Undecided between i7 7820X & i7 8700K

[Ludbek]

Hi...

I'm thinking about build a computer, but I'm undecided. My choices are between i7 8700k or i7 7820K. My actual setup is 4790k.

I use entirely for Digital Audio Workstation, my main software is Ableton Suite 9.5, some synths "essencially Fxpansion Strobe 2 & Waves Element 2" and many VST's like Soundtoys, Waves, Eventide, Fxpansion.

And memory 16GB is enough? Or 32GB.

I would like to know your opinions...

Thanks

 

[Arachnotronic]

Hi...

I'm thinking about build a computer, but I'm undecided. My choices are between i7 8700k or i7 7820K. My actual setup is 4790k.

I use entirely for Digital Audio Workstation, my main software is Ableton Suite 9.5, some synths "essencially Fxpansion Strobe 2 & Waves Element 2" and many VST's like Soundtoys, Waves, Eventide, Fxpansion.

And memory 16GB is enough? Or 32GB.

I would like to know your opinions...

Thanks

I'd go with the 7820X since it has more cores, which could be useful for this sort of thing.

 

[fastamdman]

Do either of those programs have a benchmarking feature? I could run some testing for you on my 8700k if you would like

 

[Ludbek]

My use is essencially:

DRUMS (FXPANSION TREMOR) + Parallel Processing with compression / distortion / reverbs, etc... - I'll design everything

SYNTH + "EFFECTS BY FXPANSION STROBE 2 FOR EXAMPLE" + AUXILIARY CHANNELS + CHANNEL FX's (Ableton or other "VST")

Auxiliary Channel FX's = Reverb / Delays / Tapes / Distortions / Compressors / Eq's

Channel Fx's = Everyone, it depends from instrument I'll design

Waves & Soundtoys I use a lot...Eventide too

 

[Reinvented]

You're going to want the extra cores and fast storage for this hands down.

 

[stockwiz]

If it's making you money, spend the extra money. Don't be a bean counter. (within reason, of course)

 

[TahoeDust]

Do either of those programs have a benchmarking feature? I could run some testing for you on my 8700k if you would like

I could run them on my 7820x for comparison.

 

[moonbogg]

I'd go with 7820X for that no question. Yep.

 

[FIVR]

There have been newegg deals for 1950X + X399 Motherboard for $1050. I would say go 7820X but you will end up spending nearly as much and there is no way a 7820X is going to compare to a 1950X setup for the uses you cited.

 

[Reinvented]

There have been newegg deals for 1950X + X399 Motherboard for $1050. I would say go 7820X but you will end up spending nearly as much and there is no way a 7820X is going to compare to a 1950X setup for the uses you cited.

That one last I saw was sold out.

 

[Zucker2k]

Hi...

I'm thinking about build a computer, but I'm undecided. My choices are between i7 8700k or i7 7820K. My actual setup is 4790k.

I use entirely for Digital Audio Workstation, my main software is Ableton Suite 9.5, some synths "essencially Fxpansion Strobe 2 & Waves Element 2" and many VST's like Soundtoys, Waves, Eventide, Fxpansion.

And memory 16GB is enough? Or 32GB.

I would like to know your opinions...

Thanks

From my knowledge, memory latency is crucial in your use case, right? If so, the 8700K is your best bet. The other half of the battle is a tweaked light-resource OS, along the lines of Server 2016 Data Center or Windows 10 LTSB.

 

[IEC]

Coffee Lake has better memory latency, if that is a consideration. I'm at 45.5ns using XMP Profile 1, no overclocking.

 

[Ludbek]

Do either of those programs have a benchmarking feature? I could run some testing for you on my 8700k if you would like

I could run them on my 7820x for comparison.

TahoeDust and Fastamdman I appreciate that, if it's possible, helps me a lot...

Thank You for your replys Guys, Yeah 8700K for the price and performance is a good choice too, comparing another CPU's, from 2th until 8th Generation, the mainstream processors have a big evolution. Enthusiastic series by Intel "X" and AMD "Threadripper 1920x and 1950x" have a more cores, more cache and it's more powerfull.

In my mind for the mainstream processor my choice no doubt is 8700k, the enthusiastic series the model i7 7820X and I have also considered Threadripper 1920X but motherboard is very expensive.

I'm await a few days for my final decision.

 

[ClockHound]

For DAW purposes, I would be concerned about DPC latency. Most Z97 series boards had remarkably low DPC latency.

While sub 500us values are considered acceptable, in my DAW builds have always selected components to ensure sub 100us performance. From the Anandtech tests of X299 boards most are well above 200us.

And for a DAW, can never have too much RAM. ;-) Only your wallet can say how much is too much. 16GB is the new minimum.

 

[BHZ-GTR]

Hi

I Suggest You, Choose AMD Ryzen 1950X Or 1920X .

