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Old 04-19-2006, 04:45 PM
nikki-k nikki-k is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Hobette Alley
Posts: 2,357
Default Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

last update: Oct 15, 2006

PT TDM for XP InfoCenter

>>> Pre-Built Systems ———
=====================

So...this is where pre-built computer systems will be.
If anyone has experience with a place, or places, that do a full setup deal...like, call them up, they listen to your needs, and put together a system for you, and then come out and install and all- please! Let us know; someone out there might be interested.

-------------------------------------------------------


>>> DIY Systems and Parts ———
=========================

In this section, various pieces will be listed; known, working combinations of these pieces would be the safest path to follow. If you dare combine the untried, please report your findings! Known working AND non-working are valuable!!!

* Motherboards *

First up, old faitful. Pentium 4 board with Intel 875P chipset. A socket 478 board, 800FSB, runs up through Prescott. Combined with certain other parts, this is a guaranteed winner. However, it is getting a bit "long in the tooth," and is about due for a successor. New Egg isnt carrying these anymore.

Update June 2006: Quadzilla is here!!! Yep, just scroll down to the end of the "DIY Systems & Parts" section here for a full write up on the system. (cut n paste from Shane's posting)

Update Oct 2006: I am still waiting for a completely stable and supported Intel Core 2 Duo and/or Woodcrest based system with PCI/PCI-X slots to be spec'd out, complete with experience/build notes. As of this month, Digi has still not released PCIe versions for XP. As such, no PCIe based systems are listed here yet. As soon as any of this changes, and STABLE systems exist, I will update.

Part two of Oct 2006 update: The ASUS P4C80-E Deluxe appears to be very long in the tooth, and I have reports of it being difficult to find new boards. So, if anyone has a substitute- PLS!!! Let me know, and I will list it! Even so, I think a biggie is finding a replacement fuelled by a Core 2 Duo, or a pair of Woodcrest chips. Keep in mind: to use 2 cpu's, you must use XP Pro!!! (end Oct 2006 update)

Nikki's Pick: ASUS P4C800-E (deluxe)

Quick note on CPU's:
Most users will simply figure the amount of power, upgrade flexability (future proofing), and useability with the planned Digidesign (and certain 3rd party) components. CPU type is usually part of this, but not the primary consideration. In other words: most users do not sit at home (or in the office), and decide, "I will build a system based around a 3.0G Prescott, with no desire to ever change that..." As such, there is no dedicated section to processors (CPU).

However! Here are some notes: Prescott Pentium 4 CPU's are known to run HOT. Not too terribly hot when compared to certain AMD's. But, they are notoriously hot compared to the rest of the P4 range.



* Power Supplies *

Why second? Simple: Those Digi TDM/HD cards LOVE power. They REQUIRE proper powering via the PCI(-E,e,-X) buss, or rail. Your power supply should be taken VERY seriously, especially if you are planning to keep your hard drives inside the same case (internal drives).

Stick to brand-name Power Supplies! Antec, Enermax, etc. And I would suggest going 480watt or higher, period. A 550watt PS (power supply) may seem like overkill, but with 3 hard drives and an HD3 Accel system running off one power supply will require only the best.

Nikki's Pick: Antec TruePower 550.


* Hard Drives *

This is an area that takes alot of thought. Probably more than any other component.

With an unlimited budget, and if working with video, tons of tracks and edits (heavy Post for instance), SCSI might still be the solution. HOWEVER! SATA has come a long way, and might just suit your needs.

I am unfamiliar with fibre drives and other, similar solutions...please- if someone would like to "school me" or simply provide a quick-n-down-n-dirty on them, and what to pick, feel free! I imagine in a fibre drive situation with networking and such, there would be a team involved, and this thread would be moot. No?

SATA drives are cuttin' it...big time! For the casual, or home/project user, one or two internal SATA drives would do it easily. I like the Seagate drives: quiet, and nice warranty. Western Digital has the Raptor 10K RPM drives, which are nice if you want that quicker response, and need to get that little extra performance. Personally, I do not see a huge difference between a Raptor 10K and a well done 7200RPM drive.

