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Old 02-03-2009, 04:40 PM
mykhal c's Avatar
mykhal c mykhal c is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: san fran
Posts: 4,355
Default i7 Builds - Specs and Results

This thread started off with builds designed to support PTLE 8.x and was patterned after sunburst's BEST CORE 2 thread. Now this thread is mainly geared toward builds supportin' PT9, PT10, and PT11. In fact DUCers like guitardom, Kris75, Key, Albee, and others who had their builds for PT8 have now upgraded to PT9. So as you look at the older builds in the 2nd post you can be reassured that those builds work with PT9 (even tho the parts are probably outdated at this point). I will be modifyin' the thread soon and changin' the DVERB test instructions to now reflect PT9 as opposed to the 7.4 (which was our reference point at one time). I will also send a request to DTS that a sticky in the PT9 Windows forum be placed there to link to this thread. Hopefully this will keep users informed to what the DUCers are havin' success with regardin' the cuttin'/bleedin' edge builds and their success with PT9. Good luck with your builds!!

Thanks to Kris75 and guitardom for bein' the first of the pioneers!!! 3years ago!!!...NOW it's 5 yrs and countin'!!!!

DTS...thanks for the link in the W7 forum

much needed disclaimer!!!...this thread was created for 'one-stop shopping' for DUC'ers regarding i7 builds!!!! use it as your meeting place. i'll keep it updated as much as possible...as possible

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The i7 Dverb results (please see the 2nd post for the earlier builds. listed below are the more recent ones.)

Intel® High End Desktop Processors

6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors

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Intel's Newsroom Post

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4142/i...-begins-recall

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cou...ror,12108.html

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/intel-hit-with-chipset-design-flaw-in-sandy-bridge-rollout/44257?tag=nl.e539

http://www.dailytech.com/Intel+Finds...ticle20789.htm

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/new...tops_shipments

************************************************** ************************************************** ****************


**** builds are listed from the most recent to the earlier ones *****


Brandonx1 - i7 5960X, ASUS X99-E WS, 32gig DDR44 2666, Samsung flash memory hd in PCIEx4, currently clocked at 4.5ghz, W8.1 Ultimate, PT11.2.2. geekbenchs over 31,000 (free version), DVERBs over 1100. (I will add more components as Brandon provides 'em...but Brandon requires a horse due to his work and i'd say he's got it!!!) SWEET!!!

The Weed - i7 4770K, ASUS Z87 PRO Socket 1150, Silverstone Fortress FT02B-USB3.0, G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) CL: 7 Model F3-1600C7D-16GTX, Corsair RM Series RM850 ATX12 v2.31, Noctua NH NH-D14, Asus GT640-DCSL-2GD3 GT 640 2 GB GDDR3 SDRAM - PCI-Express 3.0 x16 Fanless, GT640-DCSL-2GD3, SIIG FireWire 2-Port PCIe (NN-E20012-S2), Pro Tools 11.1.1 on Windows 8.1 Pro, 002 Rack, All Avid Windows 8 optimizations done (except Network Card Enabled) and BIOS optimizations done too, DPC Latency Checker: 7 to 13 ups for the most part with a regular spike to 997, Core Parking OFF, DVerb2 Score: 65 Tracks/325 DVerbs, Hyperthreading On

dave911 - i7-4770K, Cooler Master V8, Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H Z87 LGA 1150 2-Way SLI Dual LAN ATX Motherboard, Kingston HyperX Beast 16 GB Kit (2x8 GB) 2400MHz DDR3 PC3-19200 Non-ECC CL11 DIMM XMP Desktop Memory KHX24C11T3K2/16X, Rosewill SilentNight Series 500W 80 Plus Platinum Certified Modular Design ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply SilentNight-500, Runs tracking at a 32 buffer with a LS56 and large (50+) plugin/track counts at 512-1024. Overclocked to 4 Ghz static. PT 10.3.7 an 11.02 running with no crashes or lockups. DVERB test results to come...

mykhal c -LIAN LI PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case , ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard , Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) , ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM , used HDDs (from Q6600 build) and spare video card used to complete system
config'd to 4.0GHz...results...600 dverbs ((1024 buffer, 11 procs, 99%, 24/48 session) testing @12 procs 85% produced lower score)

guitardom - Gigabyte x79-UD5 , Intel 3930k , Evga Nvidia 520 vid card , Noctua cpu cooler , Gskill Ripjaws X ram 16gb , OCZ Fatality 750w psu , Rosewill 4 space server rackmount case , all WD Black 32/64 mb cache drives

