New PC for Modded SB3

rklein · « **on:** 27 Sep 2006, 04:50 pm »

Hi:

I recently bought a SB3 along with the Basic Rev. 1 w/ Jensens power supply from freejazz. I am having Wayne do the digital mods to the SB3 as I plan to run it through a Zhaolu 2.0 dac. In talking with the guy who handles my network/computers at my office, he has suggested that I purchase the following:

XPC SK21G $246.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2487243&CatId=31

OEM NEC DVD burner $20
Internal Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250 GB SATA-300 Hard Drive $84
DWL-G520 Wireless Card $29.99
USB External Harddrive ~ $99 - $150

He will put it together along with throwing XP Pro on the machine for $100.

The XPC package thru Tiger Direct includes an Ultra 512MB PC 3200 DDR 400MHz Memory. My man is advising that I should double this. Do I need the xtra memory for running the SB3?

Thanks,
rklein

F-100 · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:12 pm »

512MB of memory should be sufficient if you're using this computer as a dedicated music server for your SB3. But 1GB is preferred if you have the extra cash.

woodsyi · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:15 pm »

Is this the only computer you will have in your house? Will it be in the music room or eleswhere?

bpape · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:15 pm »

Just be aware that the shuttles do run a bit warm and are tight on space - especially for a Barracuda drive. Also, that's a 754 pin AMD chip - not the 939 pin that's much more upgradable later if needed.

I'd also avoid the external USB drives if you can - personal preference on my part. The SB software likes to have everything in 1 place. I'd go for something with a RAID controller so you can add more drives as needed and still have them show up as 1 drive.

As for the RAM, at the prices it's at now, I'd not build anything with less than a gig. Basic Kingston RAM is a good deal and is very reliable.

Bryan

rklein · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:16 pm »

Thanks F-100

Yes, this will be a dedicated music server set up in the same room as my system. What do you think of my computer guy's recommendations for the whole PC system?

Thanks,
rklein

F-100 · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:28 pm »

Quote

What do you think of my computer guy's recommendations for the whole PC system?

Total cost for this setup without the USB external hard drive is about $475. Nice setup but you might run into heat issue as mentioned by Bryan. Have you thought about buying a cheap laptop and use it as your music server?

Currently, I'm using a Dell 600M, 1GB memory, DVD burner, 60GB internal hard drive, wireless network, 15" LCD ($450 on sale from Dell) laptop as my music server with a 400GB USB external hard drive. The nicest thing about using a laptop is that you can surf the net and use the laptop as your remote control to select your music list, both at the same time while listening to the music.

By the way, the 400GB USB external hard drive is hooked to a desktop located in another room.

woodsyi · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:35 pm »

I don't know. I would want something quieter (fanless) like Cappuccino or Hush if you are keeping it in the same room. I use a Dell XPS 200 and it's reasonably quiet in the room. It's probably as quiet as a Shuttle being BTX based. You can get one like this from the outlet store.

Quote

XPS 200
(System Identifier: EWR41B56)

* XPS 200 Small Form Factor: Pentium D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)
* Genuine Windows XP Media Center 2005

System Price   :   $499.00

Operating System
Genuine Windows XP Media Center 2005Memory
1 GB DDR2 NON-ECC SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)Hard Disk Drive
250 GB EIDE SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)Video
128MB Radeon X600Certified Refurbished
Certified RefurbishedBase
XPS 200 Small Form Factor: Pentium D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB)Media Bay
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capabilitySoftware Upgrade
Trend Micro PC-cillin with AntiVirus and Spyware removal 15-months
Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software EditionHardware Upgrade
Single TV Tuner with Remote Control
USB Optical two button mouse
Software
Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Reader
Sonic Cineplayer
Music Match 10.1 Software
ISP Search Assist
ONLINE TRAINING
Image Restore Software
Wild Tangent Gaming Client
Net Zero ISP
ISP Software
Microsoft Works 8.5
Support Software
AOL ISP Software
AOL 8.0 ISP Software
Photo Album 6.0 Starter
AOL ISP Software
Dell Direct Download
Service Software
Operating System CD
Roxio Creator, My DVD LE
Dell 964 Printer Driver
AOL 9.0 ISP Software
Windows Media Player
AOL 9.0 ISP SoftwareMisc
Processor Label
Label
No Floppy Drive
AOL Software Documentation
Shipping Material
Dell Enhanced Multimedia USB Keyboard
Dimension XPS 200