For the more demanding user, external, racked SATA is the way to go. Expensive? You betcha! The rack enclosure alone could run several hundred dollars, or over a thousand. Some motherboards (server type) come with the kit to run the internal connectors (on the motherboard) as external. Alternately, you could opt for a PCI card.

RAID is up in the air still I believe.

[ Note from Digidesign: RAID configurations are not supported in any way, shape or form.]


* RAM *

Me-mories...in the corner of my mind...

Seems simple..but it isn't that simple. Certain motherboards prefer certain brands of memory. And certain types of memory. If using the ASUS P4C800-E (deluxe), I would suggest Kingston Hyper-X DDR3200 or 3500 RAM. I would suggest at least 1G of RAM. Most boards today will be happier running pairs of "matched" RAM. That means, buy your RAM in pairs. For 1G, that means grabbing two 512M sticks. I prefer running 2G, via four 512M sticks.

Since Win XP is a 32-bit operating system, we are limited to 4G of physical RAM access. However...XP is, uhh, incapable? To be safe, and not have to perform little tricks and such, stick with 2G. If you want to dig into tweaks and such, then be my guest and go for more RAM! Personally, I would wait for Microsoft to fix XP (hehehe...yeah, right), or simply wait for Vista (or whatever the next MS 64-bit OS will be). Just remember: the applications will need updating, and so will the hardware drivers.


* Video Card *



* Cases *



* Cooling *



* Removable Media *

Yep, DVD drives, firewire, USB, USB2...all those fun, cantankerous dangly-doos.



* And more... *

Expansion CHassis, Mice, keyboards, and more.



——— QUADZILLA!!! >>>

This is a copy 'n' paste from one of Shane's posts in the LE section. He (and others) have tested this particular system with LE, MP, and HD1/HD2 (Accel) systems (given the motherboard architecture, PCI slot placement, and success with HD1 and HD2 systems, an HD3 (Accel) should be fine as well; please keep in mind this is not capable of supporting the PCIe versions of the HD systems!!!). So far, it is reported as being 100% solid and hassle-free. Digidesign has NOT qualified it as of June, 2006. However, if you follow the instructions and parts below, altering only the CPU to fit your financial and computing needs, you should be A-OK.

=================================

Shan's Quad:

Windows XP Pro (pls note: you must use XP Pro to have access to BOTH cpu's; while XP Home will see two cores on the first cpu, it will not see BOTH cpu's no matter what you try...XP Pro ONLY!!!)

-Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877ANRF) Motherboard - Detailed specs here.

(Purchased from Antares Digital)

-Two Opteron 265 Dual-Core CPUs

-4G of Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200 (1024MB Registered DDR400, 2 Ranks)

-Two ASUS EN6600/TD/256 Video card(I needed two for some post work but currently only use one in my system)

-Western Digital SATA 36G Raptor hard drive

-Western Digital SATA 74G Raptor hard drive

-Lite-On DVDRW SHW-1635S

-OCZ Powerstream 520W Power supply

-A very well ventilated generic case(I have a machine room so noise is not a problem)

-Digi 002 Rack with PT LE 7.1cs6. Very stable with no issues other than the odd plug-in when PT LE 7 was first released.

Dverb test gives me 134 Dverbs with the ability to play/stop and record on all 32 tracks in a 24bit/48K session and a hardware buffer of 1024.

My choice for the Tyan motherboard was because it is loaded with PCI slots which I plan to use for HD-1, UAD-1 and Powercore cards(I have yet to do this so I cannot confirm if these cards will work without problems yet) There are two PCIe slots and 4 PCI slots.

**How to attach the firewire connector on this board** If you do not attach this correctly, you WILL fry your 002 motherboard and any other firewire devices attached. Triple check this connection.


