KVR Audio

jungle_boogie · Post by **jungle_boogie** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:01 pm

Hello, I'm looking into building a desktop pc for audio work - I'd like to do a little recording [one or two tracks at a time], lots of real time DSP and a little bit of samplers/synthesizers. I'll be running Archlinux 64 bit.

What I'd like to understand is which of the i5 sandy bridge processors would be best bang for the buck. Precisely, at stock speeds, how much difference is there between the 2300, 2400 and 2500?

Secondly, how much is overclocking useful for audio? I.e. is a 2500k worth the additional cost?

If not I would get an H67 motherboard, sparing some money for other things (like audio pci card)

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:05 pm

Not sure if youre aware but any Linux version will limit you to running non Windows apps and you wont be able to run vst plugins (not properly anyhow). There is WINE I know but its not good for DAW work. If youre into Linux, its not for the feint of heart - then Ardour is pretty good. There is a dedicated Linux thread here :

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=160807

jungle_boogie · Post by **jungle_boogie** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:20 pm

thanks, I know, I've been using Linux esclusively for several years

But CPU performance should be more or less independent of the OS? So I thought this question belonged here

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:42 pm

I was just looking for this thread on CPU choice/overclocking :

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 79&start=0

A quote from Kaine who builds DAWs :

Kaine wrote:Bang per buck the 2600 is better but the 2500 is no slouch. I wouldn't go lower than a 2500 through.

Just to throw my 2 cents in on the overclocking, the current generation sees about a 30% increase in DAWBench performance on a modest overclock. When I say modest I mean as far as you can push it without raising the voltages from stock which is still in the mid 4Ghz. Modern CPU's are rated for 5 - 10 years at stock voltages so not overly concerned with it causing an issue as the is a lot of overhead in the silicon. We've been selling and supporting overclocked systems for the best part of a decade now and I can count on one hand the number of CPU's failed in that time frame out of the 10's of thousands we've shipped.

skitchy · Post by **skitchy** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:52 pm

Spend the extra and get an i7 - it makes more sense in the long term.

Kaboom75 · Post by **Kaboom75** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:56 pm

I have an i7 920 2.6Ghz that I run at 3.8ghz with a third party cooler Coolermaster V8. Without the overclocking I get lots of CPU overload and crackle in projects using a few instances of Diva and lots of Soundtoys plugs thrown on.

The hyperthreading on i7 CPUs causes crackle in my Daw so I have it turned off.
I guess the OS is allowing some intensive plugins to run on a virtual thread and not a proper core.

Turbo boost only boosts one core when the other cores are not in use and reduces how much you can overclock due to the added heat.

The i5 and some i7 cpus are for dual channel ram motherboards I'm not sure if tripple channel is overkill but I use the tripple channel version socket 1366 which Intel still uses for the really high end but I can see it going redundant soon.

If I was rebuilding a computer now I would buy the cheapest six core i7 tripple channel CPU and the most expensive CPU cooler.

Kaine · Post by **Kaine** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:38 am

Kaboom75 wrote:I have an i7 920 2.6Ghz that I run at 3.8ghz with a third party cooler Coolermaster V8. Without the overclocking I get lots of CPU overload and crackle in projects using a few instances of Diva and lots of Soundtoys plugs thrown on.

The hyperthreading on i7 CPUs causes crackle in my Daw so I have it turned off.
I guess the OS is allowing some intensive plugins to run on a virtual thread and not a proper core.

Which Daw/motherboard do you have?

skitchy · Post by **skitchy** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:55 am

Mine is an i7 2600k 3.4GHz Socket 1155 8MB (Sandy Bridge), Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 motherboard, and an RME Fireface 400. I run Cubase 5, and I push it HARD with the amount of plugins I use. I dont get any snaps, crackles or pops. I haven't overclocked it, because frankly there is no need to tax it at this point. However, as things move on over the next couple of years, its good to know I have some extra power in there that can be utilized. That's why I advised getting an i7 - futureproofing.
@kaboom - have you checked that no annoying little processes / programs are thrashing your hard drive? I've found that this is one of the most likely culprits when a DAW starts complaining.

Kaboom75 · Post by **Kaboom75** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:53 pm

I use Ableton Live 8 motherboard is Gigabyte UD3R with latest bios. I use U-HE Diva on best setting with three soundtoys plugs and slate Vcc around 7 tracks in total. This brings an i7 to it's knees with some Diva presets. I also use Electri6ity and Amplitube with 6 soundtoys plugs and Slate digital VCC. My Core i7 is the first one that came out they have been improved since then so yours will out perform mine at the same Mhz. Overclocking the CPU fixed the crackle which i only started to get after buying the Soundtoys bundle and came back with Diva so overclocked it more and that fixed the crackle again.

Nearly out of Ram could of caused the hardrive to be busy with virtual memory.

Today I upgraded my Ram from 6Gb to 12GB so will see how that goes. The sluggishness has gone adding more ram it was nearlry maxed out at 5.8GB with my projects.

intel i5: 2300, 2400, 2500 or 2500k?