PT10 on an i7-3930K PC?

[RMinor]

I've looked everywhere and I can't find any information on whether Pro Tools 10 may or may not work on PC built with an Intel i7-3930K.

Does anyone know whether it will supposedly work or not? Does anyone have a hunch?

Since I'm sure it will also depend on the rest of the computer, here are the other parts I am getting:

i7-3930K processor
ASUS P9X79 motherboard
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (8 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 memory
EVGA 01G-P3-1441-KR GeForce GT 440 1024MB Video Card

Thanks !

[filosofem]

Welcome to the DUC. Short answer, no, not currently. A few users are posting specs but no confirmed builds. And we're not anticipating any problems as long as you stay within the manufacturers recommendations, for example, qualified memory listed with a motherboard. Is your posted G.Skill listed? Also some believe WorkStation motherboards like the ASUS P9X79 WS would be more suited for a DAW rather than buying a gaming board.

[RMinor]

Cool, thanks for the advice, that was exactly what I needed.

I was comparing the P9X79 and the P9X79 WS. As far as the specs go, they seem pretty similar except the WS has more ports and better PCIe slots. On the sell page though the WS boasts "Server-level Compatibility" thusly:

The P9X79 WS provides complete compatibility with RAID and LAN cards. Users enjoy a wider selection of devices and higher reliability. As a workstation motherboard that puts an emphasis on system integration, the P9X79 WS offers the benefit of greater confidence and convenience."
-P9X79 WS page

Is that the reason people are recommending the WorkStation?

Should I be worried about the video card? This page seems to suggest using an NVIDIA card, though the list seems a bit limited.

Also, I checked the P9X79 WS compatibility page for the G.Skill memory and that model is on there. Did some searching online and people are saying the G.Skill Ripjaws Z and the Corsair Vengeance are pretty much the exact same thing. G.Skill is 10 bucks less for the 32 GB and comes with a free micro SDHC flash card.

This is going to be my first time building a PC, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by RMinor

As far as the specs go, they seem pretty similar except the WS has more ports and better PCIe slots.

The thinking behind the move towards workstation boards is mostly centered around HDX and HDN PCIe cards. Perhaps this quality is not warranted for FireWire nor USB bus devices. Motherboards can make or break a DAW.

That graphics card situation is a tricky one. Avid's list of approved graphic cards is a list of cards Avid have tested and therefore recommend but custom builders also run a bit of an approved list and one of those manufacturers is AMD ATI Radeon HD 6000/7000 series cards. Pro Tools is just so finicky about graphic cards. It's a users call.

[RMinor]

What if i'm not planning on getting any HDX or HDN cards? Should those two motherboards be any different for my purposes, or is it hard to tell?

Also I've been reading that Pro Tools can only use 4GB of RAM? I'm planning on using the computer for Photoshop and maybe a little bit of Sony Vegas, but audio production will be my main use. Would that make the 32GB I was planning on getting a bit superfluous?

Thats interesting about the graphics card. My assumption was that an audio program wouldn't have too much to do with the graphics card but I will do some more research to make sure I get something that works. Thanks.

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by RMinor

What if i'm not planning on getting any HDX or HDN cards? Should those two motherboards be any different for my purposes, or is it hard to tell?

Primarily set up as a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), a DAW is a Workstation application and should be housed in a Workstation motherboard environment, suited to Pro Tools, Photoshop, Sony Vegas, Avid NLE's and other central processing unit intensive tasks. Take a look at this review of the ASUS P9X79 WS.

Originally Posted by RMinor

Also I've been reading that Pro Tools can only use 4GB of RAM? I'm planning on using the computer for Photoshop and maybe a little bit of Sony Vegas, but audio production will be my main use. Would that make the 32GB I was planning on getting a bit superfluous?

Yes currently Pro Tools is a 4GB application however Pro Tools 10 supports Disk Cache (Pro Tools HD and CPTK Only) that enables audio to be streamed into temporary memory for better audio playback. The amount of RAM required depends on the seated amount of RAM and session size.

Soon, Pro Tools will be going 64-bit, fingers crossed with in a year where your 32GB RAM will be more than accommodating.

Originally Posted by RMinor

Thats interesting about the graphics card. My assumption was that an audio program wouldn't have too much to do with the graphics card but I will do some more research to make sure I get something that works.

For most application your assumption would be right but Pro Tools is a little different in how it handles it's processing. Given that you are running Photoshop, a higher end graphics card would be on the bill anyways, no?

[RMinor]

Originally Posted by filosofem

Yes currently Pro Tools is a 4GB application however Pro Tools 10 supports Disk Cache (Pro Tools HD and CPTK Only) that enables audio to be streamed into temporary memory for better audio playback. The amount of RAM required depends on the seated amount of RAM and session size.

This isn't for a pro studio, just mainly for my own use, so i'm not planning on shelling out $2K for CPTK and definitely not $10K for HD.

Originally Posted by filosofem

Soon, Pro Tools will be going 64-bit, fingers crossed with in a year where your 32GB RAM will be more than accommodating.

Its tempting to just ditch Pro Tools and learn Cubase, but I'll have to see. I don't really want to learn a new program since I really like Pro Tools, but 4GB is not going to cut it for all the virtual instruments I use.

Originally Posted by filosofem

For most application your assumption would be right but Pro Tools is a little different in how it handles it's processing. Given that you are running Photoshop, a higher end graphics card would be on the bill anyways, no?

I suppose so, though audio will be the primary purpose of this machine. I was looking up the Pro Tools recommended video cards but they seem overpriced and outdated.
Do you have any video card in particular that you would recommend?

[CZer0]

Just built a similar 3930K based system and I'm very pleased.
Build is super fast, stable and eats buckets and buckets of plug-ins for breakfast.
Havent had any issues this far, mostly using the 128 or 64 sample buffer.
I'm still fine-tuning the system, trying to find the optimal settings.

One thing I discovered (found this kinda odd) is that my CPU (native) performance increases quite a bit when disabling hyperthreading. About 5-10 percent decrease in system usage on a session stacked with plugins.
All processors assigned to rtas processing. No stability, dropout, playback stop issues of any kind.

Anyone else have similar experience on this CPU?

Will experiment more and post my findings.

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by CZer0

Just built a similar 3930K based system and I'm very pleased.
Build is super fast, stable and eats buckets and buckets of plug-ins for breakfast.
Havent had any issues this far, mostly using the 128 or 64 sample buffer.
I'm still fine-tuning the system, trying to find the optimal settings.

One thing I discovered (found this kinda odd) is that my CPU (native) performance increases quite a bit when disabling hyperthreading. About 5-10 percent decrease in system usage on a session stacked with plugins.
All processors assigned to rtas processing. No stability, dropout, playback stop issues of any kind.

Anyone else have similar experience on this CPU?

Will experiment more and post my findings.

On the PT HD native section we have a few 3930k builds posted. In short answer windows "parks" every other core by default. So you are in no way seeing all the power of the machine w hyper threading enabled. After Unparking the cores the meter won't read much different. There is still issues w pro tools properly handling them. Would surely hope next major release if we don't see it in a 10 update.

[jakorsme]

Built my new Pro Tools 10 system with the 3930K about 6 weeks ago. Have not experienced any issues. Is very fast. One caveat - don't install any of the Gigabyte Win7 bios tools.