How to build the Tyan Quadzilla:

Since my system has been rock solid stable, I thought I would share with everyone how I set it up including the minor tweaks I did. I wont go into exact detail such as how to get into the BIOS or how to partition a drive etc, so you will still need some basic computer knowledge as some of my steps will be general.

Part 1: Setting up the mother board.

The obvious I wont include here. Just the common email questions I get.

- Put your 4G of ram into CPU1 DIMM0, CPU1 DIMM1 and CPU2 DIMM0, CPU2 DIMM1.

- Graphics card goes into PCI Express x16 (SLOT 5)

- System drive into SATAII 0 and Audio drive into SATAII 1.

- **Attach the firewire connector like this** This is VERY important. Triple check this connection. I have done tests using the onboard firewire and my FireWire 800 PCI-32T. There was no difference in performance. I have been using the onboard firewire for months with no issues.

- No jumper settings changed.

- Attach all other items such as CPUs, Front panel USB connectors, fans, PSU etc


Part 2: BIOS(V1.03) Settings.

These are the BIOS(Version 1.03) settings I did:

In the BIOS go to:

Main > Installed O/S > [WinXP Prof]

Advanced > Integrated Devices > Audio Codec: [Disabled]

Advanced > NV RAID Configuration > [Disabled]

Advanced > PCI Configuration > Onboard Device Control > IEEE1394 control > [Enabled] (This one doesnt seem to matter too much if you are using a PCI Firewire card. If you leave it enabled you will have access to both. I have used both the onboard Firewire and my PCI SIIG Firewire and both get the same Dverb test)

Advanced > IDE Configuration > (This is where you will have to set up what is used on your IDE cables. It should make sense)

Advanced > Floppy Configuration > Legacy Diskette A: [Disabled]

Advanced > Floppy Configuration > Legacy Diskette B: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Serial port A: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Serial port B: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Parallel port: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Floppy disk controller: [Disabled]

Advanced > IntruderSupport [Disabled]

Boot > QuickBoot Mode: [Enabled]

Boot > POST errors: [Enabled] (Keep this on for now just in case)

Boot > Boot Device Priority > (This should make sense. You'll have to arrange all this.)

Power > AMD PowerNow [Disabled]

F10(Save and Exit)


Part 3: XP Pro Settings.

- Install XP Pro with Service Pack 2 only and nothing else.

- Partition your C drive. 15-20G will be fine for XP, PT LE and plug-ins etc. The remainder will be used for storage such as drive images, install apps, Everest, san2005 etc. On my system I made the C drive 15G and the rest is for storage in which I called the drive partition "Storage".

- Install True Image.

- Using True Image, immediately make a disk image of your C drive and store it on your Storage partition in a folder called 'Restoration Images'. Call the restoration file "XP Only" or something similar. You now have a drive image of XP without any drivers or other software. This will save you many hours and even days if you ever have to trouble shoot. Trust me. Been there, done that.

Shane

=================================

So there you have it! A time tested and approved ASUS, single/single system, and the wicked power of a Tyan powered, unapproved (yet!) dual/dual monster, known as Quadzilla.




-------------------------------------------------------



>>> Laptops ———
==============

Can TDM be completely portable?
YES!!!

-------------------------------------------------------


Hi folks!

I will do exactly as the Win LE forum has: This first post will have constant editing with additions and corrections for systems for us Win HD/TDM users.

Edits (additions and corrections) will be based upon not just my own experience, but rather it will be based upon you guys' input, JUST like the Win LE forum section.

I will be welcoming emails with user experiences and details on your systems; pros, cons, boons, shortcomings; would love HOW you use your system as well. Give me a little patience though please- like you guys, I too am very busy most of the time.

Thx!!!
__________________
nikki k
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikki-k View Post
Sometimes ya just gotta put your tongue on the 9V battery just to see what all the fuss is about.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 04-19-2006, 09:56 PM
BIG D BIG D is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 411
Default Re: Best SYstems and Components for Win HD/TDM

Hi Nikki & all,

As you can see from my system components below I am running a HD4, but usually HD3 with a 192i/o.

