Quad Core Ableton Live build

[BuckWild024]

Ok, having just sold my old system, I've got ~$700 for a new build, for 90% music production with Ableton Live, Battery 3, tons of different VSTs from Arturia, NI, etc..., 10% light gaming and web browsing. Quad-core is a must for its proven performance increase in these apps. I have picked the following so far, any and all (pertinent!) input is welcome...


CD/DVD - ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Mem - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail

Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-EG43M-S2H LGA 775 Intel G43 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU - Intel Xeon X3220 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 105W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562X3220 - Retail

Case - Antec Three Hundred Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

PSU - Antec Neo Power 430 430W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail



Is the 640GB WD going to be the better choice? I see its quite popular around here. Seagate has always been nice and quiet for me, and that's a pretty important factor this time. Also, doesn't the WD drive have 16MB cache? Will I even see much difference between this and the 32MB on the Seagate?

Will the Antec 300 be quiet enough for me with just the 2 stock fans running? I'm planning on overclocking at least a small amount if I get a good stepping of the X3220, so will they still cut it there? I picked the Gigabyte board for its price, reputation, onboard video, and number of PCI slots. The fact that the ASUS P5QL-EM only had 1 PCI slot is the only reason its not on this list, as I've used ASUS for years with good results.

Anyway, this is my build, those are my questions.

 

[Roguestar]

I'd get the Western Digital 640GB Caviar over any other drive at the moment to be honest.

Are you getting that Xeon for cheaper than the Q6600 costs?

I'd get a full-size ATX board and the cheapest dedicated graphics card I can find if I were doing 10% light gaming and had a full-sized case.

 

[BuckWild024]

The Xeon is at a $40 premium over the Q6600, which I've read is worth it. Do you not think so? Also, how is the noise on the WD over the Seagate? What would you recommend (as cheap as possible) for a passively cooled GPU, preferably with dual DVI? I'm coming from an X1900XT, but since there arent any PC games im into at the moment, I'm getting something cheap now, and upgrading graphics if something comes along that can pull me from my PS3.

 

[Jesusthewererabbit]

This Sapphire 3470 is the cheapest dual DVI, passively cooled card I found. There may be some cheaper ones on the nvidia side.

I've run Ableton for many months on an X2 6000+ with 3GB of memory. The thing that happens to me on long sessions is that I run out of memory. I think I'm going to have to upgrade to Vista 64 and throw 8GB at that thing.

 

[DSF]

For overclocking a Q6600 save yourself some money and just get DDR2-800. It will work just as well for what you're doing.

 

[DillyTumly]

For quiet and stability, maybe try the Cosmos 1000
case from Coolermaster. Yes, it's BIG and HEAVY, but it's quiet and quite sexy.

The Cosmos has tons of room for even the largest SLI setup and did i mention that it's QUIET?? Check out the reviews on that site if you're not sure. There's many other sites that have reviewed it as well. I've checked them all out, but the link above has about the best price I've seen.

As for storage, I've used IBM/Hitachi HD's for many years now and I swear by them. The new 7K1000's come in 1TB format and a decent mobo with raid 10 (0+1) like I think the one you're looking at does, could let you add 6 of those babies - 2 sets of three in striping mode and then that mirrored - and would give you incredible speed, plus redundancy, plus 3 TB of storage.

A modular PSU (Kingwin has a nice one Mach 1 800W) that's made to be bottom mounted and you're good to go.

I run Ableton, Reason, NI Komplete and Nuendo, but I have Sonar for local studio compatibility, too.

 

[BuckWild024]

Originally posted by: DillyTumly
For quiet and stability, maybe try the Cosmos 1000
case from Coolermaster. Yes, it's BIG and HEAVY, but it's quiet and quite sexy.

The Cosmos has tons of room for even the largest SLI setup and did i mention that it's QUIET?? Check out the reviews on that site if you're not sure. There's many other sites that have reviewed it as well. I've checked them all out, but the link above has about the best price I've seen.