Sawllkwa - 1st posted i7 2011 socket build - Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz, ASUS P9X79 WS, Corsair Hydro H80, Corsair XMS3 Vengeance 16GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz ((4x4GB), 32 GB total), Intel Intern SSD 120GB 320 Series Intern SATA 2.5" (for OS), Cooler Master HAF tower, 2x 200 GB SATA drives: WDC WD 2000JD-22HBB0 (for PT), 500 GD SATA drive WDC WD 5000AAKS-65YGA0 (programs), Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS, DVD w/lightscribe, 700W Rocketfish PSU, Dverb 1024 (w/ optimizations) = 621 with CPU(RTAS) at 89%, Dverb 64 (w/optimizations) = 473 with CPU(RTAS) at 86%, W7 x64, PT8.0.5 on a 002R

Zarabozo - 1st posted/workin' dual socket Xeon DIY build - even tho this thread is dedicated to the i7 i thought it was worth the post since it's the first that i can recall after my 9+ yrs on the DUC....Motherboard: Supermicro X8DA6, Processors: 2 x Intel X5650 (12 cores 24 threads total), RAM: 24 GB (6 modules of 4GB Kingston 1333 ECC Registered Gold), Video: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series 1GB GDDR5, OS Disk: Kingston SSD Now V+ 60GB, Media Disk: WD Velociraptor Sata3 (6GB/s via SAS) 10,000 RPM 600GB, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit SP1, ProTools 9.0.2 with CPTK2, Eleven Rack, Dverb test: 464 dverbs @1024.

ryanwilsonfive - PTLE 8.0.3cs2, Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz, GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R, CORSAIR XMS 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3, COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520,CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W, ASUS EN8400GS Silent/P/512M GeForce 8400 GS 512MB, ASUS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner , Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache, Glyph GT 050Q 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache, Windows XP Home Edition SP2, 251 D-Verbs @ 1024 samples / 239 D-Verbs @ 64 samples

mano - PTLE 8.0.4cs2, i7 2600K @ 4.2 Ghz, Intel DP67BG motherboard, G- Skill 8GB DDR3 1600, Crucial C300 SATA3 SSD - system drive, Samsung F3 1TB - audio drive, Nvidia Geforce 8500, Termalright Ultra Extreme 120, Antec P-150 case, Seasonic S12II 520 PSU, 003R, @1024=448 Dverbs, @64=310 Dverbs.
(mano gives us the 1st workin'/posted build with the i7 2600/1155 socket/P67 chipset!!!) way to continue blazin' the trail mano!!!


###### new link for Avid 'approved' W7 systems for PT9 ###### (nice work Avid)

Avid's PT9 W7 approved systems


*************************************************

W7 users!!!! You may wanna check out this IEEE 1394 Hotfix!!!!!

this hotfix addresses issues that some may have with their F/W connections. Please check out the MS disclaimers!!!

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=k...1613&x=10&y=14

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981613

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975500

Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwsand
Yes though I've mostly used the OHCI Compliant Host Controller driver and the Legacy one. It would be random as to whether or not LE would communicate with the 003 following a freeze or restart of LE. If not, I would spend literally hours uninstalling/reinstalling the 64bit drivers and switching 1394 drivers and rebooting the pc before some magic combination would let me back in Pro Tools connected to the 003. So far with the hotfix using the TI driver ProTools loads perfectly every time. Just tested it successfully again before I posted this.


ALSO...
with 8.0.4 havin' totally new drivers i would recommend that anyone havin' issues start with cyclin' thru all the possible F/W controllers that are installed on one's rig. there's a HUGE chance that you will find one that is absolutely more stable than the others and maybe even eliminate the issues/errors. hope that helps...

MORE...AVID's Windows Guide - Windows 7 Optimizations and Troubleshooting


***********************************************

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!!!

i7 and ram freq/settings/timings...


