# Thought on i9 9980XE CPU?



## jononotbono (Mar 4, 2019)

I'm doing a bit of online window shopping for PC components and stuck on a CPU.

I think I am going to build a Thunderbolt 3 ready PC (to use with a UA Apollo X6 interface) and it's definitely going to be single CPU (Dual CPU slaves for samples) for speed. I was thinking about the i9 7900X. It's a 10 core. Any thoughts on this?

I know it's not the latest and greatest but I'm hoping that will make it more affordable.

Thanks!


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## Pictus (Mar 4, 2019)

Check the charts https://techreport.com/review/34253/intel-core-i9-9980xe-cpu-reviewed/8
The i9-9900K looks more interesting, else if you want 128GB ram.
But some Z390 got BIOS update for 32GB UDIMM
https://www.eteknix.com/gigabyte-z390-boards-now-support-128gb-ddr4-update/
https://www.techpowerup.com/251528/asus-announces-expanded-memory-support-for-z390-motherboards


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## JohnG (Mar 4, 2019)

I just bought _two_ i9-9900k processors for about 10-15% more than _one_ of the 7900x CPUs.

The 9900k CPUs sport a mere 8 cores but I'm using hyper threading (so I can pretend it's 16) and pretty darn happy with them. I think they are overclocked to about 4.7GHz and I'm able to load quite a few samples into them (VE Pro standalone host) with a buffer of 256 for strings and 128 for winds/choir/brass.

Probably for the less-scripted strings I could drop to 128 but haven't tried.


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## jononotbono (Mar 5, 2019)

Pictus said:


> Check the charts https://techreport.com/review/34253/intel-core-i9-9980xe-cpu-reviewed/8
> The i9-9900K looks more interesting, else if you want 128GB ram.
> But some Z390 got BIOS update for 32GB UDIMM
> https://www.eteknix.com/gigabyte-z390-boards-now-support-128gb-ddr4-update/
> https://www.techpowerup.com/251528/asus-announces-expanded-memory-support-for-z390-motherboards



The charts are very interesting. Looks like the 7990X is quite low down vs the other options! Hmmm.


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## jononotbono (Mar 5, 2019)

JohnG said:


> I just bought _two_ i9-9900k processors for about 10-15% more than _one_ of the 7900x CPUs.
> 
> The 9900k CPUs sport a mere 8 cores but I'm using hyper threading (so I can pretend it's 16) and pretty darn happy with them. I think they are overclocked to about 4.7GHz and I'm able to load quite a few samples into them (VE Pro standalone host) with a buffer of 256 for strings and 128 for winds/choir/brass.
> 
> Probably for the less-scripted strings I could drop to 128 but haven't tried.



I was considering the 9900K. Good to know they are working out for you! Truly lost in what CPU to buy at the moment. At least I've decided I'm going to build a PC. That's at least a start!


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## jononotbono (Mar 5, 2019)

The 9980XE is a total beast. Financially crippling as well but that chart shows it's incredible!


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## JohnG (Mar 5, 2019)

jononotbono said:


> The 9980XE is a total beast. Financially crippling as well but that chart shows it's incredible!



Maybe you're trying to make a single computer that does everything?

That CPU (the 9980XE) looks amazing, for sure. Pretty costly; and I wonder how many motherboards can really handle it.


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## tack (Mar 5, 2019)

How many of us actually run at audio buffers of 64 or 128 samples? I suspect most of this audience actually runs at 256 or even 512, which is going to change the ranking of those graphs in non-trivial ways.


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## jononotbono (Mar 5, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Maybe you're trying to make a single computer that does everything?
> 
> That CPU (the 9980XE) looks amazing, for sure. Pretty costly; and I wonder how many motherboards can really handle it.



Just want to make sure the computer is fast and will last for a few years. Going to use a couple of Mac Pro 5,1s for slaves (they are after all, designed to be on 24/7 and quite a cheap option for a 12 core machine). I'm swaying towards a 10 core 9900X. Seems to be a powerful CPU and not as bank busting as the 9980XE. I have a feeling Cubase doesn't like above 14cores but I could be wrong.


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## steveo42 (Mar 5, 2019)

jononotbono said:


> I was considering the 9900K. Good to know they are working out for you! Truly lost in what CPU to buy at the moment. At least I've decided I'm going to build a PC. That's at least a start!



I'm totally lost as well. I'm currently running a 4790K @ 4.0ghz with 16G memory.
My primary need is very low latency and the ability to run VSTi at those low latencies like 64/128 without triggering DPC with clicks/pops etc. I'm primarily a pianist so things like Ivory, Production Grand, Ravenscroft 275 etc with full polyphony and again at 64/128 which I can do with my current system but I'm planning ahead. 

