Building a new Machine

[MFriendly]

Hello DUC.. it's a while since I've posted...

Who has built a new Win7 machine lately and is running PT9? I'm trying to gauge if anyone has had any problems using new hardware with the older software? My studio machine is 5 years old and I'm going to have to do a new build. Just wondering who's running PT9 on newer equipment (and the specs) and how it's performing?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[albee1952]

My new X99/i7 build is working quite well. As much as I prefer Windows 7, I bit the bullet and moved the new rig to Win10. While the UI can be a bit annoying, most of my reading supports Win10 being a leaner and better OS. I can't see any reason that older versions of PT would not run fine(but having said that, the features that you are missing in PT9 as compared to 11 and 12 is pretty stunning. Since you are going to build a new machine, you might consider it a good reason to also update PT. Besides Clip Gain, Track Freeze and Track Commit(all "game changers" to me), the raw horsepower gain with full 64 bit software is pretty amazing(of course, every plugin would need updating, so I understand your reluctance)

[EGS]

Originally Posted by MFriendly

... any problems using new hardware with the older software ...

New hardware AND new software. Do it right !!!

Having said that, you could ...

get new computer hardware, take a boot-drive image and install old software. See if (big if) it works for you. If not, restore boot-drive image, buy new software and move on.

[MFriendly]

Thanks for the info guys. I don't use my studio very often. It's a personal use studio (I realize it's been just under a year since I posted this and you've replied).

I've still been limping along with the same system but I'm ready now for the new build. (my old faithful has finally bit the dust).

I have a hard time justifying another $600 or $24 a month for the latest protools when I'm good with this one for now and it works perfectly for what I need.

Albee.. did you finally upgrade or are you still running PT9? Did it work on Win10? I have no problem running Win7.. it's a good OS and I already own it. Also.. I don't have all that many plugins.. not sure if they would all work with the new Protools though. Do you think I'd have to buy them again? Or would they simply be upgradable. (most of my plugs are Waves, with Vintage Warmer and Autotune as well).

I'm already building a $1000+ computer so tacking on another $600 in PT plus plugins seems like a lot of expense for my own personal work. (with the very slightly occasional session or two for a friend. If I was doing this semi-professionally (like I was 10 years ago).. I could justify the expense but having a hard time with that as it is right now.

About to start researching X99/i7

[albee1952]

I have moved up with each new release(after a waiting period to see if its not a disaster). If you are on PT9, moving to PT 10 would be pretty much painless as all plugins should be fine(and PT10 added Clip Gain, which is a major plus). The other reason to move to 10(for me) is that the file format changed, meaning PT10 shares the same file format as 11, 12 and up. So if you collaborate with others that run 10/11/12/etc, sessions will move back and forth with relative ease(going from the newer versions to PT9 requires a Save Session Copy>select the 7>9 format so the session will open on your PT9 rig(if you're not sharing sessions with other users, then this is probably a non-issue)


Now, building a new machine probably means new OS, so consider; PT11 and up is a full 64 bit program, so a new machine with a quad or 6-core cpu and 16GB(minimum) RAM will give you a serious performance boost. PT9/10 are 32 bit programs and can't use more than maybe 3.4GB of RAM. Seems a shame to build a new powerhouse computer but not be able to take advantage of all that power Windows 10 takes some getting used to, but to me, it seems more streamlined. Plus, using a fast SSD for the C: drive is a no-brainer. Samsung 840 or 850, EVO or PRO are my choice(500GB), but many new motherboards can take NVM(probably incorrect nomenclature) drives that fit a slot and are stupidly fast.


Downside of moving to PT11 and newer is that you will be installing EVERYTHING from scratch. Upside is, you really should do that anyway on a new build(putting an old system drive in a new computer is just not a great idea). You will need to update every plugin you own as 11 and up ONLY use AAX64 plugins(RTAS is dead in a 64 bit world). Also, there are a handful of plugins that either never made it to AAX64, or changed enough that opening old sessions just might force you to swap out some plugins(example; your Digirack delay plugins for short, medium, long, extra long; have all been replaced with a single delay plugin). The new plugin can DO everything the olds ones covered, but you will need to recreate your settings from scratch. There are several other major features that make moving up a worthwhile change. Its up to you whether you want to deal with the growing pains