bent4life


Charlie (chuckebaby) was kind enough to forward me a copy of his book mentioned above - it's free. I have no connection to Charlie, financial or otherwise, other than being a fellow forum member with mutual interests. 

Here's a quick review:

Simply put, as a newbie computer builder, I wish I had seen it before I began my first build recently. My computer works (still), but all the images, including videos, that are embedded in the book - which comes in Flipbook form but can be opened as a PDF - would have helped me figure things out faster. He also includes the gentle warning to "use your head" and "use common sense." Wise words. 

The book's full of information for a basic build - perfect for newbies. He goes through two scenarios - one where he strips down a Dell Dimension 2400 and builds from case to finish, the other a brand new build (using an AMD processor, not Intel). In the second scenario he walks you through the process from buying the parts, work area setup, installing everything, and more. Nothing mystifying about it; all straight talk. Good stuff.  

The only quibble I've got is that there are a couple of typos (I'm an editor and I suffer from an incurable spelling disease ). A glossary might be useful. But these are such minor issues compared to the wealth of information offered.  

Highly recommended. 

Ben


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Win 7 Pro; i7 3770k; 16 GB RAM; Sonar Producer X2a; Roland Quad Capture

Thank you so much for the kind words ben.
im very happy you liked it and you built yourself a great computer there.
cant wait to hear some music out of it.
I'll be watching song forums.
 
thanks again.
 
Charlie

LordElpus


A few typos I can live with - as well as dodgy spelling, 'there' when they mean 'their', but this book sounds just the ticket.

yes the book is still in its beta stages(one of the reasons its free right now)
 
the motherboard" Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard "thats a pretty decent board.
just keep in mind with that perticular mobo,im pretty sure you can only max out with 8 gigs of ram,it might be 12 but i dont think so,what this means is if you decide to upgrade your processor later on,youll still only be able to go as high as 8 gigs.
no matter how much ram you put in it.
 
this combo deal is a very good deal though i would spend the extra 40 dollars american and get the AMD phenom 2 blk "6 core"
it will still work with the  Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard .
 
let me know if you want a copy of my book and i will send you a download link.
this same build you are talking to me about is built in the second part of the book.
with probably over 20 illustartion on "how to".

chuckebaby

LordElpus


A few typos I can live with - as well as dodgy spelling, 'there' when they mean 'their', but this book sounds just the ticket.

yes the book is still in its beta stages(one of the reasons its free right now)
 
the motherboard" Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard "thats a pretty decent board.
just keep in mind with that perticular mobo,im pretty sure you can only max out with 8 gigs of ram,it might be 12 but i dont think so,what this means is if you decide to upgrade your processor later on,youll still only be able to go as high as 8 gigs.
no matter how much ram you put in it.
 
this combo deal is a very good deal though i would spend the extra 40 dollars american and get the AMD phenom 2 blk "6 core"
it will still work with the  Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard .
 
let me know if you want a copy of my book and i will send you a download link.
this same build you are talking to me about is built in the second part of the book.
with probably over 20 illustartion on "how to".

Well, sad to say I shouldn't need the book now ... as, after a dodgy start, I have built the system and it is up and running, thanks mainly to your videos! I am pleased you agree the Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard is a good one.  I saw your post just before I committed myself to it but glad to say your info. is not quite right as it does accept up to 16Gb Ram (which it now has). I stuck with the 4 core AMD CPU. Only time will tell if I will regret that decision over the 6 core.  I like the built in 'Touch-n-boost' facility whereby the power button can be an over-clocking button without interrupting ongoing work.  Cool!  It also has a core unlocker facility which means the extra cores can be used without having to resort to the BIOS.


I will probably stick with the integrated graphics for now as it supports 1080p & HDMI at 1920 X 1200.  If I go for DVI-D it will support a resolution up to 2560 X 1600, although DVI-D monitors tend to be a bit expensive.  If things change I can always install a decent graphics card.  The good thing is the mobo also has 6 X SATA connectors so it will be easy to add more storage if necessary.  It has 10 X USB 2.0 ports and 2 X USB 3.0 ports so future 'additions' should be catered for too.  Although I have an external audio card (VS-100) the mobo has 8 channel High-Definition Audio, so fine for those occasions when I am not using it as a DAW!


As well as a standard DVD drive (couldn't see the need for a blu-Ray) I went for a Samsung 120Gb SSD and a Seagate 1TB 3.5 inch 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 HDD.  I also stayed with Windows 7 Home Premium as I don't fancy getting to grips with a new OS and I have no need for a touch screen at the moment.


