Spec for DAW

[exit2studios]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. In the acquisition phase for a DIY Daw to replace my Dell SC420.

From a previous thread:



PROCEESSOR/COOLER/MAINBOARD/FIREWIRE PCI CARD
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz FSB
Zalman/Cooler Master Hyper 48
ASUS A8V Socket 939 VIA K8T800 Pro
StarTech FireWire800 PCI Card w/TI chipset.............[$487US]

RAM
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200).........[$168US]

CASE+POWER SUPPLY
Antec Sonata II 450W
S$229

[u]VIDEO
Matrox Millennium P650.............[$149US]



I have the Asus A8V Deluxe mobo on the way and I'm pretty much set on drives, etc.

I have a few questions regarding case, cooler and video card:

I have a P450 in my current system. Great card, however it won't adequately power the new 26" widescreen monitor I have. How does the P650 fare here? Would I be better off with something cheaper like a Geforce 5200?

Itsplayed, why do you recommend the Sonata II and the Hyper 48? Which Zalman would you suggest for this setup? Any familiarity with the Scythe Ninja?

Thanks so much for everyone on this forum!

[itsplayed]

I have the Asus A8V Deluxe mobo on the way and I'm pretty much set on drives, etc.

Good choice in boards, are you also going with the X2 CPU?

I have a few questions regarding case, cooler and video card:

I have a P450 in my current system. Great card, however it won't adequately power the new 26" widescreen monitor I have. How does the P650 fare here? Would I be better off with something cheaper like a Geforce 5200?

Your better off going with the Matrox card, but a GeForce up to the 6200 would be okay. You need to see what is the native resolution for your monitor in order to tell if the P650 will work for you.

Itsplayed, why do you recommend the Sonata II and the Hyper 48? Which Zalman would you suggest for this setup? Any familiarity with the Scythe Ninja?

The Sonota II case is just a very good deal, it's quiet and comes with a very beefy power supply. The P180 is also a great case, but is more expensive without the supply. There are other cases besides the Antecs that are good as well.
As far as the CPU fan goes, I didn't so much recommend the Hyper 48, I merely gave it an acceptable approval. The Scythe Ninja is also a good unit, but I don't recommend using without a fan even if using a lower end CPU. My personal favorite as of late is Thermatakes Orb II unit, it's very quiet and keep temps way down, I'm very happy with this cooler, however the install can be intimidating as well as it's size.

Thanks so much for everyone on this forum!

I'm sure I can speak for everyone when I say...your welcome!

[exit2studios]

Good choice in boards, are you also going with the X2 CPU?

Yes I plan to go with X2, just not sure what the best bang for buck is yet. I'm trying to watch prices and am in no hurry to get all the components. I am leaning towards your initial recommendation unless you have an updated opinion on the matter.



You need to see what is the native resolution for your monitor in order to tell if the P650 will work for you.

The native resolution of my monitor is 1366 x 768. With the powerstrip utility, I can get the G450 to that, but it's less than stellar on performance and gets a little fatiguing after a while.

As far as cases, I'm looking for a good deal, but want something really quiet. I think I'm spoiled on this coming from the "silent" Poweredge SC400. I'm not sure how much temp control is going to be needed for this machine, so I'm very open to suggestions on this as well as CPU cooler. Any insight into the Antec P150? It also seems to come with a PSU.

I'll check out the cooler you mentioned for sure. I've built several boxes in the past so I wouldn't let a cooler install intimidate me too much :-)

[itsplayed]

The Matrox P650 should have no problem in handling your monitor. To be sure, read the product manual for the display and make sure a dual link DVI card is not required to run it properly.
If your looking for a truely quiet case, you may want to check this unit out, which is basically a modified Antec Sonota II case. Although I haven't used this case in a build myself(yet), it does get very good reviews.....
http://www.acoustiproducts.com/en/acousticase_c6607.asp
....of course you could make these modifications yourself, much cheaper.
Be careful of the P180 case version that comes with a PSU, it's an older design and it's a little weak on the +5v rail.

[exit2studios]

That is an interesting case. Are you familiar with the Antec P150? It is newer than the P180 and has a way to suspend the HDD's which seems pretty cool. Do you find the acoustic damping materials are worth while?

By the way, the Blue Orb II is wild. I can see how that might be a pretty daunting install. Have you used it with the A8V and Sonata II?


Weak in the +5 rail. What does that mean?

