Help building a silent PC based on P6T SE/I7 930

[BasariStudios]

Hello everyone, i dont know where to put this post but i'll put it here i guess
since this is the most visited area and its kinda emergency:

I am switching from MAC to PC for many reasons and lets not get into that.
I've finally made a list of Components which i will be ordering in the next few
days. It will be used mostly for Music, running Cubase as a main DAW.
I also like to play games once in a while but not an Extreme Gamer, it has to be
a little silent too...nothing special but i dont need a Tractor either.
I would appreciate if anyone who can and knows to shed some light and ideas.
Thanks
Here is the list:

1. COOLER MASTER COSMOS S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case $169.99

2. ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard $219.99

3. Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601930 288.99

4. ASUS ENGT240 Silent/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 240 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card $104.99

5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3160318AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $37.99

6. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $99.99

7. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $174.99

8. Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler $74.99

9. RAM (Corsair or G.Skill)

10. PSU (Seasonic X750 Silent or ?)

11. LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM $22.99

Thanks

[X-Trade]

I'm not sure what to say. I've been dealing with this for the Core2 system in my keyboard project recently.

I don't think you'll be able to get 7. unless you are actually a system builder. Not legally anyway. That's the whole point of OEM - it's for companies making batches of computers for resale, not for consumers.
Sometimes you see websites and such advertising cheap 'OEM' software - this is illegal.


With regards to being quiet - don't just go by the names of things. Shop around a bit, look at the specs of things and you'll see for example anything with a fan will have a noise rating tested in a lab or against a reference source. Even then the shape of the case can amplify noises from fans and airflow just like an acoustic guitar body does.

I find the prices of these new i7 and i9 systems scary - I'd like to have a go at building one at some point though.

[Rob Sherratt]

Hi Nedim,

I am running Cubase 5 and Windows 7-64 bit on a cheap DELL Inspiron 520 laptop with a Core2 Duo low power processor. The laptop with Windows 7 cost me less than $500. It's completely quiet, latency for audio recording from the Yamaha N8 is 3 ms, and I can record at least 8 audio tracks and 32 MIDI tracks simultaneously. This particular laptop also has a Firewire port and 4 USB ports and is ideal for connecting to the equipment I use (M3, Pa2x, USB-MIDI, and Yamaha N8 via Firewire). It is also very portable should the need arise.

When I mix down 8 audio tracks each of 4 minutes duration and export to a single stereo MP3 at 320 KSamples/sec, it takes about 10 seconds of processing.

So, why do you think you need a big Tower case with an i7 CPU and main board? It's power-hungry, requires an 800W PSU and the cooling requirements mean at least 3 fans that play tunes and harmony notes together. Are you planning to sample the fans and use them in your latest composition maybe

If it's disk capacity you are worried about then use USB2 attached external drives. The USB2 link is plenty fast enough for direct to disk audio recording and playback.

IMHO, if you want it quiet - get a Laptop. If you want a big screen that's no problem with a laptop and external monitor either. On the other hand if your studio is too cold and you want a computer that will double up as a room heater and background fan-based accompaniment generator, get an i7 based motherboard, or maybe go one better and get a MB with 256 GB RAM and dual Xeon 540 chips, each containing 4 processor cores.

PS As far as I know Cubase 5 is single threaded (i.e. it can use one processor core only).

Best regards,
Rob

[Sharp]

I'm sure it would be one hell of a monster PC that's for sure.
Don't really have anything to add to be honest that the guys haven't already said.

Best of luck with your build.

Cheers
James

[LiqMat]

If you want your studio to look hot you have to go into debt and get this case. This will make the girlies scream!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811133089

ô_ô

[kanthos]

Even if Cubase itself is single-threaded, I'm certain that the plugins it hosts can make use of multiple CPUs.

The only suggestion I can add is that 160 GB for your OS and apps sounds pretty small, assuming that you're installing more on this machine than just the OS and your music apps (putting all the sample sets on the larger hard drive, of course). I'd consider going with something a bit bigger; for the extra cost to get, say, a 320 GB HD, you're that much farther away from running the risk of needing to upgrade the main hard drive (which of course means reinstalling the OS and all your software, reauthorizing all your plugins, etc.) Not worth the trouble for an extra $20-$30, in my opinion, unless you're so strapped for cash that you can only spend the minimum on this new system.

