XXHighEnd

Starting to think about a new PC build to keep up with XXHE and start playing around again.
Which i7 processor from the link below do I want to go with and build the PC around? (I want to get an i7 still right?) MotherBoard considerations?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100006676&isNodeId=1&Description=Intel+Core+i7&x=-1025&y=-112

Thank you

I'll post a final here when I'm done putting pieces together.

I've had great results with the Sandy Bridge 3930 with an ASUS P9X79 WS motherboard. I believe Mani and Nick use the same cpu and mb, When others were having frequent stopping issues with XX version 8e, I was and still am largely unaffected, maybe 3x's a month, if that, the program will stop in the middle of a track. The ASUS WS mb has two PS/2 sockets for a mouse and keyboard which sounds cleaner than usb types. Also the mb has a great bios interface for overclocking and other bios tweaks. Just my 2 cents. Don't knowabout the other cpu's in your link or other mb's.

Also, you can't not read through the thread started by Juan about his computer build. Lots of important stuff in there. Good luck!

















i

hmm why is it always the expensive ones in audio... hehe
well it gives me the direction the machine will take.  Thanks for reminding me of the computer build thread too.
dave

Well...
I've spent the last two days reading here (Juan's thread) and looking at all the motherboards out there and this is what I've come up with...

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

ASUS P9X79 WS LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI CEB Intel Motherboard with USB BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131798

hehe really? Since some of you've put together your computer awhile ago and nothing really better/economical has come out?  Anyway, someone let me know if there is a better combo.  The biggest limitation is trying to find a board with both mouse & keyboard PS/2 ports.

Now, my last computer has lasted about 5 years and I expect this build to last as long for XXHE... I hope.  (My computer is going strong I just need to give to someone to help them rip their collection and I thought I'd move up).

Now this ?
Should I fill up the memory in hopes of the future XXHE and hopefully me getting a NOS? at some point?

How much is too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231523

Dave, secret topic : http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=2084.0;all

Can be shipped together with the NOS1 btw. :swoon:

Regards,
Peter

Hi Dave,

I use the ASRock X79 Extreme4-M micro ATX mobo. It might be cheaper then the Asus. It works fine for me. Maybe Asus has more features, but for SQ they are not needed.

regards, Arjan

For now,
Has it ever been determined how much memory is too much for an XXHE computer and/or what might XXHE be able to utilize in the near (5 yrs) future?

I know XXHE likes a pretty powerful computer.  But I also know that Peter/people shut off as much as possible on our xxhe computers (taking HDDs offline, bluray unplugged, fans off.....)
So how much memory is too much before it becomes a detriment to SQ.

Nothing is too much that I know of. What's useless is another thing;
12GB sure is enough. 16GB is "now you can do everything and all" (also don't forget RAMDisk stuff).
8GB works but is tight.
More than 16GB is a waste.
Less than 8GB is a pain and not good for SQ at all. But it works.

(I forgot to order the sequence. :grazy:)

HTH !
Peter

I'll look again through their stuff thanks, good to know it works well for you.

FYI : That's the one which us used in the XXHighEnd PC as well (the PC I linked to earlier today).
And I'm not so sure it does less than an Asus. The contrary ...

Peter

Thanks Peter,
The machine will be doing double duty as a video/internet/gaming computer too, so I have those considerations also.
btw
I do think I have a very clean way of keeping XXHE vs All other computer duties separated.
I have one drive with OS win7 for video/internet/gaming, and another HDD with OS win7 exclusively for XXHE.  I just plug/unplug a sata cable between the two different OS drives (oh ya and turn on/off&plug/unplug various HDDs-not hard) and I'm back into pure XXHE mode.  Since loading 8-a3, I've not left minimized mode when using the HDD for OSwin7/XXHE.

one last also,,,
This machine does NOT have to be quiet.  It is in a closet in the next room to the music room (I've "punched" minimal holes in the extensively insulated walls for the wires)  So, jet fans are welcome, as long as they don't mess up the SQ, say by electrical interactions... How's that dual PS study coming?

Hey Dave,

Dual PS ? No clue what you are talking about. I must have forgotten something.

Notice that today's PC (built up like Juan's or ours) are perfect HTPC machines. So no worries there.

Lastly, careful about the not being quiet because it implies a longer distance to whatever DAC. That is never good ...

Best regards,
Peter

Hi
The FF800 DAC uses 2m from the computer, then a quick analog interconnect jump to the PASS xover, then a long analog ic jump through the wall and to the amps!

Wasn't there talk of using one PS to run the MB and another PS to run peripherals?? something like that?  had to run a shortin jumper on one PS to fool it into thinking it was also connected to a MB haha.

Yes, I saw that passing by. 9 months ago or so. Maybe 8.

On this page the memory they have from
DDR 1600
to
DDR 2400
Which direction should I go considering a XXHE computer?
Thanks

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=G.SKILL+Trident+X+Series+32GB+%284+x+8GB%29+240-Pin&N=-1&isNodeId=1

or maybe I should ask...
what timings should I shoot for?

Parts I've settled on.  This build needs to do double duty as XXHE & Movies/internet.  XXHE will be on its own exclusive HDD w/ OS (should I move to Win 8 for this??).  Movies/Internet will be on another HDD with it's own OS.  I'll just move the sata cables around depending on what I'm using the computer for.

ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA 2011  ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157282
(thanks Arjan & Peter, this was a good buy)

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

G.SKILL Trident X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231590

CORSAIR AXi AX1200i 1200W Digital ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139039

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
(Man this thing is big and heavy; I don't know about it hanging off perpendicular to the MB)

SYBA Low Profile PCI-Express 1394B/A Firewire Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124072
(I have an older pci firewire card I've been using, but I bought this cheap thing to compare/ the old pci card needs to be powered; this new pci-e card doesn't... we'll see)

ASUS Black SATA Blu-ray Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

For the rest of the parts,
I have two older computers (my old XXHE computer and a game machine) that I will pull parts from as needed and end up with my new XXHE computer and another computer I'm giving to a friend so he can rip his collection.  I'll tell you later here what parts I scavanged.

Hi Dave,

My personal opinion : All a bit on the "heavy" side ?

PSU can be 4 times smaller (but make it 2x for conveniency with cable connections).

Memory is twice of what you will ever use.

I'd say Firewire is on the MoBo.

And don't forget the video card (passive cheapest will do).

Yes, I read about movies. My own 870 based is already way oversized for that.

Otherwise no problem of course.
Peter

Thanks for that Peter.  It will see some games too...I count on XXHE dealing with the big video card, no?  When I'm listening to XXHE it's always in minimized mode display off.  The firewire is a b connection to the dac.  I think the MB only has a.

Ah ok. But notice that you will be creating a sort of unnecessary "electrical-noisy" system for your audio. So, today we are shutting off all sorts of devices to make it more lean, but your setup is not going to be quite that.

For gaming you are going to use a 300W+ video card, and that card won't be shut off during audio playback. The way XXHighEnd shuts off the monitor does something, but already physically powering it off helps more (HF noise).

All 'n all, it may satisfy you. But while today's hardware perfectly suits the wildest video playback while it doesn't harm audio, I don't think audio can be combined well with a gaming setup. I wouldn't call that an "audio PC" anymore.

2c !
Peter

Well,
I was thinking about upping the video card too, but I'm just going  to use the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT card I've been using forever, at least for awhile.  SQ has been great (from my old build; new I haven't finished yet), the biggest difference in SQ I still hear from my system is still differences between day and night listening and I don't know if a low powered video card is going to make that difference go away (aww to make all my listening experiences sound like the SQ of a 2am listening session when the electrical is quietest).

The things (like 32 gigs of memory) may be overkill, but is it going to hurt?  Are there items that are detrimental in my list above?  Maybe the huge PSU is overkill, but it has some of the best specs around?  It is the one thing I changed out already and I think it may sound better than the old PSU, or has done no harm.

I don't know what I'm doing electrically (much), so I doubt I'll be taking a soldering gun out anytime soon.  Other than that I do what I can.  At least my system can tell me quick enough that that "capacitor" card from China was wacky unstable in SQ in my system.

I have 24Gb of memory and a PSU of 750W in my Music PC. This may be excessive for the purpose of the Music PC but I think it won´t alter for the worse the SQ, unless more memory or more power in the PSU produce more interference or more vibrations,  and that does not seem to be the case if we look at the specifications of your 1200W PSU. About the memory could be a waste if you (or me) have more than those 16Gb but I think it won´t hurt.

Regards,
Juan

I agree with Juan and that was my aim: to have a powerful power supply that would not "work hard" so less heat and less chances that the power supply fan would start.

As for the memory, I can't comment, since I don't know if having 4 x 4GB (like I have) vs 4 x 8GB ram would make a difference in power demand...

Regards,

Alain

I would be very careful about statements that more memory etc. does not matter. I mean, since everything matters ...

What I myself will not be careful about is vibrations in the PC. I mean, *that* I'd call nonsense. But please, only by the sheer fact of not being able to reason out how that could matter.

All other electrical (!) noise implying stuff in my view *does* matter. And this includes too much high-demanding memory. Did you ever notice how hot this gets ? Heat itself already implies thermal noise, but the current "needed" to make it that hot for sure does. How that creeps into our DACs is another matter, but let's say it has been sufficiently proven it does (XXHE dials and such).

An oversized PSU won't matter much, unless it is less efficient because it is large anyway (so to speak). However, the sheer fact that it's large may mean you are going to use it (like with a 300W+ video card).


Think about this too. And not that I want to be right on everything, but do keep in mind that I predicted exactly what would happen with such a card. This by itself is not the most important, but that it influences easily for the worst is. What does this mean ? well, that any such "application" influences - and in my view for the worst. And what are these "applications" ?

...

Everything. I mean, why not. That card is just a nice indication of it.
Anyway, and again in my view, we should not add these kind of things, but remove them. And as much as we can.

Peter

Ok, now I know more about it, thanks Peter. I´m going to remove two of the six 4Gb modules and see if I can tell some SQ improvement.

Regards,
Juan

Peter, I understand your point of view but the fact that we are not able to reason out how that could matter does not contradict the experience that shows that when we eliminate the vibrations the sound is clearer and more defined.  Maybe at some point we also give importance to the vibrations in the Music Pc if we consider it as a transport or source component as we also pay attention to the vibrations, at least in the High-End world, to any other component of the system.


On this site are manufactured parts to prevent vibration in the electronic components and components of PCs and also is possible to read some interesting articles about vibrations:

Parts: http://www.vibrationmounts.com/NewXGel.htm (http://www.vibrationmounts.com/NewXGel.htm)

Technical information:
"A good vibration isolation system is reducing vibration transmission through structures and thus, radiation of these
vibration into air, thereby reducing noise."
http://www.vibrationmounts.com/V100/V100Cat.htm#Tech (http://www.vibrationmounts.com/V100/V100Cat.htm#Tech)

Regards,
Juan

Hi Juan,

I don't want to rule here. I only say that I can't reason how it would happen.
IOW, anyone can take your word as much as mine and I don't have a single problem with it. And what about better be safe than sorry ? So your word must be better ...

Best regards,
Peter