[exit2studios]

Antec P150 reviewhttp://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page1.html

[itsplayed]

That is an interesting case. Are you familiar with the Antec P150? It is newer than the P180 and has a way to suspend the HDD's which seems pretty cool. Do you find the acoustic damping materials are worth while?

Yes, I am familiar with it, but I have not used it in any build thusfar. The review you provided certainly gives it a big thumbs up. I find that the acoustic dampening materials do help in keeping the noise down and have used these kits on some past builds. Note the PSU unit used on the custom build that was pitted against the P150 in that review. A Seasonic PSU that has been proven to be a winner in delivering plenty of power while keeping noise to a minimum. You may want to consider an Antec case, Seasonic PSU and Nexus case fan(s) combo.


By the way, the Blue Orb II is wild. I can see how that might be a pretty daunting install. Have you used it with the A8V and Sonata II?

Yes, it can be a little tricky and pictures do not do the size of it any justice....the thing is huge! I have not used this fan on an A8V. The last board I used it on was the MSI K8N Neo2-F. But I'm sure it would fit the A8V as well. I also never worked with the Sonata II case, but have worked with it's predecessor 'Sonata' case.

Weak in the +5 rail. What does that mean?

A PC's power supply unit transfer electricity to components in your PC through three different lines. These rails are the 3.3 volt, 5 volt and 12 volt rails.Your power supply must be able to supply the electricity requested by all components inside your PC. Failure to do so and your PC may experience system crashes and instabilities.

[exit2studios]

It's played, thanks so much for the replies. I almost feel like we should just have an offline conversation :-)

What CPU should I be considering?

Also, is it possible to get the Sonata II without the PSU?

[itsplayed]

Your welcome exit2studios, I really like the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz for it's 2 x 1MB L2Cache, I think it's the best Processor at it's price point at around $450. It's a little steep, I know, but it's worth the extra $150 or so to make the jump from the 3800+ w/2 X512mb L2Cache that's at around $300. Although, if the 4400+ is out of your price range, the 3800+ is a solid performer and you can always pull an upgrade in the future, as prices most certainly will drop.
AFAIK, the Antec Sonata II cases all come with the PSU supplied. These PSU's are not shabby as far as there specs go. Although I haven't heard it for myself, and they may not be the quitest supplies on the market, they do get a thumbs up from owners of this case with which I have corresponded. At a cost of $100 you can't go wrong even if you need to replace the PSU. However if you are going to take that approach the P180 or the newer P150 may be the answer.

[exit2studios]

One other questions regarding cases. Currently, my SC400 resides horizontally at the bottom of my rack. Should I be looking at a rack mount? I would like to avoid the extra cost unless you know of a good option. Also, I think the P180 would be too big to fit in the rack.

I've never really investigated the health of laying a PC basically on it's side like I do now, but I've never had any issues.

[exit2studios]

Well, the A8V Deluxe I ordered is supposedly "out of stock" so back to square one. What other boards should I be looking at? I definitely need a fair share of PCI slots since my sound card and UAD-1(s) require them. Not opposed to PCI-e for video since I'll be buying a new vid card anyway, so I guess I'm pretty open to suggestions.

The good ol' bait and switch.

[itsplayed]

I know of a site that claims to still have them in stock. I've never dealt with them before but I'll send you the link through your PM.
As far as the rack mount case goes, it does make sense to use one if this is going in a rack. I built a mobile DAW last year using an Antec rack unit...not cheap though!

[exit2studios]

Is there any danger in placing a tower on it's side in a rack? If I go rack mount on the case, is there anything reasonable and QUIET?

[itsplayed]

I would not lay a computer on it's side for a couple of reasons. First, hard drives are not designed to spin on it's side and doing so may cause premature wear to the drive. Secondly, most optical drives are not designed to spin on their sides and could cause errors in reading/writing tasks. However, there are optical drives that are designed to funtion in a vertical position.
Antec makes quiet rackmount cases, but are not cheap at around $300.00US.

[exit2studios]

What RAM is recommended for a setup like this? I'm thinking A8V, with X2 4400.

[itsplayed]

Any of the top brands will do you solid, such as Crucial, Corsair, Kingston etc. Each of these vendors websites have ram configurators so as to make choosing easy. A dual channel kit (2 X 1GB) or 2GB's is what I'd recommend installing. High performance ram is not necessary, something middle ground is more than sufficient for use in a DAW.

[exit2studios]

Would I be better off going with higher mhz memory (500mhz) and higher latencies, or sticking with PC3200 with lower CAS?

[itsplayed]

I'd stick with the 2x1gb dual channel kit of pc3200.