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After pondering my current setup and doing some research, I am considering upgrading my rig to the following specs. Does anyone have any advice or opinions? Will the retail fan be sufficient, does thermal grease really help? This will go into an Antec PerformancePlus case with 4 cooling fans. 1 front, 1 side and 2 back. I have an Aardvark Q10 soundcard, if that matters.

Asus P4C800 Deluxe (i875 Canterwood 800/533 FSB) $190.00
Intel P4 478 3.00 GHz 800 FSB (Retail Box w/fan) $429.00
1 GB (2 pcs 512) DDR (400) TwinX1024-3200LLPT Corsair XMS $311.00
1 GB (2 pcs 512) DDR (400) TwinX1024-3200LLPT Corsair XMS $311.00

Total: $1,241.00

Includes mounting the cpu and memory modules, as well as post testing the combination, updating it to the latest stable bios, and setting everything up in the bios.

thanks,
Robert

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Opus2000 Fri, 08/08/2003 - 12:43

Robert

Too many fans my friend! Only one in the front and one in the rear will do just fine! Don't overkill it with too many fans as this will increase the noise tremendously making it impossible to use in a studio or recording environment.

Thermal grease...VERY IMPORTANT!!! In fact I recommend getting the Arctic Silver ASIII paste instead! Has better thermal heat resistance then most other pastes!

The stock fan for the new P4 800Mhz processors are a bit noisy so I would recommend looking into another brand...look into the Zalman heat sinks!

Otherwise...looks good!

Oh yeah...what power supply are you getting with it?!!

Opus :D

anonymous Fri, 08/08/2003 - 13:18

Opus,

Thanks for the thumbs-up. Needed a little reassurance before I make the plunge. The case I currently have is: Antec Performance Plus 1080 AMG Tower Server Case with P4 430W Power Supply. The fans are actually pretty quiet, the fans are: Vantec 80mm, somethings. I do place a sound shield (big sheet of cardboard) in front of the case when doing 'microphone takes'. I know, very amaturish but hey, it works. The HD's are Western Digital, forget the model but they are very quiet too.

Now that I think about it, I may need to buy another case. I was planning of updating my old computer with what I take of my DAW. But I don't think the old power supply will be sufficient. The old computer is a P3 500GHz, about 3 years old now. Doesn't take long for them to turn into door stops.

Now I will hijack my own thread.

Opus, what case would you recommend for the new DAW? Do you know of something better then the Antex?

thanks for your help,
Robert

checking into the Zalman heat sink now.

Opus2000 Fri, 08/08/2003 - 14:36

Antec cases are fine. Good enough for DAW's.

Check out Ahanix or Enermax cases as well.

I have my computer in the closet which has foam on the inside of the door to keep noise inside!

It's a nice size closet so I have my server as well as my DAW machine in there! This way I can crank the fan speed on the power supply to get maximum air flow through it!

Opus :D

anonymous Fri, 08/15/2003 - 08:29

If you have never been there, I strongly recommend you visit http://www.silentpcreview.com & scour the Recommended and System sections to start, then poke around in the forums. SPCR is home to some of the most advanced silent computing enthusiasts on the planet.

My current quietest system measures 16 dBA @ 1 meter. (with a lab quality B&K SLM in a 12 dBA noise floor room). Quiet enough to be inaudible or inconsequential in almost any environment. The noise level does not change with HDD access! And it's not in a closed cabinet and does not use exotic parts or cost an arm & a leg. It's a 1.13G Tualatin with 512mb RAM , a 160G HDD + GF4200. Next PC up, the noise measures ~18 dBA@1m -- 2 HDD and a P4-1.8G. Everything you need to know to make similarly quiet PCs can be found at SPCR.

Opus2000 Fri, 08/15/2003 - 16:19

Mr Silentmike

Great site indeed.

In the future if you are going to post here at RO we expect you to not just come in here and post promoting your site.

We will delete the posts if they are the same thing over and over again.

There is an advertising/business listing for this type of application.

Please honor our requests here at RO for Non-post-spamming.

Thanks for understanding

Opus :D

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