New Budget DAW

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:26 am

Hi all.

I'm building a new DAW after too many years with my old Athlon XP

Budget is definitely a concern as is super quiet operation. This is what I've put together. Please tell me if I'm making any mistakes.

CASE: Antec Solo
CASE INTAKE FAN: Nexus 92mm
PSU: Nexus Value 430
CPU: Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8GHz
HEATSINK: Thermalright HR-01
CPU FAN: Nexus 120mm
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-UD3LR LGA 775 Intel P45
RAM: G.SKILL 4 GB (2x2GB) DDR2 - F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
VIDEO: XFX HD-435X-YAH2 Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS
..OR: Samsung HD502HI

I also have a LaCie FW 800 PCI card that I will be using to hook up my RME FireFace 800 audio interface.... oh yeah, and a Plextor 740A PATA DVD Burner.

I was very disappointed with the cases out there today as they all seem so have some major problem. The Solo was the one that bothered me the least. I liked the P183 as well, but couldn't get past the top fan mount and the silly little slit which a bottom-fanned PSU must draw air through, unless you spend too much for the new Antec PSU.

I will be experimenting with ducting, passive CPU cooling, and all that. I also might like to add a front panel fan controller, so if you have any suggestions on a model, I'm all ears.

Thank you for reading!

Rucker · Post by **Rucker** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:37 pm

dmfrench wrote:Hi all.

I'm building a new DAW after too many years with my old Athlon XP Budget is definitely a concern as is super quiet operation. This is what I've put together. Please tell me if I'm making any mistakes.

CASE: Antec Solo
CASE INTAKE FAN: Nexus 92mm
PSU: Nexus Value 430
CPU: Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8GHz
HEATSINK: Thermalright HR-01
CPU FAN: Nexus 120mm
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-UD3LR LGA 775 Intel P45
RAM: G.SKILL 4 GB (2x2GB) DDR2 - F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
VIDEO: XFX HD-435X-YAH2 Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS
..OR: Samsung HD502HI

I also have a LaCie FW 800 PCI card that I will be using to hook up my RME FireFace 800 audio interface.... oh yeah, and a Plextor 740A PATA DVD Burner.

I was very disappointed with the cases out there today as they all seem so have some major problem. The Solo was the one that bothered me the least. I liked the P183 as well, but couldn't get past the top fan mount and the silly little slit which a bottom-fanned PSU must draw air through, unless you spend too much for the new Antec PSU.

I will be experimenting with ducting, passive CPU cooling, and all that. I also might like to add a front panel fan controller, so if you have any suggestions on a model, I'm all ears.

Thank you for reading!

Your design is very similar to mine:

viewtopic.php?t=55183

I'm using the Scythe Kaze Master controller for the four fans I have installed. I'm not sure you'll need any ductwork; I'm getting low enough temps with the basic case with just the exhaust fan at 700rpm.

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:42 pm

Hey my M-Audio brother! Thanks for the input. I was also thinking of using MLV. What kind of audio do you do? I do on-location classical recording and producing and some pop.

Rucker · Post by **Rucker** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:48 pm

dmfrench wrote:Hey my M-Audio brother! Thanks for the input. I was also thinking of using MLV. What kind of audio do you do? I do on-location classical recording and producing and some pop.

I just record stuff at home, me playing guitar, bass and drums. However, both my wife and oldest son are taking piano so I expect to capture their talents, and my wife has a pretty good voice, too, but so far refuses to be recorded.

And my four year old loves his HipGig Jr kit. That will give me a chance to work on my 3 mic technique with greatly varying dynamics.

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:10 pm

greatly varying dynamics

Better record in 24 bit!

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:53 pm

Final Specs:

CASE: Antec Solo
PSU: Nexus Value 430
CPU: Intel Pentium E6500 Wolfdale 2.93 GHz
HEATSINK: Thermalright HR-01 with Nexus 120mm Fan
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 TWIN2X4096-6400C5C
VIDEO: XFX PVT94GZAH2 GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2
HDD: WD Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache (x2)

I'll post back with results.

audiojar · Post by **audiojar** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:31 am

You might not need the intake fan to keep it cool. Start with a 120mm exhaust fan and see where your temps are at. a 120 in the back is going to a fair bit quieter than a 92 in the front.

