Custom Built DAW - Step By Step How To Build

Step by Step how to build this Digital Audio Workstation January 2012 - By Daryl Carson

Custom Built DAW

6 core AMD Processor
16 Gig RAM
2 terabyte hard drive
DVD writer
Wireless Network
Professional Audio/MIDI card
Windows 7 64 bit
Sonar 8.5 Producer

Product Description
ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard Item #: N82E16813131646
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBK6DGR - OEM Item #: N82E16819106008
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 Item #: N82E16820145324
HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723020BLA642 (0f12115) 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822145473
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM Item #: N82E16832116992
Thermaltake TR2 TRX-650M 650W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 Modular Active PFC Power Supply Item #: N82E16817153116
Scythe SCNJ-3100 120mm Ninja 3 Rev. B CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835185173
ASUS 24X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-24B3LT LightScribe Support - OEM Item #: N82E16827135221
COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Item #: N82E16811119216
Acer S230HLAbii Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor Item #: N82E16824009315
Microsoft 5SH-00001 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Desktop 800 for BusinessItem #: N82E16823109236
ASUS PCE-N15 PCI Express 300/300Mbps Transfer/Receive Rate Wireless Adapter Item #: N82E16833320074
E-MU 0404 PCIe Digital Audio System Item #: 0404 PCIe

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Closed Caption:

hi today we're going to put together a
computer this is going to be a digital
audio workstation it will have windows
seven and it's going to be running sonar
8.5 producer we wanted to be able to
handle all the audio and MIDI inputs
with very low latency and large-capacity
therefore we're going to use a
top-of-the-line six core processor we're
going to put eight gigs of ram in it and
we'll have a single two terabyte is a
SATA too hard drive this should easily
handle the workload and one of the
defining factors of this aside from
power is that we needed to be very quiet
so we have chosen a very large diameter
heatsink for the processor and similarly
we have chosen a power supply with
special consideration of the noise these
ratings are available as you choose them
and it helps a lot
now the other particulars of this our
digital audio system card this is
intended to have an external mixer so we
really only need the two channels input
but we do also require in this
application
mitting best choice at this point is the
EU 04 04 we're going to put this
together and we'll show you how it all
comes together it's actually very simple
you do with very simple tools all we're
going to use today are screwdrivers some
pliers and possibly some clothes to help
whole step out of the way as we assemble
that's really
all you need ok so let's get started the
first step that we're going to do is
place the cpu and heatsink on the
motherboard we're doing that in this
order in this case because of the size
of the heatsink this will actually be
much easier to mount when it's outside
of the system for we mount it so we're
going to have the motherboard the
processor and we're not going to use the
heatsink and fan that comes with it
we're going to use a very large one that
will have a low speed fan large diameter
which is going to be very important to
keep it quiet in order to do that is
very large is large enough to expel all
the heat very quietly yet it still fits
inside the case as we have many of the
general-purpose heatsinks that fits a
number of processors this has some
hardware associated with it will choose
the pieces that will actually work with
an am3 socket processor
in this case we're actually going to use
these pieces for the am3 socket the
other pieces which are for the LGA the
Intel sockets we're not going to use we
will use the same backplate and we're
going to mount these on the front right
here on the heatsink
this is our mother board this fits the
socket am3 this has on it the clip to
handle the cooler cpu cooler which is
the stock item specified by md we are
going to be adding this much larger
cooler and it will use a different
backing plate so we're going to remove
the existing clip and backing plate with
these four screws this is the stock
backing plate and clip we will be
replacing it with this backing plate
which will fit to these points on the
seasoning
ok now we're assembling this new backing
plate to the motherboard very important
as the orientation we have the rubber
spacers that are attached to this
backing plate to the board you have to
be careful with that we're going to put
the screws in from the bottom and we're
going to put these rubber washers on it
here these are for insulation but they
also serve to hold these screws in place
as we're assembling the assembly very
important very important is to Center
these after you get the screws in make
sure it is all centered so that it will
sit and the screws will not touch the
sides of the holes
ok now we're going to mount the cpu onto
the motherboard now to do this properly
you really should have a static strap I
don't have my handy so I am
first off not wearing any synthetic
clothing that can cause static i am in a
good humidified area and I'm also
keeping contact
act with the metal shielding parts of
this motherboard processor mounts very
simply you'll notice that it has a 1
array of many pins on the bottle bed of
nails right these are all gold plated
pins now it's very important the
orientation of this you'll notice on
this processor of the four corners
this one has a little triangle on the
corner
this is the index for pin one on the
motherboard if you look one of the
corners will also have this marked so
the orientation will be this triangle to
this triangle all zero insertion force
sockets have a lever you lift the lever
very carefully set the processor down
and let it nestled in it should go in
with no force if it sits sideways or
cock a little bit
don't force it lift it back up look at
the pins make sure it sits flat when
you're sure it sits flat close the lever
latch it in place now it's securely in
the socket now we're going to mount the
heatsink to the cpu now in doing that is
extremely important that we have a very
good clean solid thermal connection the
way we do that is with thermal compound
and this is a pace we're going to put on
very thin layer on the cpu and as the
heatsink sets on to it it will flow out
cover all the surface area we don't want
a lot of good running over the size but
you want to cover
the whole thing with no bowls and that
will conduct the maximum amount of heat
from the cpu to the heatsink and that
will allow you to run cooler which will
let you run faster and will prolong the
life of your processor to help make sure
that i have a very good thermal
connection and it's clean I'm actually
going to play off the processor surface
with rubbing alcohol and i'm also going
to clean off this surface and it's very
clean with rubbing alcohol now whatever
you're using for this be sure that there
are no fibers left q-tips maybe not the
best thing if you get the small sponges
that are made for this they do an
excellent job
ok now we're going to apply the heat
sink compound to this now I don't have
any special pattern or formula but you
only need a small amount and what you do
put on make sure you don't put it like
in a circle that's going to cause areas
where bubbles can form an air can be
trapped
we're going to want all the air to be
displaced from this as we put this on
I'm actually putting on a rather large
amount i am anticipating this to be
losing out from the side will wipe that
up as we notice it
i'm going to set this down onto the
screws and then i'm going to slide this
out so I can tighten each screw just a
little bit and we're going to slowly
draw this down onto the cpu and
alright we have all the screws started
now what we're going to do is we're
going to slowly tighten each one by a
little bit we can draw it down onto it
and i'm going to do alternating screws
to keep it flat as it comes down you
should be able to see as you draw this
down the heat sink compound coming out
that then grayline evenly around all
edges of the cpu cooler interface
ok now we're going to add their memory
you don't always have to add the memory
now but we're going to put it in before
we mount the board in the case because
given the size of this heat sink it kind
of occludes access to these from the
outside especially if we have other
cables around here notice that we will
have the power cable coming right here
that assembly will block access to this
so we're going to put the memory and
before we mount the motherboard
ok now we're going to insert the memory
we have four sticks
this is 4 gigabytes per stick it was
