Well, it is almost done. I have it up and running. Decided to do a clean install of windows on the Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe. It was not to much of an issue. The Bios is pretty complex in the Z390 board. Still need to receive the video card and thunderbolt card. So far so good. Downloading software for a couple of days I guess.
Very little fan noise and runs very cool with the H60 water cooler. Looks like something from LA, everything is black...lol
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Thanks Steve, Building the computer was the easy part. Downloading the software will take many hours. I have a ton of Toontracks stuff.
I feel pretty comfortable now with two computers with more or less the same software. The old one will now probably run for ever...lol
I installed BIAB to run from the USB drive. It renders .wav tracks in two or three seconds.
Things are a good bit faster than with the i7 in the old machine. I have not started to try to optimize everything yet.
Cheers,
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
That's like the wild west: wide open spaces, room to breathe! Good ventilation possible, so I'm actually serious. Nice.
I don't know about your Windows skills, but the days of my tweaking the daylights out of my Windows are over. No need for Black Viper. For Windows 10, I just fix the power settings and USB so they are 100% and nothing turns off. That's about it. Run the DPC Latency Checker to make sure no unwanted drivers mess with your audio (see my post in Off-Topic earlier today).
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
With nothing to suggest scale, it looks like something out of an old science fiction movie. I can imagine a couple of little guys walking through the gap on the bottom (about as tall as the letters in the word gold) with hard hats and a clip board in hand. Oh and a little steam coming out of one of the cables.
That's like the wild west: wide open spaces, room to breathe! Good ventilation possible, so I'm actually serious. Nice.
I don't know about your Windows skills, but the days of my tweaking the daylights out of my Windows are over. No need for Black Viper. For Windows 10, I just fix the power settings and USB so they are 100% and nothing turns off. That's about it. Run the DPC Latency Checker to make sure no unwanted drivers mess with your audio (see my post in Off-Topic earlier today).
The case is pretty big. It looks like the cooling, two fans in front, one in back, and one on top for the water cooler is keeping everything cool without running the fans at high speed. I will check out your post.
Thanks,
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
The old machine is over ten years old and still running. The good news is the new machine cost about half of what the old one cost and is considerably more advanced.
It also strikes me as looking like something out of science fiction movie. We live in a very strange world with homeless people living on the street and others driving robotic cars around on mars.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
With nothing to suggest scale, it looks like something out of an old science fiction movie. I can imagine a couple of little guys walking through the gap on the bottom (about as tall as the letters in the word gold) with hard hats and a clip board in hand. Oh and a little steam coming out of one of the cables.
Billy, had my machine outside today to do the twice yearly leaf blower dusting of the inside (Matt sez not to hit the fans with too much force). I took a few photos of the inside and outside of the machine.....
Basic specs: 128 GB RAM (2) Intel Xeon Platinum 8153 CPUs @ 2 GHz each, 16 cores each processor for 32 cores total, 64 cores including logical. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics card - Barely wedged that in the case. C:\ 1TB SSD - Operating System & Apps D:\ 2TB HDD - Media Storage E:\ 250GB SSD - Working drive for music/video projects 1400 Watt Power Supply
Leaf blower? They don't sell canned air in St Louis? You could fly your drone into store to see who has it in stock! Geeze you work in IT. Steal a can from work!
Actually I use a vacuum cleaner with a wide snorkel first. I'd rather suck the dirt out than blow it into my own face. Then the canned air. I do have an air compressor but I wouldn't shoot 90 psi into a computer case.
I DO enjoy spinning the fans up with the air and making the "whoop whoop WHOOOO" noise like in the cartoons when somebody slips on the ice.
Planobilly, I use a very similar ROG Strix motherboard and am very happy with it. I hope yours works out much the same for you. I suspect it will.
Great throughput & plenty of connections from USB to SATA (what more do you need from MB?).
Yours looks cooler than mine. You gonna add the extra lights and such? I didn't, but it was tempting. For some reason your cables look much neater than mine too, though I tried.