[BasariStudios]

Hello and thanks everybody:
XTrade:
About the OEM, i wont get it on my own, the person that will build it with me
can get OEM from them but i dropped that, i will go for full Retail i wanna be
covered by Microsoft itself. And yes, the prices are scary but way better then
any Apple now, thats what made me move away from apple. I might stick to
the I7 860, it is better value for money.
Rob:
I have a LT which is way more powerfull then what you got, it is also a custom
Built HP Laptop which was inquired for me by Ketron at the time, directly thru
HP, it is a Intel Dual Core, 2.6GHZ with 4GB RAM...but even that cannot do
or handle anything that i actually do music wise. I am talking about monstrous
tasks, not just 8 tracks. My work relies heavily on VSTs and VSTis, almost
90-95% of it is VST. Those 2 LapTops wont even be able to open 2 heavy
plugins...even with this new I7 system i am still affraid of running out of juice.
A lot of time the project is of 50 tracks with like 30 plugins on more and on top
of that running Goliath, Kontakt, Albino, Blue...they are all heavy.
As for HDD, forget USB, dont even mention, even eSata wont do it, now USB,
it has to be something really fast, like the new 6GB/S SATA 3 but even 3GB/S
would do it. A single Piano patch sometimes is like 3GB. As for the Cooling
they have solutions but its expensive. The more power the more Temperature,
the more Temperature that means more Fans and Noise but i will have to
sacrifice a little Noise for Performance.
LiqMat:
I was considering that at one point till my cousin told me i am nutz...lol.
Kanthos:
You are right about it, i will be installing few other things too, 320GB makes
more sence, that way i will have 2 different systems by 160GB each.

Well lets se what happens, i will defenetely be ordering parts this or next
week, 860 or 930 James i think it will be a monster, i dont think there is any
REAL LIFE difference between the 2 except on paper.

Thanks

[BasariStudios]

Oh just an addition to Rob, yes Rob, Cubase 5 can take advantage of all those
features and even the Threads on the Cores, it is also 64 Bit which also takes
advantage of MultiCores. I remember Cubase supported MultiCores since the
old Cubase VST 5 back in 2000 i think.

[BasariStudios]

I guess this would be the Final Build, with the only Modification left for the
Case which i am exploring few more options, everything even down to the
Case Fans is custom sellected, so lets see what happens after i Build it:

[Lika]

Hi Nedim.
I will tell you just one thing !
For your OS (Win 7) use ONLY SSD HD .....
I know it is expensive but it worths ...
for library and your projects you can use SATA disks ...

[X-Trade]

I would recommend Windows7 'Ultimate' or 'Professional', rather than 'Home'.

[BasariStudios]

Hello,
Lika, i dont know about an SSD yet cuz i wanna run 2 OSs on 2 Partitions,
i might need a little more space then 180GB, i might do RAID0 for that.
Xtrade, originally i was going with Ultimate but what do i honestly gain
by going by a step or two over Home Edition?

[Rob Sherratt]

Hi Nedim,

Just wonder if you considered a Lionstracs workstation as an alternative? I will be getting a Groove X6 shortly. You can see one of Sharp's (Irish Acts Studio) demo performances here: (See Mediastation X-76 demo halfway down the page)

http://www.lionstracs.com/store/informa ... info_id=25

The "advantage" of the Lionstracs workstation is the amount of dedicated audio software, plug-ins, hardware and mixer etc that is included as standard. Also the full set of NI products runs on this with very high quality audio I/O (24-bit DAC's etc).

Best regards,
Rob

[vEddY]

Everything cool. Just go for the Gigabyte's motherboard and you're ok. X58-UD5 is a perfect choice.

[BasariStudios]

Hi Rob, i am getting a Groove too soon, it will be nice since i own many NI
and EWQP libraries legally, i can DOUBBLE install them on both systems,
it will rock the world...lol.
Veddy, i've had few bad experiences with GB and kinda paranoid, lol but i think
i might upgrade to a higher end MoBo, ASUS too, if i dont get this.