It would be a heck of alot faster than your shuttle. Something to think about. You can also get a dedicated media server like Infrant NAS and keep it out of the room -- dead silent in the room.

rklein · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:36 pm »

Hi Woodsyi:

I have a computer in our loft(which opens to our family room where my audio gear resides). My wife uses this computer and I didn't want to start ripping CD's into that harddrive. Plus it is a little noisy when on. I thought that it would be better to have a separate PC in my music room just for running the SB3. I would like to spend as little as possible for this PC and I thought staying under $500 is reasonable. The external harddrive would have been used as a back-up to the internal seagate.

Hi bpape:

My computer guy has done a GREAT JOB for my office network. However, he is only remotely acquainted with the SB3. What other future applications would I need to be aware of to go to the 939 pin over the 754 pin? In addition, what might be a better alternative than the Shuttle XPC? I need this PC to have a somehat silent operation.

Thanks,
rklein

woodsyi · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:43 pm »

Quote from: rklein on 27 Sep 2006, 05:36 pm

Hi Woodsyi:

I have a computer in our loft(which opens to our family room where my audio gear resides). My wife uses this computer and I didn't want to start ripping CD's into that harddrive. Plus it is a little noisy when on. I thought that it would be better to have a separate PC in my music room just for running the SB3. I would like to spend as little as possible for this PC and I thought staying under $500 is reasonable. The external harddrive would have been used as a back-up to the internal seagate.
rklein

You don't need a new PC. If you get a NAS that has barebone OS like Infrant ReadyNas that can add Slimserver on, you don't have to have your PC on. YOu can also back all of your PC on it since you will have over 750 GB usable space on a TB unit with Raid 5.

rajacat · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:45 pm »

<<<<Currently, I'm using a Dell 600M, 1GB memory, DVD burner, 60GB internal hard drive, wireless network, 15" LCD ($450 on sale from Dell) laptop as my music server with a 400GB USB external hard drive. The nicest thing about using a laptop is that you can surf the net and use the laptop as your remote control to select your music list, both at the same time while listening to the music.>>>

Do you have a backup in the event that your 400GB USB external hard drive fails?

Raja

brj · « **Reply #10 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:51 pm »

I agree with the 1GB of RAM recommendation. Every new release of Windows takes more memory...

As for specific recommendations on individual components, I'd take a look at SilentPCReview, especially their recommended components section.

brj · « **Reply #11 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:57 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi

You don't need a new PC. If you get a NAS that has barebone OS like Infrant ReadyNas that can add Slimserver on, you don't have to have your PC on. YOu can also back all of your PC on it since you will have over 750 GB usable space on a TB unit with Raid 5.

Good point, although the one thing to be carefull of is noise. Most NAS units that I've seen don't have silent operation as their primary objective. Their hard drives tend not to be the quietest available.

Of course, if you can put the NAS box in a closet somewhere, then you avoid the problem entirely. In that case, I'd also look at the Lime Technology unRAID.

woodsyi · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 05:58 pm »

If you are going to have your man build a PC, how about using this Zalman case for a quieter PC?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811235001

woodsyi · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:00 pm »

Quote from: brj on 27 Sep 2006, 05:57 pm

Quote from: woodsyi
You don't need a new PC. If you get a NAS that has barebone OS like Infrant ReadyNas that can add Slimserver on, you don't have to have your PC on. YOu can also back all of your PC on it since you will have over 750 GB usable space on a TB unit with Raid 5.
Good point, although the one thing to be carefull of is noise. Most NAS units that I've seen don't have silent operation as their primary objective. Their hard drives tend not to be the quietest available.

Of course, if you can put the NAS box in a closet somewhere, then you avoid the problem entirely. In that case, I'd also look at the Lime Technology unRAID.

