Custom Built Audio Computer?

[mark4man]

I hope this is the correct forum for custom built recording equipment (if not, please move me, Mr. Moderator.)

After weeks of research on the internet & in custom computer shops, I happened to be browsing around CompUSA; & stumbled upon their "Custom Built" program. Although they would not have been my first choice (for no other reason other than that I viewed them as your basic computer retailer), one of their builds looked like it might be perfect as a no frills digital audio machine. I thought I'd throw the component list out there for some input & feedback:

Lian-Li PC-08 Tower Aluminum Case - 300W PS / CoolerMaster CPU Cooling System (w/ dual cooling tubes directed onto the CPU)

ECS K7S5A Motherboard (w/ SIS 735 Chipset)

AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (266Mhz FSB)

512MB DDRRAM

Western Digital 60GB 7200RPM Ultra /100 HD

Liteon 32x12x40 CD-RW (IDE) Drive

Mitsumi 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive

LinkSys 10/100 Ethernet Card

MS Windows XP (Home Edition)


I have heard that:

The Athlon CPU is better for audio than the P4 (& that the P4 is just an overclocked P3)

SD RAM is better for audio than DDR RAM (have no idea why)

400W Power Supply is the way to go (but the CoolerMaster System in this Tower runs 20 degrees cooler than most; & the aluminum design helps.)

All Chipsets are "fickle" when it comes to audio?

Any thoughts on this gear?

Thanks.

mark4man

 

[ambi]

hmm

well, as far as i know a p4 is NOT, just an over clocked p3. BUT, i prefer AMD chipsets becuase they are HULLA cheaper, and do perform better in a lot of benchmarks, even against a p4 processor with a faster clock speed. No sd ram is not better than ddr ram at ANYTHING, its slower ram, thats the bottom line, Maybe you were thinking RD ram? the stuff made for p4's? Yea, i don't like rd ram, expensive and not that great, ddr is the way to go as far as im concerned. Compatability issues may arrise due to your soundcard/operating system, and possibly your Motherboard (my via 133 chipset has some serious problems with my sblive card, i had to flash my bios and almost lost 2 drives worth of data), but i don't think that the actuall hardware components like the processor or ram would make a difference. Definatly get a 400W power supply, or possibly even a 433, if you go lower your system will not be stable(most likely). You might want to look into Enermax Power supplies, they are very quiet (call the whisper quiet series), i think they run in at about 21 dba. You might want to check the specs on the current one your looking at, and see how loud it is. Also watch out for what case fans and what cpu heatsinc/fan your getting. Try and get really quiet ones, i know enermax makes case fans rated at about 21 dba, and you can get ones as low as 19 dba. IF you get a slower fan on your cpu, which is quieter, it will not cool as well as say a delta fan, but it will be very quiet. The delta is a noisy bastard, i can't remember exactly, something like 44-55 dba! So keep everything quiet. So, it seems as though it will be good, what sound card are you getting? But all in all a good rig, i don't know much about that particular mother board, but DON'T SKIMP ON THE MOTHER BOARD, IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SMOOTH STABLE SYSTEM AND A CONSTANTLY CRASHING PIECE OF GARBAGE!

 

[elevate]

Yea, i don't like rd ram, expensive and not that great

RDRAM isn't all that much more expensive and is considerably faster than DDR.

The system looks pretty good, except for the motherboard. I think RWhite had problem after problem with that board and eventually ditched it. I would be looking at something with either an AMD 761 or VIA KT333 chipset.

 

[ambi]

hmm

oh... i guess im living in the past... i still don't like
RD ram...

 

[RWhite]

Personally, I found that particular motherboard to be a piece of shit.

I posted extensively about it in the past, look up my posts for more details.