About to Buy PC Need Final Opinion

[JesseZaverucha]

Hey Guys i am just about to purchase my new pc and drop 1700. However, i was hoping some of you guys could give some input, opinions, suggestions, regarding compatibility. I want to make sure this new system will be able to run pt 8 with no hassles. Thank you guys in advance and if you see any problems please feel free, Thanks!

Processor:
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601950 - Retail

Motherboard:
ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM

Memory:
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail
(also I am ordering 2 quantity of 3x2gb giving me 12gb of ram)

Fan:
Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready - Retail

Power Supply:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Video Card:
EVGA 512-P3-N954-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

(Also I plan on running two monitors, so please let me know if this is ok, and if there is anything else i need to run pt with 2 monitors with this card)

Hard Drive:
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

(also i have a wd external firewire 500gb that i use for my pt sessions)

Disk Drive: Pioneer Qflix 20X DVD±R Burner Black SATA Model DVR-2920Q - Retail

Thanks Guys All Responses are appreciated!

[M-ManLA]

Sounds good actually. I would go ahead and get a faster graphics card to help a little with video (especially with the GeForce GTS cards about the same price as the 9 series), and spend the money for a WD Caviar Black drive (1TB goes for about $110 on newegg.com) to use as your audio drive, with the firewire drive being either a hot spare or a backup drive. Other than that, that is a good system.

[JesseZaverucha]

HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

is this one any better.

also do you think all the items i have will be compatible with each other, be able to be connected with each other

[albee1952]

I think you should save $500 and get the i7 920 as it is plenty fast and takes well to overclocking(which I doubt you will need). Also, a cheaper/smaller video card with 256 memory will work better with Pro Tools. PT runs fine on a modest video card(I use a $37 MSI nVidia GeForce 7300 LE with a pair of 22" LCD screens at 1680x1050). Any fancy video crap should be turned off anyway. Also, I would install XP Pro and avoid Vista altogether.

There is really no reason to spend the extra money on a 10K drive. It gets you no significant performance boost, costs more and adds noise. A better bet for the system drive would be any good 7200 rpm drive of 160gb, and buy 2 so you can keep your system drive cloned to a backup. Any time you update anything, swap the backup drive in so you can revert if there are any hiccups. Once you have a solid performing system and have abused it for a few weeks, clone again. This has saved many a Pro Tooler and might save you someday. I would also add another internal drive for samples and backup of sessions. Avoid "GREEN" drives(thanks to the Weed for reminding me).

[The Weed]

As albee said, but be sure the drives you get have a 32 mb cache and are not the "green" model. Many here like the Western Digital Black Caviar SATA II 7,200 RPM drives with a 32 mb cache.

Cheers,