The fourth card just seems to mostly make the system unstable so I have a card sitting doing nothing at the moment which is frustrating.

As far as the systen goes, as a HD3 it is extremely stable especially in the Audio department. Doing fantastic mixes with heaps of DSP to spare. Love the McDSP stuff and SMACK!

Draw backs are with the windows inability to address more than 3 gig ram total (including Virtual). I use BFD extensively with Spectronics RMX and Essential Strings, XPAND, Sampletank 2.1, Virtual Guitar 2 and lots of other virtual plugs thanks to the FXpansion VST to RTAS wrapper 2.0. but I quickly run out of useable ram. Especially with some of the fantastic drum sounds from the BFD deluxe series.

So this system runs fantastic as a HD3, and the Ram issues means I have to commit sounds to Hard drive like we used to in the old Analog days, so I am very happy but am looking forward to Windows 64 bit (Vista) where the Ram will no longer be an issue and the Audio and virtual instruments will be seamless. (fingers crossed)

Thanks Nikki and Digi for starting this Sticky. I am sure it will help answer recouring questions for us XP TDM users. Although I must say we don't have that much to whinge about from Digi IMHO.

Best,

Big D (Duncan)

MY SYSTEM

* Motherboards *

ASUS A8V Deluxe

Slot 1 AGP Video Card
Slot 2 HD ACCEL CARD
Slot 3 HD ACCEL Card
Slot 4 HD Core Card


* CPU *

AMD64 X2 4400+

* Power Supplies *

Antec TruePower 550.


* Hard Drives *

ATA 1 Primary:- Western Digital 200 ATA
ATA 2 Primary:- LG DVD RW
SATA Bus 1:- Western Digital 200 SATA
SATA Bus 2:- Western Digital 200 SATA
Raid 1 0+1:- Western Digital 250 SATA
Raid 2 0+1:- Western Digital 250 SATA


* RAM *
2 gig GEIL Ram
i.e 4x512 sticks of DDR400


* Video Card *

Dual Head 9250


* Cases *

Antec 4U rackmount Case

* Cooling *

4 Extra quiet Fans (forget Brand will look up)

* Removable Media *

2 x Western Digital 200ata in ICE CUBE firewire/USB Cases


* Extras *

Microsoft PS2 Keyboard
Microsoft USB Mouse
Powered USB HUB for 2 x ILOK & 1 Stienberg Dongle and mouse

* Monitors *
2 x 17" BENQ LCD Screens
1 x 26" Philips HD TV with ANALOG, DVI, SVIDEO and HDMI inputs for Video editing and capturing from JVC HDV camera.


__________________
INTEL QUAD XEON
INTEL S5000XVN serverboard
4 gig Fully Buffered Ram (About to add more)
3 x WD500gig SATA, 1 x WD1T32mb SATA cache Green
NVIDIA Geforce 7300le,
Command 8,HD2,192,Massive Pack 4
Windows 7 64 bit PTHD 9
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 04-19-2006, 10:42 PM
Bill Rigby Bill Rigby is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Sydney,NSW,Australia
Posts: 213
Default Re: Best SYstems and Components for Win HD/TDM

last update: Oct 15, 2006

PT TDM for XP InfoCenter

<<< Pre-Built Systems >>>
=====================

So...this is where pre-built computer systems will be.
If anyone has experience with a place, or places, that do a full setup deal...like, call them up, they listen to your needs, and put together a system for you, and then come out and install and all- please! Let us know; someone out there might be interested.

-------------------------------------------------------


<<< DIY Systems and Parts >>>
=========================

In this section, various pieces will be listed; known, working combinations of these pieces would be the safest path to follow. If you dare combine the untried, please report your findings! Known working AND non-working are valuable!!!