So there you have it, it's done.  I know I have been a bit impetuous but that's just me.  Now all I have to do is install my software!!


Gary

Quote:
"Although I have an external audio card (VS-100) the mobo has 8 channel High-Definition Audio, so fine for those occasions when I am not using it as a DAW! " End quote.

If you are going to use an external Audio Interface, then you should disable the onboard soundcard, in the device manager and in the bios.
Even when not using the pc as a DAW you should use the audio interface, You don't want to go into the settings to keep changing soundcards over do you.

Hi Wildman

I have never disabled the internal soundcard before and I didn't think it was necessary?  
When using Sonar I just de-select the soundcard and direct all the audio through the audio interface.  When I finish with Sonar, the system just defaults to using the internal soundcard again.  When I fire up Sonar again it takes no time to re-set everything and saves me having to have the VS-100 and monitors powered up all the time.  The soundcard is connected to my PC Speakers and the VS-100 to my monitors.

Your thoughts?

the wildman


Quote:
"Although I have an external audio card (VS-100) the mobo has 8 channel High-Definition Audio, so fine for those occasions when I am not using it as a DAW! " End quote.

If you are going to use an external Audio Interface, then you should disable the onboard soundcard, in the device manager and in the bios.
Even when not using the pc as a DAW you should use the audio interface, You don't want to go into the settings to keep changing soundcards over do you.

theres not as much of a reason to disable your onboard soundcard anymore as there was back when people were using built in soundcards.
what this means is,if your using a usb break a way box soundcard(a soundcard that plugs in via usb) then you do not need to disable your soundcard.
alot of people including myself like to have that option of listening to media center/you tube videos,exc/without having to use the same card.
 
i use 2 soundcards at the same time sometimes even now:EXAMPLE-i have sonar open using my usb soundcard/am also watching a you tube video with my onboard soundcard.
 
no disrespect wildman,and you were right,sometimes folks do this,but not as much anymore.
 

LordElpus

chuckebaby

LordElpus


A few typos I can live with - as well as dodgy spelling, 'there' when they mean 'their', but this book sounds just the ticket.

yes the book is still in its beta stages(one of the reasons its free right now)

the motherboard" Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard "thats a pretty decent board.
just keep in mind with that perticular mobo,im pretty sure you can only max out with 8 gigs of ram,it might be 12 but i dont think so,what this means is if you decide to upgrade your processor later on,youll still only be able to go as high as 8 gigs.
no matter how much ram you put in it.
 
this combo deal is a very good deal though i would spend the extra 40 dollars american and get the AMD phenom 2 blk "6 core"
it will still work with the  Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard .
 
let me know if you want a copy of my book and i will send you a download link.
this same build you are talking to me about is built in the second part of the book.
with probably over 20 illustartion on "how to".

Well, sad to say I shouldn't need the book now ... as, after a dodgy start, I have built the system and it is up and running, thanks mainly to your videos! I am pleased you agree the Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard is a good one.  I saw your post just before I committed myself to it but glad to say your info. is not quite right as it does accept up to 16Gb Ram (which it now has). I stuck with the 4 core AMD CPU. Only time will tell if I will regret that decision over the 6 core.  I like the built in 'Touch-n-boost' facility whereby the power button can be an over-clocking button without interrupting ongoing work.  Cool!  It also has a core unlocker facility which means the extra cores can be used without having to resort to the BIOS.


I will probably stick with the integrated graphics for now as it supports 1080p & HDMI at 1920 X 1200.  If I go for DVI-D it will support a resolution up to 2560 X 1600, although DVI-D monitors tend to be a bit expensive.  If things change I can always install a decent graphics card.  The good thing is the mobo also has 6 X SATA connectors so it will be easy to add more storage if necessary.  It has 10 X USB 2.0 ports and 2 X USB 3.0 ports so future 'additions' should be catered for too.  Although I have an external audio card (VS-100) the mobo has 8 channel High-Definition Audio, so fine for those occasions when I am not using it as a DAW!


As well as a standard DVD drive (couldn't see the need for a blu-Ray) I went for a Samsung 120Gb SSD and a Seagate 1TB 3.5 inch 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 HDD.  I also stayed with Windows 7 Home Premium as I don't fancy getting to grips with a new OS and I have no need for a touch screen at the moment.


