# Media PC Upgrade



## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Just sharing a view of my quick Media PC upgrade, long procrastinated and overdue!

1. Installed a USB 3.0 adapter card from Anker. The card's power connector (right edge of the photo) and supplied power cable make sure that full USB 3.0 power capability is available on all four ports. A PCI Express slot is required, one of the short variety for this small card. Driver software came on a mini-CD. Installed the card first, then started up the driver CD, installed drivers, then rebooted - Done!

The small four-port card is just above the video card, in this case a fanless model for reliability, which gets cooling from another fan that blows down on it, see below. The 3-conductor cable from the motherboard goes to a system fan.

 


2. A SSD (Solid State Drive) was added for the system C: drive. Not a huge one, just an inexpensive Kingston SSDNOW300 120 GB drive. There are far faster ones out there, but since it is a SATA3 drive in a SATA2 system, the system will be limiting access speed, and the main thing was just to get a SSD in there. Under those conditions, almost any brand or model would have given about the same performance improvement.

The upgrade kit I bought included Apricorn EZ Gig IV Cloning Software version 4.1.3 on CD.

I uninstalled a few unneeded software packages, ran CClean, rebooted, plugged in the USB 3.0 cloning adapter (part of an SSD conversion Kit from SanDisk) with the Kingston SSD hanging on the end, started up the EZ Gig software, followed the instructions, and was done in less than half an hour with the cloning.

The little SSD is held in place by only one screw, no big deal since the PC lies on its side all the time anyway. The SSD is hard to see in the dark, the right-most drive in this photo.

 


Here is a view of the innards of the Media PC just before closing it up. Power supply is a super-quiet Nexus model. All fans are by Noctua, also super-quiet. Even with an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T processor at 2.81 GHz and 8 GB of DDR2 RAM (all 5-year-old technology), core temps never get above the upper 30°C range. The fan pointing down just lies there, cooling video card and board chipset.

 


The two Big PCs in my life, Tower01 (Media Server PC, tan) and Tower02 (Music Production PC, black). Both lie on their sides for instant access. I DETEST having to pull one out to get into it, it is well worth it to me to take up the space to have them lying on their sides and easily accessible. Nexus power supplies and Noctua fans throughout. The two motherboards are identical, part of a redundancy strategy. Tower02 has a Phenom II X6 1100T 3.31 GHz processor with 16 GB of RAM, core temps rarely get above 40°C. Overclocking is always an option if I need a speed boost, but I like to see those icy cool core temp numbers and have never come near maxing out either tower in terms of speed.

 


SPL readings with the central AC and the refrigerator at the top of the basement stairs turned off (hopefully I remember to turn it back on each time after measurements or recording or whatever - the WAF for thawed ice cream and meat is extremely low!). I can barely hear them, SPL from 3 feet away is 38 dB-A and 46 db-C, not stellar, but not bad, either.

 


Bootup time (Windows 7 64-bit Premium) is lightning fast on the Media Server now. Widows also used to "pause" the music from time to time (once an hour or so, but extremely annoying anyway) while doing some kind of housecleaning, but not any more!

Me very happy!


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

What are you using in the way of an audio interface? On-board audio from MOBO, or a sound card?

I just dropped a Creative Labs Audigy RX 7.1 into my PC, and hoping to use TOSLINK Optical... still constructing in theater room, so I haven't gotten into the nitty-gritty of the electronics yet. Also installed a SSD and will transfer Win 7 64... so I'll have comparisons for boot times for you. Should be entertaining. 

Oh, and server chassis. Best decision I ever made.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

What are you using your PC for? I got out of building PCs a while back (just not worth the time and effort for what I want to do with it anymore), and now the only thing I have built is a NAS. I use i3NUCs for my Home Automation Server/Internet/PVR, and I recently went from i3NUCs for my media server to SolidRun CuBoxTV Quad Core 1ghz XMBC Media Center. The CuBoxTV is excellent for streaming my HDTV shows, Movies, and Music, and you can't beat the price (less than $120 shipped).


