Build a dedicated Audio PC

[nige2000]

Couldnt disagree on any of that
Only a specialised audio pc with uncommon componants will likely raise the cost above a i3 build ran off usb stick unless its to go into mass production

But who can predict the future

[Fran]

Great work guys!

John: dying to hear how the nuc works out - and how it sounds. I think turning off the page file is correct, and I'd imagine optimised services are more important than programs. That fan circuit is an easy build, but just run the fan off an old phone charger to test out, you can get the pin out of the fan online.

This is the fastest moving thread in the west!

[nige2000]

think john should try the passive heatsink route first its the simplest

[nige2000]

Yea, it has zero to limited upgradeability but the spend is low - my logic is this - in a couple of years the then current CPUs will probably not work optimally in our current motherboards so a new motherboard will be needed anyway. Haswell CPUs will be coming out at the end of the year with more power, lower TPDs, etc. - there's always something just around the corner in the CPU arena - it's their marketing strategy.

I reckon that if the Jplay guys push the hardware requirements too far they will lose the market so I I don't think exoteric requirements will be requird for Jplay in the future. In fact, I've said it already to some people, the way I would like to see Jplay go (& the natural route for them) is low power ARM processors - possibly a dedicated ARM based, singke function, AudioPC & separately optimised ControlPC

i was thinking about the cpu market this morning, i have a sandybridge 2 generation i7 pc which is almost as quick as my ivybrige 3rd generation i7 pc which in fairness has a lower tdp. but i think intel has slowed the release of faster processors and are milking the market, because AMD are not at the races these days unfourtunetly (competition is needed to move things forward). i havent build a amd pc in three years because they had large tdp wattage and were hard to cool big fans loud etc.

i could have skipped the ivybridge because it did very little for me, im after looking at haswell doesn't look like much of a improvement in either performance or tdp and their changing the socket, so i cant imagine haswell been very popular

[tony]

http://www.hd-plex.com/hdplex-h5.s-fanl ... -case.html

Noticed John has got the nuc but is poisoning his ciunas thread with info on that!

I am still sitting on the fence and will do for the next while. I am in no rush and am happy to wait and see how johns nuc works.

My preference is to go for the H5 case and I noticed small green computers are now using this case instead of the streacom. Doesn't look like they adjusted the price downwards.

My question relates to the pico power supply that is an option with this case. I am inclined to go for that as it should work and fit right. Can one of you guys confirm that this is the right part to get. I just need to get a wallworth of some sort to go with it?

I don't intend going for the SOTM USB card so my understanding is the PCI riser is not required then. Is this correct?

From what I can ascertain I just need the case/pico wallworth,ssd drive,sotm sata filter(will get that but wonder?) and 16gb ram, Processor and motherboard.

My first build(if I go ahead) hence I just want to be sure I am ordering the right parts.

[jkeny]

Noticed John has got the nuc but is poisoning his ciunas thread with info on that!

Yea, Tony, I forgot that it was the Ciúnas thread I was on. I have asked Fran to move the last whatever number of posts to here where they will keep all info together but he probably has better things to do?

Anyway, I will be testing the NUC today, firstly in it's stock config running solely with USB stick, to see/hear if fan is intrusive at any stage when running Jplay. Next I will try passive cooling, I think. Just using my netbook with it's back off posting on this thread & Win8 really brings CPU processing to a minimum compared to Win 7. This is an AMD E-350 CPU & it's barely warm - these things normally throw out a bit of heat. The RAM is warm, WiFi card warmer again & some components on the motherboard (they might be power resistor) are hottish. So it may not be just the CPU that needs thermal treatment in a fanless PC? This is just a supposition n my part, I have no evidence for it as yet - that maybe keeping other parts cool might also benefit the SQ marginally. I'll be buying some RAM with heatsink & cooling fins already attached - I think it's for those overclocking gamer crowd

[nige2000]

http://www.hd-plex.com/hdplex-h5.s-fanl ... -case.html

Noticed John has got the nuc but is poisoning his ciunas thread with info on that!

I am still sitting on the fence and will do for the next while. I am in no rush and am happy to wait and see how johns nuc works.

