Help With Digital Audio Workstation Build !!!

[tyty007]

Hello everyone and thanks for this great site and all the info here !!!
I want to buy a new computer for my new studio.
i build this spec at http://www.magicmicro.com , so any suggestions or any opinion about it are WELCOME .

Case: Antec SOLO II
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad Core 8000K
CPU Fan: Coolermaster GeminII S, 5 Copper Heat Pipes, Extra Quiet CPU fan
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H-B3, H67, onboard video, DVI & HDMI, X-fire, SATA3, USB3.0, iEEE
Memory: G.Skill 8GB
GPU: GeForce 210 1GB (fanless)
OS Drive: 64.0 GB SSD Crucial M4 Series Solid State Drive, SATA3 6.0Gb/s, 415MBs
Audio Drive: 1000.0 GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA2, UDMA 300 32m cache
or: 1000.0 GB Western Digital Black 7200RPM SATA 3 6.0Gb/s 64m cache
or: 2000.0 GB Seagate SV35 Series SATA 3 6.0Gb/s 64m cache
(i didn't pick up the Western Digital Green because some people told me it is not recommended for DAW )
DVD Recorder: LG 22x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW
PSU:Cooler Master 500W Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply w/ 6pin PCI-E ( Model - RS500-PCARD3-US )
or: CoolerMaster eXtreme Power 550W Extra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready ( Model - RS550-PCARA3-US )
or: Antec Basiq 500w Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply w/ 6pin PCI-E
or: Thermaltake TR2 500W ultra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready
or : Antec EarthWatts 500w Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply SLI & X-fire ready
or: Thermaltake TR2 600W ultra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready
or: Antec NEO 620W Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply SLI & X-fire ready ( Model - NEO ECO 620C )
or: Antec EarthWatts 650w Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply SLI & X-fire ready
or: Thermaltake TR2 650W ultra quiet ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready

this spec is going for around 1.2K !!!

now my other option is from adkproaudio.com but for almost $300 more :
http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/syst ... d_id=27864

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/Help.

[Arbutus]

What is the GeForce 210 for?

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR!

A couple of questions:
- going to have this built for you?
- what DAW software are you going to use? What DAW card?
- lots and lots of channels/samples mixing down or just a few?
- why are you adding a low end graphics card when you've got the IGP on the 2600?

A couple of comments:
- Go with the 128GB SSD and use it for your OS/Apps as well as your work partition. This gets rid of the need for a noisy/fast HDD and you can use a WD green for file storage instead. Plus, the 128GB SSD is considerably faster than the 64GB.
- I'm not impressed by the materials selection at either site. Poor PSU selection, etc.

Have you considered a custom build from AVA Direct or Puget Systems? Both will build you a quiet PC that you can use for DAW work.

[Arbutus]

An equivalent featured Z68 main board and a mildly overclocked 2500K will often give better or same performance at a $100 savings.

[Abula]

Unless you need the Nvidia card for something specific, I would drop the GT210 and just use intels iGPU, HD2000 on the 2600 or a little more 2600k comes with HD3000 in the same lvl as GT210, or if you could wait for april 8 for ivy bridge it will come with better iGPU (HD4000 around 68% faster than HD3000), the extra $40 that i would save with the GT210 i would invest on a Seasonic PSU, one that its on sale today is the Seasonic SS-460FL $95 or if want with a fan (still semi passive) Seasonic SS-560KM.

I would also drop the Coolermaster GeminII S, fine cooler but a tower will be better, unless you need the low profile height and the solo II can fit up to 170mm, so in the same line of economy i would go with COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1, test the fan it comes with, if you want a better fan, get a Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P 120mm Case Fan.

On the SSD i would also second the recommendation of 128gb, but 64gb is fine as long as you dont plan to install much apps, personally i only recommend 64gb for htpc and streaming from a server, 128gb seems the sweet spot atm.

On the HDD i would avoid 7200rpm drives if you can, but if this is for editing and you do need them, probably go with something that has been already reviewed by SPCR, like Seagate Barracuda 3TB: 1TB Platter Behemoth, it even got the editors choice, so that would be my pick even if its a little more expensive. If you could live with a green drive i would recommend to also check Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2TB 5940RPM Hard Drive i own 8 of them really pleased with them on my server.

[CA_Steve]

An equivalent featured Z68 main board and a mildly overclocked 2500K will often give better or same performance at a $100 savings.

Some DAW s/w can make use of hyperthreading, so there is a performance bump with i7 over i5 in this case...if the OP needs it.

[tyty007]

thanks guys for the response !!!

What is the GeForce 210 for?

well i know that i have build in video card in my Motherboards but i saw in some few website that "audio computer people recommend NOT using onboard video to maximize resources for audio" so that's way i pick up a simple low end and fanless video card. (GeForce 210) and im not sure if this info is right or wrong .

Welcome to SPCR!

A couple of questions:
- going to have this built for you?
- what DAW software are you going to use? What DAW card?
- lots and lots of channels/samples mixing down or just a few?
- why are you adding a low end graphics card when you've got the IGP on the 2600?