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## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

My PC is essentially replacing the TV in it's entirety. I have no cable TV service (by choice, not for lack of availability), so everything I do is streaming. I've never liked the interfaces on smart TVs and networked DVD/Blu-Ray players... I'd rather use a mouse and keyboard. Since I've been building PCs since before Newegg was a thing, it's familiar territory. Overkill for the application? Probably... but it's nice to be able to just have the internet on the projector screen instead of whatever apps a hardware manufacturer deems worthy. It also then acts as a media server for audio/video/photo and games when the mood strikes. 

So, it sounds like I'm doing the big expensive version of your CuBoxTV... but can your CuBoxTV put a 88" wide Excel spreadsheet on your living room wall? Sometimes that makes work a little bit more entertaining.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

DqMcClain said:


> What are you using in the way of an audio interface? On-board audio from MOBO, or a sound card?
> 
> I just dropped a Creative Labs Audigy RX 7.1 into my PC, and hoping to use TOSLINK Optical... still constructing in theater room, so I haven't gotten into the nitty-gritty of the electronics yet. Also installed a SSD and will transfer Win 7 64... so I'll have comparisons for boot times for you. Should be entertaining.
> 
> Oh, and server chassis. Best decision I ever made.


Media Server Audio Interface is an M-Audio Firewire 410. I have not decided for sure, but the analog audio output quality might not be as good as with some of my newer Audio Interfaces. I only use the analog output for local monitoring.

MOBO has onboard audio, including TOSLINK out and HDMI out, but uses the NVIDIA chipset. I have not been able to get that HDMI port to work with my Onkyo receiver and a display - if the display is on, no audio; if the display is off, audio is fine - not much of a solution.

But the AMD chipset works ok (except the latest software upgrade had a bug, had to back off the audio driver part of it to the previous version), I found out via the video cards in the other machine and my laptop, so I purchased a video card with AMD chipset and got the HDMI working at 5.1, which covers stereo just fine and sounds great. Also works fine with foobar2000 media player and Dirac Live full PC version running on the Server.

The Firewire 410 has TOSLINK out, which I use for direct to headphone amp or external DAC for 2-channel, if I want to mess with that. This seems to work great, no complaints. I have never tried the MOBO TOSLINK output.

Music Production PC Audio Interface is an M-Audio Fast Track C800. which I am very happy with. It has coax SPDIF out, which I run through a SPDIF-to-TOSLINK converter when needed. And the machine has an AMD-based video card for HDMI multichannel out to the AVR.

Server Chassis: Like I said, this is based on a 5-year old set of purchases that still seems to have a lot of life in it. Neither chassis is a server chassis, but both are larger and roomier and easy to work in if they are up on their sides. I will never put a PC on the floor again, they must be instantly accessible. Next time around I will be looking at a server chassis for added convenience, no doubt. Not sure how soon that will be. I have NO interest in "compact" or "space saving" chasses. Accessibility and convenience all the way, baby.

I will have to time the next reboot. It is a whole lot faster than with the old hard drive. Of course, a lot depends on what all is loaded.:bigsmile:



ellisr63 said:


> What are you using your PC for? I got out of building PCs a while back (just not worth the time and effort for what I want to do with it anymore), and now the only thing I have built is a NAS. I use i3NUCs for my Home Automation Server/Internet/PVR, and I recently went from i3NUCs for my media server to SolidRun CuBoxTV Quad Core 1ghz XMBC Media Center. The CuBoxTV is excellent for streaming my HDTV shows, Movies, and Music, and you can't beat the price (less than $120 shipped).


Sounds like the right thing for you. I am constantly experimenting with audio software that requires PC horsepower. Both towers and laptop - a G74SX gamer's laptop by Asus - have Reaper (DAW) and REW and foobar2000, plus a lot of audio plugins. The Music Production PC has more plugins, plus synthesizers, sample banks, etc. for music production. I am pretty much stuck in the PC realm for now, it appears.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

DqMcClain said:


> My PC is essentially replacing the TV in it's entirety. I have no cable TV service (by choice, not for lack of availability), so everything I do is streaming. I've never liked the interfaces on smart TVs and networked DVD/Blu-Ray players... I'd rather use a mouse and keyboard. Since I've been building PCs since before Newegg was a thing, it's familiar territory. Overkill for the application? Probably... but it's nice to be able to just have the internet on the projector screen instead of whatever apps a hardware manufacturer deems worthy. It also then acts as a media server for audio/video/photo and games when the mood strikes.
> 
> So, it sounds like I'm doing the big expensive version of your CuBoxTV... but can your CuBoxTV put a 88" wide Excel spreadsheet on your living room wall? Sometimes that makes work a little bit more entertaining.


