i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[tatothekid426]

Hi, thanks for answering. One of the main reasons we have such high prices here are the import taxes: 40% plus 18% - this last 18% being calculated over the initial price of the product more the first 40%. Besides that there is the currency conversion - 1 dolar = 2.23 reais (brazillian money). And finally shipping costs. I’ve already bought products directly from USA vendors (and even from Germany) and that really makes them more affordable but the problem then is that you never know how long they will take to be liberated through customs... not rarely one or two months after they arrive and unless you hire a clearing agent to assist you you get no information about anything.

Please let me ask: are you using a dedicated firewire card to connect your Digi 003?

And I know that’s a tricky question but regarding the two graphic cards I mentioned which one could be considered something like my “best choice”? Or putting it another way: is there any reason why I should avoid buying any of them?

Thanks again.

[cruisemates]

I am using the onboard firewire port on the Asus motherboard and I it is compatible. As long as it is standard IEEE 1394 firewire it should work.

There is a list someplace of compatible graphics cards. If you google "protools compatible graphics cards" you will see it.

I believe you said you are going to 10: here is the list: http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...351?popup=true

Supported Nvidia Graphics Cards

NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro 2000 1GB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro 600 1GB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 1.5GB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800 1.5GB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 768MB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 512MB PCIe video board
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 256MB PCIe video board

Supported Nvidia Quadro Graphics Drivers

Quadro driver version 259.81 for Windows 7 64-bit (Windows Aero mode supported)
Quadro driver version 259.81 for Windows 7 32-bit (Windows Aero mode supported)

[cruisemates]

FYI: there are people far more knowledgeable than me who will soon pop in and give you more specific guidance.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by cruisemates

I am using the onboard firewire port on the Asus motherboard and I it is compatible. As long as it is standard IEEE 1394 firewire it should work.

Not actually accurate. TI chipsets are preferred for all audio use. In past years, VIA chipsets almost never worked. Now they seem to be a 50/50 shot

[tatothekid426]

Hi, that was great. Thanks a lot.

[epu]

I am ready to build a new system to support PT10 (which I have) and PT11 (which I intend to upgrade to soon). I'm not a new member here. I will list components. Please tell me what is overkill and where I can save. I must have SSDs and must use a Micro ATX board. I plan on doing a lot of work with VIs (Kontakt, Avid Instruments, etc). I also plan on doing a lot of Video Rendering with this System (Sony Vegas for Commercials and Video Testimonials).

Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Gene 2011 $279
RAM: G-SKILL 32GB KIT $359
Video Card: NVIDIA GT640 4GB $115
CPU: INTEL I7 3820 $309
SSD SYSTEM (256GB): Samsung 256GB SSD $200
SSD VIs/Audio (512GB): Samsung 512GB SSD $370
PSU: Corsair RM850 $130
Case: Fractal Design Mini Black Silent Case $99
OS: MS Windows 8 Pro OEM - $139

I already have an LED Monitor 24", Mouse and Pro-Tools USB Keyboard.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Is 32GB Overkill?

On second thought, I could just go with a Mac Mini!

Thanks for any help in advance! :)

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by epu

Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Gene 2011 $279

Video Card: NVIDIA GT640 4GB $115

PSU: Corsair RM850 $130

Case: Fractal Design Mini Black Silent Case $99

Check your clearances. Since you're going with a Micro ATX system, you can see how close to the PSU that bottom PCIe x16 slot is. It looks like the fan on that video card is a little larger than one-slot clearance, so I suspect you will either partially block whichever slot is below. Or, if you put the video card in the bottom slot (what I would normally do so as to not block another slot) it might conflict with the PSU fan (either for space or for efficient cooling).

I may be wrong about the size, and you can always just put the card in an upper slot, if you don't eventually need to populate all those PCIe slots.

Even though you say you must have SSDs, a good place to save a couple hundred bucks is to only get one SSD, and use a WD Black 1TB for your sessions and VI libraries. And it looks like the cost of RAM is high right now - if you want to save a bit then you can opt for 2x8GB sticks and then get the other two when the cost comes down a bit, probably later this year.

PSU is overkill by 100-200 watts. You can easily power that system with a 650 W, but I would recommend finding the "happy medium" at 750 W. You can save around $50 up front by going with a modular Rosewill 750 W with the same efficiency, not to mention the power savings over the life of the unit.

