Quietest processor - Low noise DAW

sonicstrav · Post by **sonicstrav** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:47 am

I want to build a new Core Duo DAW with 2 gb RAM for 1 scope pro card. My current DAW is noisy even though I bought a Zalman power supply and fan. The CPU I have is a 3.4 GHz P4 Prescott which runs so hot. I intend to change the graphics card for a fanless one as I think the fan on the card is noisy. Also the case may not be helping either?

My budget is up to £800/$1500.

Post by **garyb** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:49 am

just spend some of that money on making an isolation cabinet vented outside.

the upgrade will cost less than $800 for good parts. with a $1500 budget that leaves $700! you can really improve your work environment with $700!

there are midi, ps/2 and usb extensions that use lan connects if needed.

on problem with "silent" pcs is that the fancy silent cooling systems are often fragile and not very portable. a pc is only a little more trouble than a laptop to move in reality, with a good case and standard cooling, although that's not likely to be an issue for most.

sonicstrav · Post by **sonicstrav** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:59 am

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... reserator2

This thing looks cool (!) ...perhaps fanless mobo and graphics card (won't be playing games on it), fanless PSU (ok for 2 hard drives, cd-rom, dvd-rom, usbs, scope card??) amd this water-cooled thingy.

I hate noise so much!! I have to get rid of it!

arela · Post by **arela** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:45 am

I my last pc - not a DAW - but verry quiet,
I have 2 low noise (papst) 120mm fans 1 front (IN) and 1 rear (OUT) + 1 80mm spinning verry slow at the side.
As graphic gard i choosed ASUSU 6600 Silent, with a big aircooled radiator. I then replaced the chipset fan with a zalman passiv cooler.

good air flow is alfa omega

mr drummer · Post by **mr drummer** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:44 am

the absolute solution would be the closet approach as garyb pointed out or moving the system to the room next door.we drilled a hole in the wall and put the two pc's in that room.having made so much investment for quieter machines, i think this is the ultimate solution.if you have the slightest opportunity, do consider...even if it seems hard to setup, you will not regret it.

[ This Message was edited by: mr drummer on 2006-10-15 06:46 ]

Post by **hubird** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 1:20 pm

On 2006-10-15 06:44, mr drummer wrote:
or moving the system to the room next door.

you loose however instant access to the drive then

mr drummer · Post by **mr drummer** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:05 pm

On 2006-10-15 14:20, hubird wrote:
you loose however instant access to the drive then

agreed!..that process sometimes touches my nerves:) however i am still happy that we got rid of the noise.maybe using external drives would be a choice...

[ This Message was edited by: mr drummer on 2006-10-15 15:06 ]

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:52 pm

I wish to put my computer in the other room or another planet? How about time shairing for Creamware with a dumb flash based terminal equiped with audio i/o?

Post by **garyb** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 4:10 pm

a dumb terminal isn't a bad idea...

really, it's normal to put tape machines and things with fans in another room. you only need access to the cd/dvd drive intermittantly and it's no big deal to use a usb drive. there are kvm and midi and usb extenders that use cat5 cable to go 100s of meters, so it's really easy to never worry about noise again.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:00 pm

Gary, I think I am understanding this. I will do this!

http://sewelldirect.com/gefen-usb-exten ... i-cat5.asp

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/0dt23008a.html

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2615

I also need a MIDI switcher for the input devices. I have two keyboards, a drumkat and WX5 wind controller. I could not find a passive MIDI switcher. Do they still make those?

[ This Message was edited by: braincell on 2006-10-15 19:50 ]

Post by **garyb** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:09 pm

yes, i think so.

i'm sure that you can get one on ebay even if it's used.

maybe someone has one of these:
http://www.philrees.co.uk/products/selector.htm

also, if you ever need to run midi a long way:
http://www.midilite.com/midilink.html these work great!

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:17 pm

Those look nice. Ebay has this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Roland-MPU-104-MIDI ... dZViewItem

I see by default that my AMT8 sends MIDI to all the outputs when no computer is on. That seems too expensive though even on ebay. I wonder if most other MIDI interfaces work this way.

[ This Message was edited by: braincell on 2006-10-15 20:31 ]

Post by **garyb** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:40 pm

yes, i believe they do. the steinberg interfaces do.

Post by **garyb** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:41 pm

mpu-104. there you go. cheap and easy.

Shroomz~> · Post by **Shroomz~>** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:36 am

The Philip Rees '5S' (5-way selector) is a great little gizmo. We've had one for years & they're great. Passive & bi-directional. Really handy.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:41 am

They don't deliver outside of the UK.

mr drummer · Post by **mr drummer** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:51 am

we're using miditerminal 4140 by esi audio for multiple midi devices.it's a simple cheap device, works ok..serial though.