I can do that with the i3NUCs which i run Windows 10 on. A little bit more expensive but still very small (about the size of a few CD cases stacked). I use the i3NUC on my 185" screen in the theater for all my internet, and movies.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

DqMcClain said:


> My PC is essentially replacing the TV in it's entirety. I have no cable TV service (by choice, not for lack of availability), so everything I do is streaming. I've never liked the interfaces on smart TVs and networked DVD/Blu-Ray players... I'd rather use a mouse and keyboard. Since I've been building PCs since before Newegg was a thing, it's familiar territory. Overkill for the application? Probably... but it's nice to be able to just have the internet on the projector screen instead of whatever apps a hardware manufacturer deems worthy. It also then acts as a media server for audio/video/photo and games when the mood strikes.
> 
> So, it sounds like I'm doing the big expensive version of your CuBoxTV... but can your CuBoxTV put a 88" wide Excel spreadsheet on your living room wall? Sometimes that makes work a little bit more entertaining.


FWIW, we all watched/helped Sonnie Parker, former owner of HTS, with a Media Server build a year and a half ago. Then he realized that he did not like the distraction of all the PC possibilities in his very nice home theater. He just wants to watch or listen and nothing else. So he sold it. His "server" is a 64 GB USB flash drive plugged into the front of his Oppo player. He navigates to the next song, hits play, and sits and listens.

To each his own. My approach is closer to yours, although I do enjoy my newer Sony BluRay player with SACD and all the streaming apps. A "friend" has a very nice Plex server with extensive collection of - ahem - stuff - that is fun to access, most with 5.1 sound. And I have really been enjoying newer 5.1 music mixes, from the Sony, from my older Pioneer DVDA/SACD player, and from my foobar2000 server, so 5.1 capability is a must for me. Also completely stuck on Dirac Live for 2-ch and 5.1.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

AudiocRaver said:


> FWIW, we all watched/helped Sonnie Parker, former owner of HTS, with a Media Server build a year and a half ago. Then he realized that he did not like the distraction of all the PC possibilities in his very nice home theater. He just wants to watch or listen and nothing else. So he sold it. His "server" is a 64 GB USB flash drive plugged into the front of his Oppo player. He navigates to the next song, hits play, and sits and listens.


If he can tolerate that primitive interface, fine.



> To each his own. My approach is closer to yours, although I do enjoy my newer Sony BluRay player with SACD and all the streaming apps. A "friend" has a very nice Plex server with extensive collection of - ahem - stuff - that is fun to access, most with 5.1 sound. And I have really been enjoying newer 5.1 music mixes, from the Sony, from my older Pioneer DVDA/SACD player, and from my foobar2000 server, so 5.1 capability is a must for me. Also completely stuck on Dirac Live for 2-ch and 5.1.


Agreed although I use JRiver. The flexibility and ease of use are much more inviting than what one can do with the Oppo, even with its web app.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

I know, I know, I know. I have been threatening for two years now to make the JRiver move, Michael Boeker in Omaha is one of the JRiver beta testers and reps and knows it inside out and has had me to his house for a demo and has offered to help me more than once . I have no excuse. On top of the superior interface, I know it will solve some other problems that I have. And, now that I have upgraded my Media Server to SSD status....


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

I am also a HTPC user and highly recommend JRIVER MC though Im stuck w version 18 (bc Im not going to pay another upgrade fee...)
Its simply the best there is as far as tweaking audio settings, running VST audio plugins, file playback compatibility, the list goes on.... I now have my Silicon Dust HD Prime running through it - though it does not support some of the premeir channels I get through Time Warner... working on that one.. but the audio capabilities is worth the price alone.. my next addition will be DIRAC LIVE PC software integration.... the trial version of which is far and above my Audessy XT EQ room analyzer...