A couple of comments:
- Go with the 128GB SSD and use it for your OS/Apps as well as your work partition. This gets rid of the need for a noisy/fast HDD and you can use a WD green for file storage instead. Plus, the 128GB SSD is considerably faster than the 64GB.
- I'm not impressed by the materials selection at either site. Poor PSU selection, etc.

Have you considered a custom build from AVA Direct or Puget Systems? Both will build you a quiet PC that you can use for DAW work.

THANKS
1.yes for me
2.presonus studio one 2 / Motu
3.at least 20 to 30 channels
4. you've got the IGP on the 2600??? I don't understand what you mean by that...if you can explain Me please?
-is 128GB SSD for OS/Apps and 1000-2000GB HDD for work will be ok? i have external drive for the file storage
-WOW i love the avadirect.com website , a lot of different selection. look very good , thanks for that. i know the pugetsystems.com site but it way over my price !!!

Unless you need the Nvidia card for something specific, I would drop the GT210 and just use intels iGPU, HD2000 on the 2600 or a little more 2600k comes with HD3000 in the same lvl as GT210, or if you could wait for april 8 for ivy bridge it will come with better iGPU (HD4000 around 68% faster than HD3000), the extra $40 that i would save with the GT210 i would invest on a Seasonic PSU, one that its on sale today is the Seasonic SS-460FL $95 or if want with a fan (still semi passive) Seasonic SS-560KM.
I would also drop the Coolermaster GeminII S, fine cooler but a tower will be better, unless you need the low profile height and the solo II can fit up to 170mm, so in the same line of economy i would go with COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1, test the fan it comes with, if you want a better fan, get a Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P 120mm Case Fan.
On the SSD i would also second the recommendation of 128gb, but 64gb is fine as long as you dont plan to install much apps, personally i only recommend 64gb for htpc and streaming from a server, 128gb seems the sweet spot atm.
On the HDD i would avoid 7200rpm drives if you can, but if this is for editing and you do need them, probably go with something that has been already reviewed by SPCR, like Seagate Barracuda 3TB: 1TB Platter Behemoth, it even got the editors choice, so that would be my pick even if its a little more expensive. If you could live with a green drive i would recommend to also check Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2TB 5940RPM Hard Drive i own 8 of them really pleased with them on my server.

ok so i think i understand something now that i was didn't know before...the i7 2600 or the i7 2600k come with intel video card? if so i do can drop the GT210...but i still need to find out if it ok to use the build in video card to not hurts the resources for audio .
i will check AVA Direct to see if they have one of the Seasonic Model that you mention.

well if im going now with AVA Direct site for my build , they have a good selection of Cpu cooler...like the ARCTIC , NOCTUA and SCYTHE.

and for the hard drive one 128GB SSD and the second Seagate Barracuda as you recommend me.


also guys I forget to mention that i will need a firewire with my Motherboard...
so for now i will stick to http://www.avadirect.com to build my computer , is anyone have an idea for build through avadirect?

thanks and really appreciate all the help !!!

[tim851]

Intel Processors since Clarksdale/Lynnfield in late 2009 all ship with a GPU (graphics chip). These used to be on mainboards, now they're directly in the CPU (processor).
But not all mainboard chipsets support the GPU. Currently that is the P67. Whoever in Intel's marketing dept. came up with this idea, I hope they rot in hell.

The only ressources this integrated GPU will take from your system is memory. At maximum this is 256 MB, I don't know what the minimum VGA RAM size is, probably 128 MB. I'm pretty sure you won't notice this. Even if, with RAM prices being as they are, it would be more reasonable (and cheaper) to get another 8 gigs of memory, than an nVidia graphics card that will give you absolutely nothing.

[Abula]

ok so i think i understand something now that i was didn't know before...the i7 2600 or the i7 2600k come with intel video card? if so i do can drop the GT210...but i still need to find out if it ok to use the build in video card to not hurts the resources for audio .
i will check AVA Direct to see if they have one of the Seasonic Model that you mention.

Yes you are correct, intel previously had gpu built on some mobos, today most Sandy Bridge CPUs come with the iGPU built inside the CPU, this means for the average user you dont need a dedicated GPU, the only reason is if you game or if you need for example CUDA for processing, or in case the OS you plan dont support intel iGPUs, but for the average user the built in iGPU from intel HD1000/HD2000/HD3000 are more than enough for every day task, including Full HD movie playback and flash 1080p. If you wish to read more check Anandtech The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested and Bitech Intel HD Graphics 3000 Performance Review, most i3 and i5 comes with HD2000, the exception are the ones that end with 5 and K, those come with HD3000. As tim851 posted, not all Sandy Bridge mobo can use the dedicated iGPU, the P67 cant, so go with Z68 or H67 motherboard.

