Great info - thank you Eric.
There are several ways, at least, to go with systems depending on what your
needs are. My DAW doesn't record, it's just for mixing and for playing my
digital library. Since I usually don't run a lot of plugins, processing
power has not been a priority. Decent buss speeds were more important. One
advantage of slower, smaller processers is (or was) that they don't generate
as much heat. I was able to eliminate the cpu fan, replaced with a big
Zalman heatsink. It sits near the 80mm case fan, so gets enough airflow to
keep the cpu under 50C. On-board video is adequate, passively cooled. When I
was building it four years ago, there was one fanless power supply
available. Over $100, but worth it for the elimination of one more
noisemaker. So, the whole thing has one fan, usually running around 700rpm
in the hottest weather, controlled by the AMD 'Quiet n' Cool' thing. It's
pretty much inaudible past a couple feet.
Now, if I had multiple HDs on board, or a more power-hungry main
board/processor/video, all needing a bigger power supply, this wouldn't
work. The case would get too hot for reliability or longevity.
The Web site Silent PC was a good resource. I mostly followed their recipe
for the Antec HTPC case, which is a really nice enclosure. They have a hard
time keeping up with the latest hardware and as most hardware has gotten
less noisy, there may be less need for that guidance than just a few years
ago.
I recently took a job where I have a MAC Pro. It's ca. 2007, running Lion.
It's just a computer, but I have to say it is elegant and reasonably quiet
even though it runs quite hot. Wish it had an Apple monitor attached! That
would matter more to me than the computer itself.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Jacobs
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 3:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] SSD drives. WAS derivative file conversion advice
Hi Tom,
Here are some of the build details. It's been 2 years since I've built a
new DAW, but most of this should still hold true. I try to go with
components which are reputable, high-quality and well-supported. This adds
a bit of cost, but also reduces problems at build time. In fact, none of my
DIY DAWs have had any hardware failures, knock on wood. Then again, none of
the DAWs are on the bleeding edge of technology - no over-clocking and
plenty of air flow for cooling.
In general, you'll need to check the hardware and software compatibility
between all the various components you finally choose. It can be tedious to
work out the details, but it's tedium I don't mind - especially knowing that
each workstation will probably have a 5-7 year life as a DAW, and then
several years beyond that for other things. I can get a solid 10 years out
of most my computers (YMMV).
So here's the bill of materials (BOM) for my last DAW, summer 2011, all
purchased from Newegg:
CASE
Antec P183 Case
Antec CP-1000 PSU
Noctua NF-S12B ULN (upper fan)
Noctua NF-S12B FLX (rear fan)
MOBO
ASUS Z8NA-D6C Motherboard
TWO Intel Xeon E5620 2.4GHz Quad-Core CPUs TWO Noctua NH-U12DX 1366 CPU
Heatsinks
PC-10600 Kingston ECC 12GB RAM
GIGABYTE GV-R677SL-1GD GPU (same as FANLESS Gigabyte Radeon HD 6770 1GB)
Windows 7 Professional Edition DVD 64 Bit
NOTE: The GPU is a tight fit with its large heatsink, but it does fit in the
P183 Case with all the HDD bays loaded.
PERIPHERALS
Plextor (BLACK) SATA DVD +/- RW PX-L890SA
Intel 320 series SSD 80GB
TOTAL with tax and shipping = $2413
Although apples and oranges (pun intended), an 8-core Mac Pro will cost you
$5000 (the Mac Pro also has Thunderbolt, dual GPUs, and a 256 GB flash
drive, but is that worth an extra $2600?) - and will the Mac Pro really be
that much faster. Consider that the above machine was built two years ago,
and would still be considered a high performance machine today. Of course,
you can build a really fast single-CPU DAW for less than this server class
machine.
In addition to the $2413...
STORAGE, MONITORS, KEYBOARD, MOUSE, ETC.
THREE WD Black 3TB WD3001FAEX drives (no RAID) Video
cables/connectors/adapters TWO Iogear Miniview Extreme GCS1734 KVM switches
Lynx AES16-XLR card
NOTE: I run all 3 DAWs plus a 4th administrative computer double-headed
through the two Iogear switches. Most of my storage is network attached
storage using a variety of ReadyNAS devices.
And some very personal choices...
Rosewill RK-9100BR keyboard (compact, great touch if you're a fast and
heavy-handed typist) Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse
NOTE: I had a wireless keyboard and mouse for a number of years, but
ultimately switched back to wired/USB for reliability and speed.
Eric Jacobs
The Audio Archive, Inc.
tel: 408.221.2128
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.theaudioarchive.com
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