# Another "Help me build..."



## Leandro Marcos (Oct 27, 2017)

Alright. I'm gonna be truly honest with you. My Pc setup is from 2010. So you can imagine that I'm having trouble opening Paint and Notepad 
Anyways, my computer used to be a space shuttle by that time. I even had 16 gb ram when most people had 8 gb.

I've never updated because I didn't need to. Now I'm encountering bottlenecks, mainly because I'm writing more orchestral stuff.

I am willing to update my hardware (if my budget allows me to). 

My current PC is as follows:

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9400
RAM: 16 GB
Motherboard: Asus Rock P5Q-E
Storage: 4 x 750gb hard drives 7200 rpm
Video: Some XFX card I can't remember now
Sound Card: EMU USB 0404 (external)
OS: Windows 10 Home
DAW: Sonar Professional

And this is what I might be getting:

CPU: Core i7 7800x or 7820x
RAM: 64 GB Corsair LPX
Motherboard: ASRock X299 Killer
Storage: 2 x 500gb SDDs (complementing the hard drives I already have in my old pc)
Video: use the same from my old pc
Cooler: NH-D15
Sound Card: Same EMU USB 0404
OS: Windows 10 Home
DAW: Sonar Professional

So, here are my questions:

1) should I go for a master/slave setup (using VEPro) being my old machine the master, and the new pc the slave? Or it will be more efficient to have everything in the same PC? (if I do the master/slave it will mainly be for Hollywood Strings and Brass; but I don't know what's faster: all the data travelling through the Ethernet cable or being screamed from within the same computer?)

2) even using a single computer, should I use VEPro to increase CPU efficiency? Or with todays fast cpus it's not needed anymore? (I've heard of many composers moving away from VEPro; like the hassle is not worth it anymore.

3) of course, the main reason for upgrading is that I'm getting lots of dropouts unless I start freezing tracks and increasing latency in the Asio panel. Do you think that upgrading to the new computer will deal with most of these issues? Or should I change the soundcard as well? The EMU has been giving me great results, but I see everyone uses RME or Steinberg.

Thanks a lot everyone for your help and input. Cheers!


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## Andrew Aversa (Oct 27, 2017)

There is little reason to get the more expensive and power hungry X299 platform if you are "only" getting a 7800x. The 7800x is comparable to the new 8700k, which is also 6 cores / 12 threads. In fact, the 8700k clocks even faster. 

The 7820x would be the first processor in the "x" lineup to give you more power than the mainstream 8700k. However, it is noticeably more expensive and you're only getting 2 more cores.

I've been using a 6-core CPU (5820k) for 3 years with a fairly low clockspeed, and it works well. I'd say there isn't a huge benefit to spending the extra money on X299 UNLESS:

1. You want the option of upgrading to Intel's multi-core monsters later (16+ cores, up to $2000)
2. You want the option of upgrading to 128gb of RAM later

With *that* being said, I don't use VEPro myself, but many like @rgames believe the best solution involves a master PC w/ a separate server. And for this setup, 128gb of RAM and more than 6 cores on your main PC is overkill. You could take the savings and invest into a VEPro server.


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## Leandro Marcos (Oct 27, 2017)

zircon_st said:


> There is little reason to get the more expensive and power hungry X299 platform if you are "only" getting a 7800x. The 7800x is comparable to the new 8700k, which is also 6 cores / 12 threads. In fact, the 8700k clocks even faster.
> 
> The 7820x would be the first processor in the "x" lineup to give you more power than the mainstream 8700k. However, it is noticeably more expensive and you're only getting 2 more cores.
> 
> ...



Thank you for your reply.
Yes, the main reason I chose that board as well as that cpu, is to be able to go 128gb ram in the future.

i don't have the money to build two monsters pc. I will be building only one monster pc. what I need to know is whether using it as a slave to my old pc will be worse or better than using it as a single machine.


