Systemic Development > Hardware

Building a new PC

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Carlman:
If I were building a new PC, that would be used to directly feed a DAC in my sound room, what would you suggest?  It needs to be quiet and the sound quality must be tops.
I'm using a 'silent' PC now which produces plent of audible hiss/hum from my listening position 7 feet away.

It needs to be REALLY quiet...

It will ONLY be used for 2-channel audio.  I can put storage on a NAS or other box so I don't have to have a HD array in this particular unit... However, I like having a monitor, access to the web... etc.  I'm not sure if pulling data from a server in another room will have any impact on its sound quality but I will experiment with that soon.

So, this could be a 'slave unit' or smaller PC that just has all the controls... like a Squeezebox but with monitor, keyboard, and web access.

-C

bpape:
Look at the Antec Sonata case - very quiet and easy to work with.  Get a quiet hard disk and make sure to use rubber grommets to mount (Sonata comes with these).  Think about using a smaller video board or even just onboard video to eliminate that fan.  

If you want it really quiet, build a box for it that has sound deadening all around and a small opening front bottom and rear top and allow natural convection to vent the heat out - maybe a very quiet fan on a rheostat to help a little.

Or, just get a squeezebox and a tablet PC.

Bryan

Imperial:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/

Shhh, I was never here... :wink:

Imperial

shrinkmore:
Hey Carl,

Shirley is right about the Antec.  I've been using an Antec Phantom, 350 Watt, for about 1.5 years, and it is a totally silent power source, with fins only, no fan - about $70-100.  I also use an aftermarket CPU fan that has large copper fins in a circular design, and again, as Shirley says, it has a rheostat to adjust the speed - about $30-40.  Both are easy to install, some tweeking may be required for the CPU fan, or it may go right in...  I can keep this thing nearly totally silent and the cpu temperature cool enough.  There are programs for sale that continuously measure the CPU temp, so you can adjust accordingly.  There is one that you can use free of charge for a month, which is all you will need it once you're up an running, so you can find the correct speed to keep your CPU cool enough.  There are other much more expensive silen options to keep your CPU cool, such as liquid cooled systems, but I've never used one of these.  I don't use high demand video cards, so I can't help there.  

Good luck,

Doug

shrinkmore:
Go to Newegg and look for:
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Check out the reviews, which have some helpful information.

Doug

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