i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by mal777

Also I notice the socket 1150 Motherboards have no firewire port, or PCI slot, so I'd have to purchase a PCIe Firewire adapter.

Chances are pretty high that you would have to do this anyway. Even with the motherboards that have integrated TI firewire chips (a select few Gigabyte models, last I looked), people often have a better time with a $40 PCIe card.

[dave911]

Originally Posted by mal777

Thanks for the advice everyone
Dave,is your Haswell build still stable? Is the integrated GPU a problem? (I'd be using my GTX560 anyway) Also I notice the socket 1150 Motherboards have no firewire port, or PCI slot, so I'd have to purchase a PCIe Firewire adapter.

No issues yet, PT 11 runs well with all the NI VI's, Slate Drums and mostly Waves plugins.
I tried the integrated graphics quickly and saw a small increase in CPU loading, but I use a low end Nvidia card.
The motherboard in my build (GA-Z87X-UD5H) has a built in Firewire port and a PCI slot.
The built in Firewire works with my Focusrite LS56.
They also offer a Thunderbolt version.

[mal777]

Interesting...thanks Dave
The only problem with this and similar motherboards with integrated video is that the DVI-I port only supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. I'm using a GTX560 video card for my Dell U2711 monitor which runs at 2560x1440 on DVI-I

More reading up and scratching my head

[mal777]

woops a brain fade....with the GTX560 I wouldn't use the motherboard DVI-I port

[mal777]

Finally decided to play it safe and go with the older socket 2011.

My new build is
Intel CORE i7 4820K/3.70GHz/10MB CACHE/LGA2011/4CORES/NO FAN Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 MB, Socket 2011, Intel X79, 4x DDR3,
Corsair 16GB (4x4GB)Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9G 1600MHz CL9 Fractal Design Define R4 USB3.0 Mid Tower Case Titanium
Corsair RM-750 ATX PSU 80 Plus Gold Full Modular
Recycled
Nvidea GTX560
Pyro 64R2 PCI firewire card
LG Bluray player
2x WD Black 2TB
Dell U2711

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by mal777

Finally decided to play it safe and go with the older socket 2011.

You say older socket - I say a proven stable and powerful socket

[Improv]

I am about to move our studio running PowerMac G5s and Pro Tools HD 7.4 to custom-built PCs running HDX 10/11. I've done lots of research regarding the most stable components, but I just wanted to run my parts by you guys here to see if anyone can find any issues (or better deals). I'm excited to get us up to modern times.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3FBON
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3FBON/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3FBON/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($549.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.94 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($224.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($325.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial V4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.95 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GT 640 1GB Video Card ($83.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.95 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Professional Full (64-bit) ($146.90 @ Adorama)
Total: $1779.65


Is Win8 safe to use yet or should I stick with Win7 for now? Thanks for any advice!

Dave

[cruisemates]

I don't know about 8, but I know 7 has been very stable for me.

Keep in mind that only 11 allows you to use more the 4 GB ram, because it is not pure 64-bit, but 11 is, and will use all the ram you provide. I have 10 now and I have been told 11 sounds superior.

Are you using an 11-rack by any chance (is that why you want 10?) - because even with my 10 the one thing I still have a problem with is getting the 11R plugin window to come up. I might as well just started with PT11 since the 11R now comes up as a standalone program anyway. (I believe it is because I use a digi003 as a controller still).

Anyway - your list looks good to me, but I am not one of the top techs here.

[mesaone]

Win 8 is safe for Pro Tools, but i think 7 is safer (just in case some other software, such as audio plug-ins, still has kinks in 8)

Everything looks good, but one area you might want to look into is increasing the SSD size to ~250 GB for better future proofing. I got mine for about $250. It's $218 now

Good choice on the CPU cooler. Offhand, I should warn you that some of those Evo models are a little difficult to install. Keep in mind the clearance you need for the RAM and cooler to both fit.

The graphics card seems overkill, but it's cheap enough. You may want to get something with a larger fan (larger fan = more efficiency = less noise) such as This one or this one

[cruisemates]

Look for sales on SSD -

I actually bought a perfect PT computer on eBay with what would have cost me almost $1500 in parts, I got it pre-built for about $650 and it was only 6 months old.

Some things you can find as bargains on eBay or CL - as long as they are solid state (SSDs, graphics cars, processors, etc).

Also - look for sales at NewEgg, etc