Not really, sandy was around since 2010 They usually last 2-3 years. D!J!X! -----Original Message----- From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jack Conti Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 4:38 PM To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Ultimate DAW! Lord sandy alreadhy on the way out??? easy come easy goAt 04:15 PM 7/19/2012, you wrote: >It's nice. However if you want close performance to that and you are on >a budget, Sandy can help! She's on her way out and prices are low, but >a sandy bridge system tweaked and configured right with the right >overclock, can kick up some power! It runs right up there with intel's >$1000 previous i7 980 extreme! > >Having just built a few including one for myself, I can say it's >certainly a beauty! And AVX will prove its usefulness when we can >finally use x1 or whatever later version of Sonar comes out... > >I'm surprised they didn't opt for a 24 core setup, with 2 3930k's (12 >physical cores and 12 virtual ones), run it on a dual CPU server board... >Would be nice. > > >-----Original Message----- >From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >[mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Smart >Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 3:27 PM >To: midimag@xxxxxxxxxxx >Cc: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: [ddots-l] Ultimate DAW! > >Take a look at this super powerful DAW, reviewed in Sound on Sound's >August issue. >Chris > >Scan 3XS Intel SAX6 PowerDAW PC > >Music Computer > >Published in SOS August 2012 > >Scan's new hex-core machine offers huge amounts of processing power and RAM. >Is it the perfect studio PC? > >Martin Walker > >Scan seem to have carved out a fairly unique niche in the PC >marketplace, not only offering a comprehensive range of digital audio >workstations, gaming PCs, video editing and CAD workstations and media >entertainment systems (all of which come under the 'Scan 3XS' moniker), >but also stocking a huge range of components that they sell to other >specialist professional and home PC builders alike. Their audio >specialists therefore have an enviable choice of components with which >to check compatibility, as well as excellent access to the parts manufacturers themselves. > >This particular review model is based around Intel's i7 3930K Sandy >Bridge CPU, whose six physical cores and six virtual ones offer a huge >amount of processing power for the musician, especially since this one >has been carefully overclocked beyond its stock speed of 3.2GHz to a massive 4.4GHz. >The chosen Asus motherboard is also unusual for a single CPU model in >offering two banks of quad-channel RAM slots, enabling those with huge >memory requirements (such as Vienna Symphonic Library users aiming to >create full orchestral scores) to install up to 64GB, although the >review model was fitted with a more modest 16GB. > >Under The Bonnet > >I've heard a lot of praise aimed at the Swedish-designed Fractal Design >Refine cases, and I can now see why. Most builders opt for the smaller >R3 model, but given the power and cooling requirements of this 12-core >monster, Scan chose the rather more imposing XL version, here in Black >Pearl but also available in Titanium Grey as an option. This case is >built like a tank from heavy steel, coupled with a lining of dense >sound-deadening materials for its main panel surfaces, while the hinged >front door is also acoustically lined and closed via a magnetic catch, >with an elegant blue illuminated on/off switch at top front, along with >two handy USB 2 and two USB >3 ports. > >Case cooling is taken care of by of two low-noise 140mm fans (one >mounted on the case front panel and one on the rear) and one massive >180mm fan at upper back, at a close to horizontal angle. >Remember, the larger the fan, the slower it needs to turn and the lower >its noise contribution. The 625-watt Enermax power supply also houses >its own 120mm cooling fan with integral speed control for low noise. >Overall, this case should last a lifetime, although I wouldn't fancy >moving it after initial installation, as it has an impressive size and weight. > >There's a wealth of rear-panel connections, which are augmented by two >USB 2 and two USB 3 ports mounted on the top of the case. > >Inside, I found possibly the neatest wiring I've ever seen, with all >cables beautifully grouped into several looms. There was also plenty of >expansion room for those who need it, with seven empty hard drive bays >and a further three 5.25-inch drive bays still available on the front >panel beneath the supplied Samsung 22x DVD-RW Writer. Four of the eight >RAM sockets were filled by the 16GB of high-quality Corsair RAM, and I >was also pleased to see that, despite the huge Thermalright Archon air >cooler mounted on the CPU with its associated low-speed 140mm fan, all >four empty RAM sockets were still easily accessible for those who want to add more later on. > >The Asus V-Pro P9X79 motherboard features Intel's X79 chip set, and has >been available for about six months (new enough to have plenty of the >latest features, but established enough for any issues to have been ironed out). >Compared with the previous Z68 chip set, the >X79 supports the newer LGA2011 Sandy Bridge CPUs and quad-channel >rather than dual-channel memory