sold as a gigabytes and in pairs of two
we're going to insert them in the four
slots here they're all for the same so
there's really no special order needed
but we are going to do this because it's
harder to get to this area of the
motherboard once were mounted in the
case
I'm careful not to touch the connectors
also notice it's very important which
way it goes in it all goes in one
direction will not go in this way it
must go in this way to see this key
right here and right here is the wall
benefits too
now as you put this in
you rock it just a little bit and go all
the way in and the latches will now come
up and clip into place and it will hold
it securely in place that's very
important you can see as this goes in
does it push down the latches come up
now
all four are mounted in and we're ready
to assemble the motherboard into the
main cabinet
this is the case that we're going to
mount the computer inside this is a very
good case this is the the cooler master
690 series it has connections on the top
front for esata USB and audio connectors
now for our purposes will be using the
real audio connectors on the EMU board
but for headset in general talking you
can use these all right we're going to
actually remove both sides so we have
access to it this side actually has the
open open side of the motherboard where
then we mounted in the other side will
actually give us access to the mounting
points for the cpu bolt and the
motherboard itself
alright you remove the screws from the
back and then the panel's slide back to
disengage and then you come away you'll
notice that there are tabs and a ridge
here for mounting each of the side this
is the backside of the motherboard will
have access to the back panel
connections the underside of the
motherboard and we can also route cables
to the various drives that we're going
to mount in the system
this side is the business end that you
open most often this is the side that
will open from time to time if we want
to add or change any cards and also if
we're going to do any cleaning screen to
help filter the air on the bottom of the
cabinet so here that comes up from
underneath say from the carpeting or the
floor will not include all the dust
coming into the system now we're going
to mount the power supply in the case
this case has a bottom mount power
supply position
this is the power supply that we're
going to use this is a 601 so I'm sorry
651 and it will mount right in the
bottom this is on the outside and on
this here the large fan is on the bottom
and it will draw air through the bottom
vent on the on the case and then exhaust
through the back panel
ok
now to mount the motherboard we need to
have the brass standoffs located and
screwed into the bottom panel after that
then we'll mount the motherboard
directly onto them before we mount the
motherboard we have to have this cover
in place
this covers these connectors and
provides important shielding and fits
into the rectangle in the case
ok
ok
cover into the slot then the motherboard
will slide over and we'll sit right on
the standoffs and even putting the
screws
ok now we're going to attach the
heatsink fan to the heatsink this goes
on with the bail wire arrangement click
on one side and put the bail wire on the
other side and the motherboard it again
and then connect the fan to the
motherboard with this connector
this diagram on the motherboard shows
where the to plug in the thing this fan
also includes control so that when you
need to be very low to control the noise
you can turn it down and then at times
if you were going to be doing
overclocking or anything that required a
lot of airflow you can turn it up this
connector this control we're going to
mount on the back panel the other fans
didn't have it
that's a very nice feature to have now
we'll plug in the power
be sure you check the orientation of the
connector before you plug it in there
are three connectors that will go on to
this motherboard the main power support
it underneath as you push it in support
the board
ok now we have the power supply
connected to the motherboard in these
two locations and we want to dress the
cables away from all the other parts to
aid in servicing it and in cooling so be
sure to tie off and restrain all the
cables i did reposition the fan to make
more room inside for the expansion cards
but first we're going to install the
drives we have two drives that we're
going to install into this we have an
optical drive this is a DVD writer will
insert that in the front and also a hard
drive that will mount inside to install
the external invisible drive we're going
to pop off of the cover now this comes
off quite easily on the front which is
also why i don't recommend carrying like
this because this cover will come off
very easily in this case for this case
we can't really use the top slot because
there's some cabling
down that's the design of this case
we'll use the second slot that this is a
nice feature where you can flip this to
disengage the catches this moves the
holding pens back knowing is simply
slide in the drive
look the lever back and the pins fall in
place and it's held in to make room for
this to stick out i'm going to push this
tab back and pop out this piece and now
i can mount the front panel now we're
going to mount too hard drive again in
this case we have a very nice holder for
the hard drive going to take the hard
drive out of its bag
we've kept it in here until now to keep
it safe to keep your dry and this drive
this is a two terabyte hard drive and we
are going to put it in this holder now
this is kind of spring and so the pins
here engage the screw holes have been
this out this out its captivated by
these pins now and now we slide it in
and engage the latch from this side now
we have the connectors exposed for
connecting the hard drive will route the
cables from here through our holes and
onto the motherboard
ok now we're ready to connect the power
for the drives that will come from the
back of the power supply will route the
cabling up to the back of the DVD drive
and through here to the back of the hard
drive right now we're going to install
the add-in cards that we have for this
computer there's two cards that we have
that we're going to install one is the
side the soundcard this goes in a x1
slot this sound card is as a
professional sound card has very good
sound quality isolation and it has midi
we're also going to install a wireless
network card
ok now that we have the drives connected
and powered we're going to make the
connections to all the front panel
controls here this has power switch the
reset switch it has ESET of the audio
and USB and in addition this particular
one has an additional slot for sliding
in a hard drive another ESET drive so
we're going to connect those two the
motherboard the smaller cables which are
for the audio and the leds and the power
switch will assemble to these headers
from these headers will plug directly
onto the motherboard
and now this header as its assembled the
plug directly onto the motherboard right
here and now we have all the cables
connected everything is powered and
we've dressed the cables to the side as
much as feasible to give maximum airflow
and access to all the pieces that
completes the physical build of the
system and the rest as they say this
software