i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[bigsnack]

Originally Posted by Culhane

Thanks for the info, good to know. I kind of hate to 'waste' the video component of the CPU, but, of course, if it doesn't work with ProTools, its not useful.

I will definitely report back if I get the board working or not. If anyone else gets a Z68 board, please let us know here if you get it to work! Again, the issue does not seem to be with Pro Tools specifically, more with the Mbox 3 driver. Stay tuned...

[xarkon]

Here's my build, on Z68 Sandy Bridge architecture.

MB GIGABYTE|GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 Z68 1155
MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
WL ADAPTER ASUS|PCE-N13 R
CPU INTEL|CORE I7 2600K 3.4G 8M R
DVD BUR SONY OPTIARC | AD-7261S-0B%
MS WIN 7 PROFESSIONAL FULL
PSU CORSAIR| CMPSU-850AX 850W RT
HD 1T|WD 7K 64M SATAIII WD1002FAEX (2, one for OS, one for Audio)
CPU COOLER ZALMAN|CNPS11X EXTREME R
VGA PNY|VCQFX580-PCIE-PB FX580 RT

Case is a Corsair 600T.

Pro Tools LE 8.0.5 and Ableton 8.2.2 are running fine so far. The only glitch I have encountered was the Realtek audio driver - forgot to disable and had some weird, distorted tracks while recording clips in Ableton. No problems since disabling.

My interface is a DigiRack 003+. The FW chipset on the Gigabyte is TI. I debated getting the UD5 board instead (also TI) but thought there might be some reason to need the extra hi-speed PCI Express slots in the future.

Yes, some things are overkill - 16GB of RAM. Needed a new system now - couldn't really wait for Ivy Bridge (early 2012), but wanted to have some things in place as the software demands increase. Ableton is supposed to be in process for 64 bit, though no word on a release date.

I haven't done a dVerb test. Not overclocking yet but it seems that many are able to achieve 4.5 - 4.9GHz reliably with the 2600K.

I was running a Power Mc G5 before (single CPU). The most noticeable difference, so far, is in running virtual instruments - Arturia V collection synths. On the G5, an average ARP 2600 patch would take 30-35% of CPU; switching patches was a time to get a cup of coffee. On the new machine, the same patches run about 1-2% of CPU and patches switch instantly.

I will be moving in a third drive to store samples.

Boot time is about the same on either system. Go figure; no doubt the dominance of disk speed. After that, the new box wins.


Dave

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by xarkon

Here's my build, on Z68 Sandy Bridge architecture.

MB GIGABYTE|GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 Z68 1155
MEM 4Gx4|CORSAIR CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
WL ADAPTER ASUS|PCE-N13 R
CPU INTEL|CORE I7 2600K 3.4G 8M R
DVD BUR SONY OPTIARC | AD-7261S-0B%
MS WIN 7 PROFESSIONAL FULL
PSU CORSAIR| CMPSU-850AX 850W RT
HD 1T|WD 7K 64M SATAIII WD1002FAEX (2, one for OS, one for Audio)
CPU COOLER ZALMAN|CNPS11X EXTREME R
VGA PNY|VCQFX580-PCIE-PB FX580 RT

Case is a Corsair 600T.

Pro Tools LE 8.0.5 and Ableton 8.2.2 are running fine so far. The only glitch I have encountered was the Realtek audio driver - forgot to disable and had some weird, distorted tracks while recording clips in Ableton. No problems since disabling.

Yes, some things are overkill - 16GB of RAM. Needed a new system now - couldn't really wait for Ivy Bridge (early 2012), but wanted to have some things in place as the software demands increase. Ableton is supposed to be in process for 64 bit, though no word on a release date.

I haven't done a dVerb test.

Very nice. Ummm... disable the audio at the BIOS level and uninstall the Realtek audio driver. And no, no 16 GB RAM isn't overkill. Post that Dverb test when you can, we've been waiting for this benchmark.

[Zooce]

Anyone do a recent build with a Media Composer 5.5.2 and Pro Tools 9.0.3 co-install?

Looking to do this within the next 6 months, curious if anyone has been successful?

Thanks,

Dana

[philip888]

Originally Posted by Zooce

Anyone do a recent build with a Media Composer 5.5.2 and Pro Tools 9.0.3 co-install?

Looking to do this within the next 6 months, curious if anyone has been successful?

Thanks,

Dana

I am running MC 5.0.4 and PT 9.0.3 on the same drive and all is well here.

[Zooce]

So I'm just in the research phase of building a new computer, so I put together a list of some components that might work well.

When I do eventually build a system, I'll be running Pro Tools 9 and Media Composer 5.5 (or the latest of each) and want to be able to upgrade a little bit, like to Pro Tools HD Native. I'd also use it to upload my short videos to YouTube and Vimeo.

Here's the list. Check it out, see what you think. Did I totally miss something, or are one of the components completely incompatible?


- Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad-Core

- GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD5-B3

- CORSAIR Vengence 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (will want to expand to 16GBs later)

- PNY Quadro FX 3800 1GB

- COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series 1000W ATX 12V / EPS 12V

- Antec KUHLER H20 920 (because it's cool)

- Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6GB/s (system drive)

- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s (x2) (media drives)

- Thermaltake Level 10 GT ATX Full Tower

- Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit

- Kaspersky Internet Security



All of this comes to just over $2500 on newegg, but obviously I can probably find some discounts on a few of these items elsewhere, and when I eventually have the money to build a system, this same build might actually be cheaper, who knows.

Anyways, any comments would great!

Peace,

Dana

[filosofem]

Hey Dana, that system looks great and I'd personally be interested in hearing how well that PNY Quadro FX 3800 card works for you. And furthermore when you upgrade to HD Native and this build is successful, I'd like to post it over on the Intel Builds for Pro Tools HD Native thread.

[Mascola24]

Dana,

just out of curiousity, what made you go with that setup? Particularly, the motherboard...the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD5-B3?

[Zooce]

Originally Posted by filosofem

Hey Dana, that system looks great and I'd personally be interested in hearing how well that PNY Quadro FX 3800 card works for you. And furthermore when you upgrade to HD Native and this build is successful, I'd like to post it over on the Intel Builds for Pro Tools HD Native thread.

Yea absolutely, hopefully it will be within the next six months. (I'd do it tomorrow if I could lol)

Originally Posted by Mascola24

Dana,

just out of curiousity, what made you go with that setup? Particularly, the motherboard...the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD5-B3?

Really it just came down to looks and functionality. The mobo has enough PCIe slots for me, it's got a decent amount of connections, SATA 6, and I like the heatpipe design with the 4 heatsinks lol.

The brand of anti-virus or internet security software is still up in the air, but that's another story. And an SSD might be cool too, but I don't think AVID recommends it.

Just to be clear, I don't know a ton about computer components YET, but I know enough so far to have put that list together. Any suggestions would be great too if you think I'd be better off switching something out.


This actually brings me to another question (a newbie question), can the PT HD and HD Native cards only use the PCIe slots (not PCIe 2.0)? That's what size it looks like their PCIe pins are on the cards themselves.

Thanks again!!

[EGS]

[QUOTE=}...- Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6GB/s (system drive)

- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s (x2) (media drives)...[/QUOTE]I'd suggest Sata 3 for system, Sata 6 for PT and samples.