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-   -   Getting Closer: Computer Build for video capturing (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-workflows/2826-closer-computer-build.html)

Kenneth M 01-24-2011 02:47 AM

Getting Closer: Computer Build for video capturing
 
Okay, I've been following your workflow very closely and am ready to build my computer. We've done some communicating here and there, but I'll go over my wants out of my project and the pieces of equipment I've picked up. That way you don't have to ask again. ;) My questions are listed at the end of this, just to make it easy for you. :)

A quick rehash of what I want to achieve:

1) I have many ex-rental VHS from the 80's in PAL and NTSC. Quality is varied from straight-to-burner apps, to serious video/audio restoration needed. Around 800 different ex-rentals is to be transferred.

2) After restoring, ripping audio/video and applying English audio to other language prints. Basic straight-forward audio editing on varied video sources, be it VHS, DVD or BD.

3) Both burning to dvd-r and storing in a secondary hard drive would like to be utilized.

4) Everything will be done on one specially built computer. This computer will be completely offline, briefly connected to the internet only to download the couple of programs needed that can only be found online. This computer will ONLY be used for this project. A secondary PC will be used to do artwork, sleeve scans and anything else that does not involve this project.

5) I do want to capture HD, but just analog, digital and HD. I don't plan on doing anything other than what I am describing. No other video/audio or photography... nothing outside of what I am describing.

The owned equipment worth mentioning:

JVC HR-S9700 (PAL)
Blaupunkt RTV-950EGC (PAL & same as Panny 1980)
Panasonic NV-HS960 (PAL & NTSC from UK w/ TBC and 3D DNR)
JVC SR-W5U (NTSC) x2
Mitsubishi HS-HD2000U (NTSC)

Sony SL-800ME Multi-system Beta

Other Hardware

Panasonic DMR-ES10
Elite Video BVP-4 PLUS x2
DataVideo TBC-4000
(Need Signvideo DR-1000)

That's it. That's everything that I own and where I am at this point.

Right now, where I stand, I can put $6,000 of damage to get the wheels rolling on my project. If I spend less... GREAT! But, given what I've already invested into the preceding equipment, you can see what kind of quality I am wanting to achieve.

That said, these are my thoughts...

I am thinking of doing an HP High-Performance PC built to our specs. It's quick, easy, warrantied and what you've personally done in the past. I also like the look and feel better about the quality of the product.

I have a brother in law that builds computers, develops websites and will do anything for me for free. He's built computers for our families before and they've been great. So while I like the easy and quick + look and piece of mind of an HP, I feel like I should mention him, because it is an option we have.

For a capture card, I am thinking AJA Kona LHe. It's $1,098.95. The positives is that it will work with Win7, does HD, analog and digital. I guess the only negative is it's price.

Okay... That's where I stand.

So here are my questions:

Exactly, given my situation, how would you configure a HP High-Performance PC, given my specific needs?

Having someone build the exact same computer can save money. But are there any other advantages? i.e. Are there better options that HP does not offer that we can include in a computer not built by HP? If there are... what would those options consist of?

On the capture card... To work with Win7, to capture HD, SD digital and analog... Besides just being a different brand... is there anything else that will significantly work better or significantly cost less?

-----------------------------------------------

Okay... that's it. :D Once we get the computer nailed down to the exact specs, I want to work with you on your workflow to figure out what software I need. Then I will be closer to capturing and encoding!!! :cool:

A donation will find its' way to you then. I know I'll be ready to buy a book of kin-nowledge once the first capture rears its' head. ;)

Thanks as always,

-Kenneth

lordsmurf 01-31-2011 06:50 AM

Quote:

5) I do want to capture HD, but just analog, digital and HD.
Do? -- Or don't? -- Was that a typo?
"analog, digital and HD" covers pretty much 100% of all non-film sources.

Try that again for me. I'm confused. :)

Quote:

I can put $6,000 of damage to get the wheels rolling on my project.
Wow..... that's nice. :eek:

Quote:

I am thinking of doing an HP High-Performance PC built to our specs. It's quick, easy, warrantied and what you've personally done in the past. I also like the look and feel better about the quality of the product.
I would agree. I'm typing this from an HP laptop. The desk behind me has two more HP systems on it. They make some good systems. (They also make some crappy ones, but not at the higher end price points.)

