On Monday 14 November 2005 19:38, Christian Ohm was like: > 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. That looks a lot like my next computer. :] Thanks for this nice clear, affordable suggestion. -- cheers, tim hall http://glastonburymusic.org.uk/tim
