i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[Skwaidu]

Originally Posted by jello

Since I haven`t been building in years (this is my fifth build), and don`t know windows 11 in a Protools (mixing) context, I am looking for parts suggestions, does these parts work together? and will the mobo be able to house my three pcie cards?. I am also looking for windows/bios tweaks and software to monitor dpc, temps etc.

Looks like a solid build, though personally I'd try to get faster DDR5 / especially lower CAS latencies if I was building now (I'm still with DDR4 due to building at Alder Lake launch, now with i9-13900K), but haven't looked at the prices. Also don't know the case, how good is it with airflow etc (A Fractal Meshify or somesuch might be currently optimal at least for air cooling).

As far as your mobo and PCIe slots, it seems to have 2x Gen4.0 x4 slots (I think these are from the Chipset, not direct from the CPU, which is the norm on these enthusiast boards). So if both cards are ok with x4 lanes you should be ok.

FWIW I had luck with my MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4, I have a GPU, 2x HDX and an Ethernet card all working great.

You might get more good opinions in the GS PC building thread, btw.

[zavid]

Originally Posted by Skwaidu

Looks like a solid build, though personally I'd try to get faster DDR5 / especially lower CAS latencies if I was building now (I'm still with DDR4 due to building at Alder Lake launch, now with i9-13900K), but haven't looked at the prices. Also don't know the case, how good is it with airflow etc (A Fractal Meshify or somesuch might be currently optimal at least for air cooling).

As far as your mobo and PCIe slots, it seems to have 2x Gen4.0 x4 slots (I think these are from the Chipset, not direct from the CPU, which is the norm on these enthusiast boards). So if both cards are ok with x4 lanes you should be ok.

FWIW I had luck with my MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4, I have a GPU, 2x HDX and an Ethernet card all working great.

You might get more good opinions in the GS PC building thread, btw.

Is it still worthwhile Hackintosh ?
are motherboards with pci-pcix slots still produced ?
z.

[Skwaidu]

Originally Posted by zavid

Is it still worthwhile Hackintosh ?
are motherboards with pci-pcix slots still produced ?
z.

It's not worthwile to Hackintosh IMO, the newest CPU's are not supported by Apple so dunno how much work it would be. I wouldn't do it for a work machine.

[songwritersoul]

Just finished my build and am in the lengthy process of downloading and installing loads of software and VI's. Windows was a pita to get loaded, but everything seems to be working fine so far. I'm jumping ship from PTHDX to Reaper, but haven't put it through it's paces yet. If you're interested, here's my build specs:
MSI MEG Z790 ACE mobo
Intel 13900k 24 core cpu
64 gigs GSkill Tridend z5 ddr5 5600 memory
(3) Samsung 980 Pro NVME drives at 2TB each (1 system, 1 audio, 1 VI)
(3) Samsung Evo 970 sata ssd's at 500gb each for back up and misc
Thermaltake View 71 E-ATX case (heavy as hell)
MSI Mag Core 240 liquid cooler
ASUS TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 V2 OC Edition Graphics Card
Corsair HX Series, HX1200, 1200 Watt ps

[Skwaidu]

Seconding, my 64GB RAM is more than enough for large scale mixing, I usually have more than half of it as a playback buffer (despite having NVMe audio drives).

[zavid]

Originally Posted by Skwaidu

It's not worthwile to Hackintosh IMO, the newest CPU's are not supported by Apple so dunno how much work it would be. I wouldn't do it for a work machine.

on Win , more "free" plugs and V-Ins aviailable
but also more stable than Hackintosh with Osx ?
Probably yes ?
Someone have experiences about ?

Definitely easier and faster to set it up with Win Os and "replenish" it with Daw and add on tools.

about Hackintosh ,
it is possible as the system and tools are installed, configured, and work properly
do a backup like disk image
for fast recover in case of crashes ?

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by Skwaidu

Seconding, my 64GB RAM is more than enough for large scale mixing, I usually have more than half of it as a playback buffer (despite having NVMe audio drives).

Interesting! Is it necessary to have so much as a playback buffer? Do you do that because you have very large sessions? I've assigned 10Gb.

[Skwaidu]

Originally Posted by lesbrunn

Interesting! Is it necessary to have so much as a playback buffer? Do you do that because you have very large sessions? I've assigned 10Gb.

It's not necessary with an M.2 NVMe (PCIe 3.0 and up) audio drive, with a SATA drive it might be. I do it "just because I can", and as I nearly never need the full 64GB otherwise (I do work on massive sessions though, my largest project folder has been nearly 1TB alltogether, but not all of that was always in use).

[lesbrunn]

Originally Posted by Skwaidu

It's not necessary with an M.2 NVMe (PCIe 3.0 and up) audio drive, with a SATA drive it might be. I do it "just because I can", and as I nearly never need the full 64GB otherwise (I do work on massive sessions though, my largest project folder has been nearly 1TB alltogether, but not all of that was always in use).

OK. I get it. My system and audio drives are both NVMe PCIe v4. My main sample drive is an old SATA, but with Samsung rapid mode enabled it has faster than NVMe PCIe 4 speeds. The others are PCIe 3 and 4. I use the spinners for storage/archives.

[Skwaidu]

Originally Posted by lesbrunn

OK. I get it. My system and audio drives are both NVMe PCIe v4. My main sample drive is an old SATA, but with Samsung rapid mode enabled it has faster than NVMe PCIe 4 speeds. The others are PCIe 3 and 4. I use the spinners for storage/archives.

Ok, FYI Samsung's RAPID mode is just a RAM cache, basically - so your most often accessed samples are getting cached into system RAM and it feels fast, but for any samples that don't get that treatment (rarely used?) it's just as slow as SATA normally, from what I gather. Many folks swear by PCIe 4 drives for samples (OTOH for audio IMHO even PCIe 3 is fast enough, even for truly massive track counts).

https://www.pugetsystems.com/support...d-use-it-1842/