Quote:

I have a brother in law that builds computers, develops websites and will do anything for me for free. He's built computers for our families before and they've been great. So while I like the easy and quick + look and piece of mind of an HP, I feel like I should mention him, because it is an option we have.
That works, too. Remember that desk behind me? Well, there's three homemade systems under it. (They're all KVM'd.) Each of those work brilliantly, because we put them together with care, using good parts, and clean software installs.

Quote:

For a capture card, I am thinking AJA Kona LHe. It's $1,098.95.
I know this card performs well. What I don't know, however, are its specific quirks, as I've not had the privilege of using one personally, or for a sustained period of time.

Quote:

Having someone build the exact same computer can save money. But are there any other advantages? i.e. Are there better options that HP does not offer that we can include in a computer not built by HP? If there are... what would those options consist of?
To some degree, it comes down to preference. There are really just two key areas to consider:

(1) HP installs tons of useless crap in Windows, so you'll want to "de-crapify" it. Uninstall all the trials, etc. Lots of useless games, Microsoft Office demos, etc. A homemade computer won't have anything other than what installs from the Windows disc.

(2) CPU, RAM, hard drive -- a "built" system may put more monies into more or more powerful hardware. However, the HP setup is more likely to have used parts that are known to work well together. There's nothing more aggravating that a computer that throws fits because the motherboard doesn't like the CPU, or because the RAM overheats in this particular motherboard -- all sorts of random possible errors from homemades. Although admittedly, that's more often a problem from budget boards that are heavily using AMD and VIA components, instead of the pricier all-Intel setups.

Quote:

is there anything else that will significantly work better or significantly cost less?
For SD sources, I really like ATI 600 external cards, for capturing MPEG and/or AVI to a Windows Vista or Windows 7 system.

For HD work, those Blackmagic Designs cards are popular.
Matrox cards have always been nice, too.
But to date, I've not had need/budget to get any of those. So while I've seen results, known users that have them, I'm not fully aware of all their quirks, being that I don't own one currently. (As I tease one of my friends that always asks me iPad questions -- if you want to get me one, I'll sure as heck learn it inside and out and be your personal tech!)

Quote:

A donation will find its' way to you then. I know I'll be ready to buy a book of kin-nowledge once the first capture rears its' head.
And we'll most assuredly appreciate it, and put it to good use. Maybe a "HD capture card fund" -- maybe.

If you need anything else, just ask. :cool:



... in the meantime, I'll see if I can figure out why the alert failed to go through on this post. You spend all kinds of time working on software, and then it randomly just doesn't work sometimes. Figures, right? ....

Kenneth M 02-01-2011 02:29 PM

Hey. Going with homemade. I don't want problems from getting rid of the crap from an hp setup, etc. Also, I need to run two operating systems because some of the software was never updated for Win7. Then combined with needing 6tb of storage... Yeah, I'm going with homemade.

Quote:

Do? -- Or don't? -- Was that a typo?
"analog, digital and HD" covers pretty much 100% of all non-film sources.

Try that again for me. I'm confused.
I was just describing the desire to be able to do HD along with SD. It was a fairly redundant statement. Sorry for being confusing.


Here's my workflow so far:

Operating system:

- Win7
- Windows XP

Hardware:
- Server tower
- 6 - 1 Tera hard drives
- Kona LHe video card

For video software:
- AJA machina comes free with the Kona card
- Adobe Premiere
- TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA) for stubborn or quickie authoring
- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters
- Procoder (not Express) for high quality MPEG encoding/NLE export
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring
- SoundForge for audio editing
- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing


Ideas? Suggestions?

admin 02-02-2011 04:49 AM

Quote:

TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA) for stubborn or quickie authoring
These days, it's known as TMPGEnc Authoring Works. TDA was v1-v3, TAW is v4+. So just an update to that info. I know you've copied/pasted from another page on the site -- which also needs some updates here soon.

Quote:

TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters
Useful, and for only $37, worth buying. But VirtualDub + Avisynth may also serve some of this functionality, as it's come a long way in the past 5 years (via new plugins) since that guide was originally written and TMPGEnc somewhat ruled part of that landscape.