 

[Pilum]

Thank You for your replys Guys, Yeah 8700K for the price and performance is a good choice too, comparing another CPU's, from 2th until 8th Generation, the mainstream processors have a big evolution. Enthusiastic series by Intel "X" and AMD "Threadripper 1920x and 1950x" have a more cores, more cache and it's more powerfull.

In my mind for the mainstream processor my choice no doubt is 8700k, the enthusiastic series the model i7 7820X and I have also considered Threadripper 1920X but motherboard is very expensive.

I'm await a few days for my final decision.

If you want to use low buffer depths (64 or 128 samples), stay away from Ryzen/Threadripper. They handle low-latency DAW processing very badly. See the TechReport reviews here and here, as well as the articles from ScanProAudio here and here. If you are using higher buffer depths, the AMD offerings can be competitive. On the Intel side, the 7820X will be faster than the 8700K, but not by very much. Considering the higher CPU and motherboard costs for the 7820X, the 8700K is the clear winner on proce/performance.

Edit: remove broken formatting.

 

[ZGR]

What about older Xeons?

 

[nitromullet]

What about older Xeons?

I built a dual Xeon E5 2670 system in a Dell T5600 I acquired from my office, and I was not impressed with DAW performance compared to my i5 4670k. Of course the dual Xeons killed in Cinebench, but the higher clocks and no NUMA overhead made the i5 a better choice for my DAW work.

A lot of people just see audio as "content creation" and they immediately think "more cores!", but audio work benefits greatly from overall system quickness as well in my experience. Audio in a DAW can be a very spiky workload, and you will get pops/crackles in your playback if your cpu isn't quick enough to respond to these spikes.

Also, Ableton Live, the DAW used by the OP only runs each individual track on a single core. They do this because the latency costs incurred by multi-threading the individual tracks would be too great. https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/a...ad-on-one-core-when-using-multi-core-machines

So, while projects with many tracks will benefit from more cores, it also means that you are bound by single core performance.

I am considering an upgrade, and right now I'm leaning towards an 8700K, as it seems to be the best blend of single and multi core performance at the best price. Of course, they aren't available anywhere and the prices are gouged, so that upgrade is going to have to wait.

 

[DigDog]

i would like to remind you that ProTools ran on E6600's with 4Gb of ram.

 

[Markfw]

That one last I saw was sold out.

You can get the 1950X+Taichi (the best IMO) for $1130 AR right now.

The Taichi is $250 AR here :https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157785
And the threadripper is $880.

As I said many think the Taichi is the best motherbard for TR.

 

[Reinvented]

You can get the 1950X+Taichi (the best IMO) for $1130 AR right now.

I already have a 1920 and Taichi. Don't think the mrs. would be too happy that I got another for 1k. This one was already a stretch.

 

[DigDog]

this is literally the case where i post the "YOU PASS BUTTER" meme. you are worried that a 12-thread, 4.7Ghz CPU might not be able to handle Ableton.

this is what we use to record on Logic Pro X
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K/3937vs2384
and also to edit and render video on PowerDVD and it's overkill.

latency in modern motherboard solutions is not an issue. workload on an audio program is not an issue. none of these things have been an issue for YEARS.

come on guys, seriously. the only thing that you would need a coffee lake for is if you live off of rendering video, for anything else any CPU from the sandy bridge era onwards is more than enough.

either that, or you just secretly want to play videogames, but are pretending it's for work ..

 

[Reinvented]

either that, or you just secretly want to play videogames, but are pretending it's for work ..

You got me.

 

[ClockHound]

i would like to remind you that ProTools ran on E6600's with 4Gb of ram.

Just not very well. ;-) And PT was a basic recorder/mixer back then. Whole different world when using virtual synths.

While modern hardware has seen decent performance increases, modern VSTs (instruments and efx) keep asking for more. 2C Audio's Kalidescope efx/synth will happily eat 128 threads and ask for more. In sound design there's always the appetite for more cpu cores/power and ram.

latency in modern motherboard solutions is not an issue. workload on an audio program is not an issue. none of these things have been an issue for YEARS.

come on guys, seriously. the only thing that you would need a coffee lake for is if you live off of rendering video, for anything else any CPU from the sandy bridge era onwards is more than enough.

either that, or you just secretly want to play videogames, but are pretending it's for work ..

Actually DPC latency was heading downwards by default...but the recent Intel/AMD boards are going back up default. See the recent test results here at Anand.

While the older gen 4C/8T work fine for your workloads, others have different, more demanding workloads - but it's the internet, so brash generalizations are always welcome. ;-)

 

[DigDog]

dude, i used to do physical modeling on pentiums. we had all sorts of ridiculous midi chains and VST on those E6600. if your synth needs 128 threads, you need a new synth.
also pt was not "a basic recorder". it does synth, midi, plugins, non-destructive editing, real time monitoring, automation, ALL AT THE SAME TIME on two cores. jesus christ protools is the industry standard for recording studios. FILMS have been made on it. Lucasfilm uses it at the skywalker ranch.
i dont think you know what you are talking about.