Need help - i5 vs i7

Hey folks,
Struggling with making a decision... I need to upgrade my CPU. The main contenders are i5-7600 and i7-7700. Is there any reason to get i7 with its HT and 4 virtual cores or could i5 be sufficient for most of the tracking/mixing tasks?
Would appreciate any first-hand experience particularly with Sonar and in the box mixing style.
 

dcumpian
I have an older i5 (4 years now) that Jim Roseberry (Studiocat) built. I get along pretty well mixing on it. My projects routinely have anywhere from 30 to 60 tracks. Plugin count affects CPU usage more than track count though, and I will freeze as I go. Track count is all about disk speeds.
 
Regards,
Dan

Thanks Dan! I'll take your advice into consideration.
 

TheMaartian
I don't have any i5 experience, but unless SONAR has code that takes advantage of HT, I'd guess that it's pretty much of a wash (c'est la même chose).

I've recently found out that number of virtual cores is not signaficantly important for video editing. It's more about CPU frequency and HDD (SSD) performance. I have 4 physical drives and 16GB DDR4 RAM. So the real question is how Hyper-threading affects DAW performance. Can't figure this myself, that's why I need help.
 

Jim Roseberry
If you're working with dense projects, get the 7700k.
If you're not working with particularly dense projects, the 7600k will be fine.
Cost difference is about $100.

Sonar has many workarounds to tame CPU hogs and handle dense loads. As for K versions - my motherboard does not support overclocking. Is there any reason to pay more for K labeled CPUs in this case?


 
I'll try to formulate my questions more clearly:
1. Do i7-7700 in general and Hyper-Threading particularly have significant benefits over i5-7600?
2. Since my motherboard does not support overclocking and I don't want to mess with high TDP will K modification still be a better choice over a regular counterpart?
 

I recently went through the whole computer upgrade thing, and here is my take. Firstly, always get the highest speed CPU you can, no matter what you intend to do with machine. Second of all, in reality, depending on what your mixing style is i.e. a large amount of plugins used versus not many...the most important thing to consider when buying a new PC for creative work is ram, graphics ram and future proofing.

For me, I forgo large bulky desktops in 2010, probably a bit too early in the digital timeline, but now...I would never buy another desktop ever. There is just no point...sorry I know this is a question about i5 v i7...but desktop v laptop is an equally pertinent question.

Since purchasing my new laptop only some 4 weeks ago, with the uber specs of 32 gig ram, 6 gig graphics ram, i7 8gen CPU (4 core), with a USB c 3.1 or the latest thunderbolt for future proofing, and finally internal SSD drive and USB 3 SSD drive for audio and film playback...these are the specs I recommend for anybody looking to get a new P.C for creative work.
For what it is worth, my computer is an ACER Nitro PC, and I use my PC for both audio and film editing. When I use it for audio, I can now use Sonar's 64bitfp mix engine which everyone should use, and I also tend to record and render 64bitfp audio files. That's another discussion ;). Film editing though is where the proof is in the pudding...what would take 4 hours to render on old laptop, which had specs only two years ago that most would have creamed their jocks for, now took 50 mins and less. My film renders are effect heavy and rendered at the highest level, two pass variable bit rate etc. And the best part, my laptop only cost 2500 Oz.

Ben

BenMMusTech
I recently went through the whole computer upgrade thing, and here is my take. Firstly, always get the highest speed CPU you can, no matter what you intend to do with machine. Second of all, in reality, depending on what your mixing style is i.e. a large amount of plugins used versus not many...the most important thing to consider when buying a new PC for creative work is ram, graphics ram and future proofing.
Ben

Thanks, Ben. I agree, that's why I'm gonna get 7700. The rest of the system is quite capable of handling heavy loads.
 

abacab
Just to throw wrench into the decision making process, how about these Intel Coffee Lake CPU's?
 
The six core stuff looks pretty sweet! 
 
http://www.tomshardware.c...ces.html#xtor=EPR-8886

Well, that new core shows great results in CPU benchmarks. But in my case getting a Coffe Lake CPU would require a new MoBo and complete reinstall of OS and every piece of software. Not ready for this yet.

If you're looking for an 8700k, good luck finding one in stock.  
 

OK, thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and experience.
I have updated CPU from Pentium G4400 (Skylake 3.3GHz) to i7-7700 (Kaby Lake, 3.6GHz). Swapping the CPU went surprisingly smooth and didn't cause any trouble.
Have I noticed any difference? Well, yes and no. My system is fine-tuned for audio recording and ran remarkably well on G4400. The only difference is how many plugins Sonar can handle and how long does it take to render audio or video projects. That's it.
Was it worth it? I hope so. Time will tell.