This is the sound of my head exploding........

[KBlair]

Yes, the software is Sonar, by Cakewalk. It is multithreaded and each of the plugin runs in it's own thread, so the multicore will be in my future (when prices are reasonsble).

So will this ATI chipset support the multicore cpus when they come out? I haven't found an answer to that yet.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Supposedly the AMD dual cores will be compatible with current MBs. I don't know about the ATI chipset specifically, but I think that the most you would need is a bios update.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Originally posted by: KBlair
WisdomTooth - PCI slots, I really only need one for my Firewire card. The Antec Sonata case came with a "Quiet power" or something 380watt PS - 22 db or so. It's quieter than the Raptor drive. That case also has rubber grommets for the HDD and fans, and I still have a couple of the aluminum Panaflow fans from few years back. I'll check that MSI board.

I'll check those Samsung drives as well, thanks

The Antec Sonata is a great case, yes. However, I don't like the Antec PSU that comes with it-- the Antec PSU is quiet; however, it runs a bit hot because of those dinky 80mm fans.

The Sonata runs OK with the stock PSU. But it REALLY shines when you put a Seasonic Super Tornado or S12 in there. Even quieter than the stock PSU, and runs a heck of a lot cooler. The cooler case temps will be kinder to your passively-cooled northbridge, your RAM and your HDs. And it means you can run the Zalman CNPS7000 heatsink at the lowest-speed (quietest) setting.

HTH.

 

[TheoPetro]

i say if ya really want the best in preformance and you dont mind waiting then gimmie like 40 some odd years and i should have quantum computing up by then. thatll give you much better preformance than todays supercomputers

 

[robisc]

You can't really be very concerned about keeping it quiet if you already bought a Raptor.

I second this, Raptors are definitely not quiet.

 

[KBlair]

Well, I bought the Raptor for the performance. Do you think that one of those HDD coolers would do any good? Like the CoolDrive Lite from coolermaster? I know the Raptors run hot and it would help there, but I wonder if the unit will dampen the drive noise enough to offset the noise of the blower.

 

[KBlair]

OK, I checked out the Seasonic S12 and I'm sold on it. I can justify the extra cost with energy savings I guess, but that looks like one quality PS.

Since I'm not running an SLI or anything, should I just go with the 380 watt version or will the 330 watt version get me by?

 

[KBlair]

Can anyone recommend a nice case like the antec Sonata that I can buy without a PS? I don't care what it looks like or is made of as long as it's quality and comes with 120mm fans.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Hi KBlair,

How about this: Seasonic S12-430 for $80

This Antec case has all the amenities of the Sonata (120mm fan, isolation mounts for HDs, but no PSU): Antec SLK-3000.. Unfortunately, it is out of stock at the moment at the Egg.

HTH!

 

[KBlair]

Yeah, I spotted that one over on silentpcreview. I think the Sonata is going back. If this keeps up, the only thing I won't return is the $5 keyboard I bought as a spare cause it was on sale.

I like the s12 380W for $57 even better. Do you think I'll need the extra watts right now?

 

[wisdomtooth]

Yep, I think it's a good idea to get the S12-430. Extra amperage headroom on both 12V rails.

HTH!

 

[KBlair]

OK, here's an idea. Downgrade the Raptor drive to something less expensive, one of the normal 7200PRM SATA drive, and put 4 GB ram in the system. Then use something like RAMDisk from Cenatek. Make 1GB system memory and a 3GB RAM drive. Locate the working directory of Sonar on the RAM drive (kindof like a Photoshop scratch file).

I'd really llike one of those RocketDrives that Centatek makes, but the price premium ($1200 for 4 GB) is too much.

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

I would bet you would like two 1 gig sticks in there at least. Remember that if you use 4 512 doubled side sticks with the current AMD64's (not sure about the new core revision coming out imminently) you will go to 2t memory timing and lose about 5-10% performance versus 1t. I would get the 939 variant of Ati, Via, or NVIDIA because they should all be dualcore compatible. The 939 AMD64 dualcores appear to be arriving around June and you could go from a ( 3500+ (2200mghtrz 512k L2 cache) single core to a X2 4800+ (2 2400mghrtz 1024K L2 cache cores!) dualcore and watch your multithreaded performance skyrocket. Obviously, you are trading or purchasing Win XP 64, or a 64bit Linux OS right?

I would keep the Raptor for your root and program and swap drive if possible and grab a couple larger SATA drives for your data files. I wouldn't necessarily use raid myself but do you have an external or DVD-RW backup system. I learned the hardway to back up externally, LOL.

 

[NokiaDude]

Originally posted by: KBlair
Well, I bought the Raptor for the performance. Do you think that one of those HDD coolers would do any good? Like the CoolDrive Lite from coolermaster? I know the Raptors run hot and it would help there, but I wonder if the unit will dampen the drive noise enough to offset the noise of the blower.

The Seagate SATA drives perform a little less than the raptors but they run cooler and MUCH quieter. I think the 120mm fan on the Sonata will cool the HDD fine. You don't need one of the cumbersome HDD coolers.