How much power do I need?

I know, the short answer is as much as I can get. But I'm trying to figure out what CPU in particular to use for a new build for SONAR. I would be switching from DP on a G4 Mac so I don't have much of a reference in the Windows world.

My goal is to be able to run 24+ audio tracks, 16+ MIDI tracks (triggering outboard gear), comp./eq plugs on some of the audio tracks (I have some Waves plugs I will try to port from the Mac, along with whatever comes with 8PE), and a handful of soft synths. Like BFD, Reaktor, FM8, Kontakt (or equivalent), and a piano synth like Ivory or Akoustic Piano (no particular preference for NI, those are just the titles I know of). I normally wouldn't use all of them at once, but would like the option to use 4 or 5 at a time if needed.

Obviously I didn't do anything like this on my dual G4 - only BFD, which it could handle ok with RAM maxed, as long as I had nothing else going on and converted to audio to continue building up a track.

I'm thinking Dual Core, Quad Core or i7. I honestly don't know what such machines can handle in relation to my ideal above. Any ballpark ideas people can give would be greatly appreciated. (Every benchmark I've seen uses unrealistic and unhelpful tests, like "this machine ran 4 instances of a convolution reverb" or "96 instances of a compressor" - I want to know how it performs in the context of a real project - any project will do, just to give me an idea.)

Thanks.

Thanks Cj. I searched the forums and read about your build - it was very informative. What kind of projects - track counts/plug types/soft synths are you doing with it? What limitations have you run into?

Also, I should have mentioned in my original post that I want to use my Mackie Onyx 400F as a FW interface, and best I can tell, it only has drivers for XP, not Vista. I would love to be able to use more RAM, but will have to wait on Mackie I guess.

ld

ORIGINAL: farrarbc

I built a new machine with an Intel i7 920 processor a few months ago and just love it. For the money, it's really hard to beat the i7.

Thanks for the info. Did you use the Gigabyte MOBO in your sig? I've been looking at that one - seems to have a TI FW chip which is important for me with a FW audio interface. Any problems with this MOBO or build? I've read that the NIC goes out occasionally but I wouldn't be networking/online - strictly a DAW - but I wonder if it affects anything else.

Would you mind posting the details - what case, PS, etc. - of your build? (or a link if you already posted it somewhere)

Also, extra coolness points for your profile pic! In the early 90's I switched from Personal Composer on a 286 to Cakewalk for Windows 3.1 on a screaming 386. That floppy looks familiar! (Of course as soon as I could afford a Mac, I went to Digital Performer - coming back full circle now...)

Yeah, I'm using the Gigabyte mobo in my signature. I did post some details which if you search for new daw and my forum name, you should find. I'd post the link but I'm using my iPod to type this and the url is too long for me to type!!! No ctrl-c on the iPod. Anyway, the build has been great so far though there was bit of dpc latency to sort out. The Giga software for bios tweaking and a usb drive were the main faults. Once this was sorted my average dpc is down in the under 17 uS range. Just awesome performance.

I started with Cakewalk 1.0 for DOS but I seem to have misplaced that floppy and only have upgrade now!!!! Would love to find the 1.0 disk.