Hey everyone, thanks for the input.  I am patiently waiting for my new build, it will be another (excruciating) 2 weeks before I receive.  I ordered from cyberpowerpc, it came in at about $2100 including shipping.  I don't know all the brands and specs, but here's what I should have:
 
Full tower gaming case with light show (ha), smallest window they had, some noise dampening on the fans and case.
i7 8700k overclocked 20%
gigabyte z370 gaming 7 something motherboard
32GB ram, 500gb ssd, 2TB hdd
deepcool 240mm liquid cool
+4 thermaltake 120mm fans
Win10 pro
edit: GTX 2GB video
 
 
Thanks for the tip about the C-state, Heather.  I'm so worried that I'm going to do all this and make something worse.  
 
Dave

Drumafied
Im fixin to upgrade to a new computer completely and had a question. Was probably going with a i7 8700k computer from portatech site but you dont have to over clock it correct? So like you said, less power and fan noise but if i wanted to or needed to i could overclock it at a later date? ? Im coming from taking a long break being with family (played music nonstop for 15yrs) and upgrading from sonar 7 and windows xp (lol) so im new at learning all of this. Thanks!

Sure, if you don't overclock it the i7 8700k is the same as the 8700.  It's just unlocked so overclocking is possible.  They're both great processors. 

poetnprophet
Thanks for the tip about the C-state, Heather.  I'm so worried that I'm going to do all this and make something worse.  

 
Sounds like a great new system, Dave.  Let us know how it works out for you. :)

Note:
If you want to lock all six cores at 4700MHz, you need the K version to do that.
To do this, you need a cooler more substantial than the Hyper 212 EVO.
Six cores running at 4700MHz puts off a fair amount of heat.

Jim Roseberry
Note:
If you want to lock all six cores at 4700MHz, you need the K version to do that.
To do this, you need a cooler more substantial than the Hyper 212 EVO.
Six cores running at 4700MHz puts off a fair amount of heat.

Thanks for the tip, Jim.  I definitely agree the K version needs better cooling.  But the Hyper seems to be doing a great job on my non-K 8700.  The cores appear to be running at 4.42GHz with no heat issues.  Is 4.7GHz worth the extra expense? 

Hey everyone, got the new system up and running today.  Other than my account being locked for some weird reason, I had no issues getting all of the software installed and setup.  
 
I went through all of guides on optimization, even turned of c-states (but haven't found hyperthreading settings yet).
 
Opened a project today that had maxed out the last system with a 4096 sample size:  30+ tracks and probably twice as many plugins including stuff on the master buss.  On the new system, cpu meters were way down.  I lowered the sample size to 128, and it played better than before. 
 
All i can say is Wow!  
thanks again for all the tips :)
 
Dave

poetnprophet
Hey everyone, got the new system up and running today.  Other than my account being locked for some weird reason, I had no issues getting all of the software installed and setup.  
 
I went through all of guides on optimization, even turned of c-states (but haven't found hyperthreading settings yet).
 
Opened a project today that had maxed out the last system with a 4096 sample size:  30+ tracks and probably twice as many plugins including stuff on the master buss.  On the new system, cpu meters were way down.  I lowered the sample size to 128, and it played better than before. 
 
All i can say is Wow!  
thanks again for all the tips :)
 
Dave

Sweeeeeeeeeet.   Congrats, Dave.  Have fun!  :)

HeatherHaze
Thanks for the tip, Jim.  I definitely agree the K version needs better cooling.  But the Hyper seems to be doing a great job on my non-K 8700.  The cores appear to be running at 4.42GHz with no heat issues.  Is 4.7GHz worth the extra expense? 

 
IMO, Yes... it's worth the small extra expense (~$50 for the 8700K and more substantial cooler).
All six cores (12 processing threads) locked at 4700MHz is fast.  

Jim Roseberry
IMO, Yes... it's worth the small extra expense (~$50 for the 8700K and more substantial cooler).
All six cores (12 processing threads) locked at 4700MHz is fast.  

 
Hmm, thanks.  I might consider that upgrade in the not-too-distant future.  Although in all honesty, I haven't come anywhere close to making the non-K version break a sweat.  That said, what cooler would you recommend for the 8700K?  

Thanks for the input!

Does anyone bother with large heatsinks anymore? I always preferred them over noisy fans.