nagal

Okay so its time to finally put my build log up. Some parts are new, some will be re-used from my existing machine.

This was going to be using a Quad-Core C2D but thats just a bit out of my reach price wise. So I decided to go with E6300 but fate stepped in and dropped a Xeon 3060 on me (a friend finally "paid" up some money he owed me).

Motherboard Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi
Only reason WiFi was on sell and pretty good deal

Case Lian-Li PC-6070B Plus Silent - Black
Found this on sell at Monarch for $90. Could not pass it up

Power Supply SeaSonic M-12 600
600W is more than I need but should provide some future proofing

Memory Corsair XMS2 1GB DDR2 800 x 4
My goal is to run at 400MHz FSB and thats it, plus I wanted a lot of memory for those huge memory resident sample libraries I use from time to time

Cooling Tuniq T-120
Water cooled was what I wanted but budget dictated otherwise so I went with the Tuniq.

Hard Drives
160 GB 7200 RPM Seagate SATA I
250 GB 7200 RPM Seagate SATA II
300 GB 7200 RPM Seagate SATA II

These are what I currently have so I am going to stick with them.

The 160 is my junk drive I keep in an external enclosure for saving stuff when doing OS re-install or just to play around. It is usually not even powered on.

The 250 is split into an OS partition and a Sample partition.

The 300 is solely for Audio files and the project files for a song.

Sound Card EMU-1212M
This is what I currently have. Good card but I really dislike the Patch Panel app. I am going to be moving to a M-Audio 192 Audiophile or a TC Konnekt 8. I am leaning to the TC as I want to me to a Firewire interface so I can keep the same audio interface if I decide to go the Hackintosh route.

Video Card Sapphire X1800GTO
Currently have a X800XT but I want a card with 2 DVI outs. the DVI + VGA on the X800XT drives me nuts and got the X1800 at a good price

Monitor Dual ViewSonic VP201B 20" LCD
I have these already and love them! I would like to replace one with a WideScreen but I'll wait til a pile of cash falls from the sky

This computer is being built for music production (DAW). I really do not play games anymore so no need for a super video card. I want raw processing power and memory for all the virtual instrument's and effects I use.

The goal is to get 3.6 GHz (9 x 400) on air but I will be happy with 3.2 GHz (8 x 400). 400 FSB is a must as I want to keep the memory bandwidth in full use so I dont mind dropping the clock multiplier on the chip at all.

No build progress to report yet except for my current lapping misadventure I have heard the third time is a charm so I should get it right the next time.

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Michael

Check out my Wolf in Sheep's clothing build log

New build log BlackBox aka Nagal's folly as it was never finished

Duct Tape Fan Shroud Representing the Ghetto Mod Community

thenut

Looks good. What programs are you using on your DAW?

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nagal

Well I have tried a lot of them and not real happy with either. I currently own Sonar 6 and Cubase 4. I use to have Acid Pro 6 and have tried a ton of other smaller hosts. Currently I use Cubase 4 as it does almost everything I want but its pretty unstable for me.

I am thinking of moving to Logic or Digital Performer but trying to find a friend of a friend of a friend that has either so I can spend some time with them before making a decision.

For VSTi I am a hardcore NI fan

Battery2, Absynth3 and FM8 are my work horses. I will be upgrade to Battery3 and maybe Absynth4 soon. I currently use DirectWave as my sampler but on the look out for something else. I have a ton of free instruments that get occasional use but nothing jaw dropping.
Cameleon 5000 is on the list to get.

For VST I use CamelSpace and CamelCrusher a lot. The Kjaerhus Audio Classic series gets a ton of use also but I just got the Sonitus:fx suite so the classic stuff is going to the way side. Magnus' Ambience is just plain assume as a reverb. KTGranulator just found its way into my list and is getting some heavy use lately.

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Michael

Check out my Wolf in Sheep's clothing build log

New build log BlackBox aka Nagal's folly as it was never finished

Duct Tape Fan Shroud Representing the Ghetto Mod Community

thenut

All that and no Reason? I can't stand Sonar. Cubase and Nuendo are nice. I'm doing more recording though. You're definitely more into sequencing. I want a Pro Tools setup like crazy.

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nagal

I have never tried Reason so I have no opinion on it.

Yeah I am way more into sequencing then anything else. Sonar is just plain odd! It just feels so wrong to me, I cant describe it. I did have Cubase SX3 and was okay with it but sold it to get Sonar. Yeah big mistake. So I went back to Cubase with Cubase 4 Studio. I miss SX3 for the most part.

I really like energyXT but it has some issue with dual-core and the gui on the mixer is pretty lame. energyXT2 is in beta and looks promising but dont think I can wait for it to come out.

If I was doing mostly audio, I'd want ProTools too! Have you looked at the ProTools M-Powered? Looks like a nice entry level way to get into PT.

The more I see and read about Logic, the more I like it. Too bad its Mac only, thats the main draw back for me.

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Michael

Check out my Wolf in Sheep's clothing build log

New build log BlackBox aka Nagal's folly as it was never finished

Duct Tape Fan Shroud Representing the Ghetto Mod Community

nagal

Its official, my new build lives!

I am currently using my X800XT as the X1800GTO has not yet arrived and since Christmas is not here yet, the audio card is not in.

I have XP x64 installed and currently running at 350 x 9 with no crashes. SuperPI 32M is going right now. Still trying to figure out how to get 2 instances of Prime95 running so I can really stress stuff but so far so good.

It looked like memory was going to be an issue as I had 2GB of Corsair XMS 6400 and my friend got me (along with the processor) 2GB of XMS 6400C4. I have the timings set for 6400 (5-5-5-15 1.9v) so this combo might work.

Using TAT my idles are 39C and full load 55C (by setting the workload to 100%). Not sure if this is good or bad. A lot of research still ahead of me.

SuperPI 32M just finished with no errors so time to see if I can get that 400 FSB Hopefully I will report back soon.

__________________
Michael

Check out my Wolf in Sheep's clothing build log

New build log BlackBox aka Nagal's folly as it was never finished

Duct Tape Fan Shroud Representing the Ghetto Mod Community

thenut

Sounds good.

When all your parts are in, we should collab on something.

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nagal

For sure!

I am having been tweaking this thing all day and night. I was getting some horrible temps when going 401 x 9. With orthos I was seeing 63-65C on both cores! I kept screwing around with voltages and clock multi but nothing seemed to make much difference.

This morning, I pulled the Tuniq off, cleaned the cpu and heatsink and re-applied AS5. Things are seeming a lot better so far. I am running 410 x 8 with SuperPI 32M right now and both cores at 50C. Once I get a stable SuperPI 32M I will put the clock back to x9 and try to get a stable SuperPI before going back to orthos.

This mobo does not like a straight 400 FSB. I think I have seen some stuff about it before not liking to be right on 400 but my memory sucks so cant be sure.

Its looking like I am going to get 3.6 on air with this cpu. While not a monster OC for a conroe, it will make me very happy

__________________
Michael

Check out my Wolf in Sheep's clothing build log

New build log BlackBox aka Nagal's folly as it was never finished

Duct Tape Fan Shroud Representing the Ghetto Mod Community

christian_piper

Erm.. Looks good! But I gotta say it.. Only a RICE SIZED amount of AS5.. cause that looks INSNLEY high for a TT.......

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Upgrades: DVD Burner / large hard drive. Thats it.

Ninja_Boy

Wow, I run 27C on my AMD 4400+, I'm running 255FSB with an 11 multiplier to get 2.75GHz. I have an Arctic Silver applied Big Typhoon with the stock fan.