New PC build. Intel quad.

[Timo]

Matt noted an interest in my new proposed build, so here are the specifics in case anyone else is interested.

Will be building it over the next month, as the CPU I'm after is to be released (at the earliest, depending on availability) March 17th.

* CPU: Intel Q9450 (specs: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB L2, SSE4, 45nm, LGA 775 socket).

The Q9450 will effectively be the successor to the current Q6600 (Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB L2 cache, SSE3, 65nm) of the same 775 socket.

Reason for choice: Both Q6600 or Q9450 are dead cheap, offer stacks of processing power, and don't run too hot. At the moment the AMD stuff simply can't compete (which, incidently, is why the Q9450 is being released two months late, Intel, you barstards! Should've been a January 17th release.)

The Q6600 with the G0 stepping is now £158 which is awesome value, and the G0 version is a great overclocker. The Q9450 will be £219 at release. I'm deciding to go with the latter as it will generate less heat/wattage (due to the 45nm architecture), has 4MB extra L2 cache and, as I'm not intending on upgrading for the next few years, it supports SSE4 for future programs/apps. It's not quite so good as the Q6600 for OCing, though, as it has a locked multiplier of x8 (as opposed to the x8.5 of the Q6600).

* Motherboard: The current Intel DP35DP favourite with audio geeks (based on the Intel P35 chipset) used for the current Q6600 quads will also be able to use the new 1333MHz FSB based quads (ie. Q9450) with a simple BIOS update, so this is what I'll be using.

Reasons: Reknowned stability for audio use. Sports a Texas Instruments native firewire chipset, which is ideal for high-bandwidth, low-latency firewire audio (I have a Motu Traveller firewire soundcard). Also has: 3 x PCI slots, 3 x PCI-Express x1 slots, 1 x PCI-Express x16 (graphics) slot, 6 x SATA channels, 1 x PATA channel, support for 12 x USB v2 ports, 2 x firewire (one internal, one external). Basically a decent all-rounder, and also inexpensive. Not amazing for overclocking, feature-wise, but I'm not intending on going overboard, so this is a non-issue.

* RAM: 2 x 2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz) CA5 Corsair RAM.

Reason for choice: The DP35DP motherboard dictates that only 1.8v RAM modules can be used (as opposed to the 2.1v variety), and that the RAM timings must be 5-5-5 or 6-6-6 for 800MHz modules.

If my maths and computer system theory is correct, as the FSB is quad-pumped (irrelevant to the quad cores on the CPU) the CPU itself would need to be greater than 3.2GHz before it would benefit from RAM speeds higher than 800MHz.

(4 [quad pumped FSB rate] x 800MHz [RAM speed] = 3.2GHz [CPU])

So the 2.66GHz CPU is well within these limits for optimal 800MHz RAM usage. Even 667MHz RAM could stretch to that upper limit (667MHz [RAM speed] x 4 [quad pumped FSB rate] = 2.66GHz [CPU]), but there would be no headroom.

However, if ever I wanted to overclock the CPU to 3.2GHz, because the CPU has a locked multiplier of x8, an FSB buss overclock speed of 400MHz can be chosen (3200MHz [CPU] / 8 [CPU multiplier] = 400MHz [FSB speed]), which is probably what I will be doing as opposed to using the default FSB of 333MHz (for the default 2.66GHz CPU and effective full rated FSB speed of 1333MHz). I wouldn't like to go further than 450MHz FSB (= 3.6GHz CPU, overall effective FSB of 1800MHz) using just air-cooling, though, and certainly for a 4GHz CPU the required 500MHz FSB overclock (effectively 2000MHz FSB overall) would be out of the question!

But, if you think about it, if all cores are used at the same time, which they pretty much are in multi-threaded applications like sequencers, and if you overclocked the 2.66GHz CPU to 3.2GHz, it'd give you a theoretical speed of 12.8GHz at full tilt (3.2GHz[CPU] x 4[cores] = 12.8GHz) if utilised at 100% efficiency. Now the Core 2 architecture is between 1.5x and 2x times faster than an equivalently rated Pentium 4 (from years ago), due to increased efficiency on a clock-cycle per clock-cycle basis, so the comparable speed would be akin to anything between a 19.2GHz to 25.6GHz Pentium 4. Enough, methinks!

Note: On a XP32 system partition I think only 3.5GB of RAM can be "seen" and used by the system. Only under 64-bit will the full 4GB be accessible (incidently I think you can install up to 8GB on this board for 64-bit usage).

