Intel Core i7-7820X, 8 Cores & 16 Threads Turbo Unlocked X-Series Desktop Processor

I'm coming from a 2009 2.66GHz 4-core Mac Pro. I'm no longer a fan of what Apple offers, especially in terms of price to performance and lack of user upgradable components. So after 20+ years with the Mac, I took a leap of faith and built my own PC.So far, a few weeks into using this new build, I absolutely LOVE this CPU. I primarily use this machine for photo editing with PhotoMechanic, Adobe Photoshop Cloud 2017, and Capture One Pro 11. This CPU can handle everything I throw at it without breaking a sweat. Even when I've run a 1000 image export in Capture One Pro, a 500 image batch process in Photoshop, I could go back into Capture One Pro, open a new job, render previews, and start RAW adjustments with absolutely no lag. It worked flawlessly. The RAW adjustment sliders are silky smooth, with no lag. Best of all, the CPU temps have remained an average of 55C under load at 4.4GHz overclocked. At 4.6GHz, the temps only averaged 70C - spiked to 76C a couple of times. I'm using the NZXT Kraken x52 CPU cooler. Works for me.For Photoshop, an application that prefers high clock frequencies vs. more cores, I love that this CPU has the same 4.5GHz Turbo Boost frequency as the Intel 7700K. That's incredibly impressive for an 8-core CPU. The 7700K, used to be the Photoshop king, but I would bet there is little to no real world difference between this 8 core 7820x and the 4-core 7700K when doing lightly threaded Photoshop tasks. The 7820x is so responsive.IMO, this CPU might be the best bang for the buck in terms of single, dual and multicore threaded applications. When you factor in the 28 PCIe lanes over the 16 PCIe lanes you get with the might i7 8700K, I still have to give the 7820x the nod. If you only need 16 PCIe lanes, then the 8700K will save you about $200 on the CPU, and maybe $50 on the Motherboard.With the 7820x you'll want a good Motherboard. Should go without saying, but that doesn't mean the most expensive.After tons of research about VRM issues with the Skylake-X CPUs, I bought the ASRock Extreme4. The two features I wanted most were, dual 8-pin CPU power connects, and the VRM heat pipe. Intel shotgunned this CPU family release, and IMO it caught the MOB manufacturers off guard, and many release their MOBs too quickly. EVGA wouldn't even release their MOBs, as they hadn't been thoroughly tested. These CPUs are power hungry, and if you OC without a good cooler, VRM cooling, and adequate power, they'll overheat and throttle.New and 2nd Gen x299 boards are already coming out with these dual 8-pin connects and VRM heat pipes (Taichai XE is one example of a Gen 2 x299 MOB). The Extreme4 is a new board released in November, a good few months after the release of Skylake-X. So they had time to get this board right, and it's one of the least expensive boards on the market.I had a limited budget of $2,000 - and if I could do it all over again, I would definitely buy this build again.7820x32GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB ram250GB SSD Boot drive8GB Sapphire Radeon RX 580NZXT Kraken x52 coolerASRock Extreme4 MotherboardEVGA SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold PSU

I built my first PC a few months ago (Asus X299 Prime-A, Intel i7 7820x, Asus GTX 1070 Dual, 950 Pro SSD, 32GB Corsair Vengance LPX, H115i liquid cooler) to replace the Macs in my studio and it has been an absolute game changer. I'm blown away by the performance of this machine and can't believe I didn't make the switch sooner!I run the CPU at 4.8 GHz and it just bulldozed through everything I throw at it. Videos export 2-3x real time (15 minute Premiere projects with stabilizers, color, After Effects titles, and more are done in 5-6 minutes) and Pro Tools handles my moderate work loads of 96 to 192KHz stereo mixes with 8-10 instruments (mostly Absynth and Reaktor) and about as many audio and aux tracks as 256 or 512 sample buffers with no dropped samples.

It's fast... it's really fast. I wont bore you with technical diagrams and readouts of why this processor is amazing. Instead I will try to portray a real world environment for you. I bought this processor to use in a little home theater / couch gaming build i was making. This computers roles were going to be running a 24/7 Plex Media Server for myself and about 15 other people, while also simultaneously being able to do some light couch surfing/gaming.My god does this thing perform. Stream 4K halfway around the globe for my buddy in Norway? Check. Let me play a fast paced online FPS from the couch at the same time? Check. Wife Streaming her favorite TV show in the other room? Check. All at the same time. Not even a sign of this little guy having a hiccup.This is the processor of Gods.

I have been building PC's for well over 15 years and have extensive knowledge on Computers as a whole. Now I know alot of people and reviews are saying 599$ is alot for a i7 7820x CPU. Here is the way I look at it I had a ryzen 7 1700 build I had it for 3 weeks and sold the build then my next build was going 1900x build and I had it all set up and running and when I thought about it your essentially getting a 1800x on 2 dies known as the infinity fabric for 549.00 when you benchmark the 1800x and the 7820x. The i7 7820x easily beats it by 30% so the threadripper 1900x is the same exact outcome so for a extra 20$ it was a no brainer so the moral of the story is if you plan on staying in the 400 or less bracket ryxzen is the way to go if your jumping up to a ryzen threadripper territory example the 1900x then you should go with the i7 7820x I have it oced to 4.6ghz and the highest the temp read was 74 C and its a phenomenal chip worth the price if you ask me.