'AUTO' settings with ram will 'almost always' cause issues...9xxx errors to be specific!!! you should 'always' set your ram to its' correct settings...OC or not. right now if you are runnin' your ram timings outta sync with the ram freq you will probably encounter the 9xxx errors. make sure your ram dimms are in the same colored slots (triple channel mode). read up on how to set your ram freq and timings when usin' triple channel mode. use either the 'MANUAL' or 'PROFILE' settings to select the proper frequency and timings for your installed ram.

*************************************************

This is a quick benchmark stress test that can be done in a few minutes.

EDIT: IT's New, It's Exciting! It's Dverb 2.0!

Always do a Dverb test after a fresh start up of the computer with a newly created session on your audio drive. Since the 5.X days, PT always seems to keep something in some type of cache that doesnt always clear. Hard to explain, but you'll notice it. Also, only do this with the stock Digi plug-ins in the plug-in folder. Do not have any other plug-ins installed or your test will vary. If you have already installed a load of plug-ins then move them to another folder except Dverb and the stock Digi plug-ins, and then do the test.

The Dverb 2.0 Test

Please make sure that RTAS Engine Ignore Errors During Playback/Record box is unchecked

Start the computer. Create a brand new 24bit/48k Session on your audio drive for the Dverb test. Open up the system usage window in PT. Then, go to Setup > Playback Engine... > and make sure the RTAS engine: Ignore Errors During Playback/Record(may cause clicks and pops) is NOT checked. Also, Go to your buffer setting and select 1024(CPU usage must be 95% or highest possible). Set up your time line ruler for Min:Secs. You want to be in grid mode and set up your grid for Min:Secs and 1 second. Create one mono audio track. Take the selector tool, put it on the 5 minute mark in your audio track and drag this to the start of your session. You will now have 5 minutes selected in this track. Go to AudioSuite > Other > Signal Generator and click on the "process" but. You should now see a 5 minute test tone. Create another audio track and insert 5 Dverbs in all the inserts. Record arm the Dverb track. Click on the track name so it is high lighted white, and hit shift+alt+D then hit enter. Record arm the new track and continue this pattern. You want to be able to record WITHOUT THE TEST TONE BREAKING UP!! Keep adding Dverbs and recording. If the test tone starts to breakup, then delete some Dverbs until you can hear a SOLID TEST TONE for 5 MINUTES. This is VERY VERY important. The test tone has to be 100% solid!!!

****IMPORTANT NOTE ON DVERB TESTING******

the PTLE 8.0 DVERB has a chorus effect added that was not present in prior LE versions. here is a scale comparison that was posted by Shane. pls take this into account as you test your new builds!!!

Shane's current stats/results from the following system:

- Asus P5K MB
- Intel Q6600 Quad-Core CPU
- SATAII System Drive and Audio Drives
- NVIDIA 8400 GS Graphics card
- 4G G.Skill DDR2-1066 RAM

PTLE 7.3.1cs6 - 278 RTAS Dverbs(The old Dverb without chorus)

PTLE 7.4cs5 - 255 RTAS Dverbs(The old Dverb without chorus)

PTLE 8.0 - 159 RTAS Dverbs(The new Dverb with chorus)

PTLE 8.0 - 278 RTAS Dverbs(The old Dverb without chorus) <=== Shane replaced the 8.0 DVERB with the 7.4 one in his plugin folder to test)

actual link to post


*************** i7/X58 hot links and good reads *****************

HotHardware i7 overclocking article

Understanding Nehalem's Memory Architecture

QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) Hardware Secrets

Ultimate Core i7 Overclocking Guide (also a great tutorial for grasping i7 BIOS concepts/settings)

SOS i7 DAW build

AnandTech i7 920 D0 stepping preview look for this stepping when purchasing IMHO

Real-time (sample) vs block processing good read

************************ Tuning Tools *************************************

W7 x64 Optimizations...screencasts of my tweaks


DPC Latency Checker

RATTV3

Windows 7 Tools (XPERF included)


MEMSET

LAVALYS EVEREST

CPU-Z

CORETEMP

TMONITOR


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__________________
bassist...deep pocketz anyone???!!!