* OS: Dual boot: Windows XP 32-bit, and Windows Vista 64-bit.

It'll be dual-boot XP32 and V64, running them in parallel to see what I'll stand to lose in the move to V64 (my eventual goal, seeing as the CPU & mobo support the full 64-bits, and that more and more applications natively support 64-bit).

However, I've just learnt that Vista and XP on the same system disk may be asking for trouble if ever Vista becomes corrupted, as Vista alters the MBR (master boot record) in such a way that you wouldn't even be able to boot into your other XP partition if that occurs. So it looks like two physical system hard-drives are on the cards.

* Graphics: EVGA 512MB nVidia 8800GT

Reason: A bit of a luxury I've allowed myself. The nVidia 8800GT is nearly as powerful as their flagship 8800GTX, but at a much lower price point, and with a lot less heat (the GT version was released a while after the rest of the series, but uses a new 45nm architecture compared with all of the other 8800 cards of the same series). A no brainer, reading all the reviews. Looks like it's a great card and tbh I can't see myself upgrading.

There's loads of 8800GTs by different manufacturers, though, but EVGA allegedly give free warranty for life (this is something I'm double checking), so I think that'll my choice if so. I can't see myself upgrading to anything else in the next few years, I'm not a heavy gamer.

If the card ever runs too noisily I may possibly slap a Thermalrite HR-03 on it for passive cooling while taking advantage of passive air-currents from the main CPU's Zalman fan.

* CPU cooler: will either be the horizontally mounted Zalman CNPS8700NT, or the vertically mounted Zalman CNPS9500 or CNPS9700, or something like the Thermaltake 120.

[edit]Actually, looking at the DP35DP motherboard, the northbridge heatsink looks damn tall, which means I'll have to drop the horizontally mounted fan idea, as clearance might be an issue.

* Hard-disks:
WD Caviar Sata2 250GB 16mb (system XP32 + data/backups)
WD Caviar Sata2 500GB 16mb (system Vista64 + data)
Maxtor Diamond Max9 IDE 300GB (data) (one of my old IDE drives)

* PSU: Seasonic S-12

Either the 430 or 500W version.

Reason: High quality, stable wattage throughput under load, and quiet. The Seasonic PSUs are often recommended and used in commercial audio installs.

* Case: Nzxt Lexa case.



Reason: Has plenty of airflow with up to 5 fans (3 x 120mm, 2 x 80mm) in all the right places, allows for tool-less HD and PCI-card installation, has 2 x USB ports and 1 x firewire port on the outside, light in weight, and looks cool.

Not too fussed about fan noise as I rarely use microphones. Just so long as it's unobtrusive. Not sure what the bundled (4 x) fans will be like noise-wise, but may replace them if they're overly noisy.

* DVD-RW: preferably with lightscribe. (Lightscribing allows you to flip the disc and use the same DVD laser to etch your own monochrome artwork onto the back of it.)

I can only seem to see lightscribe DVD-RWs for Samsung, Asus, and Optiarc, but unfortunately not Plextor or Pioneer [which would have been my first choice]. So undecided at the moment.

Total PC cost will be about ~£850 inc. VAT but excluding P&P.

[XLR8A]

If i was going to build this computer for myself: i'd replace the Zalman CPU fan with a passive fanless heatsync like Scythe Ninja or Thermalright SI-128I, and the Nzxt Lexa case with Antec P182 or the Antec P150 that already includes an ultra silent fans and a decent quality PSU. Reducing fan noise as much as possible is always important for any studio computer, doesn't matters if you're using mics or not.

That's the reason i'd replace the graphics card with any fanless card, even one with 128mb video memory would be more than enough to run a dual 19' display setup at 1280/1024 in 32bit mode. As long as i'm not running heavy games on my studio pc of course.

RAM, i'd go for lower Cas Latency, preferably CL4 or even lower if possible, from a known manufacturer like Corsair or Kingston etc...

Also, i'm not quite sure regarding the quality of the current Intel mobos, i'd go for an Asus equivalent instead... I could be wrong thou, but i see way too many faulty Intel mobos all the time.

DVD-RW, Plextor or Pioneer FTW!

[Timo]

Hiya,

Originally Posted by XLR8A

If i was going to build this computer for myself: i'd replace the Zalman CPU fan with a passive fanless heatsync like Scythe Ninja or Thermalright SI-128I

The Ninja was also on my shortlist. The reviews are excellent. I'd still be tempted to place a large (120mm), low speed fan on it, though.

and the Nzxt Lexa case with Antec P182 or the Antec P150 that already includes an ultra silent fans and a decent quality PSU.

