[Vosper]

I'm considering building a small pc solely for the purpose of serving music. I'd use it as a source for headphone listening and for my stereo. I've heard a lot about em interference inside the computer, and I've been thinking of ways to minimise this. Presumably, the amount of interference grows with the number of components. So I'm thinking that I should use a low power design, with my emu-0404 as the only additional component. To this end, I've been looking at the mini-itx range of mainboards. These are highly integrated, low-power systems but I figure a 1ghz CPU is more than enough for my purposes. I have heard that power conditioning can make a big difference with computer sources, would the 12v or mains AC versions of these boards be the easiest to add power conditioning to? Also, should I enlose the board + soundcard in an EM shielding of some kind?

 

[The_Mac]

The only real issue with going with an EPIA processor is that they're SLOW. If you get the 1.0GHZ board, you'll have a very slow running WinXP config, have trouble getting any upsampling to run at all, and ASIO will likely be a treat to get running as well (with decent latency).

They're just not efficient processors.

You'd probably be much better off getting a micro-atx Pentium4 motherboard and either a celery 2.4/2.6 or an older northwood. Should cost you about $100 for the pair, and add in a couple bucks for a passive heatsink and you're all set.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

If you are so concerned about power conditioning and whatnot, it would make more sense to go with an external DAC of somekind.

Also for your general mini-music-computer concerns perhaps you'd want to PM Edwood about his now famous mini-me music PC.

 

[Xyrium]

Don't sweat the claimed internal noise. I'm using a 1212M to M-Audio BX5s via balanced connections and the sound is very good - excellent. Transparency, imaging, and tonal accuracy are very good (though a bit forward, which I like). If you need to make adjustments, the cards come with fairly decent parametric eqs, so don't be afraid to use them. This is nearfield listening at the workstation, but I am considering building a dedicated box as well for the living room.

I agree with the P IV suggestion, as the Intel stuff seems to do encoding and decoding a bit better/faster than AMD as well as they seem to run cooler. Another excellent option is to add an electronic crossover to the mix. I'm looking at dbx and ashly, so I may be posting on that addition shortly if I add a sub.

 

[Edwood]

Look into the fanless EPIA mobo's.

And Seagate HDD's. They are the quietest drives I've used and can take alot more heat. And Seagate has a new swanky 5 year warranty too.

The MiniMe PC is gone. But I will build a new and improved replacement. It will be a dedicated workhorse for constant downloading/uploading. But will also be used as a computer for me to bring to meets.

Gotta bring the computer to the big amps, as they don't get moved around much, especially the tubes.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xyrium I agree with the P IV suggestion, as the Intel stuff seems to do encoding and decoding a bit better/faster than AMD as well as they seem to run cooler. Another excellent option is to add an electronic crossover to the mix. I'm looking at dbx and ashly, so I may be posting on that addition shortly if I add a sub.

Comparing latest Prescott P4's and 90nm 939 Athlon 64's, the roles are reversed. Athlon 64's generate almost half the heat that P4's do now. I have never owned an AMD CPU, but I will be buying an AMD CPU for my new system I will be building this winter.

-Ed

 

[Xyrium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Comparing latest Prescott P4's and 90nm 939 Athlon 64's, the roles are reversed. Athlon 64's generate almost half the heat that P4's do now. I have never owned an AMD CPU, but I will be buying an AMD CPU for my new system I will be building this winter. -Ed

Interesting. I hadn't realized the 64bit units create less heat than their 32 bit brethren at the same rated clock speed. I'l have to look into this! Thanks!

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xyrium Interesting. I hadn't realized the 64bit units create less heat than their 32 bit brethren at the same rated clock speed. I'l have to look into this! Thanks!

The heat has nothing to do with it being 64-bit or not, it's just that AMD designed their processors with heat and power control in mind, while Intel was only thinking about speed and getting it to run really fast really soon (so they could beat AMD in getting 90nm CPUs out the door). Plus it helps that AMD's CPUs run slower than Intel's (though the performance is still about the same; MHz isn't everything).

