new box first gig-

[mycorn]

so...
you guys would get sick of me posting if
i reported every successful gig
[the cheeky P4 test rig had already replaced
my yammy 01v96]

but the parts came tuesday and i built the real box
last week and burned it in as much as possible-

a pinkus 17" deep 4 space rack +/- $95

Lite-On IHAS120-04 Internal Super AllWrite SATA DVD Writer 1 $ 24.99
Aerocool Silver Lightning Quad White LED 120mm Case Fan 1 $ 14.99
Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz 1 $ 54.99
Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB Hard Drive - 1 $ 64.99
Ultra LSP550 550-Watt Power Supply -, 135mm Fan 1 $ 59.98
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz w/ $10 GAS CARD 1 $ 169.99
Asus P5B-VM SE Motherboard - Intel P965, Socket 775, MicroATX, VGA, PCI Express 1.0 x16, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, SATA $ 79.99
Order Details:
Product Total $469.92
Shipping & Handling $1.99
Sales Tax TX, NC, IL, FL $38.95
Order Total $510.86
[plus the case]

this was tiger direct
i'd forgotten they charged tax here in the republic...

while not "plug and prey" [it required a bios flash in spite of
being advertised as "core 2 duo" ready] i had no real issue
other that having to figure out the whole 137 gig HD limit thing

XPpro sp2 on a 12 gig partition

CPU heat is my biggist fear i think in this rig

i set up a generic 26 in [ada8000 x3 plus 2 presonus eureka on spdif]
and 6 mixes [RME9652] and ran several tests along with SAW

+/-30% cpu load

it got hotter than i want to see it (40C a couple of times)
just testing it out so i got some compound and reset the fan
[it came with what i guess is silver base on the fan
and i probably screwed up the first time setting it
as it was my first go with the 4 leg spider gizmo]

i may still end up with a mondo cooler by next summer-
outside gig's can get pretty sweltering down here

we have this place called luckenbach,tx i work sometimes

saturday was robyn ludwick opening for her brother bruce robison

you have to take the leap sooner or later
so it was sooner

20+ inputs (with crowd mics)
numerous EQ's active
6 gates
several comps
5 mixes off monitor 1 pst dyn
SAW printing underneath
below 25% cpu all nite

and it was cool where i was set up
but the cpu never reported higher than 32C i dont think

it was upper 20's most times i looked

eventually i'l put the other RME card in and stresstest 48 inputs
but i wanted a backup besides my spare 01v96

in short-
this box ROCKS!!!!

i'm jus bummed that this is the bottom of the bell curve
and i cant afford another one right now

one ITN-
when i forced affinity for SAW/SAC on seperate cores
it went from basically an idle to almost 25%[and climbing] load on _both_ cores
and heat shot up till i reverted to unforced operation

with this setup it appears you'r better off letting it decide
what to do with the workload

and as has continued to be the case-

audio was flawlwess

thnx BOB!!

mh
iem audio

[DominicPerry]

That's cool mh, good performance from an older chipset (P965). And I know that your ambient temperature might be a lot higher than in the cloudy cold UK here, but a CPU temp of 40 degrees is not high.
Thanks for detailing your rig.

Dominic

[Bob L]

Its fun to hear that SAC is starting to get out there into the real world of live audio gigs... hopefully it will soon become a common place thing to see SAC everywhere there is live audio and microphones happening. :)

Bob L

[mycorn]

i got the MB for the 2 2.2PCI slots
and the onboard video

finding a newer one without it being nvidia and still getting 2 old pci slots
became quite daunting [i'v got 2 older RME cards]

of coarse having said that i'm sure you guys will post links to a dozen or so

and i was thinking i remembered "the old days"
of cpu's getting hot but to quote the accompanying intel manual
"an internal ambiant tempature at or below 38C is required."

i can only assume that the asus software is getting it's info
from the bios that's getting it from inside the cpu?

mike

[DominicPerry]

I think that's an ambient temperature inside the box - which will always be higher than air temperature outside the box. But the Intel E8400 processor itself has a spec of 72.4 degrees C max according to this pdf
http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/318732.pdf

Advice elsewhere on forums seems to agree that exceeding 60 degrees C is best avoided.