The Basschakra Lucid Soul Trip

i7 Builds - Specs and Results

HDNative | Omni | i7-3930K OC'd 4.0GHZ |
ASUS X79 Sabertooth | 32GB GSkill DDR3 2133 ram | mo' stuff

Last edited by mykhal c; 09-29-2016 at 12:32 AM. Reason: updated 09/30/16...6th generation of i7 procs
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  #2  
Old 02-03-2009, 05:44 PM
mykhal c's Avatar
mykhal c mykhal c is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: san fran
Posts: 4,355
Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results...reserved for additional results

here are the initial builds for the i7's. most of the components have since been discontined, updated, and/or replaced.



donrey - PTLE 8.0.4, i7 950 @ 4.2, Asus P6X58D Premium, Noctua NH-D14, Kingston Hyper X 6GB @ 1600, PNY Quadro FX580, Lite On iHAS524, SeaGate Barracudas @ 7200, Silverstone FT02 Case, ADS Pyro PCI 64R2 firewire card, Mbox 2 Pro, Windows 7 64 Pro and Windows XP 32 Pro (both tested)
donrey's OC'd bios settings

harryk - PT9, i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950, GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, GA-X58A-UD3R Rev.2 BIOS FE, VGA PNYlVCQFX380-PCIE-PB FX380 RT, CORSAIR DOMINATOR 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" - system, Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, sessions, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Mbox2

filosofem -PT9HD Native, Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz Bloomfield D0 1366 VGA, Gigabyte X58A-UD3R (FA) Revision 1, DDR3-SDRAM DDR3-1333 Corsair 6144 MB Single Bank 2048, ATi Radeon HD 5400 Series 512 MB PCIe, Enermax Liberty ECO II 620w PSU Modular, WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2, Windows 7 Professional 6.01.7600 (x64)

rickthestick - Windows 7 64 Ultimate, Intel i7 980X, Noctua NH-D14, Asus P6X58D Premium, Kingston HyperX 12 GB DDR 1600, GeForce 9800GT 1GB Silent, Intel X25-M 160GB SSD, 3) WD 1TB Black, Plextor PX-880SA, Seasonic X-750, Digi 003 w/ version 8.03cs2 DVERB test: at 64 samples, 58 to 60% CPU usage, 348 dverbs, 487 @1024 buffer...using all 12 cores!!!

spkguitar - PT9, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R, Intel i7 920, 6GB Patriot DDR3. ASUS EN7600GT, LG GGW-H20L BD-RE, Sony CRX195E1 CD-RW, 2x ICY DOCK MB671SK-B (trayless hotswap), 2x WD Caviar black 640GB (os swap), 1x WD caviar 320GB (sessions), 1x Maxtor 120GB (sessions), 1x Seagate 1TB (samples/loops), DIGI002, Command8, XP(SP3) = 243 Dverb2.0 OSX = 318 Dverb2.0

***** Mike Bordello - FIRST i7 BUILD/POST - 415 Dverbs on a Intel i7 920, Asus P6t Deluxe, 6 gb OCZ Platinum ram (XP only sees 3), Seagate 500gb 32mb cache SATA 7200rpm Audio, Hitachi Deskstar 120gb 7200 IDE OS, Diamond Radeon HD 3650 video card, MBOX 2, PT 7.4 (his build discussion on page 181 of the BEST CORE 2 thread)


ranallicj- 415 Dverbs on i7 965, Intel Smackover Motherboard, 6gb of corsair dominator ddr3 1600, running 2 500gb hds and 2 400gbs(all 7200rpm unfortunately), NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX (Prerelease - WDDM 1.1), DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30 ATA Device, Dell Computer DELL 2405FPW - 24 inches, Samsung SyncMaster - 22 inches, XP PRO SP3, PTLE 8.0
***** please note that these dverb scores were achieved with PTLE 8.0 and the NEW DVERB (with chorus) (see the Windows 7 thread for details)

pianosound - 225 DVERBS (PTLE 8) on Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66Ghz LGA 1366 130 W Quad Core, Asus P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel x58 MOBO, OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240 pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800), Asus EAH4350 Silent Radeon 512MB 64-bit PCI Express 2.0 x 16 Video Card, Corsair 750W Power Supply, Lian LI Lancool ATX Mid Tower Case, Western Digital Caviar Black, HD's,,, 1 750 GB,, and 2 500GB,,, SATA 3.0Gb/s, XP Home SP3, (Also got DVD/CD,, and 24 inch monitor)
***please note that pianosound's dverb tests were done with quite a few backgrd processes running and with speedstep enabled. so he did take a performance hit because of this. also he ran the test using PTLE 8 with the new dverb which causes a performance hit also. but i did want to post his build specs regardless so others could view his component list.

