Build me a DAW PC.

[Merlot]

I am moving over from mac, (will have powerbook for it if I need it). I am going to use live 5 for sequencing and pro tools LE for mix down. I plan on buying two UAD cards for use. Dont want to spend the $$ that ten spent on his rig, but dont want to have to upgrade for a couple years either. With all that is out right now, and never owning a PC, I am a bit confused to say the least. I am pretty sure I want to head the AMD route, but dont know if dual would be better or not. Live only is capable of using 1 processor, but in pro tools I might need all I can get. Or if I want to fire up another sequencer, the extra processor might be handy. So, I am open to any suggestions you guys have. Dont need a monitor.

Thanks in advance

[AlexHall74]

I would look into using 2 PCs over LAN instead of a dual processor machine.

Multi-threaded code is hard to come by.

Check out this article:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_net...ur_studio.html


I have heard that the AMD chips are quieter...

Good luck!

[Merlot]

tTHanks man. WIll check it out.

[ten]

If your going to be using dsp cards (uad/powercore etc) I would scratch networking pcs together. You will have no end of problems with increased latencies from the cards not to mention the complete pain in the arse that you cannot run the slaved plugs guis on the master machine.

Get a nice dualcore AMD X2 chip and Nforce4 motherboard. You get dual cpu performance with a single chip and it will all cost a fair amount less than a dual cpu machine.

Even though Live doesnt support multithread right now Im pretty sure it will in the future, and they seem to do a new x.0 release each year. Not to sure about PT LE but I know the main versions are multithreaded so the dualcore will be a godsend when using that.

I would recommend the AMD X2 4400 chip (or even a 4600/4800 if you can afford one) and a board from Asus, DFI, MSI should do you well.

Its worth checking the nuendo and cubase forums hardware sections and checking what other people are using, stealing ideas from them as there is some good info from the people that are pioneering this kit.

ten

[Merlot]

Much thanks ten. What would you recommend for a case and cooloing system?

[ten]

Case will depend on what you would like to put in it.

If you give me a list of your kit, or what you would like I will give a few recommendations...

For cooling it will depend on weather you are thinking of overclocking, if your comfortable with using watercooling or if everything will be at stock?

If going for stock or mild overclocking Thermalrite heatsinks are among the best. Check out the XP-120 (very big) which takes 120mm fans. It doesnt fit all motherboards so check the Thermalright website first to make sure it will fit the one you plan on getting. The XP-90c is slightly smaller and takes 90mm fans but will fit on any motherboard. It also cools pretty much exactly the same as the xp-120.

I have two XP90cs on my daw...



They cool extremely well under load, never hitting over 40c (the alarm wont sound till 65c!!)

These with some Thermaltake 92mm silentcat fans give awesome cooling and near silent operation.

ten

[jasedee]

You should check out these silent cases....



A guy I know in Sydney uses these cases for his custom audio PC's, and I have heard them in action. The only thing you can hear is the hard disc whirring quietly. Fookin quiet

Music Computer Systems

Obviously your arent in Sydney, but Im sure others are using these cases too..

[Tomer=Trance]

what exacly make a computer silent?
replacing all standart fans into zalman silent fans for example?

[jasedee]

I think instead of fans there are massive fins for cooling, if you look at the sides they are just big slits to allow for cooling. Also, the whole PC is mounted on rubber feet, so no vibrations from the computer.

I have seen this thing in action, and it is by far the quietest PC or Mac I have heard. Even the liquid cooled G5's sound like they are an aeroplane taking off when the processor kicks in, but this thing in flight is like a frisbee.....dead quiet.

I guess also what it is made from....must be very thick materials...

[Tomer=Trance]

well still i dont have 3K to spend on a computer.
it will be cheaper building an isolated vocal booth inside my room