I hope you give it a chance....


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## prerich (Mar 26, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> I am also a HTPC user and highly recommend JRIVER MC though Im stuck w version 18 (bc Im not going to pay another upgrade fee...)
> Its simply the best there is as far as tweaking audio settings, running VST audio plugins, file playback compatibility, the list goes on.... I now have my Silicon Dust HD Prime running through it - though it does not support some of the premeir channels I get through Time Warner... working on that one.. but the audio capabilities is worth the price alone.. my next addition will be DIRAC LIVE PC software integration.... the trial version of which is far and above my Audessy XT EQ room analyzer...
> 
> I hope you give it a chance....


Speaking of Silicondust, are you going to sign up for their new HDHomeRun DVR service (so you can get your encrypted channels via cable card...now that Microsoft Media Center is going away).


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

Hopefully my version of Win7 Ultimate will liver forever / WMC included ... that being said I suppose I will ahve to use ther encryption service if WMC rides off into the sunset ....:sn:


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

I also am hoping my version of Windows 7 will last forever. Although I am tempted to do a thorough backup, including C disk image, and try the upgrade to Windows 10 just to see what happens. It would be a miracle for it all remain compatible but it may be worth a try.

I am running the PC version of Dirac Live and can attest that it is the ultimate. Back when file compatibility was not an issue, with a previous version of DL running on the mini DSP nano AVR DL, I was able to build filters for the Nano AVR DL and for the PC version of DL from the very same set of calibration measurements and compare them directly in an a/b test. I have to say the PC version won out by a hair, with a sightly more three-dimensional soundstage. That along with the ability to run any and all PCM frequencies natively put it over the top. I will say that the difference is only slight though, I use DL in the Nano AVR DL on a regular basis and never feel like I am missing anything at all. The difference is only detectable in a direct comparison.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

I REALLY miss my SC35 ELITE and the 7.1 analog I was using out of my PC with the Burson discrete Opamps.. That + the DL PC version was the best sound I've ever heard out of my humble 5.2 system....
The NANO version is so much more work to get it working and I still haven't solved the crashing issue as of this week though my "fix" is on order...
Now my Onkyo loaner is crappping out (shutting down randomly) and Im saving for a new ELITE unit...


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

AudiocRaver said:


> I also am hoping my version of Windows 7 will last forever. Although I am tempted to do a thorough backup, including C disk image, and try the upgrade to Windows 10 just to see what happens. It would be a miracle for it all remain compatible but it may be worth a try.


Hey Wayne, it's been a while. 

Depending on what you do with this system, there's no reason why it can't last a long time - no PC is forever. I made the mistake of upgrading my Windows 7 system to 10. All was well for a while, then the disk usage went to 100% and none of the many proposed remedies could put Humpty Dumpty together again. Soooo, I have a new PC, which I purpose built for streaming duties. It's my first new PC in ages (been picking up 'yesterday's technology' ebay deals, instead). 

Make sure that you do image your system first. I didn't bother, though that doesn't really bother me. I started the new system on 8.1, made an image, then went for 10. On the modern system, 10 is fine, except for one issue with the integrated Intel video on the ASUS Z170 - driver keeps crashing and recovering while scrolling web pages.

Oh well, that's the only issue. I really like the SilverStone cases (got a larger one for my daughter's new PC) and power supplies. It looks right at home with its neighbors. :bigsmile:


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

kevin360 said:


> Hey Wayne, it's been a while.
> 
> Depending on what you do with this system, there's no reason why it can't last a long time - no PC is forever. I made the mistake of upgrading my Windows 7 system to 10. All was well for a while, then the disk usage went to 100% and none of the many proposed remedies could put Humpty Dumpty together again. Soooo, I have a new PC, which I purpose built for streaming duties. It's my first new PC in ages (been picking up 'yesterday's technology' ebay deals, instead).
> 
> ...