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## Andrew Aversa (Oct 27, 2017)

With only a Core 2 Quad 9400 you will almost definitely encounter some bottlenecks using that one as the master. I would try it in reverse. The Quad 9400 could give you some extra voices.


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## khollister (Nov 6, 2017)

Leandro -

In your case, definitely go for the i7-8700K and Z370 over a low-end X299 Skylake-X. You can use the integrated graphics too instead of recycling your old card. I would go with W10Pro though - it has additional configuration options (updates, for instance) and it supports Remote Desktop.

The 7800X offers no real advantage over the 8700K except for PCIe lanes (28 vs 16) and max RAM (64 vs 128GB). The PCIe lanes are a wash (or even a net loss) since you need a graphics card for the X as opposed to the internal GPU in the 8700K. The X299 motherboards are more expensive normally as well.

X299 only makes sense IMHO at the i9-7900X and above. You get the full 44 PCIe lanes and a worthwhile jump in performance over the 8700K.

All of the Skylake-X and the 8700K run fairly hot, so a large'ish case and good cooler are mandatory (the large case to hold the large cooler - assuming you go air, not water).


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## Leandro Marcos (Nov 6, 2017)

khollister said:


> Leandro -
> 
> In your case, definitely go for the i7-8700K and Z370 over a low-end X299 Skylake-X. You can use the integrated graphics too instead of recycling your old card. I would go with W10Pro though - it has additional configuration options (updates, for instance) and it supports Remote Desktop.
> 
> ...



Thanks a lot for your input! I've just opened a poll regarding the CPU, in case you want to participate: https://www.vi-control.net/community/threads/poll-which-cpu-should-i-go-for.66195/

thanks!


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## wpc982 (Nov 6, 2017)

fwiw I just built a system kind of like your target, and filled it with 128 Gb of memory. The newer CPU and newer x299 board did not seem to give me much benefit, but 128 GB allows a lot more to be loaded in memory (obviously ..) than 64 GB. Be sure, if you're thinking of moving from 64 Gb to 128 Gb in the future that you don't buy 8 GB memory units (which would have to be taken out and replaced with 16 GB units..). So for cost/benefit, the older i7 5820 has always been a great cpu, and the newer i7 7820x not that impressive (though it has the essential feature of allowing for 128 GB). I wish I knew whether spending a little more for an i9 cpu would have made a difference, but for sure I wouldn't vote for the 7820 now while I would have voted for the 5820 two years ago. 

MB: Asus TUF x299 Mark I, CPU i7-7820x 3.6 GHz, 128 GB mem (higher latency, for some reason, than my older systems .. not sure why), and SSD drives, fairly good video card, etc. This particular ASUS MB is the easiest to install and use of any I've had, so I'm happy with it (have had 8-10 Asus MBs over the years).


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## Leandro Marcos (Nov 6, 2017)

wpc982 said:


> fwiw I just built a system kind of like your target, and filled it with 128 Gb of memory. The newer CPU and newer x299 board did not seem to give me much benefit, but 128 GB allows a lot more to be loaded in memory (obviously ..) than 64 GB. Be sure, if you're thinking of moving from 64 Gb to 128 Gb in the future that you don't buy 8 GB memory units (which would have to be taken out and replaced with 16 GB units..). So for cost/benefit, the older i7 5820 has always been a great cpu, and the newer i7 7820x not that impressive (though it has the essential feature of allowing for 128 GB). I wish I knew whether spending a little more for an i9 cpu would have made a difference, but for sure I wouldn't vote for the 7820 now while I would have voted for the 5820 two years ago.
> 
> MB: Asus TUF x299 Mark I, CPU i7-7820x 3.6 GHz, 128 GB mem (higher latency, for some reason, than my older systems .. not sure why), and SSD drives, fairly good video card, etc. This particular ASUS MB is the easiest to install and use of any I've had, so I'm happy with it (have had 8-10 Asus MBs over the years).



thanks a lot, buddy! i will have your comments in consideration. Especially the motherboard. Cheers!


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