I can recommend the following hardware config as this works flawless and super fast with studio one here (running on OSX, haven't tried Win):

Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 TH Motherboard
Intel i7 6700K, Overclocked to 4.7GHz on 1.35V
Corsair Hydro H60 Watercooling
64GB Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black
System Drive: Samsung 950 Pro H2 SSD Drive (Read 2GB/s, Write 1.5GB/s)

With this system I get Geekbench of 6'000 for single core and 20'000 for multi core.

Best,
Frank

Wow, that's some rig! Thanks for the reply.

frankacklin wroteI can recommend the following hardware config as this works flawless and super fast with studio one here (running on OSX, haven't tried Win):

Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 TH Motherboard
Intel i7 6700K, Overclocked to 4.7GHz on 1.35V
Corsair Hydro H60 Watercooling
64GB Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black
System Drive: Samsung 950 Pro H2 SSD Drive (Read 2GB/s, Write 1.5GB/s)

With this system I get Geekbench of 6'000 for single core and 20'000 for multi core.

Best,
Frank

Impressive rig, Frank. Been looking into something very similar. Great to hear that you have it working flawlessly.

OP's original question is still interesting, and kind of unanswered. More information on hyperthreading is most welcomed.

frankacklin wroteGigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 TH Motherboard
Intel i7 6700K, Overclocked to 4.7GHz on 1.35V
Corsair Hydro H60 Watercooling
64GB Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black
System Drive: Samsung 950 Pro H2 SSD Drive (Read 2GB/s, Write 1.5GB/s)

wow, may I ask you how much did you pay for the parts? did you assembly it by yourself?
I am always tempted by watercooling but I am always concerned about noise and difficulty to assemble...am I wrong?

I got this from the Universal Audio forum:

My familiarity with building computers with windows is for gaming, but in principal the difference between a hyperthreading cpu and non hyperthreading cpu is about 30% per clock in applications that fully use multi-core threading. Meaning if the cpu parts were clocked the same, you should expect the i7 part to perform about 30% better in a benchmark. You're saying it's clocked higher, so it will be that much better still.
In workstation applications, generally more cores is favorable over higher clocks.

Go with the i7.

Edit: as to your last question; I wouldn't overclock in a workstation (or any computer I wanted to last a long time). It does increase heat, and usually the heat increases more than the performance increases. Intel has already clocked these parts at their peak performance to heat ratio. Also as I said before, cores is more important than raw clock speed for workstation applications. Save the money and go with the locked i7.

It doesn't mention Studio One in particular (as I never asked) but I guess it would apply to all DAWs. I'm still interested to learn how S1 handles hyperthreading. I'm still torn on the CPU, either the locked i7-7600 or the unlocked i7-6600K. The former is clocked at 3.4GHz with a TDP of 65w and the the latter at 4.0GHz with a TDP of 91w. I don't plan on overclocking, so it's down to higher clock speed with more heat, or lower clock speed with less heat. I'll see what the price difference is when my preferred retailer updates their site with the new stock they got in today.

This threads hyperthreading topic/ question is interesting. I often wonder about this my self.
I have come to the conclusion that much depend on what you do and use.

In music production lots of stuff is still only using one core. So core rate is very important if you use single core CPU hungry stuff and stacking like Studio Ones Multiinstruments and other demanding single threaded tasks like MAI TAI and other softsynths can be.

I believe hyperthreading can mean you in some cases can't get full clockrate from neither cores. Turboboost may help on that.
In other cases you can run stuff faster with hyperthreading as long the cores don't need to wait for each other to do a task, and provided the clockrate is high enough not to get a core overload. In music real time production your CPU is maxed out if just one core is maxed out, not matter you have lots of cores not in use.

I think only some technicians can see thru this. I can't. It's about how a application work, and how they handle multi cores/ threads and hyperthreading.

IMHO i would say it should be law that manufactors of software explained what's best for the application they distribute.
Presonus could also make a article about this topic for Studio One. As it is now it's like selling a car telling that it's needs fuel to drive without saying what kind of fuel, how much fuel, and what kind of fuel that's best for the car both for performance and stabilty etc. in different scenarios.. It's fair software developers shall provide better information.

Of the two processors the OP mention i believe i would pick the i7.
But i would prefere 8 real cores that don't use hyperthreading having the same clockrate as the 4+4 CPU. Having both the real core and the virtual core running will give less performance to each core.
There perhaps cann be turboboost and other overclocking to consider too.