* Motherboards *

First up, old faitful. Pentium 4 board with Intel 875P chipset. A socket 478 board, 800FSB, runs up through Prescott. Combined with certain other parts, this is a guaranteed winner. However, it is getting a bit "long in the tooth," and is about due for a successor. New Egg isnt carrying these anymore.

Update June 2006: Quadzilla is here!!! Yep, just scroll down to the end of the "DIY Systems & Parts" section here for a full write up on the system. (cut n paste from Shane's posting)

Update Oct 2006: I am still waiting for a completely stable and supported Intel Core 2 Duo and/or Woodcrest based system with PCI/PCI-X slots to be spec'd out, complete with experience/build notes. As of this month, Digi has still not released PCIe versions for XP. As such, no PCIe based systems are listed here yet. As soon as any of this changes, and STABLE systems exist, I will update.

Part two of Oct 2006 update: The ASUS P4C80-E Deluxe appears to be very long in the tooth, and I have reports of it being difficult to find new boards. So, if anyone has a substitute- PLS!!! Let me know, and I will list it! Even so, I think a biggie is finding a replacement fuelled by a Core 2 Duo, or a pair of Woodcrest chips. Keep in mind: to use 2 cpu's, you must use XP Pro!!! (end Oct 2006 update)

Nikki's Pick: ASUS P4C800-E (deluxe)

Quick note on CPU's:
Most users will simply figure the amount of power, upgrade flexability (future proofing), and useability with the planned Digidesign (and certain 3rd party) components. CPU type is usually part of this, but not the primary consideration. In other words: most users do not sit at home (or in the office), and decide, "I will build a system based around a 3.0G Prescott, with no desire to ever change that..." As such, there is no dedicated section to processors (CPU).

However! Here are some notes: Prescott Pentium 4 CPU's are known to run HOT. Not too terribly hot when compared to certain AMD's. But, they are notoriously hot compared to the rest of the P4 range.



* Power Supplies *

Why second? Simple: Those Digi TDM/HD cards LOVE power. They REQUIRE proper powering via the PCI(-E,e,-X) buss, or rail. Your power supply should be taken VERY seriously, especially if you are planning to keep your hard drives inside the same case (internal drives).

Stick to brand-name Power Supplies! Antec, Enermax, etc. And I would suggest going 480watt or higher, period. A 550watt PS (power supply) may seem like overkill, but with 3 hard drives and an HD3 Accel system running off one power supply will require only the best.

Nikki's Pick: Antec TruePower 550.


* Hard Drives *

This is an area that takes alot of thought. Probably more than any other component.

With an unlimited budget, and if working with video, tons of tracks and edits (heavy Post for instance), SCSI might still be the solution. HOWEVER! SATA has come a long way, and might just suit your needs.

I am unfamiliar with fibre drives and other, similar solutions...please- if someone would like to "school me" or simply provide a quick-n-down-n-dirty on them, and what to pick, feel free! I imagine in a fibre drive situation with networking and such, there would be a team involved, and this thread would be moot. No?

SATA drives are cuttin' it...big time! For the casual, or home/project user, one or two internal SATA drives would do it easily. I like the Seagate drives: quiet, and nice warranty. Western Digital has the Raptor 10K RPM drives, which are nice if you want that quicker response, and need to get that little extra performance. Personally, I do not see a huge difference between a Raptor 10K and a well done 7200RPM drive.

For the more demanding user, external, racked SATA is the way to go. Expensive? You betcha! The rack enclosure alone could run several hundred dollars, or over a thousand. Some motherboards (server type) come with the kit to run the internal connectors (on the motherboard) as external. Alternately, you could opt for a PCI card.

RAID is up in the air still I believe.

[ Note from Digidesign: RAID configurations are not supported in any way, shape or form.]


* RAM *

Me-mories...in the corner of my mind...

