new computer time

[Trackzilla]

the trusty e8500 rig in my sig line kacked on me during setup at a show yesterday, for the first time in (oh wow has it been 3 years now? Hellofa run for a field use/truck living computer) I had to run to the truck and drag out a backup FOH to put the show together. Everything came out fine but...

It's time for me to build another rig & retire this one to backup duty...after it's troubleshooting & revitalizations as I have spares of every (now obsolete) component for this one so it absolutely will be brought back to life.

My plan was to shoot for an i5-661 & Asus P7H55-M, using the onboard graphics and one of the MOTU 424PCIe cards I have a couple of, and putting it into a 1U case as I am prone to doing...and I am likely to pull the trigger on the purchases before the day is out.

The real point is: If anyone has a known issue with those, or an alternate suggestion based on real world stability or performance in a non-overclocked scenario, I'd love to hear them today! I'll be checking here this evening before I hit the magic 'Buy Now' buttons...gotta move fast if I want to have it here & up & running before the next show.

[Mattseymour]

If the performance of the old system was ok for you, I'd save a bit of cash and go for an i3 processor. Still would be faster, but cheaper than the i5.

[Butch Bos]

+1 for the I3 They have been working great for me and I am using built in graphics

Butch

[airickess]

+1 also for the i3. It's worked extremely well for me for over a year now with onboard graphics on an ASUS motherboard.

[Trackzilla]

was hoping to beef the rig up a bit, thats why i5 was selected...dunno if it's really going to be more robust than an i3 or not though...anyone actually set-up an a/b between them?

[JLepore]

Using an i5/650 for years - no problems that can be attributed to the processor/MB. Tons of overhead, even when running 72 inputs

[gdougherty]

My laptop is a 2.5GHz i5 with 3.1Ghz turbo boost. You won't get the turbo boost in an i3 and it tends to ramp up very easily and stay there as long as it may be needed. Quite the opposite of SpeedStep which always wanted to underclock the CPU to conserve power. I'd go with an IvyBridge i5 if you're buying one now. SandyBridge at a minimum. The Clarkdale 661 is already 3 generations old and the socket is not compatible with the latest generations of i5's.

[gdougherty]

The newer Ivybridge also has a higher memory throughput which seems to matter in SAC about as much as the clock speed when you're pushing the channel count.

[Trackzilla]

Waiting on parts to arrive, but I figured I'd update...I took some of the suggestions about newer tech supply line to heart & went with the latest i5 version. Though I have no plans to overclock, I opted for maximum flexibility in case I change my mind later, or I decide to undervolt things for greater heat control in a 1U case...

selected an i5-3570K
ASUS p8z77-i deluxe MB
crucial ballistix tactical 2x4GB low profile RAM

[Carl G.]

The newer Ivybridge also has a higher memory throughput which seems to matter in SAC about as much as the clock speed when you're pushing the channel count.

And lower power consumption.