I need to upgrade my pc dedicated entirely to music, I need a very expert opinion since I still have some little doubt!
So my current setup is as follows:
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 550
Motherboard: Asus P7P55D
Processor: Intel I7-860 (socket 1156)
Processor Heatsink: Freezer XTREME Rev. 2
Fans: 1 back, 2 front
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5450 (Fanless)
Ram: Corsair 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz Vengaence
HDD: OCZ Vertex Plus + HDD Seagate 500 GB 7200 (I don't remember the model)
CD and HDD hot swap drive bays on the front!
Some images:
![Image](http://imageshack.us/a/img407/3710/img20121113154259.jpg)
![Image](http://imageshack.us/a/img607/5572/img20121113154254.jpg)
![Image](http://imageshack.us/a/img29/2294/img20121113154229.jpg)
The upgrade regards specially the motherboard and processor socket:
the 1156 is a bit outdated now and I am not satisfied whit the 860 anymore!
The computer is used exclusively as a DAW, the CPU currently have the speedstep disabled and other optimizations for streaming audio without interruption, everything run at 100% when turned on.
I was oriented on a 6-core i7 3930k, but I still have many doubts on the motherboard.
I do not care overclocking, the system should run more quietly as possible so I can not afford to run the fans too quickly!
My choice fell on the ASUS P9X79 but I'm open to any advice. Using usually 8-10 USB ports at once, so it seemed perfect. I do not need more than 2 USB 3.0 ports.
A couple of questions: Is there something better than my setup at the moment?
I'm rather not spend more than 700 euro so I'm not interested in the 3960X (and then there are not too many advantages to justify the price), I need a minimum of 6 cores at frequencies high enough because I use a lot of Virtual Instruments!
My HeatSink will be compatible with the new socket? I don't understand if the 2011 chipset has the same size of 1155 (I don't think so). Alternatively what could I take? Even liquid is fine as long as it is not too expensive (like the cooler masters for example, but do not know how they can be good).
The new processor has a TDP of 130 compared to the 95 of 860, it is more hot? Even without overclocking then I need more dissipation right?
Thanks you in advance for the reply!
Mauro.