guitardom - 488 DVERBS on Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66Ghz, GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard , COOLER MASTER RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler , HIS Hightech H465P512P Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card , OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory , CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
PTLE 8, XP SP3, everything else i had already but here is the psu
***388 Dverbs @64 buffer redoing dverb tests with dverb from pt 7.4 (so w/o chorus) with 48 audio tracks, rest aux's, using ONLY first 5 inserts (A-E) recording 5 minutes, 48k - 24 bit session, processors set to max (4), cpu usage maxed, stock dae settings, multicore (hyper) threading OFF. ((ALSO the bios of my motherboard is F3 FYI))
steve full test results w/OC @3.6 (stock 2.66) dram 1440 (stock 1333...no extra voltage was req'd)...New Dverb with multi (hyper) threading OFF 64 HW Buffer / 238... 1024 HW Buffer / 312-------New Dverb with multi (hyper) threading ON 64 HW Buffer / 344.......... 1024 HW Buffer / 409 -------- Old Dverb with multi (hyper) threading OFF 64 HW Buffer / 429...1024 HW Buffer / 543 NOW FOR THE KICKER.......Old Dverb with multi (hyper) threading ON
64 HW Buffer / 543...1024 HW Buffer / 628 well i'm speechless!!!


kris75 - 311 (@64 buffer) Dverbs Intel I7 920 cpu, Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Motherboard, 3 x 1 gig stix of kingston value ram ddr3 1333, 250 gig system drive, Antec Sonota III w/500 watt power supply, Asus 3450 256mb video card, LG 22x DVD writer, PTLE 8.0 (used the 7.4 dverb intestin' tho)


CrAkD - i7 920, Gigabye ud4p, 6gb OCZ Platinum ddr3 1600, 2x 640gb WD Caviar Black, OLD Dverb 1024 - 520 Dverbs 64 - 433 Dverbs, NEW Dverb 1024 - 283 64 - 235

Herkimer - i7 920, Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard, 3x2GB ram Kingston 9905403-011A01LF 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-24 4-33-10-5), Video: ASUS Extreme AX300SE/T (128MB, PCIe 1.00 x16, PS2.0, VS2.0), Hard drive: WDC WD3200AAKS-00L9A0 320GB (SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 298GB (C:) (F:) Hard drive: WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 250GB (SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 233GB (G:)
LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1693S (RAID, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (D:) LITE-ON COMBO SOHC-5236V (RAID, DVD+-R, CD-RW) : N/A (E:)
Audio Device : Giga-Byte HD Audio Controller, FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Giga-Byte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8168D(P)/8111D(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3), PT8, Mbox2


bblue - Intel i7-920 OC'd to 3.2GHz, Asus P6T DLX, 6GB DDR3-1600 (triple), Win XP Pro SP3, PTLE 8cs2, MPTK2, Black Lion 003R


albee1952 - GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail , Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail , OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory , OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600W Power Supply - Retail


Keybeeetsss - CPU, MOBO, SYSTEM DRIVE, RAM, PSU, TOWER, CPU FAN/HS


philip888 - Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 4.0Ghz, OCZ DDR3 1333Mhz PC3-10666 Platinum Edition @ 1600Mhz, ATI Radeon HD 4350, Delta 1010LT, M-Powered 8.0cs3, Windows XP Pro SP3, Dverb 2.0 Test= 420

***philip888 has one of the most impressive OC's IMHO. here is a link to his settings. you BETTER have the absolute proper cooling and voltage settings to try to pull this off. you are on your own but i thought it was well worth the note. philip888 OC settings




thanks to jlearman for the recap!!! hope it helps brings the info in this thread in a bit more concise read. thanks again!! you can find his post on page 136 of this thread .... http://duc.digidesign.com/showpost.p...postcount=1356


Hey Mike & anyone else who's interested... I've read through this whole thread twice. On the second run, I took notes of everything I thought I'd need. It by no means captures the wealth of knowledge in this thread, but I thought it would make a good checklist for anyone building a new system & would hopefully keep the big dogs from answering the same questions a hundred times. I knew off the bat that I was copying Guitardom's rig, so I started with his parts list.

Read Mykhal's c's links on the first page. He's the man... read everything he posts twice. Also, he has a great link up there for getting a D0 stepping i7 for an awesome price.

