Got it! 
 
And what about the usage of a lot of vst's and processing? should a i7 7700k be enough? .- Most of the time I find myself using like 30 - 50 vsti's and mixing it. But if needed I can also bounce them as audio and open it in a new blank project. 
 

Unless you're working on super dense projects, the 7700k will be more than sufficient.
ie:  If you're doing huge orchestral mock-ups... pulling 4000 stereo voices of disk-streaming polyphony, you'll want socket 2011-3.

I'm very interested to see how the new Intel i9/X299 is going to hold up against AMD Ryzen Threadripper. It's no big secret that Intel for a lot of years now has been stalling progression on processor technology as far as to say they have the new technology developed but have not been releasing it to consumers in any form. There is a good chance that it's going to bite them in the ass this time as the i9 comes pre-gimped with a lot of rubbish that feels rushed in order to try and compete with what AMD is now doing.
 
That said, I've used AMD in the past and I've had nothing but issues so I worry about going back to them as some of the specs and benchmarks even here show they are still behind a bit in the game when put to the test. Right now I wish they both companies would start working on not only the amounts of cores available in a processor, but the actual clock speeds as we've been stuck in this 3.5Ghz - 4Ghz slump for several years now with very few increases. Part of the problem is finding adequate cooling solutions that work on the consumer market but I feel like it's not something that can't be taken care of with a little engineering and upgrading stock coolers to something along the lines of vacuum coolers.
 
https://youtu.be/TWFzWRoVNnE?t=230 This video pretty much spells out what Intel is doing with X299.
 
I will say one thing I'm looking forward to is onboard support of 128GB of DDR4 RAM.

Jim Roseberry
Unless you're working on super dense projects, the 7700k will be more than sufficient.
ie:  If you're doing huge orchestral mock-ups... pulling 4000 stereo voices of disk-streaming polyphony, you'll want socket 2011-3.

 
Found this thread via the wonders of Google, and Jim you seem to have been round the block here...
 
I'm in something of a dilemma.  I have a 4930k system with which I've been less an enamoured.  Compared to my son's humble i5 1156 system, it feels clunky (OS chores and post POST boots are terrible even with SSDs that are benchmarking well), and it's never felt like a genuine step up from my previous 2600k.  I do indeed occasionally do huge orchestral mockups with a big ol VE Pro template, but thats now a fairly small part of my work.  Plenty of synths though in day to day use rack up the CPU load and can cause trouble, so I'm looking for something that will feel much snappier in practice and handle the heavy CPU and streaming stuff.
 
I was toying with the 7740k on the X299 platform due to the increased SATA and NVMe lanes, combined with the very good single core performance.  But perhaps the 7820X would be a better choice - the two negatives are a lower non-turbo boosted single core, and the power consumption / heat looks very high - problematic for keeping a silent rig, and really puts me off any thought of overclocking.  Or maybe I should in fact go the other way and just get a 7700k with Z270?  It would be nice to go up to 128gb RAM, but I think I can keep things under 64gb (and of course I'd need to with the 7740k as well).
 
Grateful for any insights, many thanks.

noiseboy

Jim Roseberry
Unless you're working on super dense projects, the 7700k will be more than sufficient.
ie:  If you're doing huge orchestral mock-ups... pulling 4000 stereo voices of disk-streaming polyphony, you'll want socket 2011-3.

 
Found this thread via the wonders of Google, and Jim you seem to have been round the block here...
 
I'm in something of a dilemma.  I have a 4930k system with which I've been less an enamoured.  Compared to my son's humble i5 1156 system, it feels clunky (OS chores and post POST boots are terrible even with SSDs that are benchmarking well), and it's never felt like a genuine step up from my previous 2600k.  I do indeed occasionally do huge orchestral mockups with a big ol VE Pro template, but thats now a fairly small part of my work.  Plenty of synths though in day to day use rack up the CPU load and can cause trouble, so I'm looking for something that will feel much snappier in practice and handle the heavy CPU and streaming stuff.
 
I was toying with the 7740k on the X299 platform due to the increased SATA and NVMe lanes, combined with the very good single core performance.  But perhaps the 7820X would be a better choice - the two negatives are a lower non-turbo boosted single core, and the power consumption / heat looks very high - problematic for keeping a silent rig, and really puts me off any thought of overclocking.  Or maybe I should in fact go the other way and just get a 7700k with Z270?  It would be nice to go up to 128gb RAM, but I think I can keep things under 64gb (and of course I'd need to with the 7740k as well).
 
