New Pro Tools Rig

[Dism]

Originally Posted by decayd

Can you put up a link to this? The new ones look like they peak out at 2.3ghz.

Don't be fooled by the 2.3. These new sandy bridge i7s are supposed to be comparable to older xeon quads. 8 logical cores, up to 16gb of ram unofficially, and a new port that makes USB3 look laughable. Also has dedicated ATI graphics.

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by decayd

I actually prefer windows PC's. Mainly because I'm more familiar with the OS and I know how to build them. Kinda. Do you know how the new Sandy Bridge CPU's with integrated graphics are supposed to work with Pro Tools?

Personally, I would go with a socket 1366 setup with a 950 CPU. This is a great bang for buck combo, and PT proven.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=238426

[ejwells]

Originally Posted by Dism

You can use a 400 > 800 cable with the 003, no dramas.

I bought a Firewire 400 PCIe card to run my 003R on my Mac Pro, installed it in 3 minutes. No dramas

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by decayd

I actually prefer windows PC's. Mainly because I'm more familiar with the OS and I know how to build them. Kinda. Do you know how the new Sandy Bridge CPU's with integrated graphics are supposed to work with Pro Tools?

i'm not sure that Sandybridge is ready for Pro Tools yet. Your best(and safest) bet is in i7 950(or higher) and an X58 motherboard. I have yet to hear of an X58 mobo NOT working with PT. My old rev. 1 mobo works quite well and my new X58A gigabyte has tested great(just waiting to wrap up a big project before it goes on line). I bought a new rack case off eBay for $60, and while its not as handy as my Norco(discontinued) it works well enough. and has enough drive space(5.25 size) that was was able to put a 4 slot SATA cage on one side and still install a DVD burner behind the other front door.(my Norco rig runs with the burner on my desk in an external case).

[EDF]

Originally Posted by Dism

Mostly a matter of taste, and price points.

I've never had to buy a new version of the same software to use it cross-platform. Buy one copy, use it on whatever OS it is compatible with.

The thing to keep in mind is that buying a "box" PC (like an HP or a Dell) is mostly a crapshoot. Rarely are they ever good to run audio software right out of the box, and often require a lot of tweaking and/or upgrades to run smoothly, as well as disabling/uninstalling the garbage software they come installed with.

Your best bet for PC is to build it yourself according to specs and information readily available on this forum. Check out the Windows PTLE subforum stickies for that kind of information.

Macs tend to require less tweaking, and have consistent build specs, so there is often less troubleshooting initially. Not always the case, but there are definitely more Mac models ready for audio than PC models.

If you want to go Windows, build it yourself. If you want to go Mac, get a Mac Pro.

The pre built systems are good if you're on a budget.

Nothing like bringing it home, creating some restore disks, grabbing an OEM and starting from scratch.

[decayd]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

Personally, I would go with a socket 1366 setup with a 950 CPU. This is a great bang for buck combo, and PT proven.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=238426

I did a little research and came across this combo from Newegg. It look like a good place to start. I still need a couple hard drives and I want to rack mount it. Let me know what you think.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.591938

Thanks

[ChuckS]

Why not check out Sweetwater. They have two PC rack boxes assembled and tuned for DAW work. They stand behind their stuff and have good tech support. You can do better price wise assembling your own, but if you're considering a Mac Pro, they're in the ball park. There are a few other PC box sellers out there also that have rack mounts.

[barstool719]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Why not check out Sweetwater. They have two PC rack boxes assembled and tuned for DAW work. They stand behind their stuff and have good tech support. You can do better price wise assembling your own, but if you're considering a Mac Pro, they're in the ball park. There are a few other PC box sellers out there also that have rack mounts.

Those PCs are marked up about 50%... that's significant.

Having owned both a Mac Pro and an i7 PC, and given that you know how to build PCs... I'd def say don't give Apple your money.

[lhawkins]

Originally Posted by barstool719

Those PCs are marked up about 50%... that's significant.

Having owned both a Mac Pro and an i7 PC, and given that you know how to build PCs... I'd def say don't give Apple your money.

You really will benefit by building your own box. My last boxed machine lasted about three months before I thrashed the daylights out of it with a large, blunt implement. Notice that I mention no names...

Seriously - Don't go to Sweetblank. Check out NewEgg or Tiger Direct. I fyou live in NJ - buy in NY and save yourself the added sales tax as well. Isn't the Interweb nifty...

Good Luck

L:)

[decayd]

Thanks for all the info. Think I'll build one myself. Win 7 64bit. That Newegg is a good egg.