 

[Xyrium]

I agree, clock speed isn't everything. Efficiency would certainly turn out to be the optimal design in any electronic device since they must dissipate heat. AMD lists their Ahtlon 64 at 89W max (clock speeds between 2GHz and 2.2GHz) and their FX series at 104W. Meanwhile Intel posts their 3GHz P IV at that same power output as the Athlon 64 (89W). Of course, if the 2.2GHZ Athlon 64 can do more than the 3.0GHz P IV at that power output, then it is clearly the better choice (barring massive price differences). Of course, with either processor, larger case fans will enable quieter cooling.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/cont...docs/30430.pdf

http://processorfinder.intel.com/scr...ALL&CorSpd=ALL

Of course, I'm still using an Athlon XP 2600 so maybe my next machine will have one of these if 64bit XP becomes a stable product.

 

[Budley007]

You might also want to check out some of the "Windows XP Mods" that are starting to become popular. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is called "XPLite". Google it and see if it's something you might be interested in.

Seems like it might be something you could use for a dedicated music PC. I think there are also some open source "mod" projects you could check out, if the commercial versions are out of the question.

 

[sethk]

If you find you need more processing power than an EPIA, but dont think you really need a 3Ghz+ moster, I'd look into a nice stable nforce 2 mobo and a mobile athlon xp chip (around 2500+ should do it) running in something like a Antec Minuet case (nice attractive case for a HTPC too) that is designed for quietness.
Get a nice silent HSF or even a passive Zalman setup and you can set this CPU to run at very low voltages with heat dissipation AT LEAST 1/2 as much as any p4. In fact people have got this cpu running both very cool and alternatively overclocked it to really high speeds - its a very versatile CPU. The newest ABIT mobos with uGuruu (or something) let you adjust voltage and multipliers on the fly for maximum veratility.

 

[Edwood]

If money's no object and you want the densest processing power per watt, then Pentium M is the way to go.

Good luck getting a desktop motherboard, though.

There are mini-ITX Pentium M motherboards, though.

Unfortunately, the Pentium M chipsets (all two of them) only support up to 4x AGP, so high end graphics are out.

-Ed

 

[Regus]

If it is for a dedicated playback box i don't quite get all this "you need lots of performance" stuff I have a dedicated audio and video playback box in my living room, and i cannot emagine what you could possibly need to do to your audio that would require more than decoding and image enhancing DivX..

My setup uses a 1200 MHz Duron (probably not available anymore - might look into AMD Sempron) - i use the boxed heatsink and fan only i have revired the fan to 5V rather than the intended 12V and it is dead silent, and plenty cool.

For a harddrive i use a new model Maxtor 40 GB fluid - it too is dead silent.

Then a motherboard with build in Ethernet and passive cooling (don't remember which one, and it probably isn't availible anyomore anyways)

And the PSU is a regular cheapo again i revired the fan from 12V to 5V - dead silent and pleanty cool.

You might run into problems with this setup on a hot day in Southern California but else you should be fine.

The coolers on low end cpu's and psu's seem to be build for tropical conditions, so reducing fan speed is not really an issue for most of us.

With a setup like this the sound card is likely to be the most expensive part by far.

Personally I have my music on another computer located in a cupboard in my kitchen and and wired 100Mb ethernet through out my flat.

Then, I am probably insane, I am a self-employed software developer and have way way too many computers

/Regus

 

[ixeo]

i would go with the VIA EPIA route. fanless, stick more ram in it, say 512mb at least..and it should be a happy camper. built-in graphics, seagate harddisk w/ rubber grommets, a case with decent holes for airflow, the only fan in the whole system would be the PSU. then stick in a 0404m or 1212m..all set!

 

[akira]

I'm not sure what was the conclusion of this discussion.

Is it realy need P4 2GHz or more CPU to play music from HDD? Is C3 1GHz enough just to run foobar (unless doing upsampling or any other special filtering)? I remember HTPC people prefered to run not top speed CPU to play DVD even in some years ago. It seems even C3 1GHz can be used for any purpuse we concern here, I mean playing WAV or watching DVD, etc, no gaming. Though i'm not an expert of PCs.