advice for PC specifications

[costasnicolaidis]

Hi everybody,
I am a Greek Architect and I have been an organ enthusiast most of my life and owner of an Alhborn Hymnus III , I came upon Hauptwerk by chance over Christmas time and I am overwhelmed. I never thought it possible to have such instruments in my living room!
I'm planning to buy the CC Metz enhanced version with my Hauptwerk, and I'm preparing a dedicated PC to cope with it.
Would you mind taking a look at my specs as I'm new to all this and the computerstores here in Greece have no idea about Hauptwerk!
CPU Intel core 17-920 (1366/2.66 GHz,8 MB)B
RAM DDR3 ADATA 2GB x 4(=8GB)
HDD WD SATA II 640GB 16MB
PSU L&C 500W
DVDRW ASUS 22B2ST
VGA PCI-X GIGABIT 4350 GV-R4350C 512MB
M/B ASUS P6T (1366,DDR3,X58)
SOUND CARD M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT PCI
Windows 7 Pro 64bit OEM
Thanks a lot for your time, any comment would be very appriciated.
Greatfuly yours,
Costas Nicolaidis
nicolaidiscostas@yahoo.com

[mdyde]

Hello Costas,

CPU Intel core 17-920 (1366/2.66 GHz,8 MB)B
SOUND CARD M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT PCI
Windows 7 Pro 64bit OEM

Those components should be ideal for the Metz sample set, and would be able to allow spare headroom for future expansion.

RAM DDR3 ADATA 2GB x 4(=8GB)

(Assuming the RAM is compatible with the motherboard) 8 GB should be easily sufficient to load the Metz in full with default memory options (16-bit, stereo, all loops/releases/attacks, lossless memory compression).

However, it might be worth keeping some motherboard memory slots free to allow room for future expansion if the motherboard allows more than 8 GB, in case you want to load the sample set in 24-bit (which I think will probably just fit into 8 GB anyway), and in case you want to add larger sample sets at a later date.

HDD WD SATA II 640GB 16MB

640 GB is fine, although I might be tempted to opt for 1 TB with 32 MB of buffering for (probably very slightly) faster loading speed and again to allow plenty room for adding other sample sets at a later date, if the additional cost is small.

PSU L&C 500W
DVDRW ASUS 22B2ST
VGA PCI-X GIGABIT 4350 GV-R4350C 512MB
M/B ASUS P6T (1366,DDR3,X58)

I can't offer any feedback on these components specifically, but as long as they are compatible with each other, then they sound fine in principle.

I hope that helps.

[RichardW]

Costas,

8GB of ram is OK for the standard Metz but for the Extended Metz more would be better.

To get the Extended Metz into my 8GB PC I load most samples at 20 bit and have the various effects set to 16 bits. So 8GB is OK but you will not be able to load everything at 24 bit resolution.

Regards,

[AndrewW]

Hello Costas,

Further to Martin's response, I'm not sure how the "triple memory" configuration of the i7-920 reacts to only having some of the three slots filled - I suggest you research this a little more to ensure that it will give you a stable system. Normally the i7 Motherboards give you multiples of 3GB, e.g. 6GB (3x2GB), 9GB (3x2GB + 3x1GB) or 12GB (6x2GB), noting that 4GB modules are still very expensive but in theory the P6T will allow 24GB with 6x4GB modules.

With regard to the WD HDD, I've got the 640GB Caviar Black with 32MB Cache. Personally, I find it a little noisy. Perhaps worth exploring the Samsung HDD as an alternative, but check noise levels. The noise is only an issue on start-up then loading. Equally, if you get HDD noise whilst playing, at least you know something else is accessing the drive!

In terms of the Motherboard, I've got the Asus P6T SE which works fine. I read somewhere that one of the other manufacturers utilises Texas Instruments Firewire chipset on their motherboard - I think Gigabyte, but as well to check. While I note that you are planning to use the M-Audio Delta 1010LT, having a TI Firewire chipset on board gives you flexibility in the future if you decide to go for Firewire (although it is relatively easy to source PCI Firewire board with TI chipset).

