building the allen machine
 

hi everyone.. ok. .ive read alot of the "best machine under 900$ post"... but im not a computer expert so it dosent make much sense... althought have learned alot... and im sorta a get down to business type guy when it comes to computers, since i dont know much about tinkering with them... so this may be a stupid question.. and it may have been answered somewhere in that post.. but here goes... i am completley totally absolutley without a doubt SICK of trying to get the computer that i h ad built to run pro tools to work correctly .. something is malfuncioning.. ive posted on here through out the year and done everything recomended...its gotten to a point where the computer is so quirky that i cant even explain to anyone what is going wrong with it....aaaaanyway... i need a new home computer so im thinking of retiring that computer to be my home computer...(just need to write letters and check email.. itll work for that i guess)...NOW.. if i buy EXACLTY the parts listed in allens first post... and have a real computer guy put it together.. then i follow all the instructions from digi EXACTLY... shuold i expect that system to run flawlessly?... like 32 tracks? and be as stable as you can want a pc to be?... the only difference might be the case. id like a rackmount... but that might mean it would be a different power supply than recommened...would that make a difference??... so again.. if i follow it exaclty.. it should work ? no tinkering?? correct?

Beige EVERCASE E4252W005A ATX MID Tower Case 23.00

Enermax Adjustable 8CM cooling fan 7.00

ENERMAX EG365P-VE(FMA). 350W PSU 60.00

Volcano 9 "CoolMod" Smart and Silent heatsink/fan 29.00

A7V333 motherboard w/1394 port and USB 2.0 125.00

AMD XP2200+ CPU 139.00

Micron 512MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM 143.00

ATI 7500 Radeon 64Mb DDR 4x Dual Monitor Video Card 57.00

Western Digital 20GB ATA100 7200RPM System Drive 65.00

WD "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 8MB Cache 7200RPM Audio Drive 120.00

MITSUMI D359M3 FDD 1.44MB 3.5INCH 9.00

Lite On 48x24x48 CDRW Model LTR-4824S 57.00

Promise ATA133 TX2 Hard Drive Controller 36.00

Re: building the allen machine
 

Get your computer builder to install the software and digi001 for you and keep an ongoing relationship with him or her.
Good luck,
Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Re: building the allen machine
 

my computer guy isnt really an audio computer guy... but he does build computers for a living... i shuold be able to install the hardware and software on my own im sure... ill just follow the directions exaclty.. theres a few guys around town that i hear build actual pro tools computers... but since im gonna follow the hardware exaclty to your post... ill just have this guy build it and ill give it a shot installing.. cause hes gonna build it for free... plus he is a guitar student of mine so see him every week.. so he can always help out with a problem... and if i cant get it to work.. since at least the hardware combo is correct... if all else fails. then i can bring it to a pro tools expert, or try the duc...

ive only got 5.1.. i know i need 5.3 to run on windows xp.. so im hoping to get an upgrade disc from guitar center, i just gotta rememebr next time i go over there...

the case shouldnt be a problem right? i dont have your list of components in front of me, but.. i know that most of the time cases come with a powersupply built in.. so i dont remember what you recommened.. but i should be able to go rackmount with a different power supply without a problem right?.. or is there a particular combo you recommend?

thankx.

Re: building the allen machine
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yes, You can go rackmount. I did list the Enermax power supply separately. I still use WinME with 5.1 on one of my computers and I still like it for most purposes.
Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Re: building the allen machine
 

maybe you should check out yavuz's computer. he's got it for sale because he's buying a mac. its rackmount and turnkey ready.

also, i can vouch for both yavuz's integrity and computer building skills. i'm sure others here will as well...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

Re: building the allen machine
 

Does anybody have any opinions or reports on how the MSI boards perform with ProTools? I'm looking at the MSI KT3 Ultra board for when I upgrade. I thought I'd save some money and go with MSI, or the Asus A7V266-E KT266A AA, if they work well with PT.

Does anybody have experience with these boards?

Re: building the allen machine
 

I'm running the MSI KT3 Ultra and it runs just fine. I get 32 + 3 on the DAVEC with 128 buffer, no tweaks to XP on an AMD 2200+. That ASUS board is doing better but I've had no problems running anything on this board.

Casey

Re: building the allen machine
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Are you talking about the A7V266-E or the A7V333?

Thanx for the info. I'll make up my mind when I upgrade and see how much money I have to spend.

Now, which of the MSI's do you have?
KT3 Ultra2-C (MS-6593)?
KT3 Ultra2 6380E-050?
KT3 Ultra?

I see these 3 on pricewatch. Are they all the same thing and the sellers are just listing them a little different?

Again, thanx for any and all help.