Core i7 980x

Has anyone tested these yet on an audio system to see if it's worth the price?  The gaming sites are advertising them already ($5,000 + systems!) 

I also wonder if we are going to have to upgrade our motherboards and power supplies to use them. 

Has anyone tested these yet on an audio system to see if it's worth the price? The gaming sites are advertising them already ($5,000 + systems!) I also wonder if we are going to have to upgrade our motherboards and power supplies to use them.

 
The 980 Extreme is now the top (stock-speed) processor you can buy.
So the price is thru the roof!
 
Considering you can run the 920 easily at 3.2GHz (with the right configuration), for most folks it's not worth the current cost difference.

HI Mike,

"In theory, it seems like this would be way better (1.5 times?) for running huge EWQL templates in real time. "
as apposed to what?
over the existing Core i7s not at all.
over your AMD system it would be vastly more.
(the AMD you have has better memory bandwidth than older core 2 systems) but lacked in CPU power (effects)

samples are about GHZ and memory bandwidth not so much cores, the # of cores plays a much more important roll for effects.

it wont drop in price much at all for the next yr or until 8 core becomes common.
 the top processor never does.

Wait for the lower speeds to come out like the 2.8 or 2.6 and it will be in the 500 to 700 range.

for now i cant even use 10% of my CPU Power and im using heavy synths like omni and all that

with the 6 core you will have to have like 30 tracks of audio 30 tracks of VST and 40 effects to get to 30 to 50% usage

gt2004

with the 6 core you will have to have like 30 tracks of audio 30 tracks of VST and 40 effects to get to 30 to 50% usage

 
I reach more tracks than that easily (VST and audio) - maybe not effects though.
 
In any event, thanks for the info Scott, I assumed that more cores would help with mountains of VST tracks, I guess this would explain why my computer never reaches 50% (or even 40%) but I will still start getting some crackles in the Choirs after so many tracks with low buffer settings, it sounds as if it must be related to memory bandwidth if I interpreted your post correctly.
 
Since I am still spending money faster than I am making it with music, an upgrade in my system is a luxery at this point not a necessity.  Maybe I can hold out a while more. 
 
If I wait till they are released 2.8 or 2.6 is that going to be a noticable drop compared to my current 3.61 OC processor?  Obviously it will be able to handle more 'things' at once, but I wonder if the difference in speed would be heard in real time recording of VST tracks.
 
Thanks for taking the time to provide info for noobs like me that are still learning.
-Mike

gt2004


Wait for the lower speeds to come out like the 2.8 or 2.6 and it will be in the 500 to 700 range.

for now i cant even use 10% of my CPU Power and im using heavy synths like omni and all that

with the 6 core you will have to have like 30 tracks of audio 30 tracks of VST and 40 effects to get to 30 to 50% usage

Only 10%? I have almost exactly the same system as you apart from my audio interface and I'm running projects of audio tracks only (maybe 15, all frozen), with effects and Ozone mastering and I'm hitting  over 50%!
 
I run an m-audio projectmix at 64 samples. I do have an ancient video card - would this have any bearing? Or have you tweaked any system settings? 
  
 EDIT - I've just confirmed this on a project of 16 tracks, all audio. The CPU usage generally hovers around 45% I'm using Ozone and the VX Vocal strip and a handful of compressors/reverbs on the busses. The funny thing is that I've just unfrozen all the tracks (including 4 instances of Guitar Rig 4) and the CPU usage is the same? Strange!

Bonzos Ghost

 
Running at 64 samples will have everything to do with it!  You normally only need low latency settings when recording softsynths. If you're not recording, then you can bump that WAY up and use very little CPU.
 

 

Hi - yep I realise this, I was hoping that I could keep my sample rate low so I could track whilst listening to sub mixes.
 
Maybe I was expecting too much!