i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[chrisdee]

So the conclusion from your previos post is to get a motherboard with PCI Express 3.0 x4 (NVMe) to get the full speed of an m.2 nvme drive?

[Intini]

Hi, is the OP still updating the i7 builds? Maybe someone could post a known good i7 7th and 8th generation build - and why not i9 and Xeon, maybe including dual processors if anyone has such build working well.

[sbs]

Morning,

I'm looking to replace a mid 2012 Macbook Pro, while I'd prefer to stay with MacOS, the hardware options aren't appealing to me.

This machine from www.quietpc.com is head of the bunch at the moment and I'd like to know if anyone has built on this motherboard and what the experience has been. From reading here I see the X99 and X299 boards are preferred but I'd like to explore options.

I'll spec the machine with the Intel 8th Gen Core i7-8086K, 32gb RAM and a couple of M2 drives, system and recording along with a drive for samples.

Any help appreciated, thanks!

[YYR123]

I went with the X99 from Asus

The deluxe A board - onboard TB2 with 2 M.2 slots...I went last year with the i7-6850k

Proven combo.

The 299 boards were out but I didn’t want any surprises....I wanted known stability

Couldn’t be happier, rock solid machine, running Win10Pro

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by YYR123

The 299 boards were out but I didn’t want any surprises....I wanted known stability

Couldn’t be happier, rock solid machine, running Win10Pro

I'm saving up for a i9-7940x 14 core, 64GB DDR4 (Kingston value) built around a Gigabyte X299 DESIGNARE EX, Socket 2066 motherboard. I know it's crazy expensive and not tested with PT, but I need something really fast and powerfull for heavy VI use.

[PatriotsBiker]

Originally Posted by YYR123

I went with the X99 from Asus

The deluxe A board - onboard TB2 with 2 M.2 slots...I went last year with the i7-6850k

Proven combo.

The 299 boards were out but I didn’t want any surprises....I wanted known stability

Couldn’t be happier, rock solid machine, running Win10Pro

Did the Pro version of win-10 become more desirable with the recent Win10 updates? I'm quite apt to miss the obvious sometimes.

[sbs]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

I'm saving up for a i9-7940x 14 core, 64GB DDR4 (Kingston value) built around a Gigabyte X299 DESIGNARE EX, Socket 2066 motherboard. I know it's crazy expensive and not tested with PT, but I need something really fast and powerfull for heavy VI use.

Hey Chris, how many instruments is "heavy"?

My current aging MacBook Pro is struggling with Battery, Absynth and Massive. I imagine I am far from a heavy user but I tend to run 10-20 audio tracks but lack the freedom to run as many VIs as I'd like.

[Intini]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

I'm saving up for a i9-7940x 14 core, 64GB DDR4 (Kingston value) built around a Gigabyte X299 DESIGNARE EX, Socket 2066 motherboard. I know it's crazy expensive and not tested with PT, but I need something really fast and powerfull for heavy VI use.

What are the heavy VIs you are using? I am in the same situation. Got an iMac i5 2017 and it didn't work at all for me. Then was going to build the same PC (i9-7940x) but ended up returning the iMac and getting a MacBook Pro 2018 i7 (8th Gen, 6-core) 2.6GHz 15 inch 16GB RAM 512GB SSD - only physically getting it next Wednesday. BUT I am already thinking about changing it for a PC with an i9 7940x. But I guess I should wait for the MacBook Pro to arrive and test it...I love Mac OS for music....but if it doesn't work with this machine, then that is it. My whole idea was wait for the new Mac Pro 2019...but I doubt it will cost less than US$5000 and I am skeptical with regards to its modularity.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by sbs

Hey Chris, how many instruments is "heavy"?

My current aging MacBook Pro is struggling with Battery, Absynth and Massive. I imagine I am far from a heavy user but I tend to run 10-20 audio tracks but lack the freedom to run as many VIs as I'd like.

Hi,
I usually have somwhere around 5-6 aux sends, 10-15 audio tracks, and 10-15 instrument tracks with VI's.

I usually use Xpand2! and Nexus2 because they are pretty CPU friendly and I can get 10-20 instrument tracks without any problems. But VI's like Hive, Sylenth, Dune2 and Spire are thougher on my CPU. 5-6 of them and the CPU usage goes up 40-50% and I find my system gets unstable and underpowered. I've experimented with freezing or bouncing tracks, but that doesn't work for me. I work with creating and arranging on the fly and need to be able to change things quick and fast.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by Intini

Got an iMac i5 2017 and it didn't work at all for me. Then was going to build the same PC (i9-7940x) but ended up returning the iMac and getting a MacBook Pro 2018 i7 (8th Gen, 6-core) 2.6GHz 15 inch 16GB RAM 512GB SSD - only physically getting it next Wednesday. BUT I am already thinking about changing it for a PC with an i9 7940x. But I guess I should wait for the MacBook Pro to arrive and test it...I love Mac OS for music....but if it doesn't work with this machine, then that is it. My whole idea was wait for the new Mac Pro 2019...but I doubt it will cost less than US$5000 and I am skeptical with regards to its modularity.

The i9-7940x that I built will cost US$5000. But that's with a 43inch 4k dell screen, 64GB memory and one M.2 512GB drive.



I havent used Mac's for over 10 years so I don't have any recent experience. But if the 2017 i5 iMac you had was underpowered I would check if the 2018 i7 MacBook Pro really is much faster than the iMac was. 16GB ram and 6 core sounds on the low side, but it depends what you are going to use it for. If you want lot's of VI's in realtime (without freezing and bouncing) my thought is you can never get enough power. If you only do audio my 10 year old i7 6 core is already overkill.