Upgrade from i7 920 (Bloomfield) to more recent i7 - Sandy or Ivy Bridge?

[soundklinik]

I use an old NVidia 9500GT, passive cooled, PCIe dual head GPU. I'd love to get a more recent NVidia card, since my graphics start to pull me some crap. But I'm fine either way. I just need a dual head system, best if passive (noiseless) with at least two DVI ports or suitable connectors. No VGA.

My PSU is a 550W Dark Power beQuiet. I use three HDD's (OS, Record, Samples), one DVD drive (want to get a Blu-Ray one), my GPU, the CPU on full load and 5 fans (3 case, 2 CPU ones) just fine. No power surges or anything. Even with several USB2 devices connected.

My CPU cooler was a Nocturne fitting for the i7. Can I reuse that one for the Sandy/Ivy bridge?

My case is an ANTEC (IIRC) - I love that one. My HDDs are all SATA II's (300MB/s), so I'm not against getting a mother board that is capable of SATA II/600MB/s.

My current mother board is an ASUS P6T SE. I have 8 USB slots (4 on the board, two in front with the case, 2 additional ones with an adapter), so the new one should at least have 8 USB slots. Firewire is not that important to me, since I use RME hardware with PCIe cards. Overclocking would be nice, but I don't need a killer mainboard.
Thanks for the infos.

I see you're German, I shop here: http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/OC- ... =pname_asc
Good service and knowledgeable people.
All components are matched, tweaked and overclocked by them.
I got advertisement from them on these kits (last week) with about 100 euros off on some of them, ask about it.

[Compyfox]

Interesting, though I'm a bit turned off by LED lights and small RAM. Then again, most boards are limited to 32GB, but at least 8GB to 16GB should be possible.

I might contact them with a custom, extreme low noise design. I got my ANTEC case by them back in the days.



Oh, and I took a dive into my rig to see what I can still use.

- CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 (I don't think I can use that for 1155's, unless there is an adapter), with Ultra-LowNoise adapters for the fans
- CPU: i7 920, revision D0, stock clocked
- RAM: 3xCorsair OC3-10700H's (Part number CMX6GX3M3A 1600C9), 2GB each

I found a OC tutorial, where there are stable settings for going 3,6GHz (air cooled) and 4,2GHz (probably water cooled). It's on hardwareoverclock.com



Questions to Kaine:

If I chance the CPU clock from stock 2,7GHz to 3,6GHz, I gain about 1GHz. Would that drastically improve my rig for the time being? It should be about 20% improvement. I mean, MacIntels are not drastically stronger either.


Then... I think the bottlelecks are still the RAM (especially for Reverbs) and my GPU. I plan to get at least 1600's DDR3's - since higher mainboards still use DDR's (though not sure if DDR3 or DDR5 already) and my X58 board can only go as high as 2000. Maybe I can find a decent prices 16GB kit for 3-slot usage. Would that help for DAW realtime usage?

I found passive cooled, low profile G600's (actually 610's) for 30-40quid street. This should ease the CPU load in terms of OS graphics since I can't locate where the glitches come from. At least I hope so.


So yeah...
Unless I have the funds to get an upgrade kit (good find soundklinik), I might as well go this route. The main Q is - how much use would it be.

And... do I need to reinstall my DAW from scratch...

[Gonga]

Tom's Hardware is the nutz (great site).

I have built four computers for my family in the last 2-3 years (a lot more if you go back farther). The last one doesn't have a gpu but Intel 4000 graphics on the 3770K chip. I like the 3370k, and it has the 4000 gpu built in - it can run games and 3D movies, makes no noise at all -and costs nothing extra! You can always get a gpu later or use the existing one if you like the noise, but I doubt it'll be faster than the chip gpu.

When you get memory, make sure it's the EXACT SAME memory as listed on the MB manufacturer's list as tested at that speed. Maybe consider using the stock Intel cooler that ships with the chip - if you can hear the Noctua. I have been using the stock coolers on all my recent builds, which are non-overclocked gaming rigs - with no problems whatsoever.

Get a MB with the new UEFI BIOS and Windows 8 64-bit or you'll regret it later. The biggest thing you can do to boost your productivity is to get a Samsung 840Pro SSD drive (currently fastest on the planet and only $250 for 250GB) coupled with the new UEFI BIOS and Windows 8. The hard disc is the bottleneck for most current systems (run the Windows7 Experience Index and you'll see for yourself - the drive is the bottleneck). I recommend Gigabyte motherboards. And there's nothing you can do with Windows 7 (or XP - gads) that you can't do faster with Windows 8. But there's a lot of productivity you'll miss without Win8. I recommend installing the freeware "Classic Start Menu" on all Windows 8 builds to give you the best of both worlds.