I'm completely confused at this point if an upgrade will bring me a real world performance increase or is going to send me into the "clicks/pops" bottomless pit.

So which processor would give such an upgrade from a 4790K @ 4.10ghz?


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Mar 5, 2019)

Are there boards for the 9900K who are Win 7 64 bit driver friendly? Anybody a clue? In my local hardware store they told me that upgrading to a 9900K would mean to switch to win 10 because there are no boards anymore with win 64 driver support?


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## JohnG (Mar 5, 2019)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> Are there boards for the 9900K who are Win 7 64 bit driver friendly? Anybody a clue? In my local hardware store they told me that upgrading to a 9900K would mean to switch to win 10 because there are no boards anymore with win 64 driver support?



I would be amazed if you can still use Windows 7 on an i9 CPU/ chipset.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Mar 5, 2019)

JohnG said:


> I would be amazed if you can still use Windows 7 on an i9 CPU/ chipset.



Maybe odd for many others but I love Windows 7 64 bit and think that it is (for me) the best windows ms ever created. However win 7 is discountinued and its getting difficult to get new hardware with win 7 support so I will keep my i7 5820 K for next 30 years as it seems.


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## JohnG (Mar 5, 2019)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> I love Windows 7 64 bit and think that it is (for me) the best windows ms ever created



You have plenty of company. I only upgraded because I was having problems with several Win 7 machines (unrelated, as far as I could tell, to the operating system). When you're ready, Windows 10 is not bad at all. Far better than 8. 

At that time, get Windows 10 Pro though, or you will find it updating itself stealthily every time an ethernet cable gets within yards of it.


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## jononotbono (Mar 5, 2019)

I loved Win 7 but changed my Slave to win 10 Pro when I moved to Mac a few years ago. It’s been as good as gold.

Definitely use Pro version. You can stop auto updates (you can’t do this on regular version).


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Mar 5, 2019)

jononotbono said:


> I loved Win 7 but changed my Slave to win 10 Pro when I moved to Mac a few years ago. It’s been as good as gold.
> 
> Definitely use Pro version. You can stop auto updates (you can’t do this on regular version).



I have found a way to kill the updates on my home edition (laptop) via multiple changes in the windows update settings and imo the crucial thing to kill events in the task planner which then prevents win 10 starting update routines. For a year since then no updates on my laptop.


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## DANIELE (Mar 6, 2019)

I use this thread since my question is similar: do you think that going from a 7820X to a 9920X or a 9940X or a 9960X it is a good investiment?

I need more cores!!!


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## jononotbono (Mar 7, 2019)

Thought I’d change the thread title as I’m interested in anyone’s thoughts on an i9 9980XE and what Cubase is like with it.


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## benatural (Mar 10, 2019)

I just picked up an i9 9940x which has 14 cores. I used to be able to run an old Dell 8700 desktop with a 4 core processor at 3 GHz, 64 GB of RAM, a couple SSDs, an GTX 970, a Lynx AES16e, outboard reverbe, running a very large template (2700+ midi channels, 18-ish VEP instances) in Nuendo 8 with 2 VEP slaves, all at a 256 buffer, sometimes at 128. With more activity in the session, sometimes I'd need to bump it up to 512. Nuendo's ASIO meter is usually about 2/3rds the way up.

On the new, arguably beefier machine - 14 cores at 3.3 GHz, 128 gb ram, AMD GPU, more ssds, same DAW, VEP slaves and hardware... 256 gives me pops and clicks with just a piano patch, so it's up to 512. Asio meter is barely 18% and never red lines.

Not sure what it is. In reviews on Anandtech, I've seen indications that DPC latency is generally higher on the x299 chipset than on say, Z390. If I had to guess I'd say it's that the drivers are immature and the hardware is too new. Hopefully over time this improves, but who knows?


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## JohnG (Mar 11, 2019)

benatural said:


> On the new, arguably beefier machine - 14 cores at 3.3 GHz, 128 gb ram, AMD GPU, more ssds, same DAW, VEP slaves and hardware... 256 gives me pops and clicks with just a piano patch, so it's up to 512. Asio meter is barely 18% and never red lines.



Wow -- good example of how all this stuff feels at times like alchemy. Sometimes you get the gold, sometimes the dross.


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## jononotbono (Mar 11, 2019)

I think what I’m going to do is buy a 9900k or 9900X and see how it performs. The X299 motherboard I’m thinking of buying (Asus WS Sage/10gb) allows me to use any of the x series i9s so like the option of upgradability is always there. Having Slave computers for sample lifting really does help and when I finally use a TB3 PC, I can then get an UA X6 interface finally using UAD sattelite cards which takes even more pressure off the main computer. 

Both 9900k and 9900X seem like very fast CPUs and much cheaper than a 9980X.