As said, then i think the software manufactors should be obligated to explain and guide much more. Especially in areas like music production where it unfortunately is quite normal multicore CPUs still is'nt supported fully, even if the future has been towards multicore CPUs for years - even with lower clockrates.
I know multicore support can introduce latency, but first after a certain amount of cores i believe. So coding is vital for what processor that's best too. So Presonus (and other software developers) we need better guidelines on what CPU/ fuel that's best to run your software in different scenarioes.
And why don't you develope better multicore support?

dr4kan wrotewow, may I ask you how much did you pay for the parts? did you assembly it by yourself?
I am always tempted by watercooling but I am always concerned about noise and difficulty to assemble...am I wrong?

It was around 1'700.- Swiss (about 1:1 to the dollar, but parts seem to be cheaper in the US).
I did assemble it by myself. It was actually the first PC I assembled and it was very easy and straight forward. Watercooling was easy as well, it's just the cooler for the CPU plus a radiator with fan that you install to any fan opening in your computer case.

The hardest part was getting OSX to run, but even that took no longer than 2hrs.

As far as hyperthreading: I can't really comment on this one.
I'll say this: 100 instances of Slate Virtual Tape Machine @ 128 samples buffer in Studio One took the CPU around 30%. Pretty ridiculous

Best,
Frank

frankacklin wroteThe hardest part was getting OSX to run, but even that took no longer than 2hrs.

What version of OS X are you running? Did you find instructions somewhere for doing that? I hadn't considered going down the Hackintosh route, but maybe I should. It was the new Apple hardware and price hikes in the UK that made me walk, not the OS. I shall give it some thought.

camscampbell wroteWhat version of OS X are you running? Did you find instructions somewhere for doing that? I hadn't considered going down the Hackintosh route, but maybe I should. It was the new Apple hardware and price hikes in the UK that made me walk, not the OS. I shall give it some thought.

This was my reasoning, too. I'm running macOS Sierra 10.12.0 and basically followed the steps in this thread on tonymacx86.com: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/success-hackintosh-i7-ga-z170x-ud5-th-i7-6700k-gigabyte-gtx-970.192392/

I went with the i7-6700K and 32GB of RAM. I think I'll install OS X too. I'll keep y'all posted.

LBH wroteIn music production lots of stuff is still only using one core.

this statement is not correct (anymore).

LBH wroteI think only some technicians can see thru this. I can't. It's about how a application work, and how they handle multi cores/ threads and hyperthreading.

some are more efficient at that task than others ...
The devil is in the details, but the basic concept is easy enough to understand.

-------


imagine 8 of these glass tubes for a quad with HT, you can fill them up with marbles of different sizes.
Each tube represents a virtual core, each marble a thread.

From the empty desktop you should start with all 8 tubes almost empty (you don't have any non-audio programs running in the background, hopefully ?)

Fire up the host, it will put a big marble in tube one, for its basic functionality.
Then, as you start loading up VSTi and FX, the host will fill up the tubes with marbles, one marble/thread per plugin, very different sizes.
The trick is to distribute the marbles/threads evenly, what you don't want is 2 or 3 mega-hogs filling up one single tube while other tubes are still empty.
Optimum efficiency would mean every single tube filled up to 99.9% with a bit of headroom left in tube one, for random additional host tasks and Win Exploder file management.

Granted, very simplified, super complex in the real world - but understanding this basic analogy will help you big time when deciding what CPU to get.
If you're only running a handful of mega-hogs you might be better off with fewer cores @ extremely high clocks (i.e. higher tubes), but I think most people running a more diverse mix of plugins will benefit from more cores.
In my case, a 5820k replaced my previous 2600k, both OC'd cool and quiet to 4.5.
The 5820k gives me almost exactly 50 % more instances before crapping out, a real world scaling factor of 1:1.
That would equal a quad @ 6.75 - not sure if such a beast even exists outside Intel's labs ...
(tested using DAWbench)

ymmv,
Rhino

This thread is really informational, have been wondering about this for a very long time.

I am just curious if anyone also considered the socket type 2066 vs 1151 and and the available PCIe lanes for their DAW setup. From Intel's site apparently the 1151 processors include a total of 24 PCIe 3.0 lanes with 16 lanes for GPU and socket 2066 has 16-48 available, depending on the processor used. So in theory! the 2066 should have more bandwidth during operations? Does anyone has more knowledge how this will benefit S1 users or should we ignore it and go for the 1151 socket processors?

thanks

I was shopping not too long ago. What seemed most relevant for DAW was the single thread rating in my thinking.

Tacman7 wroteWhere is shitCreek and why would you go there without a paddle?

Well, that's easy! It's always just around the corner from where I am. As for showing up without the correct tools, it's just a skill I have.

That comment made my day