Quote:

Procoder (not Express) for high quality MPEG encoding/NLE export
Adobe Premiere CS3-CS5 come with the MainConcept SDK encoder, which is better than Procoder. And then I'd opt for MainConcept Reference, as a standalone app, before I'd opt for Procoder.

Quote:

Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring
SoundForge for audio editing
Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing
Yes, yes, and yes. All good to have.

Quote:

Here's my workflow so far:
Operating system:
- Win7
- Windows XP

Hardware:
- Server tower
- 6 - 1 Tera hard drives
- Kona LHe video card

For video software:
- AJA machina comes free with the Kona card
- Adobe Premiere
All good stuff.
I'd say my preference is for Vista over Win7, but in this case WIn7 is probably wiser choice.

I also want to add this -- DO NOT USE RAID-0 on the hard drives. Leave them as plain old SATA.
Only use RAID-1 (mirroring) if you want a RAID.

Kenneth M 02-02-2011 12:25 PM

Okay, how does this look:

For video software:
- AJA Machina (comes with AJA Kona Video Capture Card)
- Adobe Premiere CS3-CS5
- TMPGEnc DVD Authoring Works (TAW) for stubborn or quickie authoring $50
- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters $50
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring $300
- SoundForge for audio editing $400
- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing $70

admin 02-11-2011 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenneth M (Post 14454)
Okay, how does this look:
For video software:
- AJA Machina (comes with AJA Kona Video Capture Card)
- Adobe Premiere CS3-CS5
- TMPGEnc DVD Authoring Works (TAW) for stubborn or quickie authoring $50
- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters $50
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring $300
- SoundForge for audio editing $400
- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing $70

I've been doing some research on that Aja card + software, to see if there's anything quirky or odd with it. Aside from that, all of the other software looks to be perfect for a DVD workflow. I've been working on a slightly longer response for you, it's just not quite finished yet. I need several more days for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenneth M (Post 14533)
..... /removed

You've not been abandoned. :(

Kenneth M 02-13-2011 02:19 PM

Yeah, but I'm getting frustrated because I'm ready to start the build. Feel free to edit that post if you want....

Anyway, here's an up-to-date summary of what I'm thinking atm:

Hardware

- Intel i7-870 Quad Core Processor (289.00)
- Patriot Viper II Sector 7 12GB Desktop Memory (164.99)
- Intel X25-M 2.5" 160GB SATA II SSD (boot drive) (399.99)
- Win7 Ultimate 64-Bit for system builders (179.99)
- Intel Motherboard (unsure which one, though)
- Full tower case (about $200)
- HT | Omega Clara Halo 24-bit Sound Card (199.99)
- MSI N460GTX Cyclone Video Card (184.99)
- AJA Kona LHe Video Capture Card (PCIe) (650.00 used) purchased
- Lite On SATA DVD Burner (25.00)x2
- Sony BWU-500S BD Burner (159.99)
- 4 1TB SATA hhds (undecided) (about 75.00x4)
- Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750w PSU (109.99)

Software

- AJA Machina (comes with AJA Kona Video Capture Card)
- Adobe Premiere CS3-CS5
- TMPGEnc DVD Authoring Works (TAW) for stubborn or quickie authoring $50
- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters $50
- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring $300
- SoundForge for audio editing $400
- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing $70
- Neat Video for video restoration $100


Interestingly, the AJA Kona site recommends RAID for using the LHe card I purchased. I wonder if I could avoid that...

Anyway, thoughts? Suggestions?

admin 02-13-2011 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenneth M (Post 14571)
Hardware
- AJA Kona LHe Video Capture Card (PCIe) (650.00 used) purchased
Software
- AJA Machina (comes with AJA Kona Video Capture Card)

All along, this has been my source of confusion. Are you sure that this specific model of Aja Kona -- the LHe -- works with the Machina software? Because I'm not seeing any mention of that online, in various official documentation.

I see if mentioned on this page: http://www.aja.com/products/kona/konalhe/pc.php
... but that's it.
See the attached PDFs, if you don't have copies already.

The info isn't in the attached PDF docs, one for the LHe, and another for KONA PC. The PC manual discusses the LHi, 3G and LSe -- but not the LHe. The LHe is not a bad card -- it's excellent for SD specs, and the HD specs are alright. (If I wanted to buy a Kona, I'd probably look at the ones that do HDMI and upscaling from SD.)