Now if you need more CPU power you could go into Intel Sandy Bridge E line (the X79 mobos use a different socket LGA2011, so you need a different mobo), with their six core cpus, like Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K and you could load them with memory most of the high end board come with 8 slots, so you could go into 32GB (soon 64GB), but idk if you need that kinda power. Here the CPU dont come with built in GPU so you will need a dedicated GPU like GT210 or GT430 or GT520.

I would try to get the Seasonic PSU though, i think its a great addition to a good very quiet built, if they dont have available check SPCR Reviews, there are other good options from Enermax and Kingwin that might be available in case the Seasonic aren't in you builder.

Good luck with your build,

[Arbutus]

"audio computer people recommend NOT using onboard video to maximize resources for audio"

This was true 10 years ago. Modern PC chip sets and CPU's are so more powerful now that the speed loss is negligible.

Also the current generation of Intel CPU's have so much overclocking headroom that it is easy to get more free horsepower. The newer Z68 main boards allow overclocking and using the integrated graphics. For you I would recommend looking at the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 as it has on board Firewire 1394.

[CA_Steve]

Ok, I messed around for a while. Here's one potential build via AvaDirect:

SILENT GAMING PC Core™ i5 / i7 Z68 Low-Noise Custom Gaming System $1515.60 UPDATE $1515.60

FRACTAL DESIGN Define R3 USB3.0 Black Pearl Silent Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Plastic/Steel
SEASONIC X-460 Fanless Power Supply w/ Modular Cables, 80 PLUS® Gold, 460W, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Active PFC, 2x 8/6-pin PCIe, Retail
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3, LGA1155, Intel® Z68, DDR3-2200 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /3, VGA+DVI+HDMI+DP, USB 3.0 /2, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
SCYTHE Mugen 3 (SCMG-3000) CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/AM3/AM2, Copper/Aluminum, Retail
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
CRUCIAL 128GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/175 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail
SEAGATE 3TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
SABRENT CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
CUSTOM WIRING Standard Wiring with Round Cables
COMPUTER ACCESSORY mCubed Vertical Silence Rev.2 Hard Drive Silencer
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
GAMING PC Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)
.........................................

Some assumptions:
- You don't want to muck around with tuning the PC yourself. You want AvaDirect to build it and all you want to do is plug it in and add your software.
- Your Motu hardware is what you need Firewire for.
- Presonus Studio One does use Hyperthreading.

Comments on the Build:
- case: The R3 is the best on their list for your application. The case fans may need some tuning though. Have them build the system without the side fan installed and the cover in place. You might consider having AvaDirect replacing the 120mm front rear fans with better fans, as well.

- psu: Your power needs are pretty low. The Seasonic gold fanless is a great fit.

- Mobo: socket 1155 and firewire and what's in AvaDirect's list led to this Asus mobo. You really don't need a Z68 board as an H67 would do...but, that's what Ava has on the build list. I like Asus' implementation of UEFI and their fan control. Feedback from other DAW uses on Asus boards has been good, too.

cpu: i7-2600 for hyperthreading. Don't need the 2600K part as you aren't a hobbiest/overclocker and you don't benefit from the HD3000 internal gpu.

cpu cooler: the mugen 3 for good, quiet cooling at a reasonable price.

RAM: 8GB of 1.5V DDR1600 memory -> G.Skill

SSD: we've already discussed the M4.

HDD: Seagate 3TB model ST3000DM001 reviewed here.

HDD enclosure: it's a 7200 rpm drive, so it's audible. I added the mcubed enclosure to quiet it down. Your call.

optical drive: I took the default. I'm sure someone can pipe up and suggest a better one.

OS: You need to add an OS.

Total: ~$1500 plus OS cost...plus replace the case fans with slipstreams (~$14)


Some pricing options:
- drop the i7 for an i5 and save $100. Since you only use up to 32 channels, it *might* not impact your system performance.
- drop to the 1TB seagate drive and save $70. It's 1 disk instead of 3, so it'll be quieter.

[tyty007]

Intel Processors since Clarksdale/Lynnfield in late 2009 all ship with a GPU (graphics chip). These used to be on mainboards, now they're directly in the CPU (processor).
But not all mainboard chipsets support the GPU. Currently that is the P67. Whoever in Intel's marketing dept. came up with this idea, I hope they rot in hell.
The only ressources this integrated GPU will take from your system is memory. At maximum this is 256 MB, I don't know what the minimum VGA RAM size is, probably 128 MB. I'm pretty sure you won't notice this. Even if, with RAM prices being as they are, it would be more reasonable (and cheaper) to get another 8 gigs of memory, than an nVidia graphics card that will give you absolutely nothing.

thanks tim851 for this info...so do you think that i need to just take total of 16GB memory and stay with the integrated GPU?

ok so i think i understand something now that i was didn't know before...the i7 2600 or the i7 2600k come with intel video card? if so i do can drop the GT210...but i still need to find out if it ok to use the build in video card to not hurts the resources for audio .
i will check AVA Direct to see if they have one of the Seasonic Model that you mention.

