Time to build a new audio PC recs please

Folsom · « **Reply #21 on:** 25 Mar 2008, 10:04 pm »

On board video eats way to much resources, very poor performance wise for something playing the roll of a server, if you ask me, and the same goes for on board sound.

RAID is okay but completely unnecessary for a music server. The only really useful function of stripping I have found is load times in games, everything else forget it, no real benefit. RAID mirroring is nice for a backup drive though if you want that.

You can have SATA RAID anyhow, but SATA drives are so damn fast as is you will be happy.

If you are not playing games you can even get video cards without fans on them. ATI also makes multimedia ones that include HD support.

sts9fan · « **Reply #22 on:** 25 Mar 2008, 10:41 pm »

Quote

If you want Asus and Intel

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA24213 - will do RAID, 0, 1, 10, 5 on the southbridge and 0, 1, or JBOD on the secondary controller. If you are going to game with it, there are dual slot SLI variants of this board too.

Does this board require liquid cooling?

bpape · « **Reply #23 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 12:44 am »

No. Not at all. It's just a standard heat pipe.

Bryan

NewBuyer · « **Reply #24 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 02:30 am »

Are you serving audio digitally, or will you be using the analog outs of a soundcard?

sts9fan · « **Reply #25 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 12:10 pm »

I would assume I will one day dabble with a usb dac but for now it is for a SB.

HOLY NEWEGG!! Ordered that Antek case yesterday and it is being delivered this moring.

I think I am gonna go with that nice asus mobo from mwave. Final question (yeah right) what kind of meomory should I buy. will I really see a big difference if I buy 2gig of $35 mem or 2gig of $85 mem?

Kris

WGH · « **Reply #26 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 01:04 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 26 Mar 2008, 12:10 pm

Final question (yeah right) what kind of meomory should I buy. will I really see a big difference if I buy 2gig of $35 mem or 2gig of $85 mem?

Kris

Crucial. Use their on-line memory advisor.

The $35 memory might work just fine,
Crucial will work all the time.

bpape · « **Reply #27 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 01:17 pm »

Crucial is good stuff. Kingston is what I normally use unless it's a serious high performance gaming rig. Lifetime warranty on their RAM. Performs well, never had a problem with it, reasonably priced.

Some of the other brands are spec'd right up to the edge unless you buy the high dollar versions. The Kingston and Crucial have 'room' in their specs vs what they'll actually do on a stable, consistent basis.

Bryan

Tirade · « **Reply #28 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 01:18 pm »

Quote from: Destroyer of Smiles. on 25 Mar 2008, 10:04 pm

On board video eats way to much resources, very poor performance wise for something playing the roll of a server, if you ask me, and the same goes for on board sound.

RAID is okay but completely unnecessary for a music server. The only really useful function of stripping I have found is load times in games, everything else forget it, no real benefit. RAID mirroring is nice for a backup drive though if you want that.

You can have SATA RAID anyhow, but SATA drives are so damn fast as is you will be happy.

If you are not playing games you can even get video cards without fans on them. ATI also makes multimedia ones that include HD support.

That was true as of a year ago, but the last few months have brought significant changes to the onboard audio/video world.

If you really want to know more, check out the Home Theatre PC thread on AVS. The new Intel G45 chipset boards (also the Nvidia RS780) are fully capable of 1080p and 6 channel audio playback with ease.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

sts9fan · « **Reply #29 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 03:08 pm »

hmmmmm after reading up on the G45 Chipset I am all conflicted. Maybe I should wait till they are released.

Tirade · « **Reply #30 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 03:16 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 26 Mar 2008, 03:08 pm

hmmmmm after reading up on the G45 Chipset I am all conflicted. Maybe I should wait till they are released.

There is always something better on the horizon, but my next HTPC will indeed be based on the G45 chipset. For just music serving though, it would be overkill.

You could get the nvidia 780 based board and still be fine for music and 1080p playback if you get a decent CPU.

sts9fan · « **Reply #31 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 03:24 pm »

Shockingly everyday I am adding more duties for this guy. I think being able to do HD is gonna be needed so I can add a bluray player or when HD downloads become avalible. I like that they have HDMI.

sts9fan · « **Reply #32 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 03:33 pm »

So what does the nvidia 780 have over the P35 chipset? I have decided it is silly to build tghis thing and not have good video capabilites. The nvidia 780 boards I have been looking at will still need a graphics card. Correct?

Kris

Tirade · « **Reply #33 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 04:18 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 26 Mar 2008, 03:33 pm

So what does the nvidia 780 have over the P35 chipset? I have decided it is silly to build tghis thing and not have good video capabilites. The nvidia 780 boards I have been looking at will still need a graphics card. Correct?

Kris

My apologies, the specific chipset is the RS780G (the G has the newer Nvidia graphics included)

darrenyeats · « **Reply #34 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 05:24 pm »

I would consider having a dedicated data server. The only thing that should run on that is maybe server software (like a music server etc).

If you want to play music or video buy an SB3 or a multimedia PC. For me the two duties are separate. This way you can expand to having multiple players throughout the house. These players can be spec'd to taste. For the data server buy hardware optimised for serving large amounts of data to multiple points across your home. You can back up ALL your data, be it music, video, photos or other documents in one location. Why scratch that itch many times? It means if you want simply to play some music in your den, you won't be forced to power up a do-it-all behemoth.

Such a data server needs to be connected by ethernet to your router. Gigabit ethernet is pretty standard these days, and will become mainstream even for wireless routers. Wireless is set to get faster but even now with a well sorted wireless G or N network for playing devices the data rates aren't bad.

Putting everything in one box is not flexible enough for me.
Darren

sts9fan · « **Reply #35 on:** 1 Apr 2008, 07:59 pm »

So i think I have decided on these guys

*ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP intel p35 chipset ATX form factor 2xPCI-E(x16)/2xPCI-E(x1)/3xpci/4xddr2 *w/sata2 raid,dual lan(gb),1394,usb 2.0 & audio (cpu type:intel - socket 775)
*CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)
*CRUCIAL 4GB DDR2 667

https://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=AA71358

Should be all set

Kris

Tirade · « **Reply #36 on:** 1 Apr 2008, 08:47 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 1 Apr 2008, 07:59 pm

So i think I have decided on these guys

*ASUS P5K PREMIUM/WIFI-AP intel p35 chipset ATX form factor 2xPCI-E(x16)/2xPCI-E(x1)/3xpci/4xddr2 *w/sata2 raid,dual lan(gb),1394,usb 2.0 & audio (cpu type:intel - socket 775)
*CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4G (1066Mhz)
*CRUCIAL 4GB DDR2 667

https://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=AA71358

Should be all set

Kris

Looks like a good combo and easily capable of 1080p playback.

If silent operation is important to you, be sure to get some decent case fans (preferably with speed control) and maybe get an aftermarket CPU cooler instead of the stock one.

sts9fan · « **Reply #37 on:** 1 Apr 2008, 09:23 pm »

I got the Antek Sonata III which has a variable speed fan.

kris

bpape · « **Reply #38 on:** 1 Apr 2008, 09:25 pm »

You'll still need to probably replace the CPU fan and really watch the video card fan. Doing high speed, hi rez video and being quiet isn't usually 2 things that go together.

Bryan

sts9fan · « **Reply #39 on:** 2 Apr 2008, 05:21 pm »

So what fanless coolers do you guys use? I am looking at the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme which can have fans added if needed. Or do most use fans?