My other concern was Windows 7 -- which I don't see anything for or against, and that almost makes me a bit nervous, too. I've seen mention of the other cards working fine with Windows 7, but not this specific one. (Of course, not seen anything to suggest it will NOT work well, either.)

$650 was definitely a good price for it! :cool:

Quote:

- Lite On SATA DVD Burner (25.00)x2
- Sony BWU-500S BD Burner (159.99)
You might want to read this: The best and worst DVD burners - DVD Burner Reviews for 2011
I'd opt for Pioneer, Sony Optiarc, or Samsung for DVD burners.
And then my preference for Blu-ray lies with Pioneer, too, although I'm not biased for or against Sony. I just don't know enough about how that specific model is performing, aside from reading online to see what others are saying. (At very least, I can generally separate quality +/- comments from the user-error comments.)

Quote:

Interestingly, the AJA Kona site recommends RAID for using the LHe card I purchased. I wonder if I could avoid that...
That's probably for capturing HD material at HD res, or for any SDI interface captures. If you do opt for RAID-0 use, only do it with capturing drives -- not drives where software, the OS (Windows), or any other kind of data is stored. And then prepare yourself, and resign to the fact, that someday the RAID-0 drives will pretty much implode on themselves and have to be replaced, with all data lost. If these are just capturing drives (i.e., temp storage), then it's really not a huge issue. Well, unless you tend to leave a lot of projects unfinished, and would lose months of captures from a single crash. Don't be that guy.

Quote:

- Ulead DVD Workshop 2 for semi-advanced authoring $300
This is only $11 on clearance from B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...3167/KBID/4166
Buy it before it goes out stock. Buy it now. Today.
I've yet to make a guide for it, but to be brief, you run it in the XP VM that comes with Win7. And it works perfectly. (You can run it in Win7, in XP compatibility mode, but it will lack audio preview. For me, that's not a big issue, but it is to some users.)

Quote:

- TMPGEnc DVD Authoring Works (TAW) for stubborn or quickie authoring $50
This actually went up to $100 about a year ago. Buy it directly from TMPGEnc < use this link.

Quote:

- TMPGEnc Plus for encoding with filters $50
This is now $37. Again, buy it directly from TMPGEnc < use this link.

Quote:

- Adobe Premiere CS3-CS5
- SoundForge for audio editing $400
While it's tempting to buy the download version directly from Adobe or Sony, you'll find the price is generally best from Amazon -- and best of all, it's the boxed version. You get a disc and some documentation. While I have nothing against downloaded version of software, especially freeware and never-physical releases, I get a bit queasy even thinking about losing my only copy of a $500 program, and having to deal with a likely-uncaring support desk to get another download. (Often times, downloads have expiration dates. And then they tend to disappear entirely when the next version comes out.) While it's always best to rip ISO copies of installer CDs/DVDs, as backups to a hard drive, I don't have to be as much of a backup Nazi when my main copy is on discs.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 - $620 @ Amazon -- vs. $799 at Adobe.com
Sony Sound Forge Pro 10 - $325 @ Amazon -- vs $375 at SonyCreativeSoftware.com
There is no difference between the Amazon copies vs the download copies. If anything, the Amazon copies are better, for the reasons listed above (i.e., physical discs, etc).

WARNING -- BUY THESE NOW!! -- LIMITED STOCK ON Premiere + SF Pro 10

Note: I'm not a fan of "do it now or else" but there's a good chance you'll miss out on these savings if you wait too long. I've seen it happen before. There was a thread here back in December, where I suggested a person get a certain laptop before it was gone. And you know what? He got the last one. And you know what else? There hasn't been another one at that store in two months.

Quote:

- Womble MPEG-VCR for MPEG editing $70
Buy this directly from Womble, via the Digital River Element5 share*it service they use: http://esd.element5.com/product.html...teid=200090279
It's now $99 -- the price increased several times into 2008-2010.
Easily the best MPEG editor software. I've been using it to edit HD MPEG-2 files this week, and it's just as good at HD as it was with SD for DVD. Hard to beat that feature set.

