System for audio editing: do these specs look all right?

[ProviaFan]

This system will be built mainly for recording and multitrack editing of audio with Soundforge and Sonar, or perhaps even Nuendo in the future. There is already an M-Audio Delta 1010LT card on hand, so we don't need a sound card. It will replace an aging 766MHz Celeron that can't even seem to handle a few tracks of 44.1/16 audio without clicks and dropouts. The total budget is right around US$1500; the OS will be removed from the old system and transferred to this one, so there's no need for additional software.

I'll list the parts I've selected, along with reasons why I picked them, so if I'm thinking in the wrong direction you all can correct me.

• AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 754 - I want AMD, that's why! (though I would be open to Intel if you think it's drastically better)
• Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu (updated) - getting an OEM processor and this HSF instead should cut down on noise
• Asus K8N-E Deluxe - Features look good, we won't be doing any overclocking, and I wanted to go with a well-established m/b maker
• Corsair Value Select 512MB PC3200 * 2 (updated) - 1GB of RAM for current and future needs; will this ram go well with the Asus board?
• Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 128MB - It's fanless, and the system will also be used for Powerpoint, so we want that to be smooth and responsive
• Antec Sonata (updated) - A no-brainer: only $9 more than the SLK3700BQE, and a better power supply also!
• Seagate 200GB 7200RPM (updated) - Finally (unless someone raises major objections) decided on one 200GB drive instead of two smaller ones
• NEC DVD+/-RW 16X - Read that the Lite-Ons are loud, so what about NEC instead?
• Samsung 710T or 910T LCD - Ok, will have to justify this one: I would go with a cheaper 17 inch LCD, but the other person who will use the system has older eyes and might want the 19 inch instead. We need to make it an LCD, at any rate, since we have a CRT on our system now, and even with properly shielded and balanced XLR cables from the mixer to our soundcard, there still exists a hum which disappears when the CRT is shut off.

Ok, new question... how quiet is the stock heatsink on the Athlon 64? If it's pretty bad, then recommendations for something else are desparately needed, because I've been out of the HSF market for quite a while. (probably going to go with Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu; will this fit in the Asus K8N-E Deluxe?)

Edit 2: This is Release Candidate 1... Notice any major issues with the setup so far?

Thanks to all who have contributed so far; your advice has been very helpful.

 

[thirdlegstump]

As far as performance and stability goes, it looks fine although the chaintech vnf3 is better. Get a seagate instead of the WD. a bit quieter. Hope you'll be doing some noise reduction mods because as far as stock config goes, it won't be quiet enough to be recording in the same room. Why don't you get the Antec Sonata? Out of the box it's fairly quiet. Also Crucial ram is quite good deal and you know how they deal with RMAs in case of anything. Next freakin day delivery. A64 is faster than P4s for audio plugins. Good choice.

 

[CSMR]

Looks nice. The fast hard discs will be hard to quiet. I think you'll be fine with a single quiet drive for audio editing - editing's done in RAM.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: CSMR
Looks nice. The fast hard discs will be hard to quiet. I think you'll be fine with a single quiet drive for audio editing - editing's done in RAM.

You posted while I was editing. I may go with two Seagate 120GB drives, since the speed of the Raptor is probably not needed. However, Soundforge very much does use the scratch disk while editing. Maybe Sonar and Nuendo do not, I haven't had much experience with those programs yet (except enough to know that our current old computer won't work with them at all!).

Thanks for the recommendations, CSMR and deathkoba. Now I also need to consider a HSF for the processor. Will the stock one work, or should I get another (as long as it's not insanely expensive here)?

Edit: and noise reduction mods... I'll get stuff that's quiet as long as it's within budget, but I'm not going to be doing "modding" in the sense that most real case modders think of. Hence, no watercooling or custom noise adsorbing panels or stuff like that, and especially no lights, LED temperature panels, or other useless junk.

 

[CSMR]

I have a Zalman 7000 HSF which is very good and pretty cheap. The best HSF according to SPCR has just come out - a little more. They will tell you everything about this over there.
Maybe your old computer hasn't enough RAM causing the discs to be used during editing?

 

[Quasmo]

Clearly you need this!!!
j/k

But do check out www.zalmanusa.com they have TONS of stuff for a silent PC the CNPS7000B-Cu is an incredible heatsink, you can make your PC VERY quiet with one of these. Another thing about the AMD64s is the ability of "Cool and Quiet" technology is fricken great for noice reduction. You might wanna look into a case that uses 120mm fans and get some Thermaltake Thunderblade fans, they dont use a ball-bearing system instead they use a sleeve system and they push 74cfm so if you turn down their voltage you can get incredible silence with alot of air being pushed. (Just don't go getting a delta fan that pushes 180 cfm and is 56dbA like accidentally did) Thats about all I have for input.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: CSMR
I have a Zalman 7000 HSF which is very good and pretty cheap. The best HSF according to SPCR has just come out - a little more. They will tell you everything about this over there.
Maybe your old computer hasn't enough RAM causing the discs to be used during editing?

I remember reading about SoundForge being described as a "disk-based audio editing solution." Of course, this old PC has only 256MB of RAM so that's probably a limiting factor regardless.

Originally posted by: Quasmo
Clearly you need this!!!
j/k

But do check out www.zalmanusa.com they have TONS of stuff for a silent PC the CNPS7000B-Cu is an incredible heatsink, you can make your PC VERY quiet with one of these. Another thing about the AMD64s is the ability of "Cool and Quiet" technology is fricken great for noice reduction. You might wanna look into a case that uses 120mm fans and get some Thermaltake Thunderblade fans, they dont use a ball-bearing system instead they use a sleeve system and they push 74cfm so if you turn down their voltage you can get incredible silence with alot of air being pushed. (Just don't go getting a delta fan that pushes 180 cfm and is 56dbA like accidentally did) Thats about all I have for input.

I think I'll look at the Zalman HSF, it looks good. BTW, I thought the Antec Sonata case did take 120mm fans, or does it?

 

[CSMR]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article75-page2.html