Seems simple..but it isn't that simple. Certain motherboards prefer certain brands of memory. And certain types of memory. If using the ASUS P4C800-E (deluxe), I would suggest Kingston Hyper-X DDR3200 or 3500 RAM. I would suggest at least 1G of RAM. Most boards today will be happier running pairs of "matched" RAM. That means, buy your RAM in pairs. For 1G, that means grabbing two 512M sticks. I prefer running 2G, via four 512M sticks.

Since Win XP is a 32-bit operating system, we are limited to 4G of physical RAM access. However...XP is, uhh, incapable? To be safe, and not have to perform little tricks and such, stick with 2G. If you want to dig into tweaks and such, then be my guest and go for more RAM! Personally, I would wait for Microsoft to fix XP (hehehe...yeah, right), or simply wait for Vista (or whatever the next MS 64-bit OS will be). Just remember: the applications will need updating, and so will the hardware drivers.


* Video Card *



* Cases *



* Cooling *



* Removable Media *

Yep, DVD drives, firewire, USB, USB2...all those fun, cantankerous dangly-doos.



* And more... *

Expansion CHassis, Mice, keyboards, and more.



>>> QUADZILLA!!! <<<

This is a copy 'n' paste from one of Shane's posts in the LE section. He (and others) have tested this particular system with LE, MP, and HD1/HD2 (Accel) systems (given the motherboard architecture, PCI slot placement, and success with HD1 and HD2 systems, an HD3 (Accel) should be fine as well; please keep in mind this is not capable of supporting the PCIe versions of the HD systems!!!). So far, it is reported as being 100% solid and hassle-free. Digidesign has NOT qualified it as of June, 2006. However, if you follow the instructions and parts below, altering only the CPU to fit your financial and computing needs, you should be A-OK.

=================================

Shan's Quad:

Windows XP Pro (pls note: you must use XP Pro to have access to BOTH cpu's; while XP Home will see two cores on the first cpu, it will not see BOTH cpu's no matter what you try...XP Pro ONLY!!!)

-Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877ANRF) Motherboard - Detailed specs here.

(Purchased from Antares Digital)

-Two Opteron 265 Dual-Core CPUs

-4G of Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200 (1024MB Registered DDR400, 2 Ranks)

-Two ASUS EN6600/TD/256 Video card(I needed two for some post work but currently only use one in my system)

-Western Digital SATA 36G Raptor hard drive

-Western Digital SATA 74G Raptor hard drive

-Lite-On DVDRW SHW-1635S

-OCZ Powerstream 520W Power supply

-A very well ventilated generic case(I have a machine room so noise is not a problem)

-Digi 002 Rack with PT LE 7.1cs6. Very stable with no issues other than the odd plug-in when PT LE 7 was first released.

Dverb test gives me 134 Dverbs with the ability to play/stop and record on all 32 tracks in a 24bit/48K session and a hardware buffer of 1024.

My choice for the Tyan motherboard was because it is loaded with PCI slots which I plan to use for HD-1, UAD-1 and Powercore cards(I have yet to do this so I cannot confirm if these cards will work without problems yet) There are two PCIe slots and 4 PCI slots.

**How to attach the firewire connector on this board** If you do not attach this correctly, you WILL fry your 002 motherboard and any other firewire devices attached. Triple check this connection.


How to build the Tyan Quadzilla:

Since my system has been rock solid stable, I thought I would share with everyone how I set it up including the minor tweaks I did. I wont go into exact detail such as how to get into the BIOS or how to partition a drive etc, so you will still need some basic computer knowledge as some of my steps will be general.

Part 1: Setting up the mother board.

The obvious I wont include here. Just the common email questions I get.

- Put your 4G of ram into CPU1 DIMM0, CPU1 DIMM1 and CPU2 DIMM0, CPU2 DIMM1.

- Graphics card goes into PCI Express x16 (SLOT 5)

- System drive into SATAII 0 and Audio drive into SATAII 1.

- **Attach the firewire connector like this** This is VERY important. Triple check this connection. I have done tests using the onboard firewire and my FireWire 800 PCI-32T. There was no difference in performance. I have been using the onboard firewire for months with no issues.

