Recording - June 2013 - 19

present, and PCI slots mostly gone, USB
seems to be the popular and viable choice
these days for many musicians.
The biggest problem moving forward
with older solutions is having available
PCI slots, and certainly being able to find
drivers for your audio adapter of choice.
This is something you’ll need to research
on your own to make the right decision.
My Recommendations – Use what works
best for your needs. Sorry, but this is one
area where you’ll know more than I will!
Video Cards
Affects – Performance of plug-ins that
use the video card to process audio.
When to Upgrade – Noisy video card
fans driving you crazy, or video card
becoming long in the tooth.
PCIe
(Peripheral
Component
Interconnect Express) video adapters,
aside from onboard video provided on
the motherboard, have been the de
facto slot standard for video adapters
for many years. Thankfully, many of the
cheap $30 to $50 PCIe fanless models
seem to work great for our application,
and keep things quiet inside. If the fan
on your current video card is noisy, I’d
highly recommend going with a fanless
card for your next build.
When making a move to a newer
machine, it would be best to see if there
are current drivers, as it’s possible for older
cards to no longer be getting driver
updates. Otherwise, unless your DAW will
be playing double duty as a gaming rig or
other serious video processing/editing,
there is little reason to have to ‘upgrade’
your video adapter for DAW usage.
My Recommendations – Go fanless to
eliminate the noise. Your ears will thank you.
Case
Affects – Ease of installation of hardware components, ease of cooling critical
components.
When to Upgrade – Substandard build
quality of the case makes too much noise
or you need better cooling and/or fan
placement options.
The decision to keep a case or move
on to a better one largely depends on
you. If you’re happy with how easy it is to
get parts in and out of your case, if there
are plenty of places to mount enough
fans, if there is plenty of space for you to
add more drives, and if the build quality
of the chassis itself is good and it doesn’t
constantly vibrate under certain workloads, it might be a good idea to save a
buck and recycle your current case.
For grins, though, I’d still recommend still
doing a bit of research to see if a case
designed to keep things quiet might benefit
you. Rubber grommets for drive mounts,
foam padding to deaden noise, more places
for fans, and more could all go a long ways
toward promoting tranquility in your studio.

My Recommendations – Plan to spend at
least $100 for a case without a power supply to have a better chance of getting a
good-quality case. Thicker metal, more fans
and the greater attention to detail to deaden the noise will pay off in the end.
Power Supply
Affects – Overall stability of the system.
When to Upgrade – Every new PC
build, period!
Right below the importance of protecting your data is the importance of having
a good, solid power supply. While a
good power supply is a bit pricey and
will run you in the ~$100-$150 range,
having good-quality power is a key factor
in having a stable system.

Also keep in mind, year over year, the
amount of power a power supply can output can degrade and turn a stable system
into an unstable nightmare. For this reason alone, I would recommend buying a
new power supply with each new build.
Likely that formerly hefty 450W unit will
be inadequate on a modern system,
which will need a 750W+ unit in its place
for adequate power and headroom.
One aspect that’s easy to overlook when
shopping for a power supply that shouldn’t
be ignored is the quantity and type of connectors the power supply comes with.
Make sure these match your needs for the
number of hard and optical drives, PCIe
video adapter power lead requirements,
number of case fans, and also provide an
8-pin CPU power lead to power the CPU.
Otherwise, all power supplies should at
least come with the 20/24 pin PC Main P1
connector that powers the motherboard
itself and a handful of either Molex (the
large white 4-pin adapters for hard drives
and fans) or the 15-pin SATA power leads.
For anyone who’s dealt with the cable
management nightmare with underutilized power leads, there are some manufacturers that have been making “modular” power supplies. These power supplies allow you to attach only the power

whips you need, and help to de-clutter the
interior of your case. This alone can certainly help improve airflow, which in turn
helps cooling. I’ve used a few modular
supplies myself and can certainly recommend them. Just be sure you remember
where you’ve stored the spare cables if
you decide to add anything in the future!
My Recommendations – Don’t go
cheap on arguably one of the most important pieces in the system. Read the
reviews carefully to find a good-quality
power supply for your build.
Fans
Affects – Cooling of all the critical components inside your system and overall
noise level of the system.
When to Upgrade – When cooling
isn’t adequate, the noise of the fans
begins to bother you, or they have trouble running.
As the processors and video cards
get more powerful, system memory
becomes more plentiful, and cases
become more crowded with more
parts, proper cooling should become
less of an afterthought and more of a
priority. This is where small things like
the previously mentioned modular
power supplies and zip ties to hold
cables in place, along with a few wellplaced fans, can help keep your rig
going strong for years to come. When
you can, use 120 mm fans in lieu of 80
mm fans. They can move more air at
slower speeds, and in turn, run quieter
than their smaller counterparts.
If your fans are old and dirty, it might be
worth it to spend a few extra dollars to get
new, quieter fans. Not to mention that trying to clean dirty fans might lodge those
blasted dust bunnies into the bearings,
and shorten their functional life anyway.
My Recommendations – The cooler the
case, the less the fans will need to run.
This will translate into less noise. The
price difference is so minimal between a
good and a great fan; this should be a
no-brainer.
Conclusion
Doing diligent research, while time-consuming up front, can end up saving you
dollars and hours of headaches down the
road. If this article feels a bit overwhelming, there is no shame in purchasing a
new system from a dedicated DAW
builder. Nothing is more important than
your sanity when doing what you love
best. But if you love to build or hotrod
your own systems, hopefully these guidelines will point you in the right direction.
Understand what’s not working well, and
start with a plan to fix that fault!
Devon Brent (devon@recordingmag.com)
is a recording musician and audio PC
guru living and working in Jacksonville.
RECORDING June 2013

Recording - June 2013

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