[epu]

Originally Posted by mesaone

Check your clearances. Since you're going with a Micro ATX system, you can see how close to the PSU that bottom PCIe x16 slot is. It looks like the fan on that video card is a little larger than one-slot clearance, so I suspect you will either partially block whichever slot is below. Or, if you put the video card in the bottom slot (what I would normally do so as to not block another slot) it might conflict with the PSU fan (either for space or for efficient cooling).

I may be wrong about the size, and you can always just put the card in an upper slot, if you don't eventually need to populate all those PCIe slots.

Even though you say you must have SSDs, a good place to save a couple hundred bucks is to only get one SSD, and use a WD Black 1TB for your sessions and VI libraries. And it looks like the cost of RAM is high right now - if you want to save a bit then you can opt for 2x8GB sticks and then get the other two when the cost comes down a bit, probably later this year.

PSU is overkill by 100-200 watts. You can easily power that system with a 650 W, but I would recommend finding the "happy medium" at 750 W. You can save around $50 up front by going with a modular Rosewill 750 W with the same efficiency, not to mention the power savings over the life of the unit.

Thanks for this long reply and insight! I am baffled that I spent less than half of the asking price above for 16GB of RAM for my Lenovo Laptop close to two years ago. I will look into the 750W PSU.

My Lenovo X220 has 2 SSDs. I have a 256GB Internal and a 256GB mSata SSD. I've been spoiled by the lightning fast performance. While I've recorded large sessions with VIs on my laptop, I am in need of more processing and graphic power, hence me opting to build a new PC.

I will report here in a week or two when I finish all of the purchases and build the PC. Worst case scenario, I might just do a 2 256GB Drives (System & Audio) and get a fast MYBOOK for External Storage via USB 3.0.

Would a Mac Mini with Win 8 installed be a better buy? I see the newer ones have Thunderbolt.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by epu

I am ready to build a new system to support PT10 (which I have) and PT11 (which I intend to upgrade to soon). I'm not a new member here. I will list components. Please tell me what is overkill and where I can save. I must have SSDs and must use a Micro ATX board. I plan on doing a lot of work with VIs (Kontakt, Avid Instruments, etc). I also plan on doing a lot of Video Rendering with this System (Sony Vegas for Commercials and Video Testimonials).

Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Gene 2011 $279
RAM: G-SKILL 32GB KIT $359
Video Card: NVIDIA GT640 4GB $115
CPU: INTEL I7 3820 $309
SSD SYSTEM (256GB): Samsung 256GB SSD $200
SSD VIs/Audio (512GB): Samsung 512GB SSD $370
PSU: Corsair RM850 $130
Case: Fractal Design Mini Black Silent Case $99
OS: MS Windows 8 Pro OEM - $139

I already have an LED Monitor 24", Mouse and Pro-Tools USB Keyboard.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Is 32GB Overkill?

On second thought, I could just go with a Mac Mini!

Thanks for any help in advance! :)

Devil's advocate at work, You might consider skipping the SSD's because the money you saved would allow you to get the i7 6 core(use all WD Caviar BLACK hard drives). To my mind, 32GB of RAM is not too much

Using spinning drives would save you enough $ to get the i7 6 core, which could make a big difference in performance 32GB of RAM is a good amount to me. If you need physically small drives, there are some good 7200 rpm 2.5" drives, but I would be using a 1(or 2) TB WD Caviar BLACK(lots more capacity for way less money). If you MUST use SSD, I'm sure you have your reasons, but consider what 2 more cores might net you in performance(at least its a fair question that someone might be able to offer some "real world" experience to help you choose)

[epu]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Devil's advocate at work, You might consider skipping the SSD's because the money you saved would allow you to get the i7 6 core(use all WD Caviar BLACK hard drives). To my mind, 32GB of RAM is not too much

Albee, you're a goldmine! Believe it or not though, I'll never go back to non-SSD drive again. From my first experience with a little 16GB Express Card SSD 5 years ago, I knew that's where I wanted to be.

On my Lenovo laptop with an i5 and Samsung Sata III 256GB, PT and Sessions load in Milliseconds. The ones with lots of samples (i.e. Kontakt) in seconds. I could never go back to slower loading times for as long as I live lol. I can always upgrade to a faster processor later or just save up some more. The 6 core would definitely come in handy with Video Rendering so you're right there!