i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[Bob Olhsson]

More cores don't buy us much because spreading a plug-in across multiple cores increases latency. It's great for databases and video rendering but not real time audio. What does make a difference is an increase in floating-point calculation speed which newer cpus offer.

[DonaldM]

A recent thread on a CPU spike issue by a PT user got me wondering - what is the best/fastest CPU for Win-10 these days that will work with PT, and what MOBO would be the "best" for it?



A related question, what besides CPU might cause latency when tracking? Even on my older i7, I can track most VI's at 256k, and don't notice any latency when playing off my MIDI controller (Yamaha Motif XS8)...usually. On a few things, like some East-West libraries, I can notice it some, and try to go to 128k. But normally, I haven't noticed any real issues. For me its more running into CPU limits when I have too many VI's running during playback, or with some (ie, Dune 3 or Omnisphere) which can be CPU hogs. What I've noticed with some of the newer VI's is they tend to be more CPU heavy than older ones. So, upgrade to new system is overdo, I know.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by DonaldM

... So, upgrade to new system is overdo, I know.

A few months ago I did an inexpensive upgrade from an i7-930 to an i7-980X (Ebay for about $150 as I recall). Here's what I did: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=399429 Now obviously, a new build with all the latest-and-greatest components would be a LOT more powerful ... just mentioning a cheap/easy upgrade option for you. Also, I always run it @ buffer 64 (typically only a of couple of VI's and only 20-30 audio tracks) ---> works for me.

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by EGS

A few months ago I did an inexpensive upgrade from an i7-930 to an i7-980X (Ebay for about $150 as I recall). Here's what I did: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=399429 Now obviously, a new build with all the latest-and-greatest components would be a LOT more powerful ... just mentioning a cheap/easy upgrade option for you. Also, I always run it @ buffer 64 (typically only a of couple of VI's and only 20-30 audio tracks) ---> works for me.

Going that direction is a distinct possibility. My current system is: Dell XPS 435T/9000 Win-10 Pro 24gig RAM
IntelCore i7 CPU 920@2.67GHz


Obviously its time to make an upgrade. Unfortunately, you can't just "upgrade" a Dell with 3rd party MOBO's. There cases are designed to house their own MOBO's and the size/layout for the screws, etc, are not compatible with something that isn't Dell. So, I'm probably going to cannibalize the Dell with a new case, MOBO, CPU etc, but keep the 4 HD's I have now. I also need to upgrade my graphics card which is pitifully out of date. I have 24gig of ram now (6 slots, 4gig each). I could probably make that 48, but I can't imagine what I'd need that much ram for! So I'm thinking 4 slots for 32gig would be more than enough. Heck, 24gig has been just fine.


I was hoping to do this earlier this year, but some other financial priorities took that away. So, hopefully sometime in early 2019 I can do this. I have dual monitors now, but want to add a third HD monitor for when I do scoring for videos and/or (hopefully) games.

[rossi68]

I also did that upgrade, i7 920 to i7 980x, and it worked!

[Bobby Basho]

Hi everybody,

I'm in the process of planning my switch over from osx to windows and have come up with a parts list for a build, which hopefully makes sense.

However, as I'm no seasoned PC builder, i was hoping that a more experienced person here could lend an eye and let me know if anything doesn't look right.

Cpu - i7 8700k
MOBO - ASUS z390m TUF
RAM - Ballistix Sport LT, DDR4, 32GB, DIMM 288-PIN, 3000 MHz
Hard Drive - M.2 Samsung Evo 970
- Plus a bunch of other SSD's for Audio, Video, Library Drives
GPU - Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8gb
PSU - EVGA Supernova 650 G3
Case - Fractal Design Define Mini C

This build will then house a PT HD native PCIe card, which'll connect to an OMNI.

Thoughts very much welcome :)

Cheers,
Bobby

[Sugarnutz]

Not many i9 builds yet, I just purchased the parts for a new build:

• Gigabyte Z390 Designare LGA 1151 Motherboard w/two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Intel Core i9-9900K Desktop Processor 8 Cores/16 Threads up to 5.0 GHz
• Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler
• Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 GV-RX580GAMING-8GD 8Gb Video Card
• G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB (4 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600)
• Two Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSDs
• Two Samsung 860 EVO Series 2.5" 500GB SATA III V-NAND 3-bit MLC SSDs
• Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB 512e SATA 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch Enterprise Hard Drive
• Seagate BarraCuda ST4000DM004 4TB 5400 RPM 256MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
• Seagate BarraCuda Internal Hard Drive 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache Hard Drive
• I/O Crest 4 Port SATA III PCI-e 2.0 x1 Controller Card Marvell 88SE9215 Non-Raid
• EVGA 850 BQ (110-BQ-0850-V1) | 80+ BRONZE 850W Power Supply
• Fractal Design Define S Black Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case
• Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
• Kensington Expert Wireless Trackball Mouse (K72359WW)

Already have a keyboard & 43” 4K monitor, thankfully I didn’t have to buy those. I’m afraid to put a total on the costs.

[albee1952]

Based on my recent experience with Asus, I recommend Gigabyte motherboards

[PatriotsBiker]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Based on my recent experience with Asus, I recommend Gigabyte motherboards

RuhRoh!

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Based on my recent experience with Asus, I recommend Gigabyte motherboards

My previous PT rig was based around a gigabyte mb.
My current PT rig is based around an Asus mb. Both have had their issues but with current PT version I use it works great.