..... and concerning a lot of the other basic computer hardware (RAM, etc), that all looked fine that I could see.
I would only add that it would be great if you used our affiliate links, should you happen to be buying from a place like Amazon, Newegg, Geeks or otherwise: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/show...-com-1528.html -- Prices for you are the same, but the store shares a tiny sliver of their profits, which helps to fund this site.

You may want to check Aja documentation, too, to see if there are any suggested motherboards, or brands of boards, for the Kona cards. In general, however, Intel boards are some of the best ones. Third-party brands change over time. A few years ago, Asus, Asrock and MSI were popular. In the past year, however, I see a lot of negative opinions. I know I've had my fair share of good and bad (mostly bad) non-Intel boards. Motherboards for AMD chipsets are the worst, but you won't have to worry about that one, by going with an i7 setup. I use some newer Xeon webservers, which are close to i7 CPUs, and they're quite nice.


And I think that's really all that I have at the moment. :)

admin 02-13-2011 10:48 PM

2 Attachment(s)
Here is that pair of PDFs. :o

Kenneth M 02-14-2011 11:56 AM

AJA Kona

Here you go, it's a little difficult to find ;) :

http://www.aja.com/support/kona-pc/kona-pc-lhe-lh.php

I have no need for capturing hd, really. But I wanted to make sure that the Kona software was compatible with hd. The only hd work that I could see me doing is ripping a bd, editing in an English audio track from another source, and then burning on bd. Nothing more than that, really. I was going to go with just the sd card and then this one popped up on ebay, used for one documentary project and came with the breakout box ~Link~. I've no clue as to whether or not I'll need it, but it will look cool with my other equipment, at least. :D As long as the card works, we'll be in good shape. ;)

I spoke with a sales guy from Kona for a while and he told me that the LHi does upscale, but when probed, admitted that I could get the same result from decent upscaling software. Then he mentioned an issue about it auto changing the screen format when upscaling too. So I decided to pass on that. The better card than the LHi, the 3G, won't capture analog. So just a little extra info there. ;)

Optical Burners

Thanks for that!!! :)

Raid Crashing

Yikes! Okay. I think I'm saving my projects to external hhds. Makes me think that this is quite the oxymoron --> Link

Anyway, yes I don't have a problem doing a RAID setup now that I've just realized this if it'll speed things up nicely.

Ulead DVD Workshop 2

Has anyone told you lately that they love you? :cool: Thank you much. :)

TMPGEnc DVD Authoring Works

I'll get this and TMPGEnc Plus later. I don't have the computer built yet, so I might wait until then or get this and have the copy on cd just shipped to me. Decisions decisions...

Adobe Premier & Sound Forge

Not to rain on your parade, or anything, but check this site out: Link ... They even have Sound Forge 10 Pro for $99.00. You just can't beat 'em! All you need is... to know somebody with a valid school i.d.! :D

My brother in law that I'm building the rig with has Adobe 5 Master Collection and while I don't really want to put stuff in this computer that I won't use, it's still an option that could save an incredible amount of money.

Womble

Noted! Thank you! :)

-----------------------------------

I will definitely use your links so that you get your 2% from my purchases, as most will be from newegg. :)

And THANK YOU for all your help!!!!! :)

admin 02-14-2011 02:05 PM

Quote:

Makes me think that this is quite the oxymoron
Not really.
RAID = redundant array of independent discs. There are quite a few configurations of RAID available, such as RAID 1 mirroring, or RAID 0+1, RAID 5, RAID 10, etc. There's a nice chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID. RAID 0 is two discs sharing data, so there's no redundancy, so to even call it a "RAID" is misleading. However, that's the most common RAID suggested.

Note the specs of that Buffalo box: RAID 0, 5, 10
Maybe a wee bit of overkill, but that would be a good box to have under certain scenarios. I use an OWC RAID-1 Firewire eSATA external, 2TB (2x2TB) for active projects. A RAID-10 would give the "0" performance but the "1" mirror.

RAID was made with SCSI discs in mind -- not SATA. If you want RAID, and you want to use SATA interface, use SAS drives (SCSI over SATA). The server running this very site is SAS. RAID is mostly used for servers, not workstations -- even the advanced ones.