Yes you are correct, intel previously had gpu built on some mobos, today most Sandy Bridge CPUs come with the iGPU built inside the CPU, this means for the average user you dont need a dedicated GPU, the only reason is if you game or if you need for example CUDA for processing, or in case the OS you plan dont support intel iGPUs, but for the average user the built in iGPU from intel HD1000/HD2000/HD3000 are more than enough for every day task, including Full HD movie playback and flash 1080p. If you wish to read more check Anandtech The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested and Bitech Intel HD Graphics 3000 Performance Review, most i3 and i5 comes with HD2000, the exception are the ones that end with 5 and K, those come with HD3000. As tim851 posted, not all Sandy Bridge mobo can use the dedicated iGPU, the P67 cant, so go with Z68 or H67 motherboard.
Now if you need more CPU power you could go into Intel Sandy Bridge E line (the X79 mobos use a different socket LGA2011, so you need a different mobo), with their six core cpus, like Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K and you could load them with memory most of the high end board come with 8 slots, so you could go into 32GB (soon 64GB), but idk if you need that kinda power. Here the CPU dont come with built in GPU so you will need a dedicated GPU like GT210 or GT430 or GT520.
I would try to get the Seasonic PSU though, i think its a great addition to a good very quiet built, if they dont have available check SPCR Reviews, there are other good options from Enermax and Kingwin that might be available in case the Seasonic aren't in you builder.
Good luck with your build,

thanks so much for all the info Abula..i will definitely read the links that you give me here !!!
thanks for let me know about the other CPU option but for now i will stick to the i7-2600.
i will check for the Seasonic PSU.. i didn't know about them before but it look that there are one of the best out there !!!

"audio computer people recommend NOT using onboard video to maximize resources for audio"

This was true 10 years ago. Modern PC chip sets and CPU's are so more powerful now that the speed loss is negligible.

Also the current generation of Intel CPU's have so much overclocking headroom that it is easy to get more free horsepower. The newer Z68 main boards allow overclocking and using the integrated graphics. For you I would recommend looking at the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 as it has on board Firewire 1394.

well i saw it in some forum and also some pepole told me this just a month ago...that's way i said it...little bit confusing for me that one said one thing and other said diffident but i respect all for helping me and share the knowledge they have !!

thanks for recommend the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 , but the problem with this board is that the Firewire chip is NOT T.I which is most have for audio work !!! ... i think only the GIGABYTE Motherboard use the I.T chip ...

Ok, I messed around for a while. Here's one potential build via AvaDirect:
SILENT GAMING PC Core™ i5 / i7 Z68 Low-Noise Custom Gaming System $1515.60 UPDATE $1515.60

FRACTAL DESIGN Define R3 USB3.0 Black Pearl Silent Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Plastic/Steel
SEASONIC X-460 Fanless Power Supply w/ Modular Cables, 80 PLUS® Gold, 460W, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Active PFC, 2x 8/6-pin PCIe, Retail
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3, LGA1155, Intel® Z68, DDR3-2200 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /3, VGA+DVI+HDMI+DP, USB 3.0 /2, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
SCYTHE Mugen 3 (SCMG-3000) CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/AM3/AM2, Copper/Aluminum, Retail
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
CRUCIAL 128GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/175 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail
SEAGATE 3TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
SABRENT CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB
CUSTOM WIRING Standard Wiring with Round Cables
COMPUTER ACCESSORY mCubed Vertical Silence Rev.2 Hard Drive Silencer
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
GAMING PC Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
SERVICE Standard Shipping (UPS, DHL, or Fedex)
.........................................

Some assumptions:
- You don't want to muck around with tuning the PC yourself. You want AvaDirect to build it and all you want to do is plug it in and add your software.
- Your Motu hardware is what you need Firewire for.
- Presonus Studio One does use Hyperthreading.
Comments on the Build:
- case: The R3 is the best on their list for your application. The case fans may need some tuning though. Have them build the system without the side fan installed and the cover in place. You might consider having AvaDirect replacing the 120mm front rear fans with better fans, as well.
- psu: Your power needs are pretty low. The Seasonic gold fanless is a great fit.
- Mobo: socket 1155 and firewire and what's in AvaDirect's list led to this Asus mobo. You really don't need a Z68 board as an H67 would do...but, that's what Ava has on the build list. I like Asus' implementation of UEFI and their fan control. Feedback from other DAW uses on Asus boards has been good, too.
cpu: i7-2600 for hyperthreading. Don't need the 2600K part as you aren't a hobbiest/overclocker and you don't benefit from the HD3000 internal gpu.
cpu cooler: the mugen 3 for good, quiet cooling at a reasonable price.
RAM: 8GB of 1.5V DDR1600 memory -> G.Skill
SSD: we've already discussed the M4.
HDD: Seagate 3TB model ST3000DM001 reviewed here.
HDD enclosure: it's a 7200 rpm drive, so it's audible. I added the mcubed enclosure to quiet it down. Your call.
optical drive: I took the default. I'm sure someone can pipe up and suggest a better one.
OS: You need to add an OS.
Total: ~$1500 plus OS cost...plus replace the case fans with slipstreams (~$14)
Some pricing options:
- drop the i7 for an i5 and save $100. Since you only use up to 32 channels, it *might* not impact your system performance.
- drop to the 1TB seagate drive and save $70. It's 1 disk instead of 3, so it'll be quieter.