As for storage, I've used IBM/Hitachi HD's for many years now and I swear by them. The new 7K1000's come in 1TB format and a decent mobo with raid 10 (0+1) like I think the one you're looking at does, could let you add 6 of those babies - 2 sets of three in striping mode and then that mirrored - and would give you incredible speed, plus redundancy, plus 3 TB of storage.

A modular PSU (Kingwin has a nice one Mach 1 800W) that's made to be bottom mounted and you're good to go.

I run Ableton, Reason, NI Komplete and Nuendo, but I have Sonar for local studio compatibility, too.

Just those HDDs and that case would be twice the budget I listed, but hey, thanks for reading, and great first post! :roll:

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: DillyTumly
For quiet and stability, maybe try the Cosmos 1000
case from Coolermaster. Yes, it's BIG and HEAVY, but it's quiet and quite sexy.

The Cosmos has tons of room for even the largest SLI setup and did i mention that it's QUIET?? Check out the reviews on that site if you're not sure. There's many other sites that have reviewed it as well. I've checked them all out, but the link above has about the best price I've seen.

As for storage, I've used IBM/Hitachi HD's for many years now and I swear by them. The new 7K1000's come in 1TB format and a decent mobo with raid 10 (0+1) like I think the one you're looking at does, could let you add 6 of those babies - 2 sets of three in striping mode and then that mirrored - and would give you incredible speed, plus redundancy, plus 3 TB of storage.

A modular PSU (Kingwin has a nice one Mach 1 800W) that's made to be bottom mounted and you're good to go.

I run Ableton, Reason, NI Komplete and Nuendo, but I have Sonar for local studio compatibility, too.

RAID-10 incredible speed? What planet are you from?

Who are Kingwin in PSUs? I've never heard of them so I'd never buy from them. It's "made to be bottom mounted"?? You can just turn the PSU upside down in any case that uses the PSU mounted at the bottom.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Originally posted by: Roguestar

Originally posted by: DillyTumly
For quiet and stability, maybe try the Cosmos 1000
case from Coolermaster. Yes, it's BIG and HEAVY, but it's quiet and quite sexy.

The Cosmos has tons of room for even the largest SLI setup and did i mention that it's QUIET?? Check out the reviews on that site if you're not sure. There's many other sites that have reviewed it as well. I've checked them all out, but the link above has about the best price I've seen.

As for storage, I've used IBM/Hitachi HD's for many years now and I swear by them. The new 7K1000's come in 1TB format and a decent mobo with raid 10 (0+1) like I think the one you're looking at does, could let you add 6 of those babies - 2 sets of three in striping mode and then that mirrored - and would give you incredible speed, plus redundancy, plus 3 TB of storage.

A modular PSU (Kingwin has a nice one Mach 1 800W) that's made to be bottom mounted and you're good to go.

I run Ableton, Reason, NI Komplete and Nuendo, but I have Sonar for local studio compatibility, too.

RAID-10 incredible speed? What planet are you from?

Who are Kingwin in PSUs? I've never heard of them so I'd never buy from them. It's "made to be bottom mounted"?? You can just turn the PSU upside down in any case that uses the PSU mounted at the bottom.

RAID does not give incredible speed. Any kind, and definitely not motherboard RAID, gets you 5-10% at most.
Just an FYI before you rush out.

The Cosmos is nice, but very very expensive and bad for hard drives because it only has one intake fan, which might not be enough with a lot of hard drives.

Kingwin isn't a big name, I would stick with a bigger brand like Antec, Xclio, Corsair, etc.
Modular is a good idea, though.

I don't get the made to be bottom mounted though.

 

[MarcVenice]

If you're into quietness, I'd try and squeeze a antec p182 into the budget. I saw some guy post saying he picked it up at fry's for $70. Also, I think samsungs HDD's are the quietest. At least the samsung spinpoint 500gb I bought was the quietest at the time. Not sure how the samsung f1 640-750gb compare, or the WD 640gb for that matter.

 

[BuckWild024]

My old system was in the original silver P180 and I absolutely loved it, but I really dont want to spend that much for the case, considering the Antec 300 is $60 shipped. I would pick up the P182 or the mini P180 in a heartbeat if I could find it below $80. Alas, there are no Frys where I live.