architecture, which should help to >boost performance for heavy users of samples. This motherboard also >boasts its own SSD Caching, USB 3 Boost for even faster external data >transfers, and a unique BIOS Flashback update that lets you update your >motherboard using a USB flash drive and a single rear-panel button press. > >It does, however, lack PCI slots, so anyone with a good but elderly >soundcard should perhaps look for an alternative board or interface. >However, for those who have already moved on, there are a healthy six >PCIe slots on offer, and this system would normally arrive with three >still available. The other three were already in use on the review >model for the NVIDIA 512MB GeForce G210 fanless graphics card, and two >more expansion cards providing twin Firewire and twin USB 3 ports (to >supplement those already on the >motherboard) respectively. Overall, there are plenty of ports >available: I counted a total of eight USB2 and four USB3 ports across >the top and rear panels, as well as the two Firewire ports on the >expansion card. > >On the drive side, the case houses two of the ever-popular Western >Digital Caviar Black drives of 1TB capacity each, along with a single >Corsair Force >3 series 240GB Solid State Drive that, with the motherboard's SATA 3 >6Gb/s interface, allows read/write rates of up to 550MB/s and >incorporates the well-respected SandForce controller, which uses a >proprietary compression system to minimise the amount of data actually >written, which in turn increases its speed and lifetime. In other >words, it should speed up your boot time and Windows performance >without compromising long-term reliability. Finally, talking of >Windows, this machine had Windows >7 Pro 64-bit installed to take advantage of all that RAM. > >General Performance > >This overclocked 3930K processor turns in an excellent performance, >outperforming a similarly overclocked 2600k Sandy Bridge processor by >around >18 percent, and with a huge 34GB/second memory bandwidth for those who >run vast sample-based orchestras. > >As always, switch-on time is the moment of truth for any audio PC, and >this one didn't disappoint. Noise levels at the front were extremely >low, and what noise remained was mostly at top back where the main case fan exhausts. >When the case is mounted in a typical 'under the desk' scenario, it >should be very quiet indeed. Thanks to the Corsair 240GB Solid State >Drive, it only took about 12 seconds from the 'Starting Windows' >message to reach the desktop. >As expected, the drive turned in a jaw-dropping performance, with an >average transfer rate of 393 MB/second. When compared with the >254 MB/second of the same SSD in Inta Audio's i7 Ultimate Audio PC, >reviewed in SOS March 2012, this rather proves the effectiveness of the >Asus SSD caching on this motherboard. > >Idling temperature was a comfortable 41 degrees Celsius, and none of >the six cores rose beyond a somewhat high but quite safe 72 degrees >during my torture tests, accompanied by a slight increase in acoustic >noise that fell within a few seconds of this 100 percent load being >removed. On the software side, Windows 7 Pro only needs a few tweaks for optimum audio performance: >Scan have set up a custom power setting profile, disabled Windows sound >mapping and allowed Windows Update to check for new updates, which the >user decides whether to download. > >The Sisoftware Memory Bandwidth test measured 34GB/second, a huge >increase over any system I've reviewed to date, even compared with the >21GB/second of the overclocked Sandy Bridge quad-core 2600K system I >reviewed in June 2011, proving the effectiveness of the >X79 quad-channel RAM architecture. Meanwhile, the CPU Arithmetic score >was 176GIPS Dhrystone (an increase of around 30 percent over the >aforementioned 2600K), the Integer CPU Multimedia was 388Mpixel/s (50 >percent higher than the 2600K), and the CPU Multimedia Float >performance was an excellent 545Mpixel/s (almost 80 percent higher than >the 2600K), all auguring very well for the audio performance tests. > >Audio Performance > >Once I'd fired up the trusty DAWbench test inside Cubase, I soon found >that it wasn't torturous enough. Using a conservative 256-sample buffer >setting with the supplied RME HDSPe AIO audio interface, I didn't get >any glitching, even when running the maximum 320 instances of the >Reaxcomp multiband compressor plug-ins! I am therefore indebted to Vin >Curigliano (the creator of >DAWbench) for supplying an extended version of his utility capable of >even more punishing plug-in counts, which finally enabled me to run a >massive 356 plug-ins at the 256 buffer setting, 322 with a >128 buffer size, 320 with a 64 size and 310 with a 32 size. This pushes >the Scan 3930K to the top of my chart with a 17-18 percent lead over a >similarly overclocked 2600K quad-core model. To put it another way, a >2600K would need to run at a totally unachievable 5.3GHz to match it. > >Final Thoughts > >Some musicians may still be waiting for the incremental improvements of >the new quad-core Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs, but although I've yet to >personally test any of the newer versions of these, mainstream >benchmarks suggest results reasonably close to Sandy Bridge models at similar clock speeds. >More importantly, no