Review on Unleash Peak Performance: Intel Core i7-7740X X-Series Processor Overclockable 4 Cores up to 4.50GHz Turbo Unlocked FCLGA2066 X299 Series 112W by James Richardson

I have a 2009 2.66GHz 4-core Mac Pro. I'm no longer a fan of what Apple has to offer, especially in terms of value for money and the lack of user-upgradable components. So after working with a Mac for over 20 years, I took the leap of faith and built my own PC. At this point, after a few weeks of using this new build, I absolutely LOVE this processor. I use this machine primarily for photo editing with PhotoMechanic, Adobe Photoshop Cloud 2017 and Capture One Pro 11. This processor can handle anything I throw at it without breaking a sweat. Even when I started exporting 1000 images into Capture One Pro and then batching 500 images into Photoshop, I was able to go back to Capture One Pro, open a new job, preview and start RAW adjustments with no lag. It worked perfectly. The RAW adjustment sliders are as smooth as silk with no lag. Best of all, the CPU temperature stayed at an average of 55 C under load when overclocked to 4.4 GHz. At 4.6 GHz, the average temperature was just 70 C, rising to 76 C a few times. I am using an NZXT Kraken x52 CPU cooler. works for me For Photoshop, an application that favors high clock speeds over more cores, I love that this processor has the same 4.5GHz Turbo Boost as the Intel 7700K. That's incredibly impressive for an 8-core processor. The 7700K used to be the king of Photoshop, but I'm willing to bet that there's little to no real difference between this 8-core 7820x and the 4-core 7700K when doing Photoshop tasks with a small number of threads . 7820x is so responsive. In my opinion, this processor offers possibly the best value for money in terms of single, dual and multi-threaded applications. When you include 28 PCIe lanes instead of the 16 PCIe lanes you get with the mighty i7 8700K, I still have to give credit to the 7820x. If you only need 16 PCIe lanes, the 8700K will save you about $200 on the CPU and maybe $50 on the motherboard. With the 7820x you need a good motherboard. It goes without saying, but that doesn't mean it's the most expensive. After a lot of research on VRM issues with Skylake-X processors, I bought an ASRock Extreme4. The two features I wanted the most were the dual 8-pin CPU power connector and the VRM heat pipe. Intel has put this processor family on hold and in my opinion the MOB manufacturers have surprised them and many of them are releasing their MOBs way too quickly. EVGA didn't even release their MOBs because they weren't thoroughly tested. These processors use a lot of power, and if you run without a good cooler, VRM cooling, and enough power, they will overheat and clog. Newer and 2nd gen x299 boards are already coming out with these dual 8-pin headers and VRM heat pipes. (Taichai XE is an example of MOB Gen 2 x299). Extreme4 is a new board released in November, a few months after the release of Skylake-X. So you've had time to get this board right and it's one of the cheapest boards out there. I was on a tight budget of $2000 and if I could do it again I would definitely buy this build again. 7820 x 32GB G RAM Skill Trident Z RGB 250GB SSD Boot Disk 8GB Sapphire Radeon RX 580NZXT Kraken x52 CoolerASRock Extreme4 MotherboardEVGA SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold PSU