So there you have it, it's done.  I know I have been a bit impetuous but that's just me.  Now all I have to do is install my software!!


Gary

Gary,so glad you had no probs doing this man.
im also sorry about the info i gave you on your mobo,i was almost 90% positive that board maxed at 8 gigs.
but as long as its showing up in system properties than that is auesome.
 
also dont worry about the difference between the 4 core and the 6 core phenom,ive used both,tested both and the sonar stress test i did with the 4 core was:
 
(8 gigs of ram)
Win 7 x64
Sonar x2 64
4-soft synths/equiling 16 midi tracks
16 audio tracks/with prochannel engaged
20-of sonars misc.effects.
 
core load was at 24%
 
keep me posted on a nice large project you do,im curious what you can push it to with 16 gb of ram.
 
im really glad my book and videos helped you out man.
 
Thanks again,
 
Charlie Roy
 
 

Cool
I think I must be showing my age here. I have always been led to believe that you had to do that.
Ive only just updated from an EMU 1616M pci soundcard, to a Focusrite firewire soundcard. 

I did not know that you leave them both active. That's good.

Another tip I have is, don't sail too close to the edge of the Earth, in case you fall off the end!


Now you know why my post count is low, considering the time I have been here. I don't know anything new.

I'll shut up now, and just carry on singing instead.

Have a nice day 

chuckebaby

Gary,so glad you had no probs doing this man. 

im also sorry about the info i gave you on your mobo,i was almost 90% positive that board maxed at 8 gigs.
but as long as its showing up in system properties than that is auesome.
 
also dont worry about the difference between the 4 core and the 6 core phenom,ive used both,tested both and the sonar stress test i did with the 4 core was:
 
(8 gigs of ram)
Win 7 x64
Sonar x2 64
4-soft synths/equiling 16 midi tracks
16 audio tracks/with prochannel engaged
20-of sonars misc.effects.
 
core load was at 24%
 
keep me posted on a nice large project you do,im curious what you can push it to with 16 gb of ram.
 
im really glad my book and videos helped you out man.
 
Thanks again,
 
Charlie Roy
 
 

Hey Charlie Roy,

You and me both, but credit where credit's due!!!!  
I must say I was a bit nervous and I did have an issue with it not firing up at first, so I just took it all out and started again.  I did a test re-build of just the mobo & cpu and connected the monitor and made sure I got a POST - which I did, then I installed the RAM and tested again and only when everything was okay did I put it all in the case.  I feel more confident now about doing this again in the future, as it was relatively painless, and I will have no qualms about opening her up to do an upgrade.
Anyway, no apologies necessary my friend - I was sure when I viewed the mobo it was 16Gb so I re-checked.  Maybe they have given the board a tweak or two since?  Anyways all 16Gb shows up no probs!


That stress test is very comforting - I can't see me having a much bigger project than that but I'll have a go and see how I get on.  24% should give me a lot of room to play with!


Anyway, thanks for taking the time to do the videos & the book


Gary

LordElpus


Okay, I have researched this here in the UK and I have found I can get everything I need from Amazon.

When I selected the AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU (£75.20 = $117.19) I was offered a bundle with an Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard (£51.09 = $79.62) (Socket AM3+, Up to 16GB DDR3, USB 3.0, uATX) and 8Gb Corsair Ram (£44.52 = $69.38) (Total £170.81 = $266.19) Any comments about this mobo?

In addition I have added an insulated CiT Vantage Midi Mesh Gaming Case with HD Audio, 4 Fans, Card Reader ( £37.02 = $57.69) and an Alpine 650W Quiet Silent PC Power Supply PSU 120mm Fan (£18.60 = $28.99)


As this is a new build I have added the following:
LG GH24NS90.AUAA50B 24x SATA Bare Internal DVD Rewriter - Black (£13.47 = $20.99) 
Seagate 1TB 3.5 inch 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 Hard Drive (£50 = $77.92)
Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5 inch SATA Solid State Drive (£74.99 = $116.86)
Akasa 2.5/3.5 inch to 5.25 inch Mounting Adapter (£7.14 = $11.13)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit, English, 1 Pack, DSP OEI (PC) (system builders only) (£69.99 = $109.07)

Total for this lot runs at £442.02 in the UK, which converts to approx $688.84 US.
It would seem that we pay a bit more for some items here in the UK but I have added several essential 'extras'.
Any thoughts/comments?

Dude, get a bigger SSD, you will regret having only 120G ....