I was quietly waiting for next year and the Haswell generation to change my DAW, but my present system is worrying me since few weeks. Sometimes it suddenly shuts down without warning and, from the beginning, I suspected a heating problem despite the fact that all the cooling stuff seems to work as expected. I saw that the CPU temp is abnormally high at idle and tried to change the thermal paste. It allowed me to lower it to few degrees but the system has shut down again, since. Another issue is that sometimes the system takes a lot of time to boot, without recognizing my DVD drive (and once, even my second HDD). The whole BIOS doesn’t seem to be stable anymore as it starts with different messages during the boot process, each time in an erratic way.
I may be wrong, but all this makes me feel like my DAW is starting its end of life…
So, I am considering an Ivy bridge based new system in the weeks to come, staying with my E-Mu interface and Windows 7 Pro 64 bits, from which the following questions. For a DAW usage :
Is there something that could prevent me from going for a H77 chipset instead of a Z77 one ?
Should I use the integrated graphics implementation of the processsor or a dedicated graphic card ? And to which extent the use of the integrated graphic stuff leads to an increased CPU temp (I’m getting paranoid about this…) ?
Should I trust the Intel CPU cooler bundled with the i7-3770 or go for another one (and which one, if possible) ?
Should I consider also an SSD and, if so, for which usage (OS installation, samples libraries, Cubase projects…) ?
Changing my system is also the occasion to go for a full 64 bits setup with probably a more sophisticated drums VSTi (Superior drummer or BFD2, as they are now both available in 64 bits version). The problem is that I still have 32 bits plug-ins that I want to use (mainly my GSi stuff and Ariesverb). From which, a more Cubase specific question :
According to Guido, the developer of GSi Mr Ray and VB3, these are both bridgeable with Cubase VST Bridge. So, how am I supposed to use it (no informations about its practical use, either in the operation manual or in the knowledge base) and, especially, where shall I install 32 bits plug-ins (paths) on a Cubase 64 bits setup ?
The latter has been purchased only for one reason : I decided to take the plunge and go full 64 bits with the relevent Cubase version that i’ll have to install once the previous items will be working as expected. With the memory at disposal, I am considering a drum VSTi such as Superior Drummer, BFD2, or a 64 bits equivalent, but this is the next stage.
Just received all the stuff. Now, I’m for a tedious session of installing them, then Cubase 64 bits and all the plug-ins that I have available in the same format, hoping that my beloved GSi instruments will be bridged without issues. Crossing my fingers…
.Your first post outlines exactly the question Ive had regarding the H77 vs Z77 mobo. I didn’t look at your KVR link yet. I’m getting a system built and want to keep my Emu 1820 PCI card but still want to go for a 6 core 3930k CPU to use with the H77 mobo since that has the PCI slot instead of emulation. I’ve put this to the builder and I’m awaiting feedback. Good info on the 2 boards here
An update : installed all my stuff saturday and all is working without problem, especially with my drives that are all recognized, each yime I boot the system. Rock stable as it’s always been but with a much cooler CPU.
So, as it was a good beginning, I went further : sunday, I made the switch to Cubase 64 bits, as I have now 16 Gb available. A lot of little problems (see here for details : [FR] : please, give us a 64 bits migrating tool... - Cubase - Steinberg Forums), but finally I got all set with my beloved GSi instruments bridged without problems with Cubase VST bridge : it was a great relief ro see this.
So, the last stage is purchasing a good 64 bits acoustic drims VSTi and I am pondering between these five :
Toontrack SD2,
TXPansion BFD2,
XLM Audio Addictive drums,
Steven Slate Drims 4,
Melda MDrummer 4
As I’ am weiting this, I am prone to choose BFD2 in its download version (20 bits samples instead of 24, but well…). Anyway, it’s another story : the hardest is behind me.
Do H77 motherboards have native PCI support ? Which motherboard did you choose?
I would be interested to see the performance of such a system with a PCI soundcard like Emu 1820…
I just installed 2 SSD drives in my system , 1 for the O.S only and the second for multimedia programs only like Cubase etc all I can say is OMG they are BANGING ! will never go back to HDD again. Programs run/load smoother and O.S. boots up sooooo fassssttt SSD is the way to go.
We’ve decided to go for a ASUS P9X79 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS. It has PCI support but I’ll see what the performance is. If needed I will get a Steinberg firewire interface