The Antec P180 is also a favourite for audio builds as it has acoustic sound proofing panels, and a heap of other features. I fanced a bit of fun, so chose the Lexa. It has the equivalent air-flow, but might be slightly louder. If the fans are a tad noisy I'll just replace them with whisper quiet ones.

i'd replace the graphics card with any fanless card, even one with 128mb video memory would be more than enough to run a dual 19' display setup at 1280/1024 in 32bit mode. As long as i'm not running heavy games on my studio pc of course.

Definately. There are plenty of passive 256mb nVidia 8600 graphics cards which would have been my first choice if I didn't intend on doing a little gaming or 3D graphics. The 8800GT can be passively cooled if care is taken with regards to airflow within the system.

RAM, i'd go for lower Cas Latency, preferably CL4 or even lower if possible, from a known manufacturer like Corsair or Kingston etc...

Unfortunately that's one of the limitations with the DP35DP motherboard, but yes Corsair and Kingston are the manufacturers to go for. Corsair also uses a helpful "Memory Configurator" gadget on their website which is good to see which RAM modules are compatible.

Also, i'm not quite sure regarding the quality of the current Intel mobos, i'd go for an Asus equivalent instead... I could be wrong thou, but i see way too many faulty Intel mobos all the time.

The DP35DP is raved about on the SoS forums, literally everyone's been using them for many months and there have been no sob stories yet. I think the Asus would be better for overclocking, though, but costs a lot more than the Intel board.

Thnx

[Old Vantaa Man]

Tims, that is ace. Cheers bud

M

[Doc Jones]

man, can i rent some time on that supercomputer?

[Timo]

Originally Posted by Doc Jones

man, can i rent some time on that supercomputer?

Just wait until the end of 2008. Nehalem platform (Intel): native oct-core, hyperthreading (two threads per core = 16 threads), integrated DDR3 controller, and the FSB will finally be replaced with a point-to-point system.

The quads of today will have nothing on that. The performance jump will be massive!

I can't wait any longer though. Been without a dedicated music computer for a year now, since my laptop died, hence the build now. For those who can wait until Q2 2009, this new stuff should be really affordable, and also upgradable.
Core 2's coming to the end of its life span.

[Timo]

Brief update:

Swapped my order around a couple of weeks ago before putting it all through.

Before reading the DP35DP manual I didn't realise that Intel mobos don't allow overclocking at all, I thought they allowed crude OCing, just not as extensively as others, but no. So swapped the mobo choice to a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4, as I was getting a bit paranoid as to the possibility that OCing could mean the difference between it all working at the low latencies, or not, so decided to hedge my bets. And for education. Should easily get over 3GHz.

RAM is Corsair PC6400 @ CAS4, as the new motherboard supports it.

Swapped the Seasonic PSU for a modular Corsair 520W HX as it had excellent reviews and is modular for neatness.

Buying a separate heatsink for the graphics card would have added £30 or so more, so swapped the EVGA graphics card to an MSI of the same version (nVidia 8800GT) as the MSI already has onboard heatpipes and heatsink. It's not passive, but is meant to be whisper quiet due to the heatpipes, HS, and a larger fan keeping it ticking over.

Everything's delivered, apart from the fucking Q9450 CPU which is delayed yet again (the first shipment should've been due on the 18th March). Hopefully it should come sometime next week. Itching to get started!

[jasedee]

Jesus fucking H Christ!

All that bullshit, why wouldn't you just walk into a Mac store and be done with it? You'd have a better, more stable machine without all the fucking around of choosing parts etc.

I really don't understand why anyone would want to go through all that when you can buy an off the shelf machine that just works.

Just speaking my mind here, no intents of another boring Mac vs PC thread. Sorry for the temporary hijack Timo.

[dys4iK]

Originally Posted by jasedee

Jesus fucking H Christ!

All that bullshit, why wouldn't you just walk into a Mac store and be done with it? You'd have a better, more stable machine without all the fucking around of choosing parts etc.

I really don't understand why anyone would want to go through all that when you can buy an off the shelf machine that just works.

Just speaking my mind here, no intents of another boring Mac vs PC thread. Sorry for the temporary hijack Timo.

I priced it out, when looking at a mac pro recently.

To get the same horsepower I can pay half the cost if I build my own.

[AlexHall74]

Originally Posted by dys4iK

I priced it out, when looking at a mac pro recently.

To get the same horsepower I can pay half the cost if I build my own.

Half off is relevant indeed!