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## benatural (Mar 11, 2019)

URL said:


> MB with Bluetooth and wifi?


Unfortunately not - neither are on-board. I use an Intel X540 10Gb nic.


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## FriFlo (Mar 12, 2019)

If you want a main machine on Windows 10 with lots of juice for low latency DSP and cost efficiency is important to you, the i9 9900k is definitely the best thing ATM. For sample slaves, it might be a bit different, as voices do profit from more cores. If a 512 buffer (which is what you get with the VEpro 2x setting and a buffer of 256 samples) is alright, the best cost efficient machine could even be a AMD TR2. They show very good numbers on voices, if you don't throw in too many CPU intensive plugins ... it all greatly depends on the exact use case ... but the 9900k is a good competitor in any way. It just doesn't get your Kontakt voices all the way up, as some of the more expensive processors do.
I think/hope we will see this or next year a generation of processors, that will easily handle the voice needs. The AMD competition will push Intel and AMD will be ambitious in areas where they were not able to beat Intel yet (Single core performance). IMO, if there is no immediate need for a new PC, at this point it will be best to wait till Q3/4 of 2019.


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## PaulieDC (Mar 12, 2019)

jononotbono said:


> I'm doing a bit of online window shopping for PC components and stuck on a CPU.
> 
> I think I am going to build a Thunderbolt 3 ready PC (to use with a UA Apollo X6 interface) and it's definitely going to be single CPU (Dual CPU slaves for samples) for speed. I was thinking about the i9 7900X. It's a 10 core. Any thoughts on this?
> 
> ...



The benchmark on the 16-core i9-9960X is slightly higher than the 18-core 9980XE. This is only one rating of course, BUT, the 9960 is $700 less:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

It's also important to look at price per increase... my 14-core 7940X scores at 25,406. Cost me $1100. The 9980XE scores at 29,506. Costs $2400 for only a ~17% gain.

If I were to build my rig today I'd probably save a grand and go for the 9940X... Under $1500, 14 cores with a 27,173 benchmark score, 9th gen cpu and faster 3.3GHz core which is great for processes that aren't multicore. Your single thread get 10% more speed than the 3.0GHz 9980XE. Oh, you save a grand too!


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## hdsmile (Mar 15, 2019)

I wanna also upgrade my: GA-Z170X-UD5 TH
Could you guys advise me the great MB with Thunderbolt 3 on board with support 9940X, 9980XE and more...


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## JohnG (Mar 15, 2019)

I haven't done all the math, but is it possible (in view of the prices for these super-duper CPUs), that you could build two i9-9900k satellite PCs for about the same price?

I'm a fan of "many" as it spreads the load out over multiple computers -- the bussing, the CPU load, the "everything" load. When the original EWQLSO came out they recommended eight PCs to run it full-throttle; I bought six at that time. 

So having "only" three PC satellite computers today seems like a luxury, by comparison.


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## mscp (Mar 16, 2019)

Is there any website that offers information on how latencies are on MBs?


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## mscp (Mar 16, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Wow -- good example of how all this stuff feels at times like alchemy. Sometimes you get the gold, sometimes the dross.



That's why my golden rule here in the studio is to always purchase previous generation gear - it's a little slower but much safer.


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## benatural (Mar 16, 2019)

Phil81 said:


> Is there any website that offers information on how latencies are on MBs?


Anandtech


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## benatural (Mar 22, 2019)

Alright, so. Update on the 9940x.

Turns out I had different versions of Vienna Ensemble Pro on my master and slaves. Master was the latest version, slaves were a year old. Upgraded the slaves to the same version as master and... WOW

My massive template now runs great with a 128 ms buffer. Very pleased with the result. The lowest I could go with my previous setup was 256, but I'd usually have to bump it up to 512. 

I'll have to retract my previous statement. As it stands, the upgrade seems to have been worth the investment.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Mar 25, 2019)

tack said:


> How many of us actually run at audio buffers of 64 or 128 samples?



I run at 128 daily.


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## jononotbono (Mar 25, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I run at 128 daily.



So many variables in an endless question... but how many tracks? What’s instruments? Etc

With my current setup I can run everything at 128... when tracking a couple of guitar tracks for a song.

When using a full virtual Orchestra, not a chance.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Mar 25, 2019)

I can run at 128 with my biggest templates....not massive, but epic orchestral stuff. Might be because I'm using an Apogee Thunderbolt interface? Never a hiccup.


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## jononotbono (Mar 25, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I can run at 128 with my biggest templates....not massive, but epic orchestral stuff. Might be because I'm using an Apogee Thunderbolt interface? Never a hiccup.



That’s great to know. I’m e cited about upgrading my main machine and interface. Lower than 512 would be excellent!


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