Yes, it's a quad-core, but the single-core performance is what I'm focusing on. Do I need to worry about QPI bus speed? Some of these Xeons have that special QPI connector and some don't.

I appreciate you educating me on all of that. The video helped me a lot.

 

maybe you are looking at the 1620 v2 ? then yes its a lot better.
the "v0" version is actually pretty similar to the x5690, but having 2 more cores/4 more threads wins easily in daw performance

QPI intel QuickPathInterconnect is a routing mechanism if you have a multi cpu system.
as an example the w3690 and x5690 Xeons are the exact same CPU but only the x5690 has QPI and can be used in multi cpu systems.
x5690 can be used in single cpu systems as well without problem.

 

An i7 processor, quad core, 3,8 Ghz, compatible with your existing socket would probably be the cheapest solution to your problem.

Offtopic, only for Logic Pro X users: the advice above works only with Multithreading set to "Playback Tracks" in preferences. Apple introduced a second option for Multithreading namely " Playback Tracks & Live Tracks" which is a mess: this option actually loads a single core very quick and does not redistribute the load when doing the trick with multiple serial busses.

 

Thanks for the Info. In my experience, the "Playback Tracks and Live Tracks" option seemed to workd better for me in Logic. I have a production template which includes Maschine Plugin with routed outputs and some Busses, Sends and Returns. But I'm gonna check again.

Edit: You're right, "Playback Tracks" actually works better!

Same Project, same Beat. Pretty significant difference!:

Playback Tracks and Live Tracks CPU Usage
Playback Tracks CPU Usage

 

Last edited: Jul 8, 2017

true, but then he needs a gpu and who knows how much ram the i7 supports and how much they cost, + the board probably isn't the greatest.

with one of these used workstations he can get a complete package with a ton of ram already included for a bargain.

 

Not at all - I am not recommending a latest generation i7 (which basically requires new MB and DDRx), I propose an old quad core i7 which is 100% compatible with the existing CPU slot on the motherboard. In this case, a simple CPU swap would be enough. The GPU is already in the system and same for the memory. As long as two i-series CPU's use the same motherboard socket, there's no other components to worry in case of a swap - maybe the cooler though.

No idea why

 

high end CPUs usually didn't had integrated graphics,
but your right 95% of the 4th i7 series have one, so this could be an option as well, maybe he should get a better cooler then.
4790k could be the candidate, but max ram is 32GB if board supports it, he has to check first if and which i7 this board supports.