- No jumper settings changed.

- Attach all other items such as CPUs, Front panel USB connectors, fans, PSU etc


Part 2: BIOS(V1.03) Settings.

These are the BIOS(Version 1.03) settings I did:

In the BIOS go to:

Main > Installed O/S > [WinXP Prof]

Advanced > Integrated Devices > Audio Codec: [Disabled]

Advanced > NV RAID Configuration > [Disabled]

Advanced > PCI Configuration > Onboard Device Control > IEEE1394 control > [Enabled] (This one doesnt seem to matter too much if you are using a PCI Firewire card. If you leave it enabled you will have access to both. I have used both the onboard Firewire and my PCI SIIG Firewire and both get the same Dverb test)

Advanced > IDE Configuration > (This is where you will have to set up what is used on your IDE cables. It should make sense)

Advanced > Floppy Configuration > Legacy Diskette A: [Disabled]

Advanced > Floppy Configuration > Legacy Diskette B: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Serial port A: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Serial port B: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Parallel port: [Disabled]

Advanced > I/O Device Configuration > Floppy disk controller: [Disabled]

Advanced > IntruderSupport [Disabled]

Boot > QuickBoot Mode: [Enabled]

Boot > POST errors: [Enabled] (Keep this on for now just in case)

Boot > Boot Device Priority > (This should make sense. You'll have to arrange all this.)

Power > AMD PowerNow [Disabled]

F10(Save and Exit)


Part 3: XP Pro Settings.

- Install XP Pro with Service Pack 2 only and nothing else.

- Partition your C drive. 15-20G will be fine for XP, PT LE and plug-ins etc. The remainder will be used for storage such as drive images, install apps, Everest, san2005 etc. On my system I made the C drive 15G and the rest is for storage in which I called the drive partition "Storage".

- Install True Image.

- Using True Image, immediately make a disk image of your C drive and store it on your Storage partition in a folder called 'Restoration Images'. Call the restoration file "XP Only" or something similar. You now have a drive image of XP without any drivers or other software. This will save you many hours and even days if you ever have to trouble shoot. Trust me. Been there, done that.

Shane

=================================

So there you have it! A time tested and approved ASUS, single/single system, and the wicked power of a Tyan powered, unapproved (yet!) dual/dual monster, known as Quadzilla.




-------------------------------------------------------



<<< Laptops >>>
==============

Can TDM be completely portable?
YES!!!

-------------------------------------------------------


Hi folks!

I will do exactly as the Win LE forum has: This first post will have constant editing with additions and corrections for systems for us Win HD/TDM users.

Edits (additions and corrections) will be based upon not just my own experience, but rather it will be based upon you guys' input, JUST like the Win LE forum section.

I will be welcoming emails with user experiences and details on your systems; pros, cons, boons, shortcomings; would love HOW you use your system as well. Give me a little patience though please- like you guys, I too am very busy most of the time.

Thx!!!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-20-2006, 11:09 PM
nikki-k nikki-k is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Hobette Alley
Posts: 2,357
Default Re: Best SYstems and Components for Win HD/TDM

Sticky this please?
__________________
nikki k
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikki-k View Post
Sometimes ya just gotta put your tongue on the 9V battery just to see what all the fuss is about.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-21-2006, 11:38 AM
dods dods is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 11
Default Re: Best SYstems and Components for Win HD/TDM

The system that I built for the studio I'm running but not yet operational. So far it's running fine but no heavy project yet, will be updating later..


* Tyan Thunder K8WE (S2895) NVIDIA Pro 2200 and 2050 + AMD 8131 chipset,dual Opteron support.

* 1 AMD Opteron 265 installed, another one on order.

* 4x512 DDR 400 ECC Registered DIMMs ( Corsair ), will be 8x512 when processor arrived.

* 2 slot x16 PCI-E (SLI support), 1 XFX GeForce 6600 installed for Dual Mon LCD's.