Quote:

Has anyone told you lately that they love you?
Well, it is February 14, after all. :p

Quote:

All you need is... to know somebody with a valid school i.d.!
True. But it can be a mess, too, as the software will be in this other person's name and not yours. You can't claim expenses for taxes, etc. It can also be hard to upgrade, get support, etc. I generally only suggest academic licensing if you're a student, a teacher, or have somebody in the immediate family that is either of those.

Quote:

My brother in law that I'm building the rig with has Adobe 5 Master Collection and while I don't really want to put stuff in this computer that I won't use, it's still an option that could save an incredible amount of money.
Long-term, you'll eventually use Premiere and/or Photoshop. The beauty of Premiere is you get the MainConcept Encoder for H.264 and MPEG-2. Otherwise you'll have to buy the separate Reference program.


Also...

Another tool commonly used here is Goldwave, which is all of about $40-50 from the official site.
Most other things worth discussing are freeware: ImgBurn, VirtualDub, Avisynth, HuffYUV codecs, etc

I think that's all I have for now. :)

Kenneth M 02-14-2011 03:25 PM

RAID

Thank you for that info, and the suggestion on the SAS drives. Good stuff. :)

Student software

Yeah, I'm coming to that conclusion too. It seems like a hassle although I already got a girl to tell me she'd be happy to do it. It's just this stuff is so ridiculously expensive!

I did do some more research on the company I provided that link to, and they have like 25% neg feedback. So that's a no-go, for sure. I'm just hoping I can find this cheaper than the going rate. Right now I'm locked in to a snipe for Sound Forge brand new and starting at $5.00. Ends on Sunday night, so I'm hoping that will cut the cost of software expenditure a little bit and end at around a couple hundo...

Adobe Master

Thx for the insight.

Freeware

I'll be sure to bring that up once we get the computer on track.

----------------------------------------------

Thanks again for your help. I'm sure I'll have some questions later this week just before I start emptying the wallet. But nothing big. I'm glad everything looks decent at this point and my confidence is building. :D

Moochas grassyass! :p

lordsmurf 02-21-2011 03:52 AM

Quote:

Right now I'm locked in to a snipe for Sound Forge brand new and starting at $5.00. Ends on Sunday night,
Did you get it?

The only concern about buying software used on eBay is that many times it's fake -- and this means it cannot be upgraded or registered. Heck, it might not even install! So watch for that. A lot of the pro software is already a nuisance to use, because of "phone home" type anti-piracy. And even then, some pros have resorted to hacking their own legitimately-bought software because they don't want their machines online, or because the software simply won't cooperate as it should.

Sounds like a good system being built here.

Kenneth M 02-21-2011 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf (Post 14638)
Did you get it?

Yes! $178.50 including UPS shipping! :D

Thankfully it is new software being auctioned for charity. Never been opened, etc. The seller has positive feedback for "TEC" charity auctions on $3,000 guitars, so I've no doubt to their authenticity.

Also, thanks for the "good system" comment. :)


------------------------------------------


This is the final draft that I ordered last week (using yer vendor linkage).

Case: Corsair Graphite CC600T
Power Supply: Zalman 1000-HP Plus
CPU: Intel Quad Core i7-950
CPU Cooling: Zalman 120mm Low Noise CPU cooler
Motherboard: Intel Gigabyte
OS: Win7
OS drive: Intel X-25 120GB SSD
Hard Drives: Western Digital 2TB 7200RPM SATA (x2)
Memory: 12GB Patriot (3x4GB) Viper II Sector 7
Memory Cooling: Evercool Heatsinks
Sound Card: HT | Omega Claro Halo
Video Card: MSI N460GTX Cyclone 1GB
Optics 1: Pioneer DVR-118LBK
Optics 2: Pioneer 12x BD-R
Speakers: Harman Kardon GLA-55

Just have to put it together and the fun can begin!!! :cool:

admin 03-09-2011 11:08 AM

Looking over your list again ... Zalman (as far as I'm concerned) easily makes the best cooling products around. That was a good choice to cool your system with Zalman gear. On top of cooling, they also tend to be very, very quiet. Most of the systems here are stocked with Zalman fans, and laptops use Zalman aluminum pads.

Again, good choice. :)

NJRoadfan 03-09-2011 02:39 PM

You'd think that with Sandy Bridge being released, the price of the older X58 boards and i7 CPUs would drop a little bit.... nope.


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