My preference is to go for the H5 case and I noticed small green computers are now using this case instead of the streacom. Doesn't look like they adjusted the price downwards.

My question relates to the pico power supply that is an option with this case. I am inclined to go for that as it should work and fit right. Can one of you guys confirm that this is the right part to get. I just need to get a wallworth of some sort to go with it?

I don't intend going for the SOTM USB card so my understanding is the PCI riser is not required then. Is this correct?

From what I can ascertain I just need the case/pico wallworth,ssd drive,sotm sata filter(will get that but wonder?) and 16gb ram, Processor and motherboard.

My first build(if I go ahead) hence I just want to be sure I am ordering the right parts.

if you buy the pico psu with this case the power brick is included you need nothing else
if you are going with a motherboard and processor with internal graphics support (all the ones weve mentioned before have) and your not using the sotm usb pci card you dont need a riser.

i know your not too exited about the windows to go usb sticks, but they seem to work at least as good (if not better) as a ssd from a sound point of view and there reasonably cheap and you wont need the ssd and the sata filter (possibly)

so all youd need is motherboard; fanless case; processor; picu psu & power brick; 8gb ram or more and a windows to go usb key

we will know a lot more when john finishes his testing,

nige

[jkeny]

Anyway, here's a summary of the info I posted on Ciúnas thread:
- Barebone Intel NUC - cost about €300 delivered
- 8GB RAM with heatspreader or might use my own depending on pricing - €100?
- 32GB USB3 stick - cost about €40, I think

No need for SSD or Wifi card (if wired into router)
Total cost €440

I consider upgradeability a red herring as when it comes to the time when this config is no longer doing the business, I will have to buy a new motherboard along with new CPU but everybody else will be pushed towards new motherboards also to optimise their new CPU. In other words it's not just the CPU that is important, it's the whole chipset on the motherboard so just changing the CPU is tweaking around the edges.

It will be tonight or tomorrow before I have any testing done

[nige2000]

Noticed John has got the nuc but is poisoning his ciunas thread with info on that!

Yea, Tony, I forgot that it was the Ciúnas thread I was on. I have asked Fran to move the last whatever number of posts to here where they will keep all info together but he probably has better things to do?

Anyway, I will be testing the NUC today, firstly in it's stock config running solely with USB stick, to see/hear if fan is intrusive at any stage when running Jplay. Next I will try passive cooling, I think. Just using my netbook with it's back off posting on this thread & Win8 really brings CPU processing to a minimum compared to Win 7. This is an AMD E-350 CPU & it's barely warm - these things normally throw out a bit of heat. The RAM is warm, WiFi card warmer again & some components on the motherboard (they might be power resistor) are hottish. So it may not be just the CPU that needs thermal treatment in a fanless PC? This is just a supposition n my part, I have no evidence for it as yet - that maybe keeping other parts cool might also benefit the SQ marginally. I'll be buying some RAM with heatsink & cooling fins already attached - I think it's for those overclocking gamer crowd

i doubt any other components will need passive heat sinks just the cpu and as well ventilated as possible. Dont worry about the overclocking gamer crowd some of those guys could use their pcs as a fan oven because of their overclocking.
the nuc really shouldnt need much in the way of cooling when its so handy on power

nige

[jkeny]

i doubt any other components will need passive heat sinks just the cpu and as well ventilated as possible. Dont worry about the overclocking gamer crowd some of those guys could use their pcs as a fan oven because of their overclocking.
the nuc really shouldnt need much in the way of cooling when its so handy on power

nige

I know it's probably a bit overkill but who knows what's important for SQ when using Jplay. When I asked Marcin his answer was stability :). I know he probably can't give a detailed answer, possibly because of his upcoming PC acessories venture, so we are kinda left to our own experiments & discoveries!

I know heat can effect stability so I guess the experiment has to be done to cool anything that has the potential to become somewhat unstable because of heat. I'm just basing my very crude analysis of the components that might need thermal attention by testing my netbooks components & finger sensing which are hot:
- CPU+heatsink (fan running very low) - barely warm
- RAM - warm
- WiFicard - warmer
- those power resistors on motherboard - hot

Of course this thermal profile depends on what the PC is doing - I'm just browsing at the moment