On Saturday, 12 November 2005 at 21:06, Bungee wrote: > The obvious solution is to build a completely new system specifically for sound > work, but I am totally baffled by the choices. MB, Processor, Memory, Sound > Card, and on, and on... Well, I can give you my opinions on suitable hardware, and the components I have or intend to get soon. That should give you a start (or confuse you even more, depending on the other advice you got), but I guess you can't buy that system anywhere. Processor: AMD. Faster and way cooler than the Intel chips. A dual-core should make a noticeable difference for audio work. I'll get the AMD X2 3800+, as the faster ones are way more expensive (and get hotter). Cooling: Probably a Scythe Ninja (passive heatpipe cooler), and two 120mm fans (one in the PSU, one in the back of the case). Mainboard: Obviously needs the same socket as the CPU. My choice is an Asus A8V Deluxe, as I want to use an AGP graphics card, and it has a passive northbridge cooler. RAM: 2GB of a proper brand, no fancy expensive overclocking stuff. Graphics card: A Radeon 8500LE modded with a passive cooler. The fastest card with usable open 3D drivers, and it doesn't get very hot. My main reason for getting it was the 1600x1200 DVI port, else I'd have stayed with my Matrox G400. Sound card: M-Audio Audiophile 2496. Sufficient for me, but perhaps you need/want more channels. HDD: One large Seagate or Samsung, those are supposed to be the most quiet ones. RAID is usually overrated, it's just louder and more error-prone. I'm thinking about getting a Seagate Cheetah 15k.3 as a system drive, but that'll also add some noise... Case: Should have an opening for a 120mm fan in the back where the CPU sits, a place for the HDD low in the front (with air holes), and no holes in the sides. That way you can use the two fans (one in the PSU, one in the back) to get the air from below in the front (and perhaps one open slot below the graphics card) out the upper back, that should be sufficient cooling for that system. Ideally you'll have a temperature controlled fan controller, that'll make it even quieter. Oh, and the more solid (read: heavy) the case, the more noise it'll absorb. That should give you a quiet, cool and pretty fast system, or at least some hints on how to build one. -- A man said to the Universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the Universe, "the fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -- Stephen Crane
