So I finally left Snow Leopard and went to PT11 and Yosemite. Sadness ensues

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by iamnightfall

Besides buying a new computer does anyone have any recommendations I can do to fix the lagging meters and random crashes?

Have you tried different monitor resolutions? I know it's not ideal because you probably like your current configuration but finding the display's sweet spot can improve meter ballistics. Try lower resolution, of course, but also higher. In one case, increasing resolution is what brought the meters back to normal.

[KMcK]

Originally Posted by iamnightfall

2x2.26 Quad Core Nehalem Mac Pro 4.1 (this hasn't been thoroughly tested I know but I don't believe this is the issue. This computer is a tank and runs like a champ outside pro tools. People are having success with much older models than mine)

Who do you know that is having success with this model or older running PT11 or PT12? I had a quad 2.8ghz 5,1 and it was not enough to handle either 11 or 12 without major lag issues. I recently upgraded the CPUs in it to a six-core 3.46ghz and it's running much more smoothly now, so my guess is that you just don't have the CPU horsepower to run what you're trying to run with that machine. Also 14gb of RAM is pretty low these days. I'd say 16gb is the minimum, 32gb or more is much better.

[iamnightfall]

I see several users on the DUC and on this particular forum as well that have zero issues with systems older than mine. Like I said, my CPU usage is very minimal. I just have crashes all the time. It feels like a software issue to me. And I'm getting crashes with hardly running plugs or high track count. I'd love to try an update to 11 without having to go to 12. I don't want to pay for an upgrade just so I can have software that works. I miss PT 10 and snow leopard a lot but I love having offline bounce and being able to access my ram and processors.

[AlexLakis]

Have you tried removing any third-party plugins and testing without them? I know there have been some users reporting choppy meters with plugins like AirEQ...

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by iamnightfall

Besides buying a new computer does anyone have any recommendations I can do to fix the lagging meters and random crashes?

Now that the Chief said something it made me remember that the graphics cards were causing some problems awhile back for some users when upgrading from older machines.

That's a pretty easy thing to check - and upgrade

[iamnightfall]

Right now this is what Graphics card I'm running along with Quartz Debug with Beam Sync off. This seems to help, but the meters are still slow and pro tools still crashes sadly.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 120

[YYR123]

I think I had that 120 years ago......it's a basic card with little to no real acceleration, which newer OS's require

I upgraded to a GTX 760 and couldn't be happier

[YYR123]

While your doing that I would recommend 2 SSD's (high performers) for your main drive and your record target

If you want to tweak some more life out of an older system

[Pete Gates]

Originally Posted by YYR123

I think I had that 120 years ago......it's a basic card with little to no real acceleration, which newer OS's require

I upgraded to a GTX 760 and couldn't be happier

I concur with this. I've got a 8x2.26GHz 4.1 Mac Pro running HDX2 11.3.1 HD pretty happily (no VIs, all Post stuff/plugins) but I swapped out the graphics card for a Macvidcards EFI flashed GTX760 as I wanted multiple graphics outputs. Decent graphics card/plenty of RAM/fast drives and a 4.1 Mac Pro is still usable - not saying it's a trash can beater cos it ain't but it's ok.

Pete

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by KMcK

Who do you know that is having success with this model or older running PT11 or PT12? I had a quad 2.8ghz 5,1 and it was not enough to handle either 11 or 12 without major lag issues. I recently upgraded the CPUs in it to a six-core 3.46ghz and it's running much more smoothly now, so my guess is that you just don't have the CPU horsepower to run what you're trying to run with that machine. Also 14gb of RAM is pretty low these days. I'd say 16gb is the minimum, 32gb or more is much better.

Not to mention that 14 gig is a non-standard memory configuration. With tam - the more the better. Like money you can't have too much of either.