Links and information to build a PC for XXHighEnd

[juanpmar]

I´ve decided to open a new thread to complement the one called  HOW I´VE BUILT MY NEW PC FOR XXHIGHEND  AND WHY I´VE CHOSEN THE COMPONENTS (http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1673.0).


This post has some links organized to get better information. I invite you all to post here the information about this issue that you consider relevant.


To build a PC to play music it´s an important concern. For many of us coming from the audiophile world andM knowing almost just the basics of computers to have some information on how to do it is essential  but also hard because computers and parts change very quickly. I receive frequently questions about what´s the best case, processor or power supply so I decided to put here some web sites where you can find information and reviews. My advise is to subscribe to some of these sites to be updated.

Keep in mind though the guidelines of the head of this thread because I think they are still valid:

- Make a PC as silent as possible, but not totally passive, because of the limitations it implies.

- Choose a fast processor, one of the latest but not the last one because of the price. This processor must have as much cores as possible.

- Still Windows i7 Ultimate 64bits seems to be the best OS. The users of the first Phasure NOS1 dac must install this OS without SP1. The users of the new Phasure NOS1 USB must install it (so far) with SP1.

- Buy as much memory as you can, I´d say at least 12Gb.

- Choose a fast hard drive to put there the operating system AND XXHighEnd. Put the music in other(s) different HDDs. SSD are still expensive and some people here think that they sound worse than spinning discs.

- Choose a passive graphic card. That´s enough for XXHighEnd.

- Buy a silent case with big fans 

- Control the fans speed out of the motherboard. Don´t use PWM because of the interferences.

And, above all, use this PC just FOR XXHighEnd and nothing else. Use as less software as possible. Use Internet occasionally and only if you really need it, other ways disconnect it. Don´t use antivirus.
Think about this PC as if it was a transport because it is a transport that send the signal to a dac.
Of course if you can, buy the Phasure dac because it works beautifully with XXHighEnd.


These are the links where you can find information about parts and how to build a PC: 



GUIDES TO BUILD A PC:

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

http://www.buildacomputerguide.com/

http://www.kitchentablecomputers.com/index.php

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc,2601.html



PARTS AND REVIEWS:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/

http://www.hispazone.com/ (in Spanish)

http://bigbruin.com/

http://www.anandtech.com/



SILENT PCs:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/index.html?id=SbJcie7t

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/home

http://www.pcsilencioso.com/ (in Spanish)



FORUMS:

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/etv.mpl?forum=pcaudio

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/194098-audiophile-hard-drive.html

http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/forumdisplay.php?213-Expert-Forum-Vincent-Kars-On-Computer-Audio



KNOWING MORE ABOUT PCs:

http://forum.scottmueller.com/index.php

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/index.html

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/type/1



CONNECTING YOUR COMPUTER (USB, SPDIF, etc.):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/Connect/index_connect.htm

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/USB_Audio.htm

http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/Connect/USB_connect.htm

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/6/65853.html



TIPS TO GET BETTER SOUND

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/index.html

http://www.avguide.com/forums/22-tips-obtain-better-sound-high-end-audio-system

http://www.getbettersound.com/



I hope it helps
Juan

[Flecko]

Hi Juan,
that is fantastic, thank you!
Greetings
Adrian

[juanpmar]

Thank you, Adrian.

As I said, I invite you all to post here the links to web sites where we could find information related to hardware.

For example here it is another link related with silent PCs:
http://www.acousticpc.com/index.html

And here one related with Power supply information:
http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html

No matter if a given review belongs to a web site which we posted the link before, if the review seems interesting post it here.
For example, I´ve already posted a link(s) to Hardware-Secrets but I think that could be interesting these two reviews for those who are looking for fanless PSUs:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Seasonic-X-400-Fanless-Power-Supply-Review/1073/1
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/SilverStone-Nightjar-500-W-Power-Supply-Review/1421

Best regards,
Juan

[juanpmar]

2011 Holiday Buying Guide

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/2011-Holiday-Buying-Guide/1435

Juan

[juanpmar]

I started this topic some time ago with the idea of putting here information that could help to understand better the components we use to build our Music Pc.
I know that so far we use SSD mostly for Galleries, a few among us use it also for OS and XXHighEnd. This time I´ve found this short but very informative article about SSD: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Anatomy-of-SSD-Units/904/1

Best regards,
Juan