Thanks, this is the first I have heard from someone who has actually tried what I had in mind. Maybe I will just stick with Windows 7, it seems to be working fine the way it is. My music production machine has so many special programs on it that it sounds like the likelihood of them all working smoothly with Windows 10 is not real high.

Thanks again for the update.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

I have an old image of my former PC. I'm sticking that drive in the machine and moving the data from the system 10 ruined. That PC will remain a Windows 7 system. and will work fine. I still have an XP system - had to because neither Wizzit, nor my Marantz RC9001, is supported by a newer OS. I'll just pop whatever drive has the OS I need into the PC that I just replaced.

The music production PC got replaced too, and the software it runs is all designed for Windows 10. I'm a little disappointed in the integrated Intel graphics adapter, but as it only seems to rear its ugly head while scrolling web pages, I'll give them a bit of time to resolve the driver issue before resorting to adding another card. You can only see a little of the PC in this lousy phone photo, and it was taken before I got a pair of balanced cables long enough to reach the Lynx L22's (moved from the previous machine, with upgraded firmware for Windows 10) breakout cable. I also need a longer DVI cable. It's running Sonar Pro as the DAW.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Uh oh, don't get me started on DAWs. I've migrated to Reaper and love it. Recently decided to pull up an old Sonar project for a 5.1 mix, I've gotten so many BSOD resets I've about given up - Producer X2 - Reaper has never done that. Wicked learning curve, rewarded by sheer bugless joy.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

So far, so good with the new setup, but it's only just begun - not really even finished getting it all set up yet. Gee, I hope I don't end up wishing I read your praise of Reaper earlier. I stayed with Sonar because that's what my daughter is familiar with using, although there are differences between this and the older version of Producer it replaced.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Sonar was reasonably stable when I first set it up and used it. I'm not sure why it is so unstable now, little has changed since then. But it was never near as stable as I wanted it to be, maybe 2 or 3 lockups in a session, and EVERY lockup required a reboot. Now starting up X2 Producer is a guaranteed BSOD, so I backed off to X1. With X1 I have to start up a project in safe mode to be stable, which works for just doing a 5.1 mix, luckily, because the finished projects had all tracks frozen for the final mix & render.

Reaper is not for everyone, though. My son in law couldn't take the learning curve, had a project he needed to do fast, Sonar choked for him, Reaper was taking too long, so he bought PreSonus Studio One Pro and loves it.

I really liked a lot of things about Sonar, but reliable it was not, for me anyway. So after this remix project I am never looking back. Just my experience.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

The issue my daughter ultimately experienced with Producer 8.5 was an erratic flow of time, which made a hash of recording. After she bit on the Windows 10 upgrade, that version of Producer failed to start again. There are some things that I like about Windows 10, especially if it's really Microsoft's final OS. Get a system running 10 and that ought to be the end of of these system swaps. Her new PC is a generation 6 i7 with 16 gig of the fastest memory I could find, which ended up being too tall to fit under the Noctua CPU cooler - but I had the Cooler Master on hand, since it wouldn't quite fit under the hood of my case. Ah, the little joys of PC builds.

The room in the second photo is my former bedroom. When my daughter moved back into our house, I gave it up for her girl cave. Moving a bed into the man cave made the Maggies unworkable, so she accepted them - near-field works very well for a single listener. She got my old Marantz PM-11S1 to drive them - underspeced on paper, but it drives them without any issues (sounds sweet to my ears).

Life is like a roller-coaster, full of ups and downs, although one certainly enjoys the downs a lot more on the roller-coaster. On the other hand, great art is a product of adversity and my daughter has been very inspired lately. I've been busy, which is also good. 

Sonar is behaving, for now. If that changes, we appreciate having a recommendation for a replacement.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Roller coaster, no kidding. For myself, I would have to say that the average line is well above neutral, meaning life is good.

I do not want to be sounding too negative about Sonar, it has many happy users. And if I would simply take the time to reinstall and carefully reconfigure, including proper use of the latest version of Jbridge to tame the unruly plugins, it would probably work much better.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

Life is great! I hope the roller-coaster ride still has lots of track ahead. On balance, as Joe Walsh once quipped in a song: Life's been good to me, so far.


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