first of all thanks so much for this helpful message CA_Steve...
also i dont know if you know it or not but you have the "Desktop PC" Tab option on Ava web which give you more options when you start to build...on the "Custom Desktop Computers" its give you a lot of different option, and the "Silent Desktop Computers" its limited because its only "Silent".

now this spec that you build here look very good , but its more much more then what i want to spent..do you think around 1200k i can build something good that come close to the one you build?

some question about your bulid...
is the FRACTAL DESIGN Define R3 case are better then the antec solo ii ? (also how is the NZXT H2 Classic compere to the FRACTAL/antec? )
do i must change the fans to the FRACTAL case or it is only a option?
which mobo i should take if i need the texas instruments chip inside ? or maybe i just need to take a good and simple Mobo that will do the job for me without firewire AND build in video card , and i will buy a firewire card myself and install it ?(because i cannot find it as a option on Ava) and also then i will pick up a Fanless video card for my build?

way i need that for? SABRENT CRW-UINB Black 65-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive, 3.5" Bay, Internal USB

and with this top case that you pick up way do i need the Hard Drive Silencer?( is it the case have some robber in the hard drive area to make it Silent ) and with this hard drive 1TB seagate i will still need the Silencer?

ok thats it for now...hope i did not ask a lot of Q...
its not easy and very confusing to deal with buying a new computer...

i just now myself messed around on ava web..just build this one for $1160..i dont know if the mobo/psu are fine but i will leave it to you guys.
NZXT H2 Classic Silent Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Plastic/Steel
SEASONIC S12 Energy Plus 650 Power Supply, 650W, 24-pin ATX EPS12V, Dual +12V, Active PFC, SLI Certified
GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3, LGA1155, Intel® Z68, DDR3-2133 32GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /2, HDMI, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
SCYTHE Mine 2 (SCMN-2000) CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/775/FM1/AM3/AM2, Retail
KINGSTON 16GB (4 x 4GB) HyperX Blu PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
SAPPHIRE Radeon™ HD 5450 (Fanless) 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1334MHz, PCIe x16, DVI+HDMI+VGA, Full-height/Low-profile, Retail
CRUCIAL 64GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/95 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail
SEAGATE 2TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
WARRANTY Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

also how about to try as much as we can to matching my spec to this one: http://hothardware.com/Reviews/PCAudioL ... s-Preview/



well thanks for now to everyone here that help me !!! you guys are great !!!
THANKS

[CA_Steve]

Let's take a step back for a moment and re-calibrate. Silent/quiet computing means different things to different people and this leads to differences of opinions / hardware specs / $'s spent.

So here is the multi-hundred dollar question: Is your DAW going to be used inside the recording studio with live mikes nearby or is it going to be in a room without live mikes?

If the former, you need the PC noise below the level of what the mikes can pick up. If the latter, then you just need it quiet enough for your personal taste.

The next big question: Is this your first PC used as a DAW or do you have one now that you are replacing? If the latter, then you can answer this question yourself:

- How much RAM do I need? Open up the task manager in Windows and look at memory usage while composing/editing a 32 track composition. How much RAM is it using?
....................................

- Which case is better? All the cases we've discussed here are reviewed on this site. All work well. Take a look. Some might work better for someone that doesn't open up/tweak PCs than others.

- Which mobo with Firewire? Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI all make decent boards. I like Asus and MSI better *right now* for their fan controls and UEFI. Go to their websites and take a look and see which models have firewire.

You might visit gearslutz.com and wander their forums - lots of DAW builds there. You can see what mobo's are popular.

[lhopitalified]

i just now myself messed around on ava web..just build this one for $1160..i dont know if the mobo/psu are fine but i will leave it to you guys.
NZXT H2 Classic Silent Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Plastic/Steel
SEASONIC S12 Energy Plus 650 Power Supply, 650W, 24-pin ATX EPS12V, Dual +12V, Active PFC, SLI Certified
GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3, LGA1155, Intel® Z68, DDR3-2133 32GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /2, HDMI, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
SCYTHE Mine 2 (SCMN-2000) CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/775/FM1/AM3/AM2, Retail
KINGSTON 16GB (4 x 4GB) HyperX Blu PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
SAPPHIRE Radeon™ HD 5450 (Fanless) 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1334MHz, PCIe x16, DVI+HDMI+VGA, Full-height/Low-profile, Retail
CRUCIAL 64GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/95 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail
SEAGATE 2TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
WARRANTY Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

My thoughts are:
(1) You don't need such a beefy power supply, since you're doing any gaming with a fancy GPU. You can easily go to the x-460 and save some money.
(2) I think you should be ok with an H67 chipset, since you don't need the overclocking features. (but I'm not too clear on the chipset differences -- maybe there is a good reason to choose z68 over H67?)
(3) You can drop the graphics card and use onboard video.
(4) a 128GB SSD should give you better performance (though I don't know how much DAW software performance is dependent on disk read/writes). You should be able to splurge for the 128GB size if you make the other changes I mentioned.

