i7 Builds - Specs and Results

[cruisemates]

Another question:

Samsung 840 Pro 120 SSD

Is this big enough for an OS drive including all the extra software (Melodyne, Addictive drums, Eleven Rack, SampleTank, Reaktor, etc...?

If not how big do you need - and is this really better and faster than a "spinner?"

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by cruisemates

Another question:

Samsung 840 Pro 120 SSD

Is this big enough for an OS drive including all the extra software (Melodyne, Addictive drums, Eleven Rack, SampleTank, Reaktor, etc...?

Not in my book, even with samples on a different drive. (And not that an Eleven Rack takes any disk space, that is just a small driver.)

If not how big do you need - and is this really better and faster than a "spinner?"

There is a small performance kick in the 840 drives at 256 GB and above, just due to NAND flash chip fan out/parallelism inside the drives. I would just always start at least there in size, and for a boot/system drive that is read mostly the lower-prices (and larger capacity up to 1TB) Samsung 840 Evo drives are great.

And yes, all definitely better than a spinner, especially for a boot drive.

[cruisemates]

Of course I realize they are better than a spinner - but beyond booting up faster - will I see any other benefit to having this SSD in my computer?

I can wait an extra 60 seconds every few days if it saves me $200.

But if it will give me better performance while I am working on a ProTools session (this will be a dedicated computer) then that is a different story.

[gtrm8kr]

Originally Posted by cruisemates

Another question:

Samsung 840 Pro 120 SSD

Is this big enough for an OS drive including all the extra software (Melodyne, Addictive drums, Eleven Rack, SampleTank, Reaktor, etc...?

It might not be for everyone. My system drive has been hanging out around 90 GB for awhile, so the smaller drive should work fine for me as this is a Pro Tools only PC. The main reason for my switch in the system drive is about moving off of a stock SSD that I'm starting to worry about. If someone isn't confident about system size (including apps) I agree that a larger drive makes the most sense.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by cruisemates

Of course I realize they are better than a spinner - but beyond booting up faster - will I see any other benefit to having this SSD in my computer?

I can wait an extra 60 seconds every few days if it saves me $200.

But if it will give me better performance while I am working on a ProTools session (this will be a dedicated computer) then that is a different story.

Boot should be faster, general operation faster as well. A common comment from new SSD users is "wow everything just seems faster". If samples are on your boot drive then you benefit from the SSD performance as well. And for many users it may deliver higher performance to out samples on a shared boot/system SSD than use two separate HHDs.

[cruisemates]

Ram

Please guide on selecting the best RAM for new PT 10 build using:

ASUS P9X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

The spec options are: DDR3 2400(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066

Does this mean a higher number is better, also some say O.C. which I assume means overclocked. I am in the dark here; can I get please get a quick synopsis of how my choice of RAM makes a difference?

Processor

Also - this processor seems to be the best bang for buck - Would it really be worth nearly twice the price to go with 3930?

Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820

Also - this processor is cheaper than a few other models, but it specs seem as good or better, what's the rub? (Compare here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...el%20Core%20i7)

[CME]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Boot should be faster, general operation faster as well. A common comment from new SSD users is "wow everything just seems faster". If samples are on your boot drive then you benefit from the SSD performance as well. And for many users it may deliver higher performance to out samples on a shared boot/system SSD than use two separate HHDs.

I agree. After buying my first SSD, I soon upgraded every computer I own to one. Then I bought a new Mac Pro. Thought I'd do some swapping, the basic end result being I take the SSD out of my laptop for it and put the original drive back in. Albeit it's a 5400 rpm drive, but man was it annoyingly slow. So I found a great deal on a 480GB SSD and am back to all SSD's.

Does it make pro tools faster/better? It sure loads a lot faster. Especially if you have a lot of plugs. May not be any increase in performance once open, but they are getting cheap enough that everyone should own one. At least IMO.

And fwiw I have a 64 GB SSD in the Mac Pro. I use about 45-50 GB of it, and have a bunch of stuff that isn't required for pro tools usage on it. I could really probably get it back down to 20-30 GB used if I wanted. But I'll upgrade to at least a 250ish GB drive soon. And if you have other drives to fill up (mine also has a 500 GB samples/time machine drive, and a 2 TB and 3 TB audio drive), you can get by with a pretty small OS drive.

[cruisemates]

Okay - I got my computer. I just bought it from eBay and it has all the essential elements I would have purchased new and would have cost me close to $1400. I got it - assembled, for $800 + $50 shipping. Best of all I got a SSD, an upgrade to the motherboard I had picked out and a bigger PSU.

Ebay has a LOT of dealers selling these types of computers in the $1400 range (essentially the cost to build it). I just happened to get lucky and find a guy who just built this but was moving over to MAC. He says it also has a CPU cooling fan.

CPU:
Intel Core i7-3820 Quad-Core Processor 3.6 GHz 4 cores, 8 logical processors ($302.00)

SSD:
OCZ Technology 256GB Vertex 4 Series SATA 6.0 GB/s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) With Industry's Highest 120K IOPS And 5-Year Warranty ($275 being generous here)

Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($315)

Ram:
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory F3-1600C10D-16GAO ($169)

Case:
Fractal Design Define R4 Cases, Titanium grey ($120)

Hard Drive (2 SEPARATE hard drives): ($120)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN

VIDEO CARD: ($150.00)
AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB DDR5 PCI Express (PCIe) Dual DVI Video Card w/HDMI DisplayPort & HDCP

CD/DVD/BluRay Drive ($70)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) - OEM

PSU: ($100)
Corsair CX Series CX750 750W ATX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply Active PFC Fan 140mm Fan

OS: ($140.00)
WINDOWS 7 Professional (64 bit installed)

[mano111]

Originally Posted by cruisemates

Okay - I got my computer. I just bought it from eBay and it has all the essential elements I would have purchased new and would have cost me close to $1400. I got it - assembled, for $800 + $50 shipping. Best of all I got a SSD, an upgrade to the motherboard I had picked out and a bigger PSU.

Ebay has a LOT of dealers selling these types of computers in the $1400 range (essentially the cost to build it). I just happened to get lucky and find a guy who just built this but was moving over to MAC. He says it also has a CPU cooling fan.

CPU:
Intel Core i7-3820 Quad-Core Processor 3.6 GHz 4 cores, 8 logical processors ($302.00)

SSD:
OCZ Technology 256GB Vertex 4 Series SATA 6.0 GB/s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) With Industry's Highest 120K IOPS And 5-Year Warranty ($275 being generous here)

Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($315)

Ram:
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory F3-1600C10D-16GAO ($169)

Case:
Fractal Design Define R4 Cases, Titanium grey ($120)

Hard Drive (2 SEPARATE hard drives): ($120)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN

VIDEO CARD: ($150.00)
AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB DDR5 PCI Express (PCIe) Dual DVI Video Card w/HDMI DisplayPort & HDCP

CD/DVD/BluRay Drive ($70)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) - OEM

PSU: ($100)
Corsair CX Series CX750 750W ATX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply Active PFC Fan 140mm Fan

OS: ($140.00)
WINDOWS 7 Professional (64 bit installed)

Thats a steal! good e-bayin'

[cruisemates]

Thank you, I felt kind of bad that I shut down the conversation here for such a long time, but it was a great deal. It should becoming in by Fedex tomorrow. I also scored a used Digi 003 console and that will be my new core system.

Here is a great eBay buy right now: (ends tomorrow), if I didn't have a brand new 003 I would jump on this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161178237731...84.m1438.l2649

Excellent Condition AVID (Euphonix) Artist Control and Artist Mix Console = 1 Bid $599.