To sum, I recommend get a new Gigabyte MB with Intel 3370K, as much compatible 1600GHz memory as you can afford, a Samsung 840Pro, and Windows 8 64-bit.

By the way, use Newegg, they will stand behind everything no questions, and make sure all the parts say "standard return policy." If they don't, it's likely the manufacturer has had trouble with the board (such as some recent EVGA boards) and won't accept returns.

[EvilDragon]

I'd still stay on W7 x64, though... Just my 2 cents.

[Gonga]

Fair enuf, but every time my wife boots her puter in 7 seconds I'm green with envy

I have a monster desktop and a fast laptop. The lappy is Windows 8 and the desktop is 7 and 8. I prefer 8 hands down, but only if Classic Start Menu is installed. For touch devices, it's 8 all the way.

[Compyfox]

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

I don't want to exchange my complete rig - I just want to upgrade it. HDDs not included - and I don't see a reason in SSD's - especially if they're still that expensive.

I am(!) on Win7 x64, and I ran all my hosts in 32bit anyway. And as long as Win8 is still such a module/touch screen hungry idiot, I'll evade it. I'm fine with Windows 7.


On top if it, I run a dual screen system. So if I have a GPU and can use the onboard graphic adapter for a third(!) screen, even better. There are plentyof tools on the market to configure all that together.


So yeah...
No complete new rig, just a more updated one. Because then I could get a Mac Mini as well and start from scratch yet again. But I'm a Windows guy.

[soundklinik]

So yeah...
Unless I have the funds to get an upgrade kit, I might as well go this route. The main Q is - how much use would it be.
And... do I need to reinstall my DAW from scratch...

You will get good use and fresh everything from Upgrade...
Take out the OLD mobo with everything: CPU, memory, cooler and sell it as 1 piece on ebay, you will get good money. It still has good value.
From past memories, you do not have to re-install DAW or anything, only DRIVERS for the new mobo, from the disk...

[UltraJv]

IMHO you will have to re install. Windows is tied to mobo/CPU/Network MAC Ids, so is certain software. IF you just put your HDD into a new mobo, Windows will go nuts for quite a while trying to change drivers for every new chipset, it may not find some. Windows will then require re activation as its another PC. You may have to re register certain software. It may succeed but its a long shot.

[Gonga]

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

I don't want to exchange my complete rig - I just want to upgrade it. HDDs not included - and I don't see a reason in SSD's - especially if they're still that expensive.

I am(!) on Win7 x64, and I ran all my hosts in 32bit anyway. And as long as Win8 is still such a module/touch screen hungry idiot, I'll evade it. I'm fine with Windows 7.


On top if it, I run a dual screen system. So if I have a GPU and can use the onboard graphic adapter for a third(!) screen, even better. There are plentyof tools on the market to configure all that together.


So yeah...
No complete new rig, just a more updated one. Because then I could get a Mac Mini as well and start from scratch yet again. But I'm a Windows guy.

Good reasoning, and the 3770K will only drive one monitor as you seem to know. Yes the Samsung is a bit expensive, but the bang for the buck is as good as it gets. I run 10,000rpm WD velociraptors and they are 1/3 the speed of the Samsung drive in my tests. There's your reason, if like most of us the hdd is the bottleneck of your system performance. Also, I'm not sure Windows7 offers the new partitioning system GPT, which is very superior to the old MBR system. If you ever do get an SSD, you'll want UEFI and Win8 for instant boots and GPT for 3TB+ drives. As soon as you experience it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. My rig takes 2 minutes to boot and another minute to resolve my IP address under Windows 7. With Windows 8 it takes 14 seconds to boot and in 20 seconds I have the IP address. With the Samsung those numbers are halved. It's totally amazing...that's all!

By the way the newer SATAIII is 6gb/s.

Good luck and enjoy your new rig

[Compyfox]

Don't get me wrong folks, I know that I need to reinstall from scratch with a complete new MOBO/CPU combo. I'm only wondering with my current rig and possible OCing. I don't know if certain drivers on Win7 need a correct CPU counter on install.


