Digital Audio Workstation Upgrade

[gphanssen]

Hello All,

Here is what I am facing:

i7 860 + 4GBs DDR3 2000 CAS 8+ Mobo = $560

OR

i7 920 + 4GBs DDR3 2000 CAS 8 + Mobo = $620

I intend to OC to ~ 4GHz.

I like buying the faster RAM since I believe it lets me OC easier as I am not pushing the RAM to its limits. Is this thought wrong btw? Could I get the speeds I want with DDR3 1333?

I am leaning heavily toward the i7 920 build, as I have read the Triple Channel memory setup does not improve performance. And I can always (will) add more RAM later. Also there is the matter of longevity, it doesn't seem like the 1156 socket has Quad Cores in the future but instead a dual core with a GPU? Did I read that right? Then the 1366 socket has a 6 Core CPU coming out... which sounds like a solid upgrade.

Also the price of the i7 860 build was $520 but just jumped up to $560, and without the Triple Channel on the i7 920 build, the price drops from $720 to $620, which makes the price difference negligible.

I figure a low CAS latency will help with real time monitoring of effects. (all real instruments, no midis)

(I am upgrading from a Q6600 @ 3Ghz + 4GBs DDR2 1200 @ 1000.)

Any thoughts/advice on this or what is most important hardware wise for a DAW workstation would be appreciated.

 

[r_manic]

I'm under the impression that DAWs place a premium on stability, to help ensure that people suddenly won't lose minutes or even hours of work simply because the computer crashed. In any case, I'd for the 920; there are still some issues with Lynnfield CPU sockets, as mentioned numerous times in this section.