HD PCIx -which models HP/Dell workstations

[DaveSB]

I have a HD2 rig PCIx and wish to retire my G5 dual 2.7 and move to Windows 7 and Pro Tools HD8
Do any members here use the following for PCIx
thanks David

HP Z800 Workstation
HP Z400 Workstation
HP Z200 Workstation Intel Xeon or Core i5 (HD Native only)
HP Z210 Workstation Intel "Sandy Bridge"
Dell Precision T7500 Tower Workstation
Dell Precision T5500 Tower Workstation
Dell Precision T3500 Tower Workstation (HD Native only)
Dell Precision T3400 Tower Workstation
HP xw8600 Workstation
HP xw4600 Workstation (HD Native only)

[Filmusic]

I use a Dell 690 with s 2 card system, quad proc, 12 gigs of RAM...it does fine for My needs...tracking composing, cool thing about the 690 is they are very cheap on eBay, I own 3 of them...all gotten for ess then 400 each, then a few hundred more to max ram, proc, and harddrives

[at01music]

When PT 10 HD came out about 2-1/2 years ago I moved my HD2 system from a Dual G5 2.7 GHz OS X 10.4 to an HP Z210 Compact Mini Tower with Xeon 3-1270 3.4 GHz processor and 16 GB RAM running Windows 7. I also traded in my 192 IO for an HD OMNI. Have been very happy with this machine, no problems running HD 10.3.7 although my sessions are definitely on the small side.

-Allan

[Mattafact]

I run PT8HD on a Dell T5400 with 2 Quad Core processors and an SSD. I think I have <$500 into the system and it's pretty flawless and very powerful.

To go more than HD2 you would have to get a T7400 for the increased chassis space.

[Sugarnutz]

Just got a Dell T7400 motherboard on eBay with two 2.5 GHz Intel Quadcore E5420 CPUs and 4 gig of RAM for $100. Added a $35 Asus G210 "Silent" video card, cheap DVD burner and 64 GB Crucial SSD I had laying around. The booger bear was having to get the 1000w power supply and the front panel I/O w/cables since the motherboard doesn't have the standard pins for power/LEDs, it has a miniature connector for all of it including USB and audio. Got lucky and bought both on eBay for $65 shipped. There are no alternatives to these last two items

Got XP on it and got it fired up this afternoon, BIOS updated and all drivers installed for the system. Haven't added the core card yet or installed Pro Tools, but don't see a problem. This turned out not to be a project for the faint of heart, most folks would be better off buying a complete T7400 and going from there. The motherboard is an eATX sized motherboard and I found a 19" rackmount case for it I'll get next week and it will fit.

I'll end up with about $500-$600 in the system including a new Seagate 1TB SATA drive for backup/storage and two 300 GB 15K rpm Seagate drives (NEW) for audio before it's over and a lot quieter system (not to mention rack mounted) when it's all said & done.

I'll run this with HD3 on PT 8.1.1 w/192 analog (extra input card) and 192 digital to start, hoping to get an Omni later instead of paying $750 for a monitor controller (used Omni's run about $1K on eBay and they're supported in 8.1.1). I've learned a lot putting this system together and thanx for the ideas I got reading this forum.