Regarding Win7 and HDDs larger than 2TB - not going to touch that.
I had way too many HDD crashes with 2GB HDDs full with data. And I'm currently fine with my setup (160GB OS, 500GB Recording, 300GB samples). Since this is a modular design, I can exchange things as needed. And should something crash, it's not as drastic.

I might even think about using a "virtual drive" for temp files, should I get 16GB of RAM. Then I could (in theory) adress 4GB for temp files. Though here I think at least 24GB (which is the maximum of my current mobo btw) would make more sense.



I was also in touch with Caseking. Very fast response - they sure got better over the years. Unfortunately they don't do custom design. But they try to help as good as they can.


Anybody of you maybe know if Noctua offers adapters for the U12P SE1366 heatsink, so that I can use it for the 1155 slots?

And someone can maybe recommend an ATX mobo with no PCI slots, but at least two PCIe 1x? Granted, certain RME hardware is still on PCI (the "old" MADI slots), but I don't use any PCI modules anymore. Only PCIe 16x and PCIe 1x (RME).


Thanks again.

[Kaine]

I take it the X58 i7 930 is somewhat... on the lines of my i7 920. Then I see a drastic improvement with the 3370k, not so much with the 2600k at stock speed (I'm only talking about stock speed here, since I hate OCing - meessed up a lot back in the days).

Yep.

The thing is, how long will we stay with socket 1155 (Sandy and Ivy), or will the Haswell CPU's also stick to socket 1155 (whenever they will be out)?

They change the chips design every other generation and then shrink it on the following generation. Haswell is a redesign and the socket will be changing.

And most important, which pricerange do we talk about then?

They tend to replace models at the same price point. So expect the 3770k replacement to come in around the same price point give or take a few Euros.

- CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 (I don't think I can use that for 1155's, unless there is an adapter)

It should have shipped with one in the box : http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=prod ... =31&lng=en

If I chance the CPU clock from stock 2,7GHz to 3,6GHz, I gain about 1GHz. Would that drastically improve my rig for the time being? It should be about 20% improvement. I mean, MacIntels are not drastically stronger either.

We still talking about your current 930 here? If so those chips ran quite warm so I'd be uncertain of hitting 3.6 and keeping it quiet. I think I used to run mine around 3.2Ghz with no major voltage changes so you might want to scale it down slightly to 3.2/3.4. Don't really know to you take a crack at it mind!

Then... I think the bottlelecks are still the RAM (especially for Reverbs) and my GPU. I plan to get at least 1600's DDR3's - since higher mainboards still use DDR's (though not sure if DDR3 or DDR5 already) and my X58 board can only go as high as 2000. Maybe I can find a decent prices 16GB kit for 3-slot usage. Would that help for DAW realtime usage?

Officially whilst many mainboard firms "claimed" to support speeds above 1600Mhz the chipset itself is only rated to 1600Mhz by Intel and to be honest for the amount of pissing about that is required to get the higher spec stuff running stable at times, I'd save the time, effort and money and just go for the 160Mhz solution.

Also the reverb is FPU dependent not RAM, so your looking at the CPU not the memory in that instance.

When you get memory, make sure it's the EXACT SAME memory as listed on the MB manufacturer's list as tested at that speed.

Nice in theory but memory makers change the chips/IC's on memory sticks so quickly that those lists are redundent by the time the manual is commited to PDF.

Pick decent memory in spec and you shouldn't go wrong. Don't mix and match brands if you can help it and if all else fails generic Samsung is pretty much bombproof but won't give you tight CAS results (see bombproof).

IMHO you will have to re install. Windows is tied to mobo/CPU/Network MAC Ids, so is certain software. IF you just put your HDD into a new mobo, Windows will go nuts for quite a while trying to change drivers for every new chipset, it may not find some. Windows will then require re activation as its another PC. You may have to re register certain software. It may succeed but its a long shot.

I've had 3 upgrades on the same Win7 install going from a Q6600 to a i7 920 to a i7 3930 all with the minimum of fuss and no re-registations at all on my personal studio rig.

Obviously YMMV but sometimes things do just work.

On top if it, I run a dual screen system. So if I have a GPU and can use the onboard graphic adapter for a third(!) screen, even better. There are plentyof tools on the market to configure all that together.

Good reasoning, and the 3770K will only drive one monitor as you seem to know.

The way I read it is that he's stating that it'll do 2 screens plus another third (or even fourth) by way of a PCI-e card... which is right the on board on the 3370k will handle two screens if the motherboard has the physical connections to do it.