* PCIX x 64 bit 133 MHZ Pro Tools HD Accel Core Card.

* PCIX x 64 Bit 100Mhz Pro Tools HD Accel Card.

* PCIX x 64 Bit 100Mhz Empty ( Another HD Accel Card I hope ).

* PCI x 32 Bit 33Mhz RME Digiface pci card.

* 1 PATA port ( Seagate 80Gb for OS and appz ).

* 4 SATA-II ports (3.0Gb/s) ( 2x 200Gb for data and transfers ).

* 1 SCSI port (LSI U320 68 pin) ( 1 Seagate 73Gb 10K for audio ).

* 2 GbE LAN ports, FireWire, audio, serial & parallel ports, 6 USB ports, and PS2 ports.

* Tagan U480 power supply, will be replaced with U580 when my proc arrives.

* CoolerMaster Stacker Casing SSI EEB footprint (12"x13"; 304.8mmx330.2mm).

I think this system is similar to a branded system recommended by Digidesign, at least that's what my computer guy says ( he's built lots of workstations for editing and graphic designs ). Will update on problems as it goes which I hope won't be to much.... Thank's to Nikki and Digi, and yes plz..... make this a sticky.


---------
Doddy





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  #6  
Old 04-21-2006, 12:22 PM
Brandonx1 Brandonx1 is offline
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Default Re: Best SYstems and Components for Win HD/TDM

How can both of you guys have Accel Core cards? I thought they were Mac and PCIe only?
Brandon
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Old 04-23-2006, 03:58 PM
len branville len branville is offline
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Default Re: Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

"Long in the tooth" is a good analogy. With processor and other technologies changing so quickly some solutions are becoming dated.

I've used the P4P800E Deluxe (Accel 2 only) and the P5P800SE boards with HD systems.

Some great suggestions/alternatives here, but it would be nice to have (or hear) about more off-the-shelf and custom built solutions for XP systems.

Len
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Old 04-28-2006, 12:03 PM
nikki-k nikki-k is offline
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Default Re: Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

I am looking for hard drive solutions guys..please...

We all have seen the single, internal SATA solutions, running off the internal/motherboard SATA connection. Personal pref of manufacturer can also play a part. What I would really like is some multi-drive solutions. I am guessing these will mostly be external ones...nice SATA arrays and such would be the best I think, as it provides something that is accessible for most users, and can be built upon over time.

Anyone with external, racked, RAID, SATA powerhouses? Anyone want to provide a nice bit of info on other solutions, such as fibre drives and such?

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Old 04-29-2006, 09:44 PM
crna59 crna59 is offline
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Default Re: Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

I have 2 multi-drive systems on my PT 7 HD/ACCEL4 rig.
I have an Intel D875PBZ board with the OS on the IDE drive and the recording drives are 2 WD SATA Raptors in a RAID 0 Array. No problems what so ever. I'm also using an external drive for video and archiving. It's the 2TB LaCie triple interface RAID drive. I have 2 of these daisy chained.

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  #10  
Old 05-02-2006, 07:49 PM
nikki-k nikki-k is offline
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Default Re: Best Systems and Components for Win HD/TDM

Can anyone else confirm RAID with SATA working with current PT HD software and HD hardware with XP please? If RAID will, in fact, work...well...this is major!

RAID 0? RAID 1? RAID 0+1? RAID 5?

Also, what kind of external boxes/racks/enclosures are being used?

Quote:
I have 2 multi-drive systems on my PT 7 HD/ACCEL4 rig.
I have an Intel D875PBZ board with the OS on the IDE drive and the recording drives are 2 WD SATA Raptors in a RAID 0 Array. No problems what so ever. I'm also using an external drive for video and archiving. It's the 2TB LaCie triple interface RAID drive. I have 2 of these daisy chained.

Regards,
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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nikki-k View Post
Sometimes ya just gotta put your tongue on the 9V battery just to see what all the fuss is about.
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