Computer in rack? (Rackmount case)

[chipwits]

I am going to either buy or build a rack to hold my future mic pre's and A/D converter for the computer. Umm.. Does it make sense to also place the computer in that rack in a rack mount case? I don't hear many people talking about doing that here. Was thinking it would make it easier to transport the studio (if I ever needed to) and to save space in my small room.

If it is a good idea, anyone got any links or recommendations for a good, quiet and cool rackmount case? I have a Micro ATX motherboard with Pentium 4 LGA775. I guess I would like the case to be tall enough to accomodate standard pci bus cards.

Thanks,
James

[sile2001]

Well, I can't think of any reason you couldn't use a rackmount case, provided you could find one that would work with a Micro ATX board. The one issue is with the criteria "quite and cool". Rackmount cases are generally very cool, but loud as hell. I remember seeing somewhere (don't remember where) about quieter rackmount cases, but they were much more expensive than regular ones.

[cowboyj]

I've done this, and it's great! :

There are a few manufacturers that make quiet PSUs, though the names are escaping me at the moment. Google or Dogpile should help you there.

As far as the fans go, I ditched the stock 80 and 120mm fans for the quiet ones. Partsexpress.com, I think has what you'll need.

I'd also avoid the LED fans or CRT lights.

Another note, i found that once completed with all componants installed, the box seems rather heavy. It may be a good idea put the computer in the lowest bay of your rack system and reinforce the bottom of the rack with 1x2s cut to length.

Jason

[cowboyj]

Also, check out Ebay and Pricewatch.com for rack cases. I found mine for about $70 shipped on Pricewatch.

Jason

[mshilarious]

CompUSA sells a LED fan that is very quiet, so check the specs of whatever you buy.

Watch for depth--a lot of standard rack cases are 20" or 21" which is too deep for a lot of music racks.

You probably want a 4u case, but you can squeeze PCI cards into a 3u without a riser card. It's tight though.

[MOFO Pro]

I pick up a Carilon Core system for about $1000. The thing is whisper quiet. They're a UK company but do have distributors in the US. Sweetwater and GC also carry their own lines of Audio computers...

I will say, that it's not the rack mount housing that contribute as much to the noise as the industrial type cooling components built into them. Your best route (since you've already got the CPU) would be to pick up a 4U rack housing off of ebay and upgrade the powersupply, and CPU fan to quieter units... You can also get after market HD enclosures to silence your hard drives

[cowboyj]

I found the 4u cases to be cheaper, plus you get more space for drives and air circulation.

Jason

[Pinachi]

Heres mine,me likey like that,it belongs there!

4U

Mine

another

[SRR]

My 4u Case

Ya, get a 4u case. Most should work just fine with a MATX, I don't know why it wouldn't?? Mine has a 120mm fan on the front or is it 92mm, just make sure whatever fans you put in there, they are the lowest, or second to lowest dB rating you can find, and you should be good to go.

[jkokura]

As an alternative I'm planing on getting this case...it's not rackmount but it's cheap, and if you put it on a rackshelf it basically fits the same purpose...

http://www.justpcusa.com/g-ga850mbk.htm

Jacob

[LemonTree]

I got a 4U Antec rackmount case and fitted it with acoustifans, 120mm intake and 2 80mm exhaust, antec silent PSU...you have to put your ear to it to know it's on. Looks really neat in the rack but it is DEEP and HEAVY so you'll need to put a support in the back of your rack otherwise the weight will buckle the rack rails

[chipwits]

LemonTree, what kind of cpu do you have in your system? The main source of noise for me is the Intel Pentium 4 cpu fan. It is horribly loud (brand new too). I can buy the Zalman LGA775 cpu fan from endpcnoise.com. I don't know how much quiter it is though. Right now my system is so noisy from that Intel fan and makes my recordings very noisy. Too noisy.

James

[seismetr0n]

i've never had any problem with weight buckling my rack rails, but the thing is heavy..
my favorite part is the little built in dust filter...

i will also second the 4u case... mines easily big enough for a double processor board, and it allows plenty of air flow around your components

[altitude909]

I used a 4 space also, to solve the noise I water cooled the whole thing (which was a nightmare to install btw)

[Knowitall]

I tried the rackmount computer, and liked it alot untill I realized how much noise it created since I record live in the same room that my computer is in. Now I have the computer in it's own rack in another room, and use a wireless mouse and keyboard.