hex-core Ivy Bridge options are so far available, >so Ivy Bridge simply isn't an option if you need the level of >performance achieved by this Scan 3930K hex-core review machine. It >obviously won't be the best choice if you're on a strict budget, and, >as always, this is just one snapshot from the Scan 3XS range, which >offers plenty of tailored options. > >The bottom line is this: the six cores of the Scan 3XS Intel SAX6 >PowerDAW PC offer a lot more processing grunt than a quad-core >2600K-based machine and up to 64GB of RAM for sampling duties, yet >remains significantly cheaper than a dual-CPU Xeon-based system. If >that's a compromise, it sounds like a good one to me! 903106 > >Alternatives > >If you want more processing power than the musician's favourite 2600K >can provide, various specialist builders have systems that might suit. >For instance Inta Audio (www.inta-audio.com) offer their Ultimate Music >PC with a similar spec to this review system, as do Rain Recording >(www.raincomputers.co.uk) with their Element Pro X79, and Music PC >(www.music-pc.com) with their Vortex Ultimate range. If you need even >more processing grunt, Direct Resolution >(www.directresolutions.co.uk) have more powerful dual Xeon quad-cores >in their DARC Ultimate range, while Scan themselves have the 3XS Xeon >55 PowerDAW range. > >Brief Specifications > >Case: Fractal Design Define XL Case fitted with 625-watt Enermax >MODU82+ PSU. > >Motherboard: Asus V-Pro P9X79, featuring Intel X79 chip set, one LGA >2011 Socket for second generation Intel Core i7 series processors, two >banks of four DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 64GB of 2400MHz system >memory, three PCIe 3.0 compatible x16 (3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16), one PCIe >3.0/2.0 x16 (x8 >mode) and two PCIe 2.0 >x1 expansion slots, two SATA 6GB/s connectors, four SATA 3GB/s >connectors, four USB 3 ports and up to 12 USB 2 ports. > >Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K overclocked to 4.42GHz. > >Cooling: Thermalright Archon air cooler with low-speed 140mm fan. > >System RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance Gold 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Quad Memory. > >Hard Drive: two Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB drives, one >Corsair Force 3 series 240GB SSD drive. > >Graphics Card: NVIDIA EVGA 512MB GeForce G210, equipped with one D-Sub, >one Dual Link DVI-I and one HDMI port, and passive (heat >sink) cooling. > >Fitted Expansion Cards: two-port Firewire 1394a LoPro PCI-E, two-port >Silverstone EC01 Int USB3 PCI-E. > >Optical Drive: Samsung 22x DVD-RW Writer. > >Installed Operating System: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. > >Scan 3XS Support > >Each Scan 3XS system is built in-house to order, with a 24-hour burn-in >period and various quality-control checks. A hidden partition holding a >complete system image is also created, so you can return to the factory >default if you need to. The standard warranty lasts 12 months, and >there are options to extend this to two or three years. Technical >support is handled in-house by a dedicated team available on the telephone and online. > >Published in SOS August 2012 > >-------------------------------------------------- >CTS MASTERING: http://www.ctsmastering.com >Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CTSMASTERING >Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CTS-Mastering/139114066128698 >Linked In: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/chris-smart/46/824/536 >Dropbox: Have your stuff when you need it. 2GB is free: >http://db.tt/bQ2GuIt > >PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE! >To leave the list, click on the immediately following link: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe >If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >and in the Subject line type >unsubscribe >For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the immediately >following link: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or send a message, to >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type faq > > >PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE! >To leave the list, click on the immediately following link: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe >If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >and in the Subject line type >unsubscribe >For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the immediately >following link: >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or send a message, to >ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type faq PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE! To leave the list, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type unsubscribe For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or send a message, to ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type faq PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE! To leave the list, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type unsubscribe For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the immediately following link: ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq or send a message, to ddots-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and in the Subject line type faq