a digital signal, one with DVI directly, one with a HDMI -> DVI cable (usually 1920X1200 max. resolution), or a DisplayPort -> DVI Dongle. A passive (single link 1920X1200 max. resolution) dongle is 30€ an active one (2560X1600 max. resolution) 90€.
The back panel of the mainboard seems to include firewire, but i can't be sure and I don't know which firewire chip is used. A PCIe Firewire card with a TI chipset is ~25€.

Alternative setup:
With the increased heat output from the CPU, the chipset and graphics card you might need the case fans.

Intel i7 950 (3 GHz) 250€
Gigabyte X58-UD3R 180€
AData ValueRam 6GB 60€
AMD Radeon 5450 30€ (requires HDMI -> DVI cable)
Thermalright HR-02 70€
Crucial C300 128GB 210€
Seasonic FL-460 150€
DVD Burner 20€
Antec P183 120€
1090€

(Sorry, table looks bad

)

kees · Post by **kees** » Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:10 pm

Here is an example build, but 3 fans are being used, what do you recommend?

http://www.notam02.no/projects/index.ph ... iseless_PC

kees · Post by **kees** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 10:27 am

another question, is there a difference between a case fan and a cpu fan?

The plan was to use 3 of these http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-nexus120mmre ... asefan.htm

Build plan: http://www.notam02.no/projects/index.ph ... iseless_PC more or less...

edit: hmm I see this one is build as cpu fan for example http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=prod ... =12&lng=en
This that a 'Noctua thing'? I couldn't find a nexus fan for cpu..

DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)

Re: DAW pc (around 1000 euro)