Skip to main content

Hell All,

OK after a week of research and talking to a few friends in IT this is the motherboard and cpu that I will be getting.

mobo - Asus P9X79 WS

CPU - i7 3820

The Reasons Why

Well basically it is a workstation mobo that is priced just low enough form me to get into that class and also because it is a good one.

I am going with the i7 3820 instead of the 3930K because of price. When the i7 3930K is lower in a year or so I can swap the i7 3830 out and the i7 3930K in.

I was thinking of going with a i7 2770K and a Asus Z77 mobo but then I would be at the top end of that class with no room to grow.

The P9X79 WS also does not come with all the bells and whistles. This means that it is designed for work and calculating instead of gaming. It has 4 slots for video cards so I can also put in a video editing program and get some post production composition work.

As for HDD I will be using a solid state for programs and a large 2-3 terabyte SATA for storage.

My audio interface will be the MOTU 2408 mk3 and the 24 i/o addition.

I am very excited about this and will be purchasing this upgrade in the new year.

Ronny

Comments

oynaz Wed, 12/26/2012 - 03:14

Hi Ronny,

I am not certain why you are posting this, but here is my 2 cents:

That mobo is a very odd choice. You are paying a lot for some expensive features like 4xSLI, 6 PCI x16 slots and 2 gigabit ports, but it is not clear why. These features certainly aren't needed for a DAW.

Nothing wrong with the mobo, it is in fact very good, but at the same time it seems like massive overkill.

I would purchase a bog standard £100 mobo, and use my money for something else - for instance a more powerful CPU. Or beer :-)

anonymous Wed, 12/26/2012 - 06:07

That mobo is a very odd choice. You are paying a lot for some expensive features like 4xSLI, 6 PCI x16 slots and 2 gigabit ports, but it is not clear why. These features certainly aren't needed for a DAW.

I guess the question I would have, is that do you feel there will come a time in the foreseeable future where those features will be needed for production?

I know it's difficult to look into the crystal ball.

I'm NOT a computer whiz, so take what I say with the grain of salt it deserves....a very small grain. LOL

As far as overkill, the both of you would know much better than I if this was true.

But, I can tell you that this industry - audio and video production - is moving forward so fast, in leaps and bounds, and if there is anyway at all that you can try to see into the future and hedge your bets, then you should.

Personally, I don't believe there is such a thing as "too much power", especially in regard to multi media production. What may seem like overkill now, may very well end up being the minimum requirements for certain production programs, plugs, soft synths, etc., in just a few short years.

Again, I'm not an expert in computing. But as a user, I've made the mistake of buying computers and hardware upgrades that met only the minimum requirements, and in my case, I feel it's been a mistake to have done so.

It's always been about budgetary constraints for me... it's not that I intentionally set out to buy the bare bones.

If you have the money now, and have that money earmarked for a strong computer platform, then it's my humble opinion that you should pull the trigger on it, but as oynaz pointed out, you need to make sure that you are getting the biggest bang for your buck.

In my very humble opinion.

-d.

Ronny Wed, 12/26/2012 - 23:25

It is very simple,

The P9X79 WS is made for computing. That is what I need it for.

Using a i7 3820 or a i7 3930K is the high end of this chip set. After that you need to go with a Server Board using Xeon chips that start around $2000.

If I go with a mobo made for your home I come in on the high end of things with no were to go as technology advances.

Over the next 5 years everything will be moving to 64 bit, 3.0 USB etc... It's not going backwards.

If I am going to get a mobo at this point in time and actually want to make some money with it I need to take myself some what seriously. The mobo and chip is the brains of the operation. These two things must be very reliable.

If Im using some good equipment and then I record to some mobo and chip that is dragging along. Or if I need to do some editing and mixing and the mobo and chip are dragging along then what the **** am I even doing?