[tyty007]

Let's take a step back for a moment and re-calibrate. Silent/quiet computing means different things to different people and this leads to differences of opinions / hardware specs / $'s spent.

So here is the multi-hundred dollar question: Is your DAW going to be used inside the recording studio with live mikes nearby or is it going to be in a room without live mikes?

If the former, you need the PC noise below the level of what the mikes can pick up. If the latter, then you just need it quiet enough for your personal taste.

The next big question: Is this your first PC used as a DAW or do you have one now that you are replacing? If the latter, then you can answer this question yourself:

- How much RAM do I need? Open up the task manager in Windows and look at memory usage while composing/editing a 32 track composition. How much RAM is it using?
....................................

- Which case is better? All the cases we've discussed here are reviewed on this site. All work well. Take a look. Some might work better for someone that doesn't open up/tweak PCs than others.

- Which mobo with Firewire? Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI all make decent boards. I like Asus and MSI better *right now* for their fan controls and UEFI. Go to their websites and take a look and see which models have firewire.

You might visit gearslutz.com and wander their forums - lots of DAW builds there. You can see what mobo's are popular.

my daw will NOW going to be nearby live mikes !!! so yes i will just need it quiet enough for my personal taste .

well its not my first daw pc, i purchase one 2 year ago but i sold it 5 month ago...so that's way i need a new one.

i think this days people most have at least 8GB of RAM if not 16GB with all this heavy vst . it can only help if you have more RAM , no ?

i think for now my top 3 case to get are: 1.Fractal Design Define R3 2.antec solo 2 3.NZXT H2

about the Mobo...well most of them not come with the texas instruments chip (on avadirect) so i guess i can always take MOBO without firewire and buy firewire card and install it...also i maybe will not need firewire at all because most of the Audio Interfaces this days come with firewire and usb 3 so i can use the usb.

also i saw today in some different forum a not good feedback about avadirect.com...(from 2 year ago) so it made me think twice about them..so for now i will consider to get system from Puget Systems !!!

thanks CA_Steve

i just now myself messed around on ava web..just build this one for $1160..i dont know if the mobo/psu are fine but i will leave it to you guys.
NZXT H2 Classic Silent Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Plastic/Steel
SEASONIC S12 Energy Plus 650 Power Supply, 650W, 24-pin ATX EPS12V, Dual +12V, Active PFC, SLI Certified
GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3, LGA1155, Intel® Z68, DDR3-2133 32GB /4, PCIe x16 CF /1+1*, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 6Gb/s /2, HDMI, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail
INTEL Core™ i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.8GHz TB, HD Graphics 2000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 32nm, 95W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail
SCYTHE Mine 2 (SCMN-2000) CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/775/FM1/AM3/AM2, Retail
KINGSTON 16GB (4 x 4GB) HyperX Blu PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
SAPPHIRE Radeon™ HD 5450 (Fanless) 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1334MHz, PCIe x16, DVI+HDMI+VGA, Full-height/Low-profile, Retail
CRUCIAL 64GB M4 SSD, MLC Marvell 88SS9174, 500/95 MB/s, 2.5-Inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Retail
SEAGATE 2TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
RAID No RAID, Independent HDD Drives
SONY AD-7261S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM
NONE No Operating System (Choose OS or subject to Limited Support)
WARRANTY Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

My thoughts are:
(1) You don't need such a beefy power supply, since you're doing any gaming with a fancy GPU. You can easily go to the x-460 and save some money.
(2) I think you should be ok with an H67 chipset, since you don't need the overclocking features. (but I'm not too clear on the chipset differences -- maybe there is a good reason to choose z68 over H67?)
(3) You can drop the graphics card and use onboard video.
(4) a 128GB SSD should give you better performance (though I don't know how much DAW software performance is dependent on disk read/writes). You should be able to splurge for the 128GB size if you make the other changes I mentioned.

thanks lhopitalified for your thought !

so hope i will know soon what build i will buy.
thanks for now guys for the help !

[CA_Steve]

my daw will NOW going to be nearby live mikes !!! so yes i will just need it quiet enough for my personal taste .

I am baffled

Did you mean to say "my daw will NOT be near live mikes"?

[tyty007]

my daw will NOW going to be nearby live mikes !!! so yes i will just need it quiet enough for my personal taste .

I am baffled

Did you mean to say "my daw will NOT be near live mikes"?

LOL...yes i meant to say NOT !!!

[CA_Steve]

RAM: 16GB can't hurt. I just don't know whether or not you need it for 32 tracks.

Puget builds decent systems. You might be more limited in the component selection, but what they have is great. They do offer motherboards with firewire. Have fun messing with configurations.

