LordElpus

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

Gary makes me very happy to see digital audio musicians building their own DAW's.
If my book and video's helped you,than i am sooo happy.
 
Thank you big time for the props bro.
 
By the way,its funny you mentioned you rig wouldnt fire up right away.
this has happen to me a few times as well,but it's for only a few different reasons.
sometimes powering it up/off to a blank screen,the second time it boots right up.
other times it can be the infamous power switch wiring..lol
if you have no "beeps" generaly your good to go.
 
please...keep me posted and bench it with sonar a few times,if you want a few tests,i can send them your way in a private message.
im dying to see how many soft synths this thing can run at one time  :)
 
Delighted !
 
Charlie Roy

Your PC Spec Looks good to me LordElpus,
I have a 120gig SSD for OS and programs, and it works just fine with space left.
I installed a folder called 'Audio Library' on another drive to hold all the sonar program content and Loops etc.
The other drives are all 7200rpm.
Pc boots to logon screen in 30 seconds.

I found you buy from places like 'Novatech' in the UK, which offer pretty good deals as well.

Hi Spark240,

Yeah, I know but it's all I could afford a the moment.  I've already exceeded my budget so I had to make some compromises.  Once the finances improve I can always add another SSD if I find this one too restrictive.  I have about 30Gb free at the moment.

Hi there the Wildman,

That's good to know.  The 1Tb drive is 7200rpm so I should be okay for now.  I also had an older 160Gb SATA drive in my old machine so I have stuffed that in too.  I also have a NAS (got it for a song last year from Dabs) so anything that needs archiving can go on there.


Yup, Novatech are good on prices but, as I had a £140 credit on Amazon owing, it was a no-brainer to shop there!

My machine now boots up in about 40 seconds also and it still amazes me.

Gary

Cool guys ! well... I am about to order mine from Inta -audio, but I am going for the 240G SSD.

Keep you posted....  

Thanks to Charlie Roy for the book on building/rebuilding a computer! Even though it's still beta, I was still able to read it with no problems. The book - along with the series of videos on youtube - enabled me to make some massive changes on my computer. And, I'm NO techy ;) I dropped in a new SSD & a new data drive, doubled my RAM and added a second graphic card to compliment my onboard chip, so I can run multiple screens. 

I would not have been able to do it without your ressources, Charlie. If anybody out there is thinking of modding there box - and, is not computer savvy, as I - then, check out Charlie stuff. It will help you!

Here a short list of +/- to the book itself:

+ pretty easy to understand (if, you like Charlie says, you use your head)
+ lots of pictures (I need pix!)
+ nerdy language is kept to a minimum
+ concise and to the point, sticks to task at hand
+ love the wry humor on display (is that typical Bostonian?)
+ had the feeling Charlie was talking "to" me, and not "down" to me

- could have used a glossary (some words I was not familiar with: mobo, standoffs. The explanations came later, but, it left me wondering)
- recommendations were sometimes too vague. "When buying RAM, don't buy junk." What constitutes junk? A few references to specific models/makes to look at/stay away from, would have been more helpful. After all, we are noobs, who read you book ;)

Hey Charlie, I have a quick question. Stupid...I know, but nevertheless, I need to ask. If I run two PCs and keep project files on an external HD, do these files care if they were recorded on a 32 Bit machine and then mixed down on a 64 Bit machine? I might have the opportunity to build a machine for the mix down studio, which is a different space than the recording studio, and I might as well build a Desktop, as I have a 2001 Desktop that is a bit worthless. I could strip it, use the chassis, and buy all the necessary parts to do a home build, like, motherboard, hard drive, DVD burner, USB 3 or Firewire card. I still have to do some research as to what will work best with Sonar 7PE and the new audio interface I am buying for the mixing space, but I think this is the way to go, and I might as well go 64 bit, as this is where, I think, the processing power really comes in to play, as I will be using midi, plugins, etc. What do you think? Thanks Brother... My current system is dated back to 2001 I think. I should be able to reuse the chassis, power supply, DVD burner, but thought that the burner and power supply might be tired and it would serve me better to replace them both. What is a "insulated case". I would love your book if the offer is there. I am a technician, but don't know much about the actual parts or I mean which is good or bad, so I would hit forums like this hard to get answers on what is the best component to install. If your book has that information, that would be very helpful. Thanks Brother.

i built the Phenom II x6 system, black edition about 1 1/2 years ago, and it still rocks.

It is enough to drive Sonar X2 with tons of power to spare. It is stable and plenty fast for everything i throw at it.

I dropped an Intel 240G SSD in there for the system drive. It didn't make a huge difference until I changed over to AHCI mode.

I'm VERY VERY satisfied with it. It is plenty of power for what I do.

Everybody, me included, likes to get into a shooting match, so we can loudly proclaim...MY DOG's bigger than YOUR dog, and MY car goes from 0-60 in 2.6 gallons....yes, that's big fun...but the bottom line is we all want to get a respectable performance out of the investment we make.

I'm satisified with not having the best, latest, fastest, because I can afford it, and it runs circles around the computers I was recording on 10 years ago.

btw, I chose the Intel SSD because of the high ratings, and it gets along fine with my AMD system. :)

i second everthing chuckebaby says and with another idea regarding a case.

I just use regular cases because I have my computers in the next room. I feed my wires through the wall so that my recording room is nearly perfectly silent. It's room within a room design with baffled air circulation system. the loudest thing I hear is a tiny hum when my roland keyboard is powered on. :)

Some of the best advice I've recieved from others about building a studio system is to start with the soundcard and build around it. I think the DAW we choose and how we intend to use it is at least a close second to that too. All the 'nuts & bolts' seem to fall into place after those two things are addressed.

FullBug


Thanks to Charlie Roy for the book on building/rebuilding a computer! Even though it's still beta, I was still able to read it with no problems. The book - along with the series of videos on youtube - enabled me to make some massive changes on my computer. And, I'm NO techy ;) I dropped in a new SSD & a new data drive, doubled my RAM and added a second graphic card to compliment my onboard chip, so I can run multiple screens. 

I would not have been able to do it without your ressources, Charlie. If anybody out there is thinking of modding there box - and, is not computer savvy, as I - then, check out Charlie stuff. It will help you!

Here a short list of +/- to the book itself:

+ pretty easy to understand (if, you like Charlie says, you use your head)
+ lots of pictures (I need pix!)
+ nerdy language is kept to a minimum
+ concise and to the point, sticks to task at hand
+ love the wry humor on display (is that typical Bostonian?)
+ had the feeling Charlie was talking "to" me, and not "down" to me

- could have used a glossary (some words I was not familiar with: mobo, standoffs. The explanations came later, but, it left me wondering)
- recommendations were sometimes too vague. "When buying RAM, don't buy junk." What constitutes junk? A few references to specific models/makes to look at/stay away from, would have been more helpful. After all, we are noobs, who read you book ;)

hey man I totally missed this post, thank you so much for the props on my book.
your comment was very gracious and im greatful for the feedback.
your right about a lot of things, like a glossary, that's a really good point that I over looked. excellent catch man.
your other comments as well both are very good points I need to take in to consideration.
if I can ever be of help in the future send me a message and i'll do what ever I can.
 
Thanks again man  :)
 
Charlie