The Caviar Green is a good choice for a DAW. Many people seem to think that high performance drives will improve their DAW performance, but I've never seen any real improvements (or any evidence for any).

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:06 pm

Yes, exactly. I plan to have the fans in there on a central controller for when I don't need ultra quiet, but I'm definitely looking to run passive for those critical moments if I can get away with it. Also, I'm a bit paranoid about hdd temps... my last case was a Nexus Breeze: quiet as hell, but literally hell for the drives. I lost two in there before I figured out what was happening!

Thanks for the input

L-Train · Post by **L-Train** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 8:57 pm

Great looking system, dmfrench. I do have a few comments, however:

- You don't mention it in your final specs, but the Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR is a DDR3 motherboard (denoted by the "T" in EP45T) while you specify DDR2 RAM. The GA-EP45-UD3LR is the DDR2 equivalent. Hopefully you caught this before you ordered if you already have...
- As audiojar said, you probably don't need the intake fans

I built an extremely similar machine for myself back in May to also upgrade from my Athlon XP with the following specs:

CASE: Antec Solo
CASE INTAKE FAN: None
CASE EXHAUST FAN: Scythe Kaze-Jyuni "Slip Stream" 800 RPM SY1225SL12L
PSU: Nexus Value 430
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale-3M 2.8GHz
HEATSINK: Thermalright HR-01 Plus
CPU FAN: Scythe Kaze-Jyuni "Slip Stream" 800 RPM SY1225SL12L
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45
RAM: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB DDR2 2X2GB
VIDEO: ASUS Radeon HD 4350 Silent
HDD: Western Digital WD5000AAKB 500GB IDE

I have connected the CPU fan and exhaust fan to the CPU_FAN and SYS_FAN2 headers on the motherboard respectively and set the "CPU Smart FAN Mode" option in the BIOS to "Voltage". I have also overclocked my E7400 to 3.8GHz (362 MHz FSB x 10.5 multiplier) with a slight increase in Vcore (1.30V in BIOS, 1.28V after Vdroop with the "Load-line Calibration" option in the BIOS enabled). Looking at the GA-EP45-UD3LR's manual, all of these BIOS options are available for it as well.

The temperatures/fan speeds this configuration gives me are the following:

IDLE:
CPU: 30 C
CPU fan speed: ~480 RPM
Exhaust fan speed: ~650 RPM

LOAD (using IntelBurnTest v2.3):
CPU: 68 C
CPU fan speed: ~850 RPM
Exhaust fan speed: ~750 RPM

The CPU temperatures are well within the normal operating range and the most important part is: the fans are completely inaudible during idle (see SPCR's "Attack of the 120mm Scythes" article and compare the RPMs for dB values) and whisper quiet during load. In fact, the hard drive noise (suspended using the Solo's suspension) is louder than all the fans combined when not doing CPU-intensive (video encoding, etc.) processing (which is most of the time).

Hopefully this helps you get a when you get your parts in. Happy building!

audiojar · Post by **audiojar** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:29 am

dmfrench wrote:Also, I'm a bit paranoid about hdd temps... my last case was a Nexus Breeze: quiet as hell, but literally hell for the drives. I lost two in there before I figured out what was happening!

The WD Green is a low power drive and they'll have lots of room around them suspended in the Solo. You would have no problems with their temp even without any air flow over them. In fact, they are popular drives to put in enclosures, some of which don't have any air flow.

dmfrench · Post by **dmfrench** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:59 pm

L-Train: Thanks a ton for the temp data! It's very comforting to see, as our systems are virtually identical. Also, thanks for lookikgn out for me per the RAM. My final MOBO is actually the GA-EP45-UD3P, a DDR2 board. I went for this one over its slightly cheaper little brother not for its few added features that I will never use, but because it looks like it has better heat management and because it is the award winning board. Kinda silly reasons I know, but oh well!

audiojar: Another helpful tidbit, thanks!

Can't wait to build this dirty thing!

New Budget DAW

New Budget DAW

Re: New Budget DAW