[reshp1]

Built mine in a rackmount case too, it's acceptably quiet but still audible. All depends on how far you can get your mics away from it. It's really not an issue if you're more than 10 feet away, if you use quiet components and fans that is.

[seismetr0n]

on a side note, does anyone have theirs on a sliding rail ? .. so you can pull it out to access it easier?

[cowboyj]

Originally Posted by seismetr0n

on a side note, does anyone have theirs on a sliding rail ? .. so you can pull it out to access it easier?

Yeah, I do. I still have to unscrew the rack ears (and the cover of the case) so they're not really *that* helpful. Mine basically make it so you don't have to hold up the case while you unscrew the rack ears from the mounting rails. If I was going to upgrade the case again I'd probably forgo the sliding rails.

Jason

[chipwits]

Anyone here notice the stock Intel Pentium 4 fans are horribly loud? Or did I just get unlucky with mine heh. It's brand new too.

James

[Prevenge]

yea i've had mine set up in a rack for about 4 years.
the fans area real loud nuisance. i have not gone and looked for any more quiet fans. this is because i use vga/ps2/usb extension cables from my rack (which is in a closet) to my desk, and .. the mics are also in a totally seperate area as well so they hear nothing.

my rack case


here is mine.. notice its on rails.. and the rails protrude from the back, but they serve their purpose. my rack is pretty much empty right now, i had to pawn alot of stuff last year :-(

and yes i do notice the exceptionally loud noise from intel stock fans. not to mention my graphics card fan on my video computer.

[Rick Shepherd]

Rackmount LCD

Chipwits, I was doing some research into this a while back and I thought it would be neat to also add a rack mounted LCD/keyboard combo. Man they are very cool, especially if you plan on transporting. Just a thought.

[chipwits]

Rick,

Yeah I have been thinking the same thing. Rackmount Monitor/Mouse/Keyboard would be nice. The entire studio would be contained in one mobile rack.

Nice song btw. I felt the same way when I lived in San Francisco for a year contracting there. Thought it was great , big time at first .... but then I got lonely and tired of it quickly heh. Back to the suburbs.

James

[Treeline]

I have an upright Antec quiet case with an AMD 64 system. I do all my remote recording with an AKAI DPS16 which is a great and stable unit, but is limited in transferring tracks to the computer; I have to do submixes or oddball workarounds. I've upgraded my stage mixer to an Onyx firewire front end (16 channels) and am thinking about taking the rig out when I do special gigs, but I would need to build a shockmount case for it. Anyone ever done that? All I can think of is a plywood suspension case on casters with bungees to keep the unit from clankiing around inside it.

And has anyone had practical success using a laptop just as a monitor / keyboard interface? I have a more or less passable laptop but I'm reluctant to try recording with it; it's an older Toshiba Satellite that is a bit crazed. I do have a firewire / USB2 card for it.

[LemonTree]

Originally Posted by chipwits

LemonTree, what kind of cpu do you have in your system? The main source of noise for me is the Intel Pentium 4 cpu fan. It is horribly loud (brand new too). I can buy the Zalman LGA775 cpu fan from endpcnoise.com. I don't know how much quiter it is though. Right now my system is so noisy from that Intel fan and makes my recordings very noisy. Too noisy.

James

Yeah I have a P IV 3.0GHz and the fan was terrible. I swapped that out and replaced it with a Zallman flower

[Willybomb]

Yeah, mine's in an ATX 4 unit rack case, in a very dodgey home made rack. I plan on either making a smaller rack, or making it properly..

Listen to the other guys - it's a heavy sucker, and it's very deep. I've got a passive Zalman GPU cooler, Spire Whisper rock CPU cooler, Zalman PSU mounted with a vantec PSU dampner, Spire Soundpad lining the whole thing. Loudest things the hard drives, seagate in my case.

I'd like to hookup a keyboard/mouse/LCD to it, rackmount that somehow. LCD flips up, keyboard and mouse slide out from under mixer desk - that'd be cool. Or maybe just get a laptop..

Willy's dodgey rack setup

Willy.