i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[StinkyStan]

Originally Posted by mano111

That OCZ SSD is 1/3 of the cost of the entire system. I'm not sure its worth the $$. For long term storage of samples a WD Caviar Black 1TB or 2TB would be my choice. SSDs are typically used for system drives to speed up system load times. not sure how much of a benefit there is as a sample drive, if any.

I know for a fact they are not the best audio drives (seems the SSD controllers uses some sort of RAID to get data fast).
A WD Velociraptor hard drive is a fast and reliable alternative you might want to look at.

The Video card is an odd choice. Low profile cooler with 2 small fans looks like its gonna be loud. If anything you want a passive or at least a single large fan cooler on that card. Also, for some reason Avid is recommending Nvidia lately . I know AMD still works but...

Sorry. I should have mentioned that the ssd drive was intended for sample streaming in conjunction with VePro. Do you still feel its not worth it? Is there a better alternative? Oh and do you have any specific video card suggestions/recommendations?

Thanks.

[mindcube]

Hello peoples.. Here is an i7 system I'm building for a friend. trying to go the cheapest possible route without sacrificing speed and performance. Let me know what you think!

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel

CORSAIR XMS 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Ultra Stable

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready

ASUS EN210 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

System drive and samples -
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Audio Drive -
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Total = $963.85 (pre tax/shipping)
Whaddya'll think?

[StinkyStan]

I do everything ITB and mainly work with lot's of VI's and samples. I plan on using Win 7 64Bit and get VE Pro to get around the RAM limitation of PT.

With that in mind, here is the system I've decided on (any comments/suggestions welcome):

Processor: Intel i7 950
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw Series 24GB (6x4GB) 240 pin DDR3 1600
System Drive: Intel X25-M SSD 120GB
Audio Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM
Samples Drive: Intel X25-M SSD 120GB
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W
Video Card: Palit NE2T2200FHD51 GeForce GT 220 512MB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express. (NVIDIA Chipset)
DVD Writer: LITE-ON DVD Writer - Bulk - Black SATA
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower

Total including tax and shipping: $1922.69

[remis]

Did we ever get any results from Shane's trailblazing build?

[Boneraw]

Hi Remis, I just have a question about your build.
Have you removed the heatspreaders from your ram because of the noctua? If so, is it an easy operation and did you noticed some decrease in your ram performance or heat/temp?

Thanks in advance -Bone

[remis]

Originally Posted by Boneraw

Hi Remis, I just have a question about your build.
Have you removed the heatspreaders from your ram because of the noctua? If so, is it an easy operation and did you noticed some decrease in your ram performance or heat/temp?

Thanks in advance -Bone

Hey Boneraw.

Yep, I removed the heatspreaders from 4 of my sticks of RAM. It's easy enough to do, you just use an allen key to remove a few screws in the heatspreader and off she comes. I haven't noticed any issues with it. I actually asked Corsair support about it before buying the RAM and they said it would be all good, with regards to heat and performance. Plus, there's a giant fan drawing air over the top of them anyway.

[Boneraw]

Sounds logical, I think i'll do the same then. Thank you:)

[Robinv]

Any other SandyBridge users care to share their findings?
I've been working with a DP67BG and i'm trying to achieve consistency within the results. As mano was saying the clocking works differently and there doesnt seem to be any way to lock the CPU speed on this board, although i've heard that you can on other boards. Either way i'm not sure it matters. It seems to me that the EIST function is actually working well enough for real-time audio without all the fluttering we used to get as the CPU changed state.

So far what seems to work best in terms of plug-in count (i'm testing with Cubase at the moment as i dont have any Digi hardware, but i'll get onto PT9 as soon as i can):
EIST - on
CState - Off
CPU - voltage 130w
Power - Static (vdroop low (performance))
TDC Current - 100
Turbo on
Boost on
Internal PLL - disabled
Memory 1600MHz XMP 1.65volts
All cores set to 45

At low latency it get to about 40% and it starts to crackle - results are still good but i expected to be using more of the CPU. At mid latencies (10ms) it does use the whole CPU and gives brilliant results. It's a bit weird anyway. Any comparisons would be helpful.

Cheers
Robin

[mano111]

Hey robin,

That seems close to what I was seeing, only I got to 60-70% at 64 sample buffer (its the lowest PTLE can go) before it started to stutter. However I didn't see any drop in freq. over time when using static voltage.
I have done some fine tuning to BIOS settings over the past weeks and I'm now at 42*100. Having C state disabled means there is no higher turbo mode (single or dual core) only the 4 core turbo number matters. That number is the max freq and (as you've seen) with this board it seems can not be locked as constant.

I will post all my current BIOS settings as soon as I get in the studio.

in the mean time here is some stuff to keep you posting (if you don't mind )

What memory are you using? (Mine is G-skill and running @ 1.5v)
What CPU model# (2600K?) and what Cooler + what temps are you seeing?
What sound card/interface are you using?

For comparison can you test Cubase CPU % at 64 samples buffer? (seems like 40% was at 32?)

[Robinv]

Cool,
Memory - Corsair XMS 1600MHz running at XMP profile 1.65V
2600K on the CPU
Focusrite Saffire via the onboard FW. Tried a TI FW PCI card and the results were just slightly worse - onboard seems best.
I've built up a performance test over the years that runs at 96kHz. For the Saffire this means it can only use down to 128 samples, for a 3.6ms output latency - so that's my minimum at the moment.

My results are matching a previously tested Core i7 965 so that's good but it's not very consistent - never seem to get exactly the same result twice :)

Edit - cooling, using the Corsair H50 water block, CPU never gets above 60 C. Also 650W HX Corsair PSU.