Elsewhere I have found this quote, attributed to Intel:
"The maximum operating temperature of the Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor E8400 is 61.4 degrees Celsius. As long as the processor is operating under this temperature it is operating within specifications. We recommend setting any thermal alarms about three degrees below the maximum recommended temperature for the processor. We do not have a normal operating temperature for the processor as this temperature will vary depending on the chassis and other hardware installed on the system as well as the actual load the software is placing on the processor. "

Dominic

[Angie]

Mike,
I also needed to accommodate two RME9652's. (I hadn't needed to upgrade my dual PIII for almost ten years thanks to SAWStudio!!) I didn't find a lot of options in MicroATX boards with two PCI slots and Firewire. After messing with an EVGA board that was DOA out of the box, I ended up with ASUS P5K-VM also. So far, I'm really happy with it.

Regarding Tiger Direct. No matter where a company is headquartered, if they have a warehouse in your state, you get charged sales tax. I used to live 10 miles from their warehouse in Illinois. You could order and pick it up there. They also had an outlet store which was cool.:D

I haven't really pushed it yet, so I can't comment completely on the heat issue. I'll pay closer attention to it in the next couple days.

[mycorn]

I think that's an ambient temperature inside the box - which will always be higher than air temperature outside the box. But the Intel E8400 processor itself has a spec of 72.4 degrees C max according to this pdf
http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/318732.pdf

Dominic

thnx for that

i feel much better

actually astounded
that it's running so cool


maybe i need another card...

krap
now i have to buy more mics

thanks a lot bob-

[i love my job]

mh

[mycorn]

Mike,
I ended up with ASUS P5K-VM also. So far, I'm really happy with it.

Regarding Tiger Direct. No matter where a company is headquartered, if they have a warehouse in your state, you get charged sales tax. I used to live 10 miles from their


i figured for $80 if it tanked completely i'd make it my mix machine/home desktop
and keep looking but tests and a gig seem good...

and i'd forgotten about tiger
but by the time i built the order and saw it i just hit
checkout and went to bed

...somebodies gotta keep the capitol rotunda lights on

[Jesse]

Very nice mate, i'm glad you have a great gig :)

Your CPU Temp it's fine, my E8500 it's between 38º-40º, maybe we just have to wait until summer to see what happen then, i hope nothing bad :D

[Bruce Callaway]

one ITN-
when i forced affinity for SAW/SAC on seperate cores
it went from basically an idle to almost 25%[and climbing] load on _both_ cores
and heat shot up till i reverted to unforced operation

with this setup it appears you'r better off letting it decide
what to do with the workload

and as has continued to be the case-
FWIW, I had the same experience with my dual core machines that is better performance by not setting the processor affinity. Bob's got that one under control :)

Congratulations on the build and the result, very satisfying I am sure.

[Bud Johnson]

I'll chime in!
Just got back from central Florida where I did sound and recorded a CD release party. It was in a theater that was condemned in the 50s but the citizens put the pressure on and it was leased to the local performing arts council for $1 a year. Seats 200 at tables! Sold out. The stage is about 40' wide and 50' deep!
I think the average age of the audience was around 68!
Show was fun.
A kids choir of 8, a 3 piece horn section, back up and lead singers, violinist, a percussionist and a 5 piece band.
18 tracks total, (not all were on at once) and 2 monitor mixes. 0 dropped buffers. 16% load.
The house kept looking at my setup that fed them a 2 track only, and asking "how much does that cost?"
The video guys (5 cameras including the house fixed frontal) kept wanting to know When I'd have it mixed so they could cut. I told them to send me a full length mpeg and cut away. I'd return the mpeg with mixes embedded.
Then they asked "how much does that stuff cost?"
Because of the size of the stage I used about 40 mic cables as the box that fed the PA was behind stage left. That was the only real PIA. Oh and having to drive 22 hours straight through back to Chicago through the snow storms in Indiana. (I had to be back Monday morning)
But I do love this SW!