[tyty007]

CA_Steve
thanks
just wonder have you bought your system of one of them? (Puget/Ava direct ) or someone that you know did ?
i read some bed feedback about ava...but it was from 2 year ago , so im a little worry.
but also all the big website out there reviewing their computer so i guess they good .
at Puget theirs builds look very good to but they are very pricey..for example i build one system at Puget for $1460 and matching the same build at ava for $1090.

thanks

[CA_Steve]

I build my own rather than using a 3rd party, so I do not have first hand feedback regarding these two vendors. Both seem to be well regarded by reviewers. Puget charges more, but they also hand pick components on their Serenity builds for quietness. All I can say is look at the available parts lists, the warranty and returns policy, look at reviews, etc. then decide if it's worth it to spend the extra $350 or not.

[tyty007]

Hi guys
sorry for the long delay but i was have some family issue the pass 2 month so i still did not buy the computer , but now im pretty much ready to buy it after i have in mind the final build !
please if anyone think i should change something please let me know.

ANTEC Performance One P183 V3 / NZXT H2 Classic / COOLER MASTER Silencio 550
CORSAIR TX650 V2 Power Supply
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
INTEL Core™ i7-2600
NOCTUA NH-U12P SE2 / COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
KINGSTON 16GB (4 x 4GB) ValueRAM PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz CL9 (9-9-9) 1.5V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
CRUCIAL 64GB M4 SSD
SEAGATE 1TB Barracuda®, SATA 6 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB cache
ASUS DRW-24B3LT

now the only 2 thing that i still did not 100% decided is the case and the CPU Cooler ,so if someone can recommended me any of the case/cpu cooler i will appreciate that !

thanks

[tyty007]

^^^anyone please ? ^^^

[Abula]

now the only 2 thing that i still did not 100% decided is the case and the CPU Cooler ,so if someone can recommended me any of the case/cpu cooler i will appreciate that !

For cooler i would go with Thermalright HR-02 Macho, a lot cheaper than the Noctua, better fan, cooling, mounting than the Coolermaster 212. Case the 183 should be fine, i like a lot the the following build, Boring but silent, but if you want something newer i would probably go with Antec Sonata Series SOLO II Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case or Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Cases CC-9011015-WW.

If you are not using a dedicated GPU there is no need for 650W PSU, intels chips are fairly efficient, your hole setup probably wont even peak 200W. With this in mind i would invest a little more on a better PSU like Seasonic 560W 80 Plus Gold ATX 12V/EPS 12V Power Supply - X-560 SS-560KM (not suggesting the x400 out of being more expensive atm) or if you stick with the 183 case, even though you dont need 850W, the PSU is a very good match for the 183, Antec CP-850 850 Watt CPX SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS Modular Power Supply

As last suggestion, we will see new ivy bridge motherboards in very short, i think april 8 is the release date, and CPU on the 29th, so in case you want an even more efficient cpu, i would wait couple of weeks. In case you budget allows, i would also consider 128gb ssd, 64gb is fine, but you quickly run out of space, there was a newegg sale of M4 yesterday, 128gb was at $130, so its close to the 64gb price.

[ces]

Unless you need the Nvidia card for something specific, I would drop the GT210 and just use intels iGPU, HD2000 on the 2600 or a little more 2600k comes with HD3000 in the same lvl as GT210, or if you could wait for april 8 for ivy bridge it will come with better iGPU (HD4000 around 68% faster than HD3000),

Agreed. See:
viewtopic.php?p=541536#p541536
and
viewtopic.php?p=556574#p556574
and
viewtopic.php?p=556691#p556691

[tyty007]

now the only 2 thing that i still did not 100% decided is the case and the CPU Cooler ,so if someone can recommended me any of the case/cpu cooler i will appreciate that !

For cooler i would go with Thermalright HR-02 Macho, a lot cheaper than the Noctua, better fan, cooling, mounting than the Coolermaster 212. Case the 183 should be fine, i like a lot the the following build, Boring but silent, but if you want something newer i would probably go with Antec Sonata Series SOLO II Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case or Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Cases CC-9011015-WW.

If you are not using a dedicated GPU there is no need for 650W PSU, intels chips are fairly efficient, your hole setup probably wont even peak 200W. With this in mind i would invest a little more on a better PSU like Seasonic 560W 80 Plus Gold ATX 12V/EPS 12V Power Supply - X-560 SS-560KM (not suggesting the x400 out of being more expensive atm) or if you stick with the 183 case, even though you dont need 850W, the PSU is a very good match for the 183, Antec CP-850 850 Watt CPX SLI CrossFire 80 PLUS Modular Power Supply

As last suggestion, we will see new ivy bridge motherboards in very short, i think april 8 is the release date, and CPU on the 29th, so in case you want an even more efficient cpu, i would wait couple of weeks. In case you budget allows, i would also consider 128gb ssd, 64gb is fine, but you quickly run out of space, there was a newegg sale of M4 yesterday, 128gb was at $130, so its close to the 64gb price.

