Intel Core i7 Pro Tools facts

[Mulder]

Fresh from the DUC!

DVERBS

405@128 samples
390@1024 samples

Intel i7 920 (at stock speed)


1 HD Accel Card will do 38 Dverbs.

1 HD Core card will do 28 Dverbs.

A full blown HD 7 will benchmark 256 Dverbs.

HD 3 will benchmark 104 dverbs.


the 8 Core Mac Pro:
Hardware Buffer Size: 128 samples
CPU Usage Limit: 99%
audio settings: 48KHz, 24-bit
30 audio tracks with a total of 150 DVerbs


At 128 samples latency the single i7 blows both the 8core Mac Pro and a HD7. With a standard, cheap 2.66 Ghz i7. You can OC it easily with 25%, so the upcoming 64 samples Dverbtest could show we have a HD7 killer here.

 

[LydonB]

...isn't the mac pro getting the i7 in it though?

 

[Mulder]

...isn't the mac pro getting the i7 in it though?

With a bit of bad luck two of'em.. The X58 chipset can run two i7's, so that'll be the new Mac Pro I'll guess.

BUT

PC BIOS will allow you to overclock the i7. 4Ghz on (thermalright) air is common. One 4Ghz will equal two 2.66Ghz's..

This is so funny.. Having a native rig that blows a HD7... You'll earn it back in two months..

 

[LydonB]

I doubt Digi will ever abandon its HD rigs. Maybe they will be releasing some stuff at NAMM that competes with native rigs.

 

[kev]

too expensive atm imo next year, these will be awesome. Core 2 Duo i think is still the way to go until then.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I doubt Digi will ever abandon its HD rigs. Maybe they will be releasing some stuff at NAMM that competes with native rigs.

Why abandon a cash cow? They'll keep making proprietary stuff because they can & charge whatever the hell they feel like for it.

That is, until enough users get pissed off at being hosed and take their business elsewhere.

 

[Melodeath]

HD still has no track limit

However, awesome news.

 

[Metaltastic]

Forgive my ignorance on such matters, but doesn't dividing the processing between two separate units (in this case, HD Accel cards for PT and the processor for everything else) reduce bottlenecks, even if the raw power is weaker?

 

[AudioGeekZine]

PT HD Voice limit = Up to 192 simultaneous (256 total) audio tracks at 44.1/48 kHz, 36 at 192 kHz

 

[Ermz]

The HD cards interface via PCI don't they? If so they are subject to PCI bus bottlenecks.

The i7 figures are astounding. I'll quite gladly build an i7 based system sometime this year.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I am in love with my 8-core Mac Pro...mixing on it is an absolute joy. I don't have to give any thought whatsoever to how many plug-ins I'm using anywhere, and the machine purrs along nicely at about 15% CPU usage in a heavy mixing session. Honestly, with that kind of power, the only thing I foresee being a necessity for me is the Production Toolkit upgrade. Other than that, I hardly feel like HD would make my life any better... This i7 news only seems to compound Digi's plight.

 

[LydonB]

Why abandon a cash cow? They'll keep making proprietary stuff because they can & charge whatever the hell they feel like for it.

I agree. I think that Digi would have more users if they had a LE system similar to Cubase and then a full blown version (HD) I think that would be better. But whatever. Just my .02.

 

[egan.]

I agree. I think that Digi would have more users if they had a LE system similar to Cubase and then a full blown version (HD) I think that would be better. But whatever. Just my .02.

I'm not sure if they would have more paying users though and that is certainly a big part of the logic behind their proprietary system.

 

[LydonB]

I'm not sure if they would have more paying users though and that is certainly a big part of the logic behind their proprietary system.

Absolutely.

I will say though that even with the power of the i7 processors, having the HD cards and the ability to do native processing will dominate.

 

[Temps]

The HD cards interface via PCI don't they? If so they are subject to PCI bus bottlenecks.

The i7 figures are astounding. I'll quite gladly build an i7 based system sometime this year.

Me too.. my Core 2 duo is a couple years old now and is due for an upgrade.. the latest songs are starting to make my computer chug bad and it takes forever to encode them now. Basically real time speed. I need moar power!

 

[Metaltastic]

They have PCIe HD Accel cards now too

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Accel came out about 5 years ago

 

[Melodeath]

Me too.. my Core 2 duo is a couple years old now and is due for an upgrade.. the latest songs are starting to make my computer chug bad and it takes forever to encode them now. Basically real time speed. I need moar power!

Using more plugs than you did 2 years ago?

 

[Mulder]

What I really like about so much horsepower: During tracking I can run all my samples free, no rendering/freezing. 40+ audiotracks may sound like a lot, but playing just a single sampled piano can do 80 audiostreams on its own.

During mixdown you can use the really hefty plugins like this one, a brilliant FFT EQ designed for mastering (Bob Katz' favourite). Instead of running only one instance over the masterbus with the i7 you can run several over groups / tracks. a Less powerhungry version -and waay cheaper- can be found here: http://www.nugenaudio.com/seq.php

Pity these plugs are VST-only. They also induce a lot of latency, but the VSTfolks here should try a demo of 'em, FFT is the way to go for EQ'ing.

 

[Temps]

Using more plugs than you did 2 years ago?

Running a lot more tracks and Superior 2 is a lot more demanding on CPU than EZDrummer was. I'm running Absynth and the like now too and the crazier sounds with three oscillators and effects eat up a lot of CPU too. But I also think my Firewire card is conflicting with another piece of hardware in my system and is killing a lot of power on its own.