Hardware
Motherboard - Gigabyte ex58 boards or ASUS P6T have been tested & are working. Guitardom's GA-EX58-UD3R still has the best results, but probably mostly due to his settings than the hardware itself.
Drives - MUST BE 32mb cache. WD black is best.

Tweaks
http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=133039

Windows x64
http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread...08#post1359108

DPC Latency Checker
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

RAM Disk Supervolume
http://www.superspeed.com/desktop/supervolume.php
Shan has used to make use of the extra ram not recognized by windows.

overlocking tools:
prime95 - http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103
coretemp - http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
cpuz - http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php


3G SWITCH
3gb switch is what you are looking for. you do step 1 only for pt 8.

Do Not Install Easy Tune 6 (gigabyte's windows-based overclocking-for-dummies software)

Set "Open Ended Record Allocation" to limit to 10 minutes

Do's & Do nots
Do a base install with minimal drivers.
Do make Images.
Do load only drivers if at all possable.
Do update and patch the system.
Do follow the guidelines in the general truobleshooting thread and getting started guide for your initial set up.
Do install just PT and the latest stable Cs update if needed to solve any problems. The latest update is not always the stablest update. Check first.
Do make more drive images along the way

Dont install stuff from the driver disk until you know your system is stable.
Dont add a bunch of 3rd part apps until you know the system is stable and working.
Dont change more than one thing in Bios at a time.

BIOS Version
ALSO FOR ALL THE GIGABYTE OWNERS:::: please check and update your bios first thing. albee's new board was about 2 revisions back on bios updates and is the culprit to his early problems.

at the moment the current revision to use is F4. the easiest way to see it is to first disable the "show full screen logo" in the bios. then restart your computer and the first window you will see will show GIGABYTE EX58-UD3R F?" in the upper right of the screen.

you need just a flash drive and have the newest update downloaded and extracted and put on the flash drive. have it in the machine, reboot, go into qflash (hold end on boot) and follow the instructions to update the bios. also read the section in the manual if you have never done it.


Autoruns
Another very good app. - if a little scary, to begin with - is Autoruns. This has made a huge difference to my stability, and boot times.

By the way, as you (guitardom) mentioned with the DAE buffer to level 1 is much better..!

THEME STUFF:
Install and run Royale Noir. Created by MS about 5 or so years ago and much better than the Fisher Price look or Classic XP look. A history lesson of Royale Noir. It looks great with these new darker themed UI's we're seeing in our DAW's these days. Also add a drop shadow utility like the classic free Y'z Shadow 1.9(includes a wee bit of tasteful transparency)and PT 8 looks like a brand new PT 9(still without ADC).

Ooooh this is really nice Shane but I prefer the Zune Theme for XP. It matches with Pro Tools 8 even better. It doesn't take up more memory or anything its jsut a darker theme for XP. You can download it from here. If you switch on the track colouring in PT 8 it matches perfectly with Instrument tracks

DUAL BOOTING:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_v...step_guide.htm

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vi...creenshots.htm


XMP / BIOS settings:
First if your OCZ memory supports X.M.P. (check manual or their website) then on the "AI Tweaker" window switch to X.M.P. that will just set all your RAM timing to match with the CPU and all the other things. It will adjust voltages and everything.... Second: Disable Speedstepping (C1E, C3/C6/C7) on Gigayte boards. This feautre should be above the Turbo Mode or somewhere in the CPU Settings. Note that that will also disalble TURBO MODE. Anyway u got to do that because Speedsteppin is causing some errors with Pro Tools... Third make sure that Hyper Threading (HT) is ON! That will improve performance in Pro Tools . Also in the "Boot" tab under "Boot device priority" only check ur hard drive! Disable all the other drive whatever (Tip USE ENTER for that :P). Well thats all I think... Ohh no it isn't! :O Ooops! You gotta disable all the onboard stuff that u don't use. If u use PCI firewirecard (which I suggest BTW, something that has TI Chipset on) then u should disable the onboard Firewire (1394) so the two but interfere with each other. Same applies for Audio and LAN. If u use Wireless Internet disable LAN.


and since a LOT of the builders are usin' GIGA mobos, i'm postin' these changes that need to made to the BIOS. this is from the GIGA manual but ASUS builders should also make the same changes...tho the features 'might' have different wording...

from the GIGA mobo manual...