Did you get the little door hanger thingy with the motherboard? Working from home more, this has actually come in handy here!
'Game On .. Do Not Enter' If I'm in a meeting where I can't be interrupted it works a treat <grin>
/TBH sometimes I have used it even when I'm not in a meeting, but don't tell the wife
Last edited by rharv; 12/10/2012:55 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome Make your sound your own!
Planobilly, I use a very similar ROG Strix motherboard and am very happy with it. I hope yours works out much the same for you. I suspect it will.
Great throughput & plenty of connections from USB to SATA (what more do you need from MB?).
Yours looks cooler than mine. You gonna add the extra lights and such? I didn't, but it was tempting. For some reason your cables look much neater than mine too, though I tried.
Did you get the little door hanger thingy with the motherboard? Working from home more, this has actually come in handy here!
'Game On .. Do Not Enter' If I'm in a meeting where I can't be interrupted it works a treat <grin>
/TBH sometimes I have used it even when I'm not in a meeting, but don't tell the wife
LOL, I got the door hanger but that will not slow down my wife...lol There are some LEDs that came on the board and a clear window to see through on my case.
I don't know, having all those flashing LEDs does not do much for me. I don't even put up Christmas lights any longer...lol I use to when I lived in Texas, but you have to leave them up all year to be an official redneck...lol
I did not go to any great effort to make the wiring look neat. I just tie wrapped things a bit. This case has a door on the bottom side of the motherboard so some wire is there. The case is bigger than I really needed but easy to work on.
So far so good on the new system.
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Billy, had my machine outside today to do the twice yearly leaf blower dusting of the inside (Matt sez not to hit the fans with too much force). I took a few photos of the inside and outside of the machine.....
Basic specs: 128 GB RAM (2) Intel Xeon Platinum 8153 CPUs @ 2 GHz each, 16 cores each processor for 32 cores total, 64 cores including logical. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics card - Barely wedged that in the case. C:\ 1TB SSD - Operating System & Apps D:\ 2TB HDD - Media Storage E:\ 250GB SSD - Working drive for music/video projects 1400 Watt Power Supply
This is a cool looking computer. Those are some serious heat sinks! I have no idea how long a Xeon CPU should run but a long time I assume. Lets hope so. Replacing one would be a bit pricy I assume.
Cool stuff Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
LOL Eddie, there may be a job for you in DC. Certain people need better photographic proof for their ideas about stuff they say is happening...lol
Thanks Notes, you and Mario always have a cool artistic point of view!
Happy soon to be the end of 2020.
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Nice! I had almost that same water cooler on one of my rigs, but it wasn't quite enough to handle the 4930K I had in there. A more standard heatpipe style cooler worked great for me though.
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
Mac 2025 Special Upgrade Offers Extended Until August 15th!
It's not too late to upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® and save! We've extended our special until August 15, 2025!
We've added many major new features to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, including advanced AI tools like the amazing BB Stem Splitter and AI Lyrics Generator, as well as VST3 plugin support, and Equalize Temp. Plus, there’s a new one-stop MIDI Patches Picker with over 1,100 MIDI patches to choose from, all neatly categorized by GM numbers. The MultiPicker Library is enhanced with tabs for the SongPicker, MIDI Patch Picker, Chord Builder, AI Lyrics Generator, and Song Titles Browser, and the tabs are organized into logical groups. The Audiophile Edition is enhanced with FLAC files , which are 60% smaller than AIFF files while maintaining identical audio quality, and now ships on a fast 1TB SSD, and much more!
Check out all the new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® here:
Purchase your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac during our special to save up to 50% off your upgrade purchase and receive a FREE BONUS PAK of amazing new Add-ons. These include the 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK, Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana, Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes, MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano, Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7, Playable RealTracks Set 4, RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark, and more!
Upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and add 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and 20 RealStyles, FLAC Files for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks, Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster, MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster, Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8, and RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe.
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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