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that 520W corsair is a decent power supply, but the 450(something) by corsair is a great PSU and will probably be cheaper - 450W is still overkill, especially considering how much corsair jacks the +12V line. Honestly, for a dedicated audio server I would put most of my money in hard drive backups (i nthe case of a disaster, calling re-ripping everything a pain would be an understatement of epic proportions) and get maybe 512/256MB RAM and a Celeron processor. Run Windows 2000 or XP with all aesthetics disabled, and you're golden. Actually, one of those old Via processors would be ideal because they can run solely off of a heatsink with no fans at all needed in the case.
I purchased the Corsair HX620 about 1,5 years ago, after reading rave reviews about them, and I have to tell you this PSU does not dissapoint! It is very quiet, delievers loads of juice when it needs to, and build quality is AFAIK excellent. You won't be needing 620W and I think the 450W should be enough for your use. Highly recommended.
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Silentpcreview is a good place to start. Don't cheap on the PSU or the case. A good case has good airflow so you can use a minimum of fans to keep the noise down, and the importance of the PSU has already been covered.
Personally I have an aftermarket CPU cooler too, but that's mainly because I have a crappy Pentium D Presler processor which runs so hot it makes the stock cooler work hard all the time. But with modern Core2 Duos running much cooler this probably won't be necessary.
I suppose Logistics may have a point with closed phones, but quiet passages with open phones are much nicer with a quiet PC...
Other than that, with no gaming intended, I would say minimal spending on the CPU, onboard video, as much RAM as you can justify, within reason (I run 3gb on XP 32 bit, and turn off the page file. It runs nice. Vista needs more than XP but both have a limit of 4gb in 32bit versions, so don't go buying 8gig for a 32bit OS...not that you would, overkill) and obviously as much storage as required. I think Erik's suggestion of a RAID array is a good one too, especially as such things are no longer expensive to setup.
Oh yeah, and get a passively cooled motherboard. Not sure how many still have fans on the Northbridge but those that do get loud over time...
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I will be using windows XP since I have it on my laptop and familiar with it but I give a try to Ubuntu. No games just stereo audio. Foobar2000 as player with SRC up sampling and EAC for ripping.
If you do try Ubuntu, look into Audacious for playback (supports upsampling). As for ripping, pretty much anything will do, as it will all use cdparanoia as the backend.
Originally Posted by Logistics
Why is everyone stressing so much performance from his Audio-transport PC?
If you only want to use this system as an audio-transport then you only need basic, but quality options. I agree with Uncle Erik's suggestion for a quality power-supply. Although, I don't understand why people stress a "quiet" PSU all the time. But I use closed head-phones so that may be why.
My power supply supposedly puts out 10dBA of noise (Enermax Noisetaker, if anyone's interested). Unfortunately, the rest of my fans are still loud enough that, with open phones, I prefer letting the desktop sleep and running my audio through the MacBook.
Originally Posted by Logistics
I don't see the need for more than 1GB of RAM, though. RAM is cheap at the moment, but I would be more inclined to save every penny I could and invest it in a better sound-card or amplifier.
Same here. 1GB is plenty for an audio PC. 1GB is probably plenty for most applications with XP or (especially) Ubuntu. Now, if it were Vista, it'd be another story If you're planning on doing more intensive things with this PC, more RAM might also be a good thing, but for pure audio, it seems pointless. Then again, memory has gotten pretty cheap, and I've only seen extra hurt Windows 98
that 520W corsair is a decent power supply, but the 450(something) by corsair is a great PSU and will probably be cheaper - 450W is still overkill, especially considering how much corsair jacks the +12V line. Honestly, for a dedicated audio server I would put most of my money in hard drive backups (i nthe case of a disaster, calling re-ripping everything a pain would be an understatement of epic proportions) and get maybe 512/256MB RAM and a Celeron processor. Run Windows 2000 or XP with all aesthetics disabled, and you're golden. Actually, one of those old Via processors would be ideal because they can run solely off of a heatsink with no fans at all needed in the case.
Agreed, even 450W is too much. But the 450 Corsair I think you're talking about is surprisingly louder than the HX520 (under equal load). So that's why I suggested the OP get the 520HX, which can be had for cheap, but only use the modular cables he needs, which will result in a very quiet PSU, and give room for upgrades down the track.
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corsair 520hx is an awesome psu!!! i back it up fully. also for cheap ram, crucial ballistix pc6400.
if on a budget get a cheap dual core.
for motherboard, gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l is good, or abit ip35-e
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Personally, I think the best reasonably priced, but potentially very quiet, case you'll find is the Coolermaster Centurion 5. A good amount of room inside, plenty of space behind the motherboard tray for cable management (though thats less of an issue if you grab a modular PSU) and decent airflow make it my choice. Plus, it's not a bad looker, either. IP35E is a good board - I think you'll like it. I've since upgraded my rig to one though I didn't get around to changing my sig.
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It is a full ATX board so be sure the case supports the full ATX size.
Full ATX boards often have 3 PCI slots.
Micro ATX boards are smaller and often have only 2 PCI slots. My D945GCNL Intel 945GC Micro ATX Motherboard has 2 PCI slots.
Did you notice that the abit ip35-e doesn't have integrated graphics? You would need to buy a separate graphics board.
Newegg.com is a great place to shop. Prices are good, they are reliable and their return policy works. The customer reviews can be useful in avoiding poorly designed products.
If you're planning on doing more intensive things with this PC, more RAM might also be a good thing, but for pure audio, it seems pointless. Then again, memory has gotten pretty cheap, and I've only seen extra hurt Windows 98 
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