Abula thanks so much for all the help and info !!!
well im build this computer through avadirect and they don't have the Thermalright HR-02 Macho , my point is to have a good build but at lower cost, also i will not be doing any recording with live mic so i will not need the most silent computer out there , i will just will work with software and the computer for now.
so thats why i put 3 different case there because the price are different , for example the 183 case cost $63 more then the coolmaster one and $40 more then the nzxt h2 one on the AVA web.
yes i will not using a dedicated GPU and yes i know that the Seasonic psu is one of the best out there but is very expensive for me and it will make the build price jump high
what about for example if i will go with the COOLER MASTER Silencio 550 + COOLER MASTER GX 450W Power Supply ? you think it will work ok for me?
i also will consider to take the 128gb ssd as you recommend me. thanks for that.
if you will like to see what case/psu or any other thing that you can recommend please go to here : http://www.avadirect.com/silent-pc-conf ... PRID=20965
last thing, can you tell me if my memory selection are right? i konw that i want 16gb but i dont know which fast to pick up or which one will work the best with my Motherboard.
thanks Abula and look forward to hear from you back!

Unless you need the Nvidia card for something specific, I would drop the GT210 and just use intels iGPU, HD2000 on the 2600 or a little more 2600k comes with HD3000 in the same lvl as GT210, or if you could wait for april 8 for ivy bridge it will come with better iGPU (HD4000 around 68% faster than HD3000),

Agreed. See:
viewtopic.php?p=541536#p541536
and
viewtopic.php?p=556574#p556574
and
viewtopic.php?p=556691#p556691

thanks ces

[toronado455]

Regarding the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3, looks like a nice board, but what about the new Panther Point boards that will be out soon? Might be worth waiting for that and Ivy Bridge to go with since they are going to be released very soon. I'm going to be building a new DAW and I'm waiting for the Panther Point/Ivy Bridge for that.

Case-wise I'm leaning toward Antec SOLO II or P280 myself, but haven't decided on anything for sure yet. I want something I can run positive pressure for minimizing dust inside the case.

[CA_Steve]

Some comments:

RAM - There are cheaper DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V picks at AVA Direct (like the Kingston Hyper-X) than the listed Kingston DDR3 1333. Might as well go for it. Make sure the RAM selected doesn't have tall heat spreaders - might have a skyline conflict with the cpu cooler.

Case: Yeah, the Silencio 550 will work. It limits the CPU cooler height to ~154mm.

CPU cooler: You need a cooler that will fit the Silencio...ideally one that has a backplate rather than Intel's crappy push pin solution, is quiet, and cheap. Hard combination using AVADirect's list.

PSU: don't go cheap on the PSU. You'll regret it. At a minimum, go for the Seasonic S12.

IvyBridge: Yeah, it's coming out at the end of April. I wouldn't recommend it for someone that's not comfortable doing debug/firmware updates. Let someone else be the beta site until the firmware revisions settle.

[tyty007]

Some comments:

RAM - There are cheaper DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V picks at AVA Direct (like the Kingston Hyper-X) than the listed Kingston DDR3 1333. Might as well go for it. Make sure the RAM selected doesn't have tall heat spreaders - might have a skyline conflict with the cpu cooler.

Case: Yeah, the Silencio 550 will work. It limits the CPU cooler height to ~154mm.

CPU cooler: You need a cooler that will fit the Silencio...ideally one that has a backplate rather than Intel's crappy push pin solution, is quiet, and cheap. Hard combination using AVADirect's list.

PSU: don't go cheap on the PSU. You'll regret it. At a minimum, go for the Seasonic S12.

IvyBridge: Yeah, it's coming out at the end of April. I wouldn't recommend it for someone that's not comfortable doing debug/firmware updates. Let someone else be the beta site until the firmware revisions settle.

CA_Steve thank you as always for your help and all the helpful info .
ram - i could not find the specific model that you talk about...can you send me link for that please ? i also just saw that this - http://www.avadirect.com/product_info.asp?PRID=21323 are very cheap but i don't about the tall heat spreaders.

thanks for let me know about the CPU cooler height...if not you i will miss that
is this one: http://www.avadirect.com/product_info.asp?PRID=15585 or this: http://www.avadirect.com/product_info.asp?PRID=19407 will work for me ? or can you recommended me one from the AVADirect's list ?

ok so yes..i will pick up the Seasonic S12 psu as you told me...thanks

so for now i just need your advice about the RAM/CPU COOLER and i will place my order FINALLY tomorrow (Monday)

Thanks CA_Steve

[toronado455]

Regarding the Seasonic S12... I actually posted a thread on this.

I didn't even realize they still made the S12. Is the one that AVADirect sells an updated version?

[tyty007]

Hi toronado455
it doesn't say on there web V2 or something like that so i guess its not an update version...but i will leave it to CA_Steve / Abula

also how is the Seasonic S12 compere to this one - http://www.avadirect.com/product_info.asp?PRID=20058 ? because i just read online that the CORSAIR one is design by Seasonic .

Thanks