For the i7-920, most people seem to recommend using a heatsink & fan other than the standard Intel variety. I have the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 if that's any help - CPU temperature only fluctuates a bit with this.

I don't know your Graphic Card, but I went for a fanless design on the basis that Hauptwerk graphics are pretty static - nothing like the requirements of Gaming machines - so it is one less source of noise from the computer. I have Sapphire HD4350 with two DVI outputs.

For PSU, the better the stability and efficiency, the better for the motherboard and the temperature - I don't know the L&C, but I have the Be Quiet 550W Dark Power Pro Modular (replacement range apparently not as good).

The only thing you don't mention is the case - you need one with good ventilation in order to minimise the work that fans need to do. I have the Antec 300 which is very straightforward.

Hope this helps.
Andrew

[costasnicolaidis]

Thank you Martin, Richard and Andrew for such prompt advice,
after studying all your suggestions my new pc specs are:

case: COOLMASTER SNIPER STORM + LC POWER 550watt PFC ULTRA SILENT
motherboard: GIGABYTE EX58-UD5-FSB6
ram: 12GB 6x2 GB DDRIII KINGSTONE HYPER-X COOLER 1600 MHz
cpu: INTEL CORE I7-920
hard disk: WD GREEN EDITION 1TB SATA II 64MB cache
vga: MSI ATI RADEON 4550 1GB DDRIII SILENT
sound card: E-MU 12112M PCI
dvdrw: SONY-NEC OPTIARC 24x24 +DL
Windows 7 pro 64bit

What do you think?
I am interested to compare the M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT pci against the E-MU 12112M pci. Does anyone have an opinion on these? and maybe an external sound card is preferable to pci?
Thanks again for all your help.

Costas

[Jim Reid]

I would pick the 1010LT sound card, NOT the E-mu!

You would "pull your hair out" while attemping to use
the E-mu "patch-mix" software to get it to operate.

Many have tried, many failed and moved on, well
away from E-mu.

Just my experience and opinion, of course.

[mdyde]

Hello Costas,

I am interested to compare the M-AUDIO DELTA 1010LT pci against the E-MU 12112M pci.

I believe that the E-MU 1212M has higher-quality DACs (i.e. higher audio quality) and also has real-time reverb (although the reverb isn't of exceptional quality), but both cards are good, and the M-Audio is definitely much easier to configure. The 1010LT also has eight analogue outputs, whereas the 1212M only has two (i.e. a stereo stereo output).

Both are popular cards with Hauptwerk users and perform very well.

and maybe an external sound card is preferable to pci?

Any of PCI, PCIe and firewire can give excellent performance, but PCI/PCIe are probably the easiest options, because there's less scope for compatibility/performance issues due to motherboard firewire chipsets, etc.

[RichardW]

Costas,

I have a 1212M. It sounds good and is OK with my 2 channel sound system. Setting up was not easy, however.

I have a fanless graphics card, too. Does the MSI ATI RADEON 4550 1GB DDRIII SILENT support more than one monitor? If not, would that be a problem? Several HW organs (eg MDA Metz) support two.

Otherwise your choices look good to me.

Regards,

[eddie_ce]

Hi Costas et al

I am also at present building my HW PC, the specs. I have gone for are almost identical to yours In fact, if I had not forgotten to order a DVI-DVI monitor cable, instead of writing this I would be busy installing the OS on the machine.

I am slightly concerned with comments re the E-MU1212, I installed this audio interface yesterday. I am not all that computer literate and I have absolutely no experience with MIDI and all things related.

If anyone has any ideas along the lines of "setting up E-MU1212 for numpties" I would be extremely grateful.

Costas, good luck with your set-up.

Eddie

[RichardW]

Eddie,

You could try this thread: http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3827&hilit=1212m.

There are several ways to set up a 1212M in it. Pick one that makes sense to you and try it.

Regards,