MIR - i7 920 2.66 Ghz

[Simsy]

Hi 

Would an Intel Core i7 920 2.66 Ghz chip be good enough to run MIR? Or do I really need a i7 965 3.0 Ghz chip?

Thanks

[Simsy]

Hi

Sorry, I am just about to order these components, this machine is just for MIR, can you please let me know if this will be up to standard especially for the full version of MIR coming later. I really appreciate your help!!

Asus S1366 Intel X58 ATX A L CF/SLI

Corsair Memory DDR3 1333MHz 12GB Core I7 Supt

Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz LGA1366 8mb

Thanks.

[Dietz]

What graphic card, what audio device?

[Simsy]

Hi

I have a new apogee symphony system on my mac pro and so I am just going to use my old M-box Pro, is that ok?

Also for the graphics card, just a cheap Geforce card, does the graphics card make any difference?

Thanks!!!

[Simsy]

Hi Dietz,

I just ordered the following

Intel Core i7 965 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) Extreme Edition

Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58

Corsair Dominator 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel 

I think I will be fine with that, just want to check, am I OK with the M-Box Pro connected to my slave sending audio into my Rosetta 800?

Also, as I mentioned I just have a cheap Geforce graphics card, will that be ok?

[Dietz]

I'm not the IT-specialist here, but as far as I can say, a good graphics card makes _a lot_ of difference, as MIR is pretty GUI-intensive.

Regarding the audio-device I'd say that _in principle_  any ASIO with proper 64-bit compatible drivers should do. Please make sure that the M-Box meets these basic specs.

[Simsy]

Hi Dietz,

I know you are probably very busy at the moment [;)] and I appreciate your help. But I do have some final MIR questions that I hope you could help me with.

1) Running on the above spec'd machine, which I think is very like your own test machine - Intel i7 965 3.2GHZ with 12GB Ram. How many vienna instruments can MIR run? For example, how many can it load at once into MIR? And how many can all play at the same time?

2) I understand that MIR is also a final mixing point as well as a reverb unit, so it needs an audio interface to output the audio. But how do you get the Midi into MIR? Does it, like Vienna Ensemble 3, appear as a multi channel virtual instrument that you just insert into a channel on your DAW? Or can you use a midiOverLAN product to route midi over ethernet? Or do you need 2 midi interfaces?

If it is a midiOverLAN product, what product do you use to connect a Mac Pro DAW machine to the PC MIR Server? (I am a little confused about how you can send midi from a Mac DAW to a PC slave)

I really appreciate your help!!! If you can answer these last few questions it would really clear up any last few queries that I have. Then all I need to do is buy it [:D]

[DG]

Simsy, having just read your posts, a huge red flag goes up when you mention M-Box. The ASIO drivers that DodgyDesign provides are pretty bad at the best of times, but are you really sure that there is a 64bit driver? Certainly there is no 64bit ProTools.

[Simsy]

Interesting DG. I sold my better interfaces to help pay for my Apogee Symphony system which is attached to the Mac. Apart from that the only interfaces I have left is an Apogee Duet (which doesn't have windows driver) and my M-Box. 

Do you think I need to purchase an audio interface for the PC? What would you recommend?

[DG]

Do check the M-Box situation, but my gut instinct is that you are not going to have any luck with it.

I have always used RME and never had a problem. Some of the older audio cards don't have 64bit drivers, but the newer ones do. Make sure that you go for a PCI or PCIe interface. Don't go mucking about with that Firewire cr*p.

DG

[Dietz]

... OTOH the FireFace offers multi-client drivers, which would help a lot in a setup where you plan to use the seqencer on the same machine as MIR.

[JFreese]

So, will the 920 work?

[cm]

 yes it will, though we cannot say currently up to how many instruments on stage with which plugins inserted ...

IMO it is not the best idea to buy the slowest processor of the i7 series just for MIR .... if you think the 965/975 is too expensive consider at least the 940, 950

 

of yourse you can choose a smart for driving in indanapolis or monza, but more efficient would be a porsche ;-)

christian

[Simsy]

Thanks CM!

One last question is worth paying the extra money to get the 975 over the 965? Will we see much difference in performance? Is there any real difference in the architecture?

Thanks!

[cm]

D0 stepping, ~3% more power at ~3% less heat dissipation (= 3% less power consumption), here in austria 2,8% more expensive

hth, christian

[Simsy]

Hi CM

As always you know your stuff!!! So D0 stepping and an additional 3% power, will this make any difference to MIR? Will I be able run run a few more instruments than if I used the 965 chip?

Just need to know if it is worth spending the extra money!!!!

[Dietz]

Simsy - you have to be aware that whatever hardware you buy now: There will _always_ be faster and cheaper stuff, just a few weeks later. 8-/

Of course,  if the CPU is a bit stronger, you will be able to use a few instruments more, or have lower latency with the same amount of instruments. But make sure that you components are _all_ in the same league. It doesn't make sense to have a slightly faster CPU when the graphics card is the actual bottleneck, for example.

HTH,

[Simsy]

Thanks Dietz,

This is finally what I have settled on

Intel i7-975 3.33 Ghz

Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58

Corsair Dominator 12 GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Tri-Channel RAM

Also, a Profire Lightbridge to get the audio back to my DAW machine. Just until MIR Premier is released [;)]

So, before I finally hit the order button. Can I get the OK from you guys?

[cm]

 Simsy, looking into your registered products i'm under the impression you might run short with 12 GB (what would be sufficient for the special edition) - i'd consider to instantly start with 24 GB ...

system: ~ 1GB, IR: ~ 4GB -> ~6 GB left for loading patches .... if that is according to your usual method of arranging its OK though.

sidenote: you also may find needing to spread the sample content across 2 disks

christian

[Dietz]

Re: RAM

In a stress test I ran today, I had 50 indivdual VIs playing glitch-free at the same time in stereo, latency set to 1024 samples, CPU @ 80%, with a system comparable to the one you outlined above (12 GB RAM). I used 11.2 GB RAM for this setup, with Nuendo 4 for MIDI output on the same machine.

Taking into account MIR's abilitiy for dynamic processing (only those VI's that really play will use MIR's convolution core and thus tax the CPU), you will most likely run out of RAM before the CPU overloads. :-)

HTH,