CMOS Setup Utility-Copyright (C) 1984-2008 Award Software
Advanced CPU Features
: Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10: Save ESC: Exit F1: General Help
F5: Previous Values F6: Fail-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults
CPU Clock Ratio (Note) [22X]
CPU Frequency 2.93GHz(133x22)
Intel(R) Turbo Boost Tech. [Enabled] <= Standard (i think is the available choice...check this one tho)***
CPU Cores Enabled (Note) [All]
CPU Multi-Threading (Note) [Enabled] (this is hyperthreading)
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) (Note) [Enabled] <= DISABLE
C3/C6/C7 State Support (Note) [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) (Note) [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function (Note) [Enabled] <= DISABLE
Virtualization Technology (Note) [Enabled] <= DISABLE
Bi-Directional PROCHOT (Note) [Enabled]
Item Help
Menu Level

*** if you are overclockin' TURBO mode should NOT be enabled


CASPER XP CLONING:
worth a look too... CASPER XP cloning while you're booted up in XP/Vista. it does not do 'image' files like Acronis tho. but if you're lookin' for a clone drive that can go str8 to SATA port 1 from a bkup case/port then it really does not get any easier than the way CXP does it. like i said, worth a look...no doubt



AHCI - how to set hard drives to AHCI without slipstream
http://expertester.wordpress.com/200...ci-windows-xp/


DO NOT INSTALL THE UTILITIES FROM THE MOBO CDs!!!! THEY WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH PTLE's PERFORMANCE!!!! (mykhal 9/15/09)
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Last edited by mykhal c; 01-18-2014 at 06:05 PM. Reason: updated 1/18/14...moved older builds from top thread here
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Old 02-03-2009, 07:49 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

Pro Tools is now installing.....
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Old 02-03-2009, 07:55 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

Quote:
Pro Tools is now installing.....
very cool, i am installing windows so a bit behind you. will be interesting to trade notes and different issues on our builds......tonight.....!!!!!!!!!

my biggies are the sata ports on the board are a bit difficult to get to once you got everything in and setup. the cpu heatsink/fan is VERY nice but had to mount a plate on the back of the board, after i already had it in
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Old 02-03-2009, 08:37 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

Just finished the dverb test.

498 with 32 tracks in reocord using the Old Dverb

Not smooth yet though. Almost there
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Old 02-03-2009, 08:40 PM
guitardom guitardom is offline
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

Quote:
Just finished the dverb test.

498 with 32 tracks in reocord using the Old Dverb
WOW!! that is killer, still getting stuff setup and installed, just flashed the bios and got basic tweaking done in there. getting closer!!!
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Old 02-03-2009, 08:44 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

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Originally Posted by Kris75 View Post
Just finished the dverb test.

498 with 32 tracks in reocord using the Old Dverb

Not smooth yet though. Almost there
yeah man!!!!!
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i7 Builds - Specs and Results

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ASUS X79 Sabertooth | 32GB GSkill DDR3 2133 ram | mo' stuff
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Old 02-03-2009, 08:46 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

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Originally Posted by guitardom View Post
WOW!! that is killer, still getting stuff setup and installed, just flashed the bios and got basic tweaking done in there. getting closer!!!
step on the gas man!!!
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i7 Builds - Specs and Results

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ASUS X79 Sabertooth | 32GB GSkill DDR3 2133 ram | mo' stuff
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Old 02-03-2009, 08:56 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

kris75 had to leave the studio for the night but he'll run more tests tomorrow. Steve, you might have to turn off hyper threading. kris75 had the grayed out RTAS CPU issue when hyper threading was turned on trying to see 8 cores.

I'll make an attempt of getting an i7 OC'd up to 4Ghz.

Shane
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Old 02-03-2009, 09:23 PM
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Default Re: i7 Builds - Specs and Results

I had to leave the studio to see my wife, but I think Hyper threading caused some issues.

My gut tells me that you will see a performance hit after disabling Hyper Threading. I can't check until tomorrow but so far HOLY SH**T!!!!

Installing windows up till service pack 3 took me 19 mins.

Also, this computer is dead quiet. You almost have to strain to hear it. AMAZING! Now to get it stable. I have no doubt that it will be though.
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