First post here and yes, I’m asking for input! I’ve been reading reviews and the forum here on SPCR for several days now and have come up with a tentative system based on that. What I would love is some feedback on the system and possible ways to improve it. I also have a few questions here and there which you’ll see.
My situation: I’m a hobby musician whos about to build a new DAW (digital audio workstation). Unfortunately I’ll be recording vocals about 2m from where the PC will be situated so I need the system to be very quiet. Last time I built a system was in 2006 and despite some efforts to make it quiet, I was never happy with the results, so I definitely want it to be better this time around and I’m willing to pay for it.
Also know that I have no plans of overclocking.
Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Cabinet: Antec Performance One P183 (edited, I mistakenly wrote P193)
This cabinet seems to have gotten nice feedback. [Still partial to this case]
PSU: Antec CP-850
Now I would have chosen the Seasonic X650, but that is not available in Denmark. Neither are the Nexus PSU’s. Infact, quite a bit of gear recommended around here isn’t available in Denmark, unfortunately. The Antec CP-850 review on this site was excellent, so while I’ll never need 850w or anything approaching it, I’ve picked this one so far.
[Still partial to this PSU, I think]
Cabinet fans: 3 x Scythe Slip Stream SY1225SL12M
I’ve read that these fans are very quiet, so I would replace the stock cabinet fans with these. I’m not really sure if I need three of them, though. What do you think?
Cabinet damping: Be Quiet! Noise Absorption Kit
Not sure if this is pointless on the P183?? [This has been dropped unless someone thinks its a great idea]
Board: Asus P6T SE
I haven’t researched boards too thoroughly yet. I went for this since Asus is reputable. Would happily be convinced otherwise. [I've done a turnaround on this. I hadn't researched this too much back when I wrote the first post. Making a decision here isn't easy. I probably need a Texas Instruments firewire chipset, but only the Gigabyte boards have those onboard. However there's been the dreaded issue of coil noise with many of the Gigabyte boards and that is obviously a complete no-go. So I went off Gigabyte again and back to Asus with an added TI PCI card. However I guess I also wanted the board to be compatible with USB 3 and SATA 3, so right now I'm partial to the stupidly expensive option of getting a Asus P6X58D board with the added TI PCI firewire card. Definitely not a great solution though.]
CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Pondered the 920 vs 860 issue for a long time, but ended up with the 920 due to the 1356 platform allowing for triple channel RAM, which could potentially make a difference in audio production. [Still partial to the 920/930, but considering shifting to the 8xx series and the 1156 platform, which would then obviously mean that I would have to pick another motherboard and RAM as well.]
CPU heatsink: Scythe Mugen 2
Read a lot on this topic and is still undecided. I’m also currently considering the Noctua NH-D14 and the Prolimatech Meganahalems. [I've gone off the Scythe a bit. Stuck between the Prolimatech and the Noctua at the moment]
RAM: 6GB Corsair XMS3, 1333 mhz (3x2gb)
No real thought went into this choice. [Still an issue that I haven't really focused any energy on]
Harddisk #1: Kingston Drive V+ 64 GB
A DAW needs quite a few harddrives, so I went for this for the low noise levels for the system drive. [Still partial to this for a system drive]
Harddisk #2: Samsung Spinpoint F3, 1TB
Harddisk #3: Samsung Spinpoint F3, 1TB
I hate the fact that I have to have two of these, but I’m afraid I do. At least that seems to be the consensus in the DAW community. Not sure how to minimize the noise from these. The Scythe quiet drive doesn’t seem to be available here in Denmark?? [Currently considering switching these for the more silent 5400 rpm drives. Also considerning just getting one big drive instead of two.]
OS: Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit[I haven't actually researched the difference between pro and ultimate. I currently use XP but I definitely want to make the switch to a 64 bit version of Win 7.]
DVD-writer: Samsung SH S223B
Just went for the cheapest Samsung drive there was. I’d take any recommendations if this is a crap drive.
GPU: ASUS Radeon HD4350 SILENT
I’m not a gamer. I would like to be able to watch HD video in nice quality though. I know nothing whatsoever about GPU’s, but I wanted a silent one, so I went for this passively cooled one. Recommendations would again be appreciated.[Considering the much better Gigabyte fanless Radeon HD4850 just for the hell of it]
So what do you think? Will this system be quiet? Any possible improvements? Any input is appreciated.
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