Studio Update: Although the Gateway 700X is now super-quiet, the Pentium 4 that powers it can't keep up with Cubase and the Garritan Steinway. Running a single core (Northwood processor) at 2.26 GHz with only 1 GB memory just doesn't seem like much compared to today's multi-core wonders. We finally decided to advance into the 21st century with a new quiet digital audio workstation for the studio. After two months of intensive investigation into sources, options, and compatibility, here's today's order:

Mobo: ASUS Rampage III Gene link
RAM: Mushkin Redline 6GB DDR3 1600 link
CPU: Intel Xeon W3520 2.66GHz link
HSF: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 link
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB link
ODD: ASUS Black 24X DVD Burner link
GPU: ASUS EN8400GS Silent/P/512M link
Case: Antec P183 Black Mid Tower link
PSU: Antec CP-850 850W Modular link
Fans: Nexus 120mm Silent link
LCD: Samsung BX2235 21.5" LED link

That's an eight-thread quad-core system with 6 GB and a nice monitor for $1,327.39 and some labor. (The old Gateway cost $2K!)

The Xeon W3520 was selected for its higher "binning" - passing a higher quality test and intended for workstation computers. Essentially equivalent to a Core i7 920, it adds ECC (error correction code ) capability, but the reviews on the various motherboards persuaded us to go with the R3G, opting for performance over ECC. We aim to reach almost the speed of a Core i7 975 for 1/3 of the cost.

Check out this inspiring video on Youtube by trubyd44: link