Want to Build Powerful but Small...For Music Recording

[destinationsound]

I have the fastest Mac Mini money can buy, (2.6gHz i7, SSD Boot Drive, 16gb Ram), but the CPU still runs @ 160% when i try and do any music recording at High Resolutions. I love the small form factor of the Mac Mini, but need more power.

I am hoping i can find a very powerfull build that can fit in this case or something similar: http://store.antec.com/isk-series/isk600m.html#

My Requirements:
- Yosemite 10.10.4
- Thunderbolt 2.0
- Video Card
- 4-6USB 3.0
- BlueTooth
- Wireless internet @ 5gHz and 2.4gHz

Other than the above requirements, all other hardware is wide open.

The music i record is @192kHz sound quality and from my tests with my current Processor Mac Mini, my 2.6gHz i7 quad core is completely crapping out.

I see that in the compatability CPU list Only the intel "i" series is listed. Is Xeon not working? Also, is i7 good enough for my needs? Im concerned since my current setup isnt enough.

Any links to build or other info would be a huge help. Thanks!

 

[brado32]

Although I rarely record at 192k. I have done a few high track count sessions with little issue using an i7-4790k

It seems to handle the load fine. Most of my large (over 100 track) PT sessions are admittedly at 48k, so your mileage may very.

I am also using 32g of ram in my machine, which Pro Tools loves..

good luck

-Brad

 

[involver]

The problem you may run into with such a small case is cooling. It will not be able to take the bigger coolers which could mean that the fans will work harder and make more noise. That's one of the reasons I went for a bigger case (and also because I wanted 6 or 8 cores...)