CPU fan + heat sink

[ak47]

Just put a new cooling fan and heat sink for the CPU in my pc... I would highly recommend this because the performance difference has been amazing and soooo much quieter for recording!

I am using an extreme dual core 3,46Ghz CPU and now it is flying along!

Here is a link to the Noctua I installed... weighing in at 730 grams it is a hefty piece so to mount it properly I had to remove the motherboard but it was well worth it:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=18&lng=en

 

[ak47]

mmmm... those pipes are sexy...

 

[mr_fender]

Good call. 120mm fans are the way to go. They move a lot more air, so they don't have to spin near as fast. The result, much less noise. If you want the ultimate in low noise cooling, go with a water cooling system. They are dead silent, but expensive and a real pain in the *** to setup and maintain. I stick with quality 120mm fans myself. Just don't forget to blow all the dust bunnies out of your system ever now and then.

 

[6L6C]

AK47
Man O Man
Through the years the heat sinks just keep getting bigger and bigger, but there again look at the amount of transistors per chip compared to even 5 years ago.

Got a question I noticed in the photo you use 3 drives, I do also. I'm getting ready to upgrade my hardware platform. In computer terms my system is old 266 FSB AMD Athlon, the motherboard supports ATA100, and so on you get the point. Friends are amazed how fast it is, way faster then some of there of the shelf machines that they got less than a year ago. But I'm a tweaker! Adjustments to the registry, page file across the other drives and so on. For everyday stuff my machine kick's ***, but with something like recording it's showing it's age.

My question (This is for you too Mr_Fender)
I was thinking of of setting up the new machine for duel boot (both XP pro) and just use the second OS for recording and maybe some games (love Half Life). But is this necessary?? Since the new hardware platforms are so much faster than I currently have. Even my current system is just one OS, I have no real limitations on mix-down, but recording tracks is a different story. during tracking I have to use direct monitor. Dont mind it at all but there are certain times where it would be beneficial to hear the effect (without printing it) right now I have to much latency so I'm forced to stay with direct monitor.

 

[burnstudios]

Nice! that is a great cooler. I am an avid overclocker and all around tweaker when it come to pc stuff. I run a pretty highly over clocked rig that is 100% stable for day to day use and heavy duty recording. Im running an intel e4300 core to duo which is a 1.8ghz chip stock.. Mine is running at 3.2ghz with 1.45 volts at the cpu... load temps are around 51c I am using a Big Typhoon cpu cooler, made by thermaltake.. if anyone is interested learning more about general system building or overclocking .. check out blazingpc.com really nice enthusiast community.

 

[ak47]

AK47
Man O Man
Through the years the heat sinks just keep getting bigger and bigger, but there again look at the amount of transistors per chip compared to even 5 years ago.

Got a question I noticed in the photo you use 3 drives, I do also. I'm getting ready to upgrade my hardware platform. In computer terms my system is old 266 FSB AMD Athlon, the motherboard supports ATA100, and so on you get the point. Friends are amazed how fast it is, way faster then some of there of the shelf machines that they got less than a year ago. But I'm a tweaker! Adjustments to the registry, page file across the other drives and so on. For everyday stuff my machine kick's ***, but with something like recording it's showing it's age.

My question (This is for you too Mr_Fender)
I was thinking of of setting up the new machine for duel boot (both XP pro) and just use the second OS for recording and maybe some games (love Half Life). But is this necessary?? Since the new hardware platforms are so much faster than I currently have. Even my current system is just one OS, I have no real limitations on mix-down, but recording tracks is a different story. during tracking I have to use direct monitor. Dont mind it at all but there are certain times where it would be beneficial to hear the effect (without printing it) right now I have to much latency so I'm forced to stay with direct monitor.

Very interesting... My system works really well so I can not complain, but as it is about due for a fresh install of xp, I am also considering a dual boot for the following reasons:

1/ It is nice to have a 'trimmed' audio 'hotrod'.
2/ Avoiding all the other distractions usually coming with an 'all-in-one' family pc (such as spending too much time here :lol: )

Below is a good link on this subject.

http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/news.php?action=view_story&id=151

I am considering getting an additional hard drive for just the audio operating system as opposed to partitioning and running a dual boot from the one hard drive. Any further advice? At the moment I am using the following drives:

1/ System drive
2/ Audio recording drive
3/ Sample libraries and storage drive