Grateful for any insights, many thanks.

 
Hi Noise,
 
The 7700k is a formidable CPU.
For more typical audio production, you can run dense projects.
 
For large-scale orchestral mock-ups, you're better off with a socket 2011-3 system.
As a point of reference (using socket 2011-3), we have clients who stream up to 4000 stereo voices of disk-streaming polyphony (Kontakt libraries/etc).  That takes numerous SSDs (including m.2 Ultra/PCIe x4).
 
Socket-2066 (with slightly higher clock-speed) will be a small percentage faster than socket 2011-3.
Extrapolate 6900k vs. 6850k (both up to 4.5GHz)... and you'll have an idea of what to expect.
With 8 cores running at 4.5GHz, the 7820x is going to be the "sweet spot" price/performance wise... but... it's limited to 28 PCIe lanes (limiting if you want to run multiple x4 SSDs).
That's disappointing in a $600 CPU.  The 7900x has 44 PCIe lanes.
If you go socket 2066, I'd sit it out a few months... and wait for several BIOS updates to solidify the platform.
I don't expect the same level of issues experienced with the Ryzen/X370 release, but 1st-generation motherboards will have early issues that need to be ironed out.
You can keep socket 2066 CPUs quiet, but it's going to take a high-end cooler.
 
Right at this moment, it's hard to find the 7900x and 7820x actually in-stock and available to purchase.
 
The 6850k is still a great CPU (now sub $500)... and a rock-solid choice for a professional.

• 6 cores running at 4GHz
• 40 PCIe lanes
• Mature socket 2011-3 platform

 
ThreadRipper (AMD's next release) looks very interesting on paper.

• 16 cores
• 64 PCIe lanes
• Quad-channel RAM

 
What a great time to be involved with DAW technology!
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Jim, very helpful, though Ill confess I'm still weaving around trying to make a decision. I still have the fear that a 7820x at stock isn't going to give me enough CPU power on the VIs.  Your last sentence was particularly ironic since I may end up hanging in there for next year's 10nm tech.  I just have a feeling these current processors, although powerful, are pushed too far heat and power-wise, a rush job to get something out the door - and that feels like a step backwards.  If I don't upgrade now, work dictates it'll really be next summer for my next shot at it.
 
Again, very much appreciate the advice though - translating all the data and benchmarks into something real world for us is very tricky.
 

noiseboy
 
- translating all the data and benchmarks into something real world for us is very tricky.

You hit the nail on the head there. That's why I look to people like Jim that do this stuff for a living. Are their benchmarks perfect? No. But it's as close as we can get to something that gives us the results we need to make decisions based on "bang for buck!" : )

Jim, while I am new here but not to the discussion of these two CPUs, Ive went back and forth with building a new DAW workstation and what to use for my next build. I use alot of guitar virtual amplifier modeling software like Amplitude, BIAS, and TH3. I record tracks that I create then add in effects, vocals, etc. So I need the lowest latency interface along with a CPU and GPU to smoothly record and interlace my music. I did try the Rayzen and Intel from buddies I have that have home studios and I can say that the Intel seemed to not bottleneck at all under load and even mixing multiple tracks . The Rayzen did have a few crackle when I mixed. But I tried two different Rayzen and Intel builds . My question to you is, for the average home user that likes to create music/videos and do some mixing with Amplitude and Reaper what motherboard/chipset would you recommend that has Thunderbolt because there are now more of them that have it. I'll be using 16 gb of ram, SSD, a big mechanical drive, a 1050 video card, the Intel i7 7700k cpu, with dark rock cooler, and silent case. But I can't figure out which board to go with that supports thunderbolt because I'll need that with my interface. Would you mind recommending one and maybe an interface for my guitar from your expertise? Thanks.

Jtf8751
But I can't figure out which board to go with that supports thunderbolt because I'll need that with my interface. Would you mind recommending one and maybe an interface for my guitar from your expertise? Thanks.

Jim answered the Thunderbolt on PC question here:
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3571167
 

I had my mind set on i7 although AMD Threadripper with it's 64 PCI-E lanes is an interesting concept.