I was thinking you can keep the NAS out of the room and access it through wireless network like I do. Hard drives are not quiet and you really do want that fan running.

brj · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:05 pm »

One more note - be aware the the most recent socket type for AMD processors is the AM2 socket. This has superceded the 939 socket, which superceded the 754 socket.

Quote from: woodsi

Hard drives are not quiet and you really do want that fan running.

There are several 2.5" and a few 3.5" form-factor drives that are virtually silent from 1m away, when properly mounted in a quiet case. If you want to stick with 3.5" drives for the additional storage, I'd look at the Western Digital SE16 drives mounted in a quite case via a suspension (rubber bands or O-rings used to damp the sharp seek noises from the drive).

F-100 · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:06 pm »

Quote from: rklein on 27 Sep 2006, 05:36 pm

Hi Woodsyi:
I have a computer in our loft(which opens to our family room where my audio gear resides). My wife uses this computer and I didn't want to start ripping CD's into that harddrive. Plus it is a little noisy when on. I thought that it would be better to have a separate PC in my music room just for running the SB3. I would like to spend as little as possible for this PC and I thought staying under $500 is reasonable. The external harddrive would have been used as a back-up to the internal seagate.

rklein

I had the same problem as yours. My wife & kids are using the desktop computer so I went with the laptop route. With my setup, the SlimServer software is installed on the laptop and the musics are stored on the 400GB USB external which is connected to the desktop computer. Then I just mapped this drive to my laptop as my network drive, and ripped music from there. Voila!! everything is there under my fingertips.

F-100 · « **Reply #16 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:08 pm »

Quote from: rajacat on 27 Sep 2006, 05:45 pm

Do you have a backup in the event that your 400GB USB external hard drive fails?
Raja

Yes, I have another 400GB Seagate drive as my backup which can be bought for $100 from Fry's or you can archive it on DVDs if you have some free time.

lcrim · « **Reply #17 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:44 pm »

Slimserver doesn't require much in the way of resources, it will run on a PII w/ very little RAM. F-100's advice makes the most sense to me. You need a storage drive somewhere accesible over your home LAN. The SB and the music server don't need to be in the same room or even the same floor, thats the beauty of the thing, you can put the noisey parts elsewhere and connect via WiFi.
I use an older PIII laptop which does nothing else but run both Slimserver and also Foobar to a USB device. The SB is upstairs in the bedroom system. There's a storage drive connected to the laptop via USB 2.0, had to buy a $15 PCMCIA card for this but you need the speed of USB 2.0 for transfer from the storage drive to the laptop. Foobar needs a hell of a lot more processor and RAM than Slimserver to run well , especially if you are using Secret Rabbit or one of the other oversampling plugins. The laptop and storage drive are behind a wall w/ a USB cable running to the Creative Audigy 2NX device which is plugged into a Scott Nixon TubeDac+. Both systems are running out of the same old laptop and the quality is very nice.
An older dedicated PC with storage and a WiFi card is my recommendation. I use a laptop because of the form factor and cost (I'm a network engineer and we have out of warrantee units laying around.) I have a spare USB storage drive for backup.

AphileEarlyAdopter · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 06:53 pm »

Hi Larry,
Have you compared the SB to the Creative in your System 1 ? If so, which one is better.

lcrim · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 Sep 2006, 07:09 pm »

Off topic but anyways-the two systems are very different and in different but treated rooms. The SB is stock except for a Bolder modded Elpac p/s and feeds a Scot Nixon Chibi Dac via coax. I just removed the preamp from that system and have been using only the volume knob on the Decware Select for gain. This system is what I listen to before falling out at night so it has to be satisfying w/o sounding hard or etched and it does.
The transparency of the whole system with the USB connected Creative Audigy 2 NX is a wholely different character. It is in a much larger space and it its difficult to say one is better than the other. If you held a gun to my head and said choose, I'd take the USB device but the TubeDac and transparency of the EE MM electronics probably have a lot